The United Nations says more than 2,400 people were killed in Iraq in June, making it the deadliest month so far in the country this year.The U.N. mission to Iraq said in a statement released Tuesday that at least 2,417 people were killed in the country in acts of terrorism and violence in June. The toll includes 1,531 civilians and 886 members of Iraq's security forces.It said another 2,287 Iraqis were wounded.The U.N. said the toll does not take into account casualties in Anbar province, which

World News July 1, 2014

South Korea and China are likely to adopt an appendix to an envisioned joint communique to highlight cooperation in various fields when their leaders hold a summit later this week, sources said Tuesday.Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to make a two-day visit to Seoul on Thursday to meet South Korean President Park Geun-hye in a bid to discuss bilateral relations and North Korea's nuclear program.The two countries have been discussing adopting an appendix to flesh out their strategic coo

World News July 1, 2014

South Korea's foreign minister said Monday that a recent deal between North Korea and Japan is feared to hamper cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo in resolving the issue of the North's nuclear weapons program.In late May, North Korea and Japan agreed to re-investigate the fate of Japanese nationals kidnapped by Pyongyang decades ago. In return, Japan promised to ease some of its unilateral sanctions on Pyongyang and give humanitarian aid to the reclusive country "at an appropriate tim

North Korea June 30, 2014

President Park Geun-hye expressed condolences Monday to the families of the victims of a recent deadly shooting rampage in a military unit near the tense border with North Korea.Park called on the military to thoroughly determine the cause of the rampage and come up with measures to ensure that a similar incident does not recur."I convey my deep sympathy to the victims' families," Park said in a meeting with senior presidential secretaries. She also apologized to the worried parents whose sons a

Politics June 30, 2014

The North Korean envoy to the talks to normalize relations with Japan said Monday that he has not heard anything about protests by Japan against the North's recent ballistic missile launch, seemingly contradicting remarks by Japanese officials. Song Il-ho made the comments upon arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport to represent the North Korean delegation for a fresh round of talks with Japan on Tuesday on the fate of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents decades ago.Nort

North Korea June 30, 2014

South Korean scholars have been given permission to visit North Korea this week to possibly resume the joint excavation of an ancient royal palace site in the communist state, officials said Monday.Seoul's Ministry of Unification said it gave permission to five people belonging to the Association of Inter-Korean Historians to visit the North Korean border town of Kaesong on Tuesday so they can check the ruins of Manwoldae, a Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) palace.South Korean scholars, during the visi

North Korea June 30, 2014

North Korea proposed Monday that the two Koreas stop all military hostilities from this week, in an apparent show of its efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Seoul.The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the National Defense Commission, the North's top military body, also called on the South to stop slandering against each other from Friday.The defense commission further called on South Korea and the United States to suspe

North Korea June 30, 2014

South Korea's financial watchdog will censure a local insurance company for denying benefits to families of policyholders who commit suicide, which will have a far-reaching impact on the country's life insurance sector, officials said Monday.According to the officials, ING Life Insurance Co. was found to have denied payouts of accidental benefits worth 20 billion won (US$19.7 million) in some 90 suicide cases, citing erroneous provisions in their contracts with policyholders.Before 2010, local l

June 30, 2014

Kakao Talk, a free messenger service provided by Kakao Corp., rose to third place in local brand value, research showed Monday, backed by its market share of more than 90 percent in the sector. Kakao Talk's Brand Stock Top Index (BSTI) reached 915.4 points out of 1,000 in the second quarter, up a notch from a quarter earlier, the data compiled by market researcher Brand Stock showed.BSTI is calculated by running a mock stock-trading test on about 900 brands and adding figures compiled from consu

Technology June 30, 2014

South Korea is seeking to publish a white paper to shed light on Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women by July 2015 in a bid to protest against Japan's review of its 1993 key apology of such atrocities, officials said Monday.The move comes as Japan has recently said that Seoul and Tokyo officials coordinated the wording of the so-called Kono statement that apologized for coercing women into sexual servitude for its front-line troops during World War II.The Ministry of Gender Equalit

Foreign Affairs June 30, 2014

South Korea is likely to announce its position on the rice market liberalization issue in "mid-July," a government source said Monday, apparently delaying its final decision that had been expected within this month."We are likely to postpone an official announcement on rice liberalization as we need more time to gather consensus with lawmakers," a government source close to the matter told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity. "We cannot wait indefinitely, however, since we have to notif

June 30, 2014