Daesung, a member of the popular boy band BIGBANG, will drop his new individual EP album simultaneously in South Korea and Japan next week, his agency said Friday.The "D-Day" album will be uploaded on major online music sites of the two countries on Tuesday ahead of his first solo Japanese dome tour set to begin on April 15. The album is scheduled to hit Japanese record stores on April 12. Above is the cover image of Daesung's forthcoming EP album "D-Day." (Yonhap)The album produced by himself w

Performance March 24, 2017

Nearly 2 million overseas South Koreans will be allowed to vote in the country's upcoming presidential election, the election watchdog said Friday.According to the National Election Commission, there were about 1.98 million overseas South Koreans eligible to vote in the May 9 presidential election. Officials from the Democratic Party and the National Election Commission count ballots following the end of a one-day vote as part of the liberal party's primary election at 250 polling stations throu

Social Affairs March 24, 2017

North Korea has been conducting ballistic missile launching drills on a regular basis to counter what it called the United States' nuclear war threats, Pyongyang's state media said Friday.In its first reference to the country regularly launching missiles, North Korea is seen as hinting that it could conduct missile provocations down the road. (Yonhap)"It was a normal drill that was aimed at countering nuclear war maneuvers staged by enemy forces including the US," said the Rodong Sinmun, the cou

North Korea March 24, 2017

North Korea on Friday continued its daily condemnations of alleged US human rights abuses especially ahead of the adoption of a resolution on its human rights conditions at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva."The United States is disqualified to play the role of a human rights judge," the Rodong Sinmun, a daily of the North's ruling Workers' Party, said in a commentary titled "The US World's Worst Human Rights Abuser." Argentinian Tomas Ojea Quintana (right), U.N. Special Rapporteur on the

North Korea March 24, 2017

Three former South Korean ministers on Friday agreed in principle on the need to reopen the now-shuttered joint industrial complex in North Korea, but called for a cautious approach given the heightening tensions across the border. Former Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said Seoul's decision in 2016 to shut down the Kaesong Industrial Complex was a serious policy failure.  This photo taken on Feb. 6, 2017, shows the now-shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint industrial park located in Nort

North Korea March 24, 2017

Criminal proceeds have been repatriated to South Korea from abroad for the first time in the country's history, prosecutors here said Friday.The Supreme Prosecutors' Office (SPO) said they have retrieved some 980 million won ($873,000) in criminal proceeds leaked by a multilevel marketing scammer to the United States a decade ago.The repatriated money was paid back to a total of 691 victims defrauded by the scammer identified as Kwak, who is now in custody in South Korea, the SPO said.It marked

Social Affairs March 24, 2017

South Korean stocks fell Friday as foreign investors remained net sellers of local stocks, with sentiment partly subdued after Samsung Electronics said it may have to delay adopting a holding company format at present. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 3.77 points, or 0.17 percent, to close at 2,168.95. Trade volume was moderate at 354 million shares worth 5.04 trillion won ($4.48 billion). Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyu

March 24, 2017

The broadcasting regulator on Friday renewed the licenses for three general-programming cable TV channels on the condition that they curtail programs criticized for providing incorrect and biased information and using inappropriate language.The Korea Communications Commission made the decision during a plenary session as their previous three-year licenses are to expire next month.JTBC run by the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper was allowed to continue its operations until Nov. 30, 2020, and TV Chosun, ru

Television March 24, 2017

South Korea's Navy staged a far-reaching maritime exercise Friday in commemoration of three major inter-Korean naval clashes since 2002.The second annual training marking the West Sea Defense Day, which was held in all waters around the nation, involved major naval weaponry including destroyer submarines, frigates, corvettes and choppers. (Yonhap)The training is held in memory of three incidents near the western Northern Limit Line, the de-facto sea border between the two Koreas.They are North K

North Korea March 24, 2017

Up to 500,000 North Korean people are estimated to be carrying out religious activities underground in the North despite the Kim Jong-un regime's oppression, a human rights organization here said Friday. Pointing out that there exist some gaps in estimates on the number of North Korean religious persons by relief organizations, pastor Jeong Peter, the head of Justice for North Korea in Seoul, said that Open Doors estimates the figure at 200,000-400,000; Voice of the Martyrs at 500,000; and the C

North Korea March 24, 2017

(Yonhap)South Korea strongly protested Japan's renewed claim to the easternmost islets of Dokdo in its recently authorized textbooks on Friday, calling on Tokyo to take immediate corrective measures. (Yonhap)

Social Affairs March 24, 2017

South Korea will strengthen education on the country's easternmost islets of Dokdo at local schools to counter Japan's renewed claims to Dokdo in its textbooks to be used from next year, the education ministry here said Friday.The decision by the Ministry of Education was announced as its Japanese counterpart revealed its new high school textbooks insisting that Dokdo belongs to Japan. (Yonhap)Under the new policy, primary and secondary schools in South Korea will be pushed to increase the amoun

Social Affairs March 24, 2017

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., South Korea's embattled shipbuilder, said Friday that its portfolio will be mostly made up of LNG carriers and other specialty vessels, with the company expecting a business turnaround this year.Its rosy outlook came a day after the country's state-run creditors of the shipyard, the world's largest by order backlog, announced a fresh rescue package worth 6.7 trillion won ($5.98 billion), but only if all stakeholders agree to a painful debt-for-equity

Industry March 24, 2017

South Korea and the United States plan to stage a large-scale logistics exercise next month on the southeastern coast of the peninsula, their combined command announced Friday.The drill, named "Operation Pacific Reach (OCR)," will be held at the Pohang Dogu Beach from April 10-21. The Marine Corps of South Korea and the United States conduct a joint military drill on Nov. 2, 2016, in this photo provided by the military. (Yonhap)"This exercise is a training event focused on integrating ROK (South

Diplomatic Circuit March 24, 2017

South Korea will carry out an integrated assessment of its eight public insurances' long and mid-term financial estimates in 2018 in a way to better deal with their potential deficit due to the country's rapidly aging population, the finance ministry said Friday.According to government data, eight public insurances, including the National Health Insurance Service, will see their total expenditure reach 220 trillion won ($195.9 billion) in 2025, up from 106.2 trillion won tallied in 2016. (Yonhap

March 24, 2017