A South Korean fishing boat was safely rescued by the country's icebreaker Saturday, one day after the ship became stranded by ice in the Antarctic sea, the maritime ministry said."The stranded ship has been successfully rescued and is on its way to a safe area," a ministry official said.The 62-ton "Sun Star" sent a distress call late Friday after an 862-ton ship from the same South Korean company failed to pull it out of heavy ice in the polar region, the ministry said earlier.The South Korean

Social Affairs Dec. 19, 2015

A newspaper published by China's Communist Party said Saturday that Beijing voted against a U.N.resolution on North Korea's human rights record despite "some domestic pressures," urging Pyongyang to be "grateful" about the Chinese vote. The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court for human rights violations this week. A total of 119 nations voted for the resolution and 19 nations, including China, against it, with 48 absten

North Korea Dec. 19, 2015

A South Korean fishing boat has been stranded by ice in the Antarctic sea but no casualties have been reported with help from the country's icebreaker already on the way, the maritime ministry said Saturday.The 62-ton "Sun Star" sent a distress call late Friday after an 862-ton ship from the same company failed to pull the ship out of heavy ice in the polar region, the ministry said.The ship's 39 crewmembers, including seven South Korean sailors, have been ordered to evacuate to the larger compa

Social Affairs Dec. 19, 2015

The number of passengers cited for unlawful activities or misconduct on domestic and international flights to and from South Korea is growing, partly due to the sheer rise in the number of air passengers, a government report showed Saturday.In the first 10 months of the year, the number of in-flight passenger misconduct cases came to 369, already surpassing the annual total of 354 from last year, according to a report from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport submitted to ruling pa

Industry Dec. 19, 2015

Global rating agency Moody's upgraded South Korea's sovereign credit rating to Aa2 from Aa3, the highest-ever rating the fourth largest Asian economy has received from an international credit rating agency.Moody's changed the outlook to stable from positive."The key drivers of the upgrade are Moody's expectations that Korea's credit metrics will remain strong and resilient compared to rating peers and that Korea's very high institutional strength will support continued implementation of structur

Dec. 19, 2015

The U.S. Congress could try to exercise oversight over the government's handling of new multilateral development banks, a congressional report said, pointing out the Obama administration has been inconsistent in its response to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).China launched the AIIB earlier this year with a total of 57 nations as founding members, including South Korea, Britain, Germany and other key European nations. The establishment was seen as aimed at bolstering Beijing's ec

Politics Dec. 19, 2015

South Korean stocks are expected to go wobbly next week as faltering oil prices would exacerbate prolonged concerns over the global economic downturn, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,975.32 on Friday, down 2.3 percent from a week ago, marking the third straight week of declines.The market started bearish this week following the sharp fall in oil prices the previous week that also battered the U.S. shares.Investors, however, began picking up risky

Dec. 19, 2015