SEJONG (Yonhap News) -- Provincial quarantine authorities began culling more than 20,000 poultry Friday after a preliminary test indicated a possible outbreak of avian influenza, with the agriculture ministry saying it may be of a highly pathogenic strain.A suspected AI case was reported Thursday at a poultry farm in Gochang, located some 300 kilometers southwest of Seoul in North Jeolla Province.A DNA test is currently under way to confirm the outbreak and its exact strain, according to an offi

Social Affairs Jan. 17, 2014

South Korea's international airline traffic rose to a new record high in 2013, the government said Friday, reflecting a surge in the number of passengers to and from the country.The total number of international flights to and from the country came to 380,744 last year, up 6.6 percent from 357,276 in 2012, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The country's overall airline traffic also reached a record high of some 585,000 flights last year as domestic air traffic rose

Jan. 17, 2014

The U.S. Senate approved a spending bill Thursday that has drawn unexpectedly huge attention from Northeast Asian nations for the inclusion of report language on Japan's wartime sex enslavement of Korean and other Asian women.President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law on Friday.A nonbinding document attached to the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2014 calls on the secretary of state to step up efforts to get Japan to apologize for forcing as many as 200,000 women to p

World News Jan. 17, 2014

South Korean footballer Ji Dong-won has left English side Sunderland to join FC Augsburg in Germany on a permanent basis, both clubs announced Friday.FC Augsburg, in the top-flight Bundesliga, said on its website that Ji, 22, will be returning for his second tour of duty with the team. Under a mutual agreement between the clubs, financial details were not disclosed.Sunderland in the English Premier League also announced on its website that the forward has joined the German club.Ji enjoyed a succ

Soccer Jan. 17, 2014

Emerging countries should wisely cope with spillover effects from the Federal Reserve's tapering of its quantitative easing steps, South Korea's central banker said Friday.Bank of Korea Governor Kim Choong-soo said in a meeting with heads of local banks that it was a good decision for the U.S. central bank to start reducing its monetary stimulus, adding that there is confidence about the recovery of the U.S. economy."But emerging countries are vulnerable to changes in the global financial market

Jan. 17, 2014

Four leaders of the state rail company's labor union were formally detained Friday to undergo further questioning for their alleged role in organizing what the government calls an illegal strike.The leaders of the state-run Korea Railroad Corp. union, including the head Kim Myung-hwan, were put under detention immediately after a district court approved the prosecution's request for arrest warrants. "(Their) crimes have been ascertained enough, and there is a reasonable concern that they might t

Social Affairs Jan. 17, 2014

Former national men's football team captain Park Ji-sung could return to play in one of South Korea's tune-up matches ahead of this year's FIFA World Cup, the squad's head coach said Thursday.On the sidelines of the team's training camp in the World Cup host nation, Hong Myung-bo said the former Manchester United midfielder may put on a South Korean uniform to face Greece on the road in March."It can happen," Hong said. "There are many possibilities."Park, 32, announced his retirement from inter

Soccer Jan. 17, 2014

The time has come for the Japanese government to address the issue of the nation's wartime atrocities against many Korean and other Asian women, a senior U.S. congressman said Thursday.Rep. Mike Honda urged Tokyo first to offer a formal apology to those who were forced into sexual servitude during World War II, euphemistically called "comfort women.""It is time for the Japanese government to make a comprehensive apology and redress the grievances sought by the hundreds of thousands of women who

World News Jan. 17, 2014

The White House on Thursday dismissed North Korea's call for the cancellation of upcoming joint military drills between the U.S. and South Korea."I can tell you that our commitment to and relationship with South Korea is extremely strong and I have no changes to announce in how we engage militarily with South Korea in partnership or in any of the exercises that we engage in," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters.He was answering a question about the North's demand earlier this w

North Korea Jan. 17, 2014

Car sales by Hyundai Motor Co. backtracked in Europe last year amid weak overall market conditions, while its smaller sibling Kia Motors Corp. managed to increase its presence on the continent, industry data showed Thursday.According to the data by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, Hyundai sold around 408,000 units in 2013, down 2.2 percent from the previous year. Kia, on the other hand, posted sales topping 329,000 vehicles, up 0.4 percent on-year.The changes caused Hyundai's

Industry Jan. 17, 2014

North Korea on Thursday formally proposed halting all cross-border slander starting Jan. 30 and called for mutual action to prevent a nuclear calamity on the Korean Peninsula.The North's powerful National Defense Commission claimed that its "important proposal" clearly showed how Pyongyang wished to improve the frayed inter-Korean relations.The message came a day after the communist country warned of an "unimaginable holocaust" if Seoul carried out the annual Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises

North Korea Jan. 17, 2014

The ruling Saenuri Party on Thursday slammed a New York Times editorial accusing South Korean President Park Geun-hye of trying to whitewash history.On Monday, the NYT ran an editorial addressing the recent controversies surrounding high school history textbooks in South Korea and Japan."Both Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and President Park Geun-hye of South Korea are pushing to have high school history textbooks in their countries rewritten to reflect their political views," the NYT said i

Politics Jan. 16, 2014

South Korean banks plan to increase lending for smaller firms by 34.6 trillion won ($32.5 billion) this year, as their funding demand is expected to rise upon a moderate economic recovery, the financial regulator said Thursday.Local banks have recently notified the Financial Services Commission, the country's financial watchdog, of their lending plan for small and medium enterprises in 2014, the FSC said in a press release.The amount of increase is up 25.4 percent from the 27.6 trillion won bank

Jan. 16, 2014