U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has no plan to meet one-on-one with his counterpart from North Korea on the sidelines of an upcoming regional security conference in Myanmar, his spokeswoman said Monday.Kerry is scheduled to make a three-day visit to Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar, this weekend to attend a set of annual meetings led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Asia's biggest annual security gathering, known as the ASEAN Regional Forum.ARF and other ASEAN talks h

North Korea Aug. 5, 2014

A South Korean sports marketing firm has purchased a Belgian football club.Sportizen, a Seoul-based sports marketing company, on Monday signed off on a deal to acquire the second-division Belgian club A.F.C Tubize.The company claimed it is the first South Korean firm to take over a European professional football club. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.Located in the city of Tubize, about 25 kilometers south of the Belgian capital of Brussels, A.F.C Tubize was founded in 1989 when

Soccer Aug. 4, 2014

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Monday that it has fined Caffe Bene, the country's largest coffee franchise, 1.94 billion won (US$1.88 million) for abusing its market power in deals with shop owners.The Fair Trade Commission accused Caffe Bene of forcing shop owners selling coffee under its brand to bear full costs related to a promotional event jointly arranged with KT Corp. in 2010 to provide discounts to customers of the mobile carrier. Caffe Bene was supposed to shoulder half of the co

Industry Aug. 4, 2014

Police said Monday they are questioning three officers on suspicions that they ignored tips about the final hiding place of a fugitive tycoon wanted in connection with April's ferry disaster.The three officers of the Suncheon Police Station, located in the southern city that's about 415 kilometers south of Seoul, are suspected of ignoring phone calls about a secret closet inside Yoo Byung-eun's vacation home in the city, according to the National Police Agency (NPA).The police and the prosecutio

Social Affairs Aug. 4, 2014

A homegrown action film about a 16th-century Korean naval hero's astonishing victory against Japan surpassed the 5 million viewer mark on Monday, the movie's investor-distributor said."Roaring Currents" exceeded the milestone at about 9:30 a.m. Monday, the sixth day since opening, CJ Entertainment said.This was four days faster than a record shared by "Snowpiercer" (2013), "The Face Reader" (2013), "Iron Man 3" (2013) and "The Thieves" (2012).Released on Wednesday, "Roaring Currents" has set var

Aug. 4, 2014

At least 10 people were killed and two injured in South Korea as Typhoon Nakri battered the country's southern region over the weekend, toppling trees and inundating bridges, disaster officials said Monday.One person was hit and killed by an airborne object at a South Jeolla Province farm, the central disaster management agency said, announcing the death toll as of 6 a.m. Monday.Another person was killed and two others hurt after a tree toppled over them at a camping site in North Gyeongsang Pro

Social Affairs Aug. 4, 2014

South Korea will cancel designations of free economic districts that have been dormant over the past three years, allowing the areas to be developed for other purposes, the government said Monday.The move follows a revision of the law in 2011 on free economic zones  that allows for cancellations of free economic districts that fail to attract foreign investment over a certain period of time.Ten districts in eight FEZs throughout the country will be undesignated as of Tuesday while four other dis

Politics Aug. 4, 2014

The defense minister apologized Monday over the death of a soldier who long suffered from severe assaults and abusive treatment by his comrades in his barracks, vowing to reform the military's culture to prevent any recurrence. In April, a 23-year-old Army private first class, surnamed Yoon, died after allegedly being hit in the chest by six of his colleagues at their barracks of the 28th Division in Yeoncheon, just south of the inter-Korean border, while eating some snacks.The assault caused a

Defense Aug. 4, 2014

The global market share of Hyundai Motor Co. and its corporate cousin Kia Motors Corp. reached 9.1 percent in the second quarter of this year, thanks mainly to demand for newly launched vehicles, industry sources showed Monday.According to South Korea's two largest automakers and findings by U.S.-based LMC Automotive, the combined market share of Hyundai and Kia topped the 9 percent mark for the first time in three quarters. The highest market share so far was 9.4 percent reached in the fourth q

Industry Aug. 4, 2014

South Korea's minimum wage has been set at 5,580 won ($5.40) per hour for next year, up slightly over 7 percent from this year, the labor ministry said Monday.In late June, a trilateral council of government, labor and management representatives agreed to raise the country's minimum wage for 2015 by 7.1 percent from the current 5,210 won per hour.The hourly wage translates to 44,640 won a day for those who work eight hours a day and 1.16 million won a month for those who work 209 hours a month.T

Aug. 4, 2014

The government convened an emergency meeting Monday to discuss ways to deal with the deadly Ebola virus that is fast spreading in the West African region.Hundreds of people have died after being infected with Ebola hemorrhagic fever mainly in the West African region since the first reported outbreak in March. Officials from the foreign ministry, the health ministry and the nation disease control agency plan to discuss ways to prevent the entry of the virus into the country, according to the Prim

Politics Aug. 4, 2014

The presidential office plans to ask the parliament Monday to hold a confirmation hearing on President Park Geun-hye's choice to be the new culture minister, an official said.The move came a day after Park nominated Kim Jong-deok, a professor of visual design at Seoul's Hongik University, as the culture minister, the last post of her new Cabinet.Park conducted a major Cabinet shake-up in June to try to regain public confidence in her administration rocked by April's deadly ferry disaster.The pre

Politics Aug. 4, 2014

South Korea topped the list of wage gap between men and women among advanced countries with the gender pay gap hardly narrowing over the past decade, data showed Monday.According to the data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, South Korea's wage gap by gender stood at 37.4 percent, the highest among the 11 OECD member nations surveyed, as of 2012.The figure means that South Korean women are paid 37.4 percent less than their male counterparts.Japan came next wit

Aug. 4, 2014

South Korea's No. 2 handset maker, LG Electronics Inc., is anticipated to ship more than 60 million units of smartphones in 2014, analysts said Monday, backed by its robust sales of the G3 flagship model."While the competition in the smartphone sector is set to escalate over the second half, the G3 model will continue to gain ground before the launch of the new iPhone," Kiwoom Securities Co. said in its report, adding the local rival of Samsung Electronics Co. will post annual sales of 62 millio

Technology Aug. 4, 2014