President Park Geun-hye shared on her Facebook page Thursday what she's been doing on her summer vacation as well as a fan letter from a Chinese man."I always think a day is too short, but this summer, times passes by even faster," Park wrote in her first Facebook post in over five months. "I have been spending time reading books and reports I haven't read."She has been staying at Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential office and residence, during the five-day vacation that began on Monday.Park also po

Politics July 30, 2015

A Cairo court on Thursday postponed the final verdict in the retrial of three Al-Jazeera English reporters for next week, in a blow to the defendants and human rights activists who had expected a resolution to the long-running case.The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera said it was outraged that the verdict has been adjourned and hoped for a swift end to the proceedings with the charges dropped. The postponement came because the judge in the case, Hassan Farid, was ill, two Egyptian judicial officials said.

World News July 30, 2015

China and Russia will hold joint military drills in the waters and airspace of the Sea of Japan, Beijing said Thursday, the latest defense cooperation between the countries.    The exercises will take place August 20 to 28 in the Peter the Great Gulf and other areas off the Russian coast, defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told reporters.    A key purpose of the drills was to "further enhance their capabilities of jointly coping with maritime security threats", Yang said, adding they will inc

World News July 30, 2015

The EU said Thursday it regretted as a "setback" a Russian veto of a UN resolution for a tribunal to prosecute those responsible for downing Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine last year."We very much regret that the UN Security Council last night did not adopt  due to the veto of Russia the resolution on the downing of MH17," European  Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told reporters."This resolution would have established a binding and credible mechanism for prosecuting those respo

World News July 30, 2015

Investigators scrambled Thursday to study plane wreckage that washed up on a tiny Indian Ocean island, fuelling hopes that one of aviation's greatest enigmas could finally be solved:  the mystery of missing flight MH370.The two-meter (six-foot) long piece of wreckage was found on the French  island of La Reunion, offering up bittersweet hope of closure to the families  of 239 people who disappeared in March last year on the Malaysia Airlines  Boeing 777.Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said

World News July 30, 2015

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn pledged Thursday to press ahead with deregulation in employment, finance and other sectors.He also said the government will ensure that unnecessary regulations that could place big burdens on companies will not be created. He made the comment in a meeting with officials at an industrial complex in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, without saying how he plans to cut the red tape.President Park Geun-hye has been pushing to lift or ease all but core regulations to help revive S

Politics July 30, 2015

China has launched regular military exercises in the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Strait, according to China's military newspaper on Saturday. The Chinese People's Liberation Army's Daily, the Chinese military's official newspaper, reported that eight days of "military missions" had begun on Friday in the northern parts of the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Strait, adjacent to the Korean Peninsula. Until next Friday, China's maritime authorities have banned ships from sailing in the affected areas. The br

Defense July 18, 2015

South Korea reported no additional cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome for the 13th straight day Saturday, with no fatalities occurring for a week, the health ministry said.The number of people diagnosed with MERS in the country remained unchanged at 186 with the death toll also staying flat at 36, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.There were 98 people in isolation as of Saturday, as suspected cases following possible exposure to the MERS coronavirus, down from 155 people the

Social Affairs July 18, 2015