The United States is prepared to engage with North Korea if Pyongyang demonstrates its denuclearization commitment, the White House said Wednesday, after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump expressed his willingness to speak to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."The United States has worked effectively with the international community, including countries like Russia and China, to isolate North Korea because of their failure to abide by their international obligations when it comes to t

North Korea May 19, 2016

Sales of Man Booker International Prize winner "The Vegetarian" by Korean novelist Han Kang have soared overseas, a Korean literary agency said Wednesday.Joseph Lee, president of Korean Literary (KL) Management, told Yonhap News Agency that the book has gone into a second printing of20,000 copies in the United Kingdom and 7,500 copies in the United States. KL Management handles the author's publication rights in foreign markets.He also said many countries, including India, Indonesia and some Ara

Books May 19, 2016

An appeals court handed down a 42-month jail term to the chief of a local steelmaker Wednesday for gambling abroad with millions of dollars he embezzled.The Seoul High Court also ordered Chang Sae-joo, chairman of Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., to forfeit some 1.4 billion won ($1.2 million).The business tycoon was indicted in May 2015 on charges of misappropriating more than 20 billion won from the company since 2003 and using part of it to gamble in Las Vegas.A lower court had sentenced him to 42 mont

Social Affairs May 18, 2016

China on Wednesday expressed its support for direct talks between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, responding to remarks by U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that he is open to speaking with the leader of the reclusive country. "China supports direct negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea," China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, told Reuters in an interview that he

North Korea May 18, 2016

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn will make a five-day trip to Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia later this week to hold talks with counterparts on expanding mutual ties, his office said Wednesday.Hwang is scheduled to leave for Uzbekistan on Thursday to meet Uzbek President Islam Karimov, and discuss expanding exchanges in various industrial segments from energy, infrastructure to information communications.Korea and Uzbekistan will also promote further exchanges in the cultural and education sectors as w

Politics May 18, 2016

Korea will play Nigeria first in an international football tournament created as a warm-up for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, the national football governing body said Wednesday.The Korea Football Association (KFA) said that South Korea will host Nigeria at the four-nation invitational tournament on June 2 at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The men's under-23 football team will then face Honduras on June 4 at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, north of Seoul. They will wrap

Soccer May 18, 2016

Korea will create a new visa type that links studying and working and relax requirements for issuing student visas in an effort to attract talented foreigners, the government said Wednesday.The Ministry of Justice said the new work-study visa will allow government-invited students to get a job here right after their graduation, starting next month.Currently, for a company to hire a foreigner, it has to have at least five South Korean employees. The number of foreigners should also be kept below

Social Affairs May 18, 2016

Korea's civil rights body ordered the Air Force to revise its discriminatory policy that excludes night college students from getting scholarships, adding that the existing system poses major problems for equality.The country's Air Force currently runs a scholarship program that cherry picks college students through their third year and provides them with tuition and flight education courses so they can become pilots after graduating.The program, however, is only open to those enrolled in daytim

Defense May 18, 2016

Kim Ki-min has become the first South Korean ballerino to win the world's most prestigious ballet award, organizers said Wednesday.The organizing committee of Benois de la Danse 2016 declared him the best dancer on Tuesday, local time, for his role as Solor in the Paris Opera Ballet's "La Bayadere de Rudolf Noureev" staged in late 2015.The 24-year-old is currently the principal dancer with Russia's Mariinsky Ballet.Previously, two other South Korean ballerinos -- Kim Hyun-woong and Lee Dong-hoon

Culture May 18, 2016

Korean civic groups together filed a complaint Wednesday, challenging the constitutionality of the local authorities' collection of user information from mobile carriers without a warrant.The Lawyers for a Democratic Society, or Minbyun, said 500 people, including professors, filed the complaint with the Constitutional Court.Under the current law, local investigative authorities, such as police, prosecution and intelligence agency, can gather personal information of mobile carrier users without

Social Affairs May 18, 2016

Two former South Korean football stars were appointed honorary ambassadors for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup on Wednesday. The organizing committee of the U-20 World Cup unveiled Park Ji-sung and Ahn Jung-hwan as new goodwill ambassadors for South Korea's first hosting of the FIFA tournament since 2007. The U-20 World Cup, which features 24 nations, will be played from May 20 to June 11, 2017, in Cheonan, Daejeon, Incheon, Jeju, Jeonju and Suwon. Park and Ahn are considered South Korean football

Soccer May 18, 2016