TOKYO -- The last working reactor in Japan is to be switched off Saturday, leaving the country without nuclear power just over a year after the world's worst atomic accident in a quarter of a century.As technicians ready to close down the No. 3 unit at Tomari in Hokkaido, the debate over whether Japan needs nuclear power has been reignited, amid increasingly shrill warnings of summer power blackou

Latest News May 5, 2012

SHANGHAI -- South Korea, China and Japan agreed on an action plan Saturday aimed at expanding cultural cooperation and exchange between the three countries.The deal reached in Shanghai calls for the designation of so-called cultural cities in each of the three countries in 2014, and the hosting of joint art fairs that can attract leading traditional and modern artists.The action plan was reached a

Latest News May 5, 2012

YEOSU -- Organizers for the 2012 Yeosu Expo said Saturday that they have successfully carried out a full-fledged dress rehearsal to check overall preparations for the international event.The three-month-long exposition that will officially open on May 12 is expected to attract visitors from all over the world, and highlight efforts being made to combat the challenges of climate change and its impa

Latest News May 5, 2012

LG Electronics Inc., the world's No. 3 handset maker, unveiled on Saturday a new Optimus smartphone running on the fourth-generation long-term evolution (LTE) network.LG Electronics said that the Optimus LTE 2 has 5 gigabytes of random access memory, the largest among smartphones sold in South Korea.The company said the RAM on the smartphone is twice as powerful as those found in many tablet PCs a

Latest News May 5, 2012

FRESNO, California (Yonhap) -- South Korean inspectors sent to the United States to check the safety of beef failed to visit a cattle farm in central California that reported the latest case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), an official source said Friday. Joo E-suk, head of the inspection team, said indirect contact was made with the owner of the farm through a veterinarian.He did not el

Latest News May 5, 2012

LONDON (AP) -- London's comic and outspoken mayor Boris Johnson won reelection Friday, triumphing in a closer-than-expected vote to secure a second term and his status as the unvarnished and unpredictable host of the 2012 Olympics.Johnson's victory, in election results confirmed late Friday, was a bright spot on a rough day for his colleagues in Prime Minister David Cameron's governing Conservativ

Latest News May 5, 2012

TOKYO (Reuters) – Less than a fortnight into his job as CEO, Kazuo Hirai sketched out a strategy to revive Sony Corp: a major push into smartphones, growth in games and cameras, and big cost cuts in a TV business that has not made a profit in 8 years.The Sony veteran, in his first public briefing as CEO, also targeted new business in medical equipment and electric car batteries, and set a target f

World Business April 12, 2012

Technology Jan. 1, 2012

OSAKA, Japan -- President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Japan on Saturday for talks with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, overshadowed by fresh tensions arising from Tokyo's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II.Lee's two-day trip to Japan was originally expected to be largely an occasion

Social Affairs Dec. 17, 2011

South Korea is pushing to developinfiltration boats equipped with stealth functions as part of efforts to increase its maritime combat ability, a military source said Saturday."(The military) is pushing to develop stealth function-equipped special infiltration boats and other supporting craft with t

Defense Dec. 17, 2011

The United States agreed to provide up to 240,000 tons of food aid to North Korea in recent talks held in Beijing, diplomatic sources in Seoul said Saturday, noting the agreement could help ensure progress at a fresh round of nuclear negotiations scheduled for later this month.The sides, the sources

North Korea Dec. 17, 2011

South Korea's first icebreaker, the Araon, is set to embark on a rescue mission to help save a Russian boat trapped in the Antarctic, ship operators said Saturday.The South Korean ship, currently anchored at New Zealand's second-largest city of Christchurch, will set sail later Saturday to head for

National Dec. 17, 2011

Park Tae-Joon, the late founder and honorary chairman of South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO, was buried at the country's National Cemetery in Seoul on Saturday.The funeral service was attended by over 600 people, including top political and government figures such as National Assembly Speaker Park H

Industry Dec. 17, 2011

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. weather agency says concentrations of global warming gases are at record levels from emissions that exceed scientists' worst-case scenarios.The World Meteorological Organization says heat-trapping carbon dioxide concentrations in the air have reached 389 parts per millio

World Business Nov. 21, 2011

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission, the EU executive, believes that the joint issuing of eurobonds by the 17 euro nations would be the most effective way to tackle the financial crisis, according to a draft paper seen Monday.The study by the European Commission, the EU's executive branch,

World Business Nov. 21, 2011