SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- North Korea imported six times more mobile phones in 2010 than in 2009, a media report said Wednesday, indicating growing mobile penetration in the reclusive country.North Korea bought 430,000 mobile phones from China in 2010, up from 68,000 phones the previous year, accor

North Korea Jan. 11, 2012

SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's jobless rate fell last year from a year earlier, but its labor markets remain tough amid worries over a slowing economic recovery, a report showed Wednesday.The jobless rate stood at 3.4 percent in 2011, down 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier, accordi

Jan. 11, 2012

SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- The number of South Koreans retiring to farming surged to a new annual high in 2011 thanks to local governments' efforts to attract retiring baby boomers, a report showed Wednesday.According to the report by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the nu

Social Affairs Jan. 11, 2012

SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Grand National Party on Wednesday proposed removing the word "conservative" from its platform in a symbolic move to widen its appeal ahead of the April parliamentary elections.The proposal by the party's emergency council is the latest in a series of reform meas

Politics Jan. 11, 2012

SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's second-largest handset maker, swept the Russian mobile phone market, ranking first in four categories in November last year, a research firm said Monday.Samsung Electronics took first place in the Russian mobile phone market in terms of

Technology Jan. 9, 2012

Prosecutors said Thursday they have indicted SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on charges of embezzlement, but he will be allowed to stand trial without physical detention. The indictment came about a week after they arrested the group's vice chairman, Chey's younger brother Jae-won, over the same char

Social Affairs Jan. 5, 2012

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) said Thursday it will request prosecutors to look into allegations that one of its former party leaders bribed fellow party members to get the chief post in the past leadership election, dealing yet another blow to the struggling party

Politics Jan. 5, 2012

FRESNO, California (AP) _ Northern California scientists say they have found a possible explanation for the honey bee die-off: A parasitic fly that hijacks the bees' bodies and causes them to abandon hives.The symptoms mirror colony collapse disorder, in which all the adult honey bees in a colony su

Podcast Jan. 5, 2012

SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- The rising number of female lawmakers has led to an expansion in their legislative activities, slowly introducing groundwork for gender equality at the male-dominated National Assembly, a government report showed on Wednesday.According to the report by the state-run Korean

Social Affairs Jan. 4, 2012