Unfavorable weather conditions are likely to further disrupt the search for the 16 people still missing from a deadly ferry sinking off the country's southwest coast, government officials said on Sunday.About 100 divers are standing by, but fast tidal currents in the area, along with foggy and windy conditions, may prevent them from doing so, the officials said.The joint search team of civilian and military divers last retrieved a body on Wednesday, and the death toll stands at 288. A total of 4

Social Affairs May 25, 2014

South Korea has invited members of North Korea's Catholic community to attend the upcoming mass to be held by Pope Francis in Seoul, officials here said Sunday.They said representatives of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea and the Archdiocese of Seoul met with members of the North Korean Catholic Church in Shenyang, China, on May 18 and 19, and invited them to attend the papal mass.Pope Francis will celebrate the mass at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul on Aug. 18 and deliver a message for

North Korea May 25, 2014

South Korean companies' dividend payouts to foreign investors surged nearly 14 percent from a year earlier in 2013, partly reflecting a growth in foreign investment in the local market, related data showed Sunday.According to the Korea Securities Depository, local firms that settle their annual accounts in December paid a combined total of 4.63 trillion won ($4.51 billion) in dividends to foreigners last year, up 13.9 percent from 2012.The increase was largely attributed to the payouts by Samsun

May 25, 2014

South Korean defender Yun Suk-young will finally report to the country's pre-World Cup camp on Sunday, after the London-based Queens Park Rangers refused to release him ahead of a key club match.The Korea Football Association said Yun will join the rest of the country's 23-man squad for the World Cup in Brazil at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, late in the afternoon on Sunday. He will be the last player to arrive at the NFC, as the country prepares for the June 12-July 1

North Korea May 25, 2014

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid a visit to an electrical machine factory that earlier leaders of the communist state helped open, Pyongyang's state media reported on Sunday.The Korean Central News Agency, monitored in Seoul, said Kim visited the Chonma Electrical Machine Plant, accompanied by other officials. The KCNA noted that the area where the plant is located is "closely associated with the footprints of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il," the current leader's grandfather and father.The repo

North Korea May 25, 2014

Foreign banks operating in South Korea have transferred a large sum of dividends and consulting fees to their parents firms, industry data showed Sunday, triggering a controversy over a massive capital outflow and the local units' financial soundness.According to the data, two foreign banks -- Citibank Korea Inc. and Standard Chartered Bank Korea -- have paid a total of 3.25 trillion won ($3.18 billion) in dividends and consulting fees to their parent firms over the past 10 years, which is equiv

May 18, 2014

The campaign for the upcoming local elections will begin this week, with public safety emerging as a hot-button issue following last month's deadly ferry sinking.The 13-day official campaigning period for the June 4 legislative elections starts on Thursday and will run through the eve of election day, according to the National Election Commission.Up for grabs in the elections are 17 new provincial governor and mayor posts, including mayorship of the capital Seoul, as well as more than 3,900 seat

Politics May 18, 2014

Rescue divers retrieved one more body early Sunday morning from a ferry that sank off South Korea's southwest coast last month, bringing the confirmed death toll to 286, officials said. The body of a woman was recovered from the crew's cafeteria on the third-floor dock at around 5 a.m., the government emergency response team said. The number of those still unaccounted for dropped to 18 as the search and rescue operation entered the 33rd day. The 6,825-ton ferry Sewol carrying an estimated 476 pa

Social Affairs May 18, 2014

The South Korean financial watchdog on Thursday took "name and shame" measures on local banks and financial institutions rated as having poor customer service, forcing them to display hard-to-miss posters at their entrances.The Financial Supervisory Service last month announced the results of a customer complaint report on 85 local financial institutions, rating the quality of their customer service in five levels, ranging from excellent to poor.Seventeen of the institutions, including banks, sa

May 15, 2014

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest car producer, said Wednesday it would seek an immediate appeal against a U.S. court verdict ordering it to pay $248 million in punitive damages for a 2011 accident.The parents of Missoula's Tanner and Trevor Olson filed a lawsuit against Hyundai for the crash of a Hyundai car that killed the teenagers aboard. They claimed the 2005 Hyundai Tiburon lost control due to a steering defect, leading it to collide head-on with a vehicle driving in the opposite la

Industry May 15, 2014

Self-styled King of Pop Michael Jackson is back from the grave again this week with a second posthumous album of songs recorded before his death in 2009."Xscape" went on sale in the United States on Tuesday, after being released in various European countries at the weekend and on Monday."This music has never been (previously) released," said L.A. Reid, the veteran American music mogul behind the project, on NBC television's "Today" breakfast program."Some of it has been leaked through the years.

Performance May 14, 2014

Five more bodies were recovered from the sunken ferry Sewol on Wednesday, raising the death toll to 281 and lowering the number of those missing to 23, four weeks after the ship sank off South Korea's southwest coast.A joint team of government and civilian divers retrieved the five bodies shortly after it resumed search operations in the afternoon, officials said.Divers searched the sunken ferry for about an hour overnight, but no bodies were found then. In the morning, strong currents prevented

Social Affairs May 14, 2014

Samsung Electronics Co. officially apologized and promised compensation Wednesday over the sufferings and deaths of its semiconductor workers from illnesses that family members claim are work-related."Several workers at our production facilities suffered from leukemia and other incurable diseases, which also lead to some deaths," said Kwon Oh-hyun, the CEO of the electronics giant."We should have settled the issue earlier, and we are deeply heartbroken that we failed to do so and express our dee

Technology May 14, 2014