Thousands of South Korean farmers rallied in Seoul on Thursday, protesting Chinese demands for more access to the local agricultural market as part of a planned free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea.   About 5,000 farmers who grow chili peppers, onions, and garlic gathered in Seoul's financial district of Yeouido, protesting China's reported move to ask for greater access for its agricultural products at the next round of negotiations for a bilateral FTA.   The 12th round of FTA talks betw

Social Affairs July 10, 2014

A hugely controversial Russian law banning curse words in films, theatre, the media and arts came into force on Tuesday, part of a Kremlin-backed drive to play up traditional values and root out swearing.   The legislation, wich was signed off by President Vladimir Putin in May, imposes hefty fines on offenders -- up to 2,500 rubles ($72) for individuals and up to 50,000 rubles ($1,460) for businesses.    Movies featuring obscenities will not be issued a distribution licence, while traders will

World News July 1, 2014

The murder trial of South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius turned its focus on Tuesday to whether neighbours could have heard his model girlfriend screaming on the night he shot her dead.   Prosecutors are trying to prove that Reeva Steenkamp screamed and that this showed the star athlete known as the "Blade Runner" knowingly gunned her down in a fit of anger after a row in the early hours of Valentine's Day last year.   The defence claims Pistorius shot the 29-year-old model and law graduate

World News July 1, 2014

An Egyptian militant group has claimed responsibility for bomb blasts near the presidential palace that killed two senior police officers and wounded 10 other people.    Ajnad Misr, or Soldiers of Egypt, which has claimed previous attacks on police, said in a statement posted on militant websites hours after Monday's attack that it set a trap for guards at Cairo's Ittihadiya palace using new explosive devices that cannot be detected by ordinary equipment.    The group said its experts spent mont

World News July 1, 2014

South Korea reaffirmed its stance Tuesday that Japan should seek explicit consent from Seoul if Tokyo exercises the right to "collective self-defense" in cases of emergency situations related to security on the Korean Peninsula.   The Japanese cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to reinterpret its war-renouncing Constitution that has banned Japan from exercising what is called the right to collective self-defense, a major shift in Japan's postwar security policy. The right would allow Tokyo t

Foreign Affairs July 1, 2014

South Korea's newly-appointed defense chief vowed Tuesday to "mercilessly respond" to North Korea in the case of any provocation, instructing troops at the tensely-guarded western sea border to prepare for an effective counterattack.   Defense Minister Han Min-koo made the remarks during a visit to the islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong in the Yellow Sea just south of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto inter-Korean western sea border.   Han, a career soldier and former chief of the Joint C

North Korea July 1, 2014

Prosecutors investigating April's deadly ferry sinking apologized Monday for so far failing to arrest the ferry operator's fugitive owner, vowing to apprehend him as quickly as possible.   A massive manhunt has been under way for weeks for Yoo Byung-eun, who is wanted for a string of corruption charges and irregularities that are believed to have contributed to the April 16 sinking of the Sewol that claimed more than 300 lives.   Police have previously combed through the city of Suncheon, 415 ki

Social Affairs June 2, 2014

Korea Mobile Internet (KMI) is the sole bidder for the 2.5Ghz frequency bandwidth that can be used for long-term evolution time-division duplex (LTE-TDD) and wireless broadband (WiBro), the government said Monday.   According to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, KMI has been the only bidder in the auction that began on May 2.   The company made up of mobile virtual network firms originally requested a license to become a LTE-TDD operator on Nov. 14 2013, but retracted its request

Technology June 2, 2014

   Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-largest automotive conglomerate, said Monday that it has developed a mobile diagnostics system that can quickly determine problems in a car using an ordinary tablet PC.    The new Global Diagnostic System (GDS) is a world first and represents a jump in technology compared to the tools used by Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. since 2006, the conglomerate claimed. The two carmakers are flagships of the conglomerate and the top two manufacturers of au

Mobility June 2, 2014

  South Korea rescued three North Koreans who were drifting at sea and two of them want to stay in the South, officials said Monday, which would likely produce an angry response from Pyongyang.    The men were rescued off the South's eastern coast on Saturday and while two want to stay, one said he wished to return to the North, Seoul's Unification Ministry said in a statement.     Defections are a source of conflict between the Koreas. Seoul returns those who wish to return home but accepts tho

North Korea June 2, 2014

   Overseas construction orders secured by South Korean builders stood at US$31.6 billion in the first five months of this year, up 35 percent compared to 2013, local industry data showed Monday.   The International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK) said the total is the highest reached for the period since 2010 when the $18.6 billion order for the United Arab Emirate's nuclear reactor project was tallied.   By region, orders from the Middle East accounted for 78 percent of the total, or $

Industry June 2, 2014

   Daelim Industrial Co., one of South Korea's leading  builders, said Monday it won a 245 billion won (US$239.2 million) contract to build part of a subway line in Singapore.   The company said the contract reached with the city-state's Land Transport Authority is to build 1.42 kilometers of the Thomson Line, which includes one station and some 1.2 kilometers of tunnel.   Construction is expected to take 79 months, with work to be completed in December 2020.   The overall length of the new subw

Industry June 2, 2014

   Sales by South Korean automakers remained at a standstill last month from a year earlier, mainly due to fewer working days, data showed Monday.   The combined sales of five local car manufacturers, including market leader Hyundai Motor Co., reached 746,978 vehicles in May, up just 80 units from 746,898 units a year ago. The total excludes knockdown kits shipped abroad for assembly.     The total represents a 6.9 percent drop from 802,657 vehicles sold in April.   Carmakers said that the four-

Mobility June 2, 2014

   South Korea rejected North Korea's demand that Seoul hand over all three North Koreans picked up from a fishing boat drifting off South Korea's east coast, an official said Monday, a move that could anger the North amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula.   The three men, who are in their 20s and 30s, were picked up by a South Korean coast guard vessel near Ulleung Island on Saturday after their ship ran adrift.   South Korea said two of the three North Koreans expressed their wish to remain in

North Korea June 2, 2014

Thousands of cheering supporters welcomed India's next prime minister on his arrival in the capital Saturday after leading his party to a staggering victory in national elections.    Standing on the footboard of his SUV, Narendra Modi flashed a victory sign as he drove past jubilant supporters outside the New Delhi airport, heading toward the headquarters of his Bharatiya Janata Party to discuss the formation of a new government.    A new government is likely to be in place by next week, but no

World News May 17, 2014