North Korea fired off one short-range rocket into the East Sea on Monday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.The projectile was fired at around 10:30 a.m. from a site in Chagang Province near the North Korea-Chinese border, and it is presumed to have landed in the East Sea after flying some 220 kilometers, the JCS said.A JCS official said it marked the first time for the communist country to fire a short-range projectile from the province. (Yonhap)

North Korea Sept. 1, 2014

The South Korean military has excavated this year the remains of 753 fallen soldiers who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War, the defense ministry said Monday.In a four-month project that began in April to find remains of missing service personnel, some 46,000 soldiers dug out sites in 56 regions across the country to recover the bodies, according to the ministry.The excavation team will analyze the registry of missing soldiers and conduct DNA tests to trace their families after retrieving their re

Defense Sept. 1, 2014

South Korean contenders came up short of matching a milestone winning streak on the LPGA Tour on Sunday in Oregon.Kim In-kyung lost to Austin Ernst on the first hole of their sudden death playoff at the Portland Classic at the par-72 Columbia Edgewater Country Club.Kim was trying to become the fourth consecutive South Korean winner on the LPGA Tour. Three other South Koreans, Lee Mi-rim, Park In-bee and Ryu, had taken the past three LPGA tournaments.The last time South Koreans won on the tour fo

Golf Sept. 1, 2014

Mariah Carey will hold a solo concert in South Korea next month for the first time in 11 years, an agency said Monday.The pop diva will perform in Seoul's Olympic Park on Oct. 8 as part of her Asian concert tour to promote her 14th studio album, "Me. I Am Mariah ... The Elusive Chanteuse," Yescom Entertainment said. The tour will also take her to Japan, China, Singapore and the Philippines, it added.It would mark the singer's first solo concert in South Korea since 2003 and her first overseas co

Performance Sept. 1, 2014

Samsung Group's shipbuilding and engineering units on Monday announced a plan to merge within this year as the nation's top conglomerate speeds up a restructuring drive.The stock exchange ratio has been set at 2.36 shares of Samsung Engineering Co. per one Samsung Heavy Industries Co. share. The merger is scheduled to be completed by Dec. 1.  Samsung Heavy said in its regulatory filing that it aims to combine its shipbuilding and marine plant business with Samsung Engineering's competitive edge

Industry Sept. 1, 2014

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers tied his career high with his 14th win of the Major League Baseball season Sunday, cruising to a victory against the San Diego Padres on the road in his return from the disabled list.The South Korean left-hander limited the fellow National League West club to one run on four hits in seven strong innings as the Dodgers won the game 7-1. Ryu struck out seven and walked none to improve to 14-6 this year and lowered his ERA from 3.28 to 3.18.In his rookie seas

Baseball Sept. 1, 2014

Dutch King Willem-Alexander will visit South Korea in November at the invitation of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Park's office said Friday.The monarch and his wife, Queen Maxima, will visit Seoul from Nov. 3-4, reciprocating Park's official visit to the Netherlands in March, Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.Park, who traveled to the Netherlands to attend the Nuclear Security Summit, was the first South Korean president to officially visit the country.The king hosted a luncheon for

Foreign Affairs Aug. 29, 2014

South Korea's sizable household debt and recent policies that eased rules on mortgage lending to prop up the ailing property market may potentially hurt credit risks of local lenders, an analyst said Friday."What is an issue is the disposable income comparison. You have more debt than disposable income," said Ritesh Maheshwari, a lead analytical manager at Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.Standard & Poor's data showed that the country's household debt in comparison to disposable income continu

Aug. 29, 2014

Reversing an earlier conviction, a Seoul district court on Friday acquitted a former lawmaker of charges that he made sexist and derogatory remarks about female TV announcers four years ago.Kang Yong-seok, 45, was indicted on charges of telling a group of female college students in July 2010 that being a anchorwoman involves engaging in unwanted sexual relationships, suggesting that they should be willing to offer sex to advance their careers.A total of 295 female TV announcers soon filed a libe

Social Affairs Aug. 29, 2014

A Belgian professional football club recently purchased by a South Korean marketing firm has signed its first player from the Asian country, officials said Friday.Sportizen, a Seoul-based sports marketing agency that recently acquired A.F.C. Tubize, said the second-division Belgian club has signed midfielder Hwang Jin-sung to a one-year contract.Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Sportizen said Hwang could make his Belgian debut at home on Wednesday.Earlier this month, Sportizen a

Soccer Aug. 29, 2014

Professional wrestlers from the United States, Japan and several other nations gathered in the North Korean capital this week to participate in an international contest, Pyongyang's state media said Friday.Kanji Inoki, a Japanese lawmaker who was a pro wrestler, arrived in Pyongyang a day earlier, along with foreign participants. He played a pivotal role in arranging the rare event to take place in the reclusive communist state.The two-day Pyongyang International Pro-Wrestling Contest is schedul

North Korea Aug. 29, 2014

A prominent opposition lawmaker has been indicted on charges of defaming a younger brother and a former close aide of President Park Geun-hye by raising allegations that they had intervened in presidential affairs, prosecutors said Friday. Rep. Park Jie-won of the No. 1 opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy claimed that a group of powerful people -- including Park's younger brother Ji-man and Chung Yoon-hoi, who served as the president's chief of staff when she was a lawmaker -- exerted

Politics Aug. 29, 2014

A map service that provides views of North Korea's streets and buildings will be launched by a South Korean Internet portal for the first time in the country on Friday as part of efforts to disclose what has been secretly guarded information to the private sector, a state-run geographic institute said.The National Geographic Information Institute (NGII) said the map, which covers North Korea's entire territory, will begin operation through Daum Communications Corp., the South's second-largest on

North Korea Aug. 29, 2014

South Korea's trade commission said Friday that it has decided to impose anti-dumping duties on Chinese plate glass for another three years to help protect local manufacturers from price-cutting practices. The Korea Trade Commission said it will keep anti-dumping duties of 15.22-36.01 percent on the Chinese products over the next three years. "The decision will help local plate glass makers suffering from low-priced imports improve their competitiveness and production," the commission said. The

Aug. 29, 2014