The presidential office called Sunday for the swift passage of a controversial bill to reform the public employee pension system as the National Assembly is set to open an extra session this week.The bill to restructure the debt-ridden pension plan for government employees has been at the center of the Park Geun-hye government's recent reform drive. The much-awaited passage of the bill, however, fell apart in parliament on the last day of the preceding extra parliamentary session last week as ri

Politics May 10, 2015

South Korea's home transactions soared nearly 30 percent in April from a year earlier, the government said Sunday, pointing to a possible recovery of the housing market.The number of home transactions came to 120,488 in April, up 29.3 percent from a year earlier and 7.7 percent from the previous month, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.It marks the highest growth rate ever for April since the country began compiling related data in 2006, the ministry said.April's su

May 10, 2015

South Korea's savings banks posted net profit for three straight quarters in fiscal 2014 on the back of decreased loan-loss reserves, the financial watchdog said Sunday.The combined net income of 79 savings banks operating in the country came in at 344.3 billion won ($316 million) in the period from July last year to March this year, a turnaround from a deficit of 476.8 billion won a year ago, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).Since they turned to black in the July-September p

May 10, 2015

A South Korean special envoy has met with a top North Korean official in Moscow during a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, diplomatic sources here said Sunday.   Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the ruling Saenuri Party encountered Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's ceremonial head of state, during the Saturday ceremony in Moscow's Red Square, they said. Kim attended the ceremony on behalf of leader Kim Jong-un.   Yoon and Kim exchanged just pleasantri

North Korea May 10, 2015

North Korea has significantly beefed up its human resources to boost its cyber warfare capabilities, the South Korean military said Sunday."A total of 6,800 hackers -- some 1,700 experts and 5,100 supportive members -- have been assigned to hacking and other cyber provocations," a senior military officer told reporters, requesting anonymity. The latest figure is 900 more than what Seoul's Military Cyber Command reported to the National Assembly in October."North Korea appears to have been concen

North Korea May 10, 2015

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Sunday that its proposal for an ultra-high definition (UHD) television broadcasting technology has been chosen as the candidate for the next standard for the U.S. TV industry. The proposal, submitted jointly with U.S.-based broadcast infrastructure provider ONE Media, has been adopted by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) 3.0 Technology Standards Group 3 as a Candidate Standard, the tech firm said in a press release.The proposal

Industry May 10, 2015

South Korea's top carmaker, Hyundai Motor Co., and its smaller affiliate, Kia Motors Corp., saw sales of their mid-size cars in China expand in the first quarter of this year on efforts to sell more pricey cars to improve profitability, data showed Sunday. Of the 440,514 vehicles the two carmakers sold in the January-March period in the Chinese market, the share of cars in the mid-size segment came to 81,311 units, or 18.5 percent, according to industry data. Compared to a year earlier, the port

Industry May 10, 2015

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev called on South Korean high-tech firms Sunday to invest in his country, the "front-door" to the European Union."To step in Bulgaria for Korean business means to step in the region, placed between Europe and Asia; we are the front door to a 500-million people single European market," Plevneliev said in a written interview with Yonhap News Agency.He also boasted Bulgaria's low tax levels, saying they are the sixth lowest in the world for small- and medium-sized

Industry May 10, 2015

South Korea plans to announce a package of measures next month to counter a slowdown in its exports, a main driver of the country's economic growth, officials said Sunday.The move comes as overseas shipments lost further ground last month. Asia's fourth-largest economy reported an 8.1 percent on-year fall in outbound shipments in April, worsening from a 4.3 percent on-year drop in March.Officials said the finance ministry, together with other government ministries and state think tanks, has star

May 10, 2015

올 시즌 처음으로 아시아 프로축구를 경험한 이탈리아 출신 파비오 칸나바로 광저우 헝다(중국) 감독이 한국이 가장 까다로운 상대라고 말했다.AP통신은 6일(현지시각) 칸나바로 감독이 2015 아시아축구연맹(AFC) 챔피언스리그를 통해 경험한 아시아 각국 프로팀의 평가를 소개했다고 보도했다.그는 “호주는 다른 국가에 비해 체격이 좋고, 긴 패스를 잘한다. 일본은 내가 좋아하는 스타일의 축구를 한다. 기술적으로 아주 뛰어나다”고 말했다. 그는 이어 “그러나 가장 강한 상대는 한국 팀이다. 한국 팀은 정신력이 강하다”고 평가했다. 엄청난 투자로 ‘탈(脫) 아시아급’ 전력을 구축했다는 평가를 받는 광저우 헝다 는 FC서울과 가시마 앤틀러스(일본), 웨스턴 시드니(호주)가 포함된 아시아챔피언스리그 H조에서 1위를 차지했다.광저우는 서울과 1승1무를 기록했다.칸나바로 감독은 2006년 독일 월드컵 때 이탈리아 국가대표 주장을 맡았던 스타 선수 출신이다.그는 지난해 말 이탈리아 축구대표팀 감독 출

한국어판 May 7, 2015