North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed his firm intention to take "substantial and high-profile important state measures," state media reported Sunday, a remark seen as referring to a nuclear test.   Kim made the statement in a national defense meeting with top military and party cadres as tensions are running high after Pyongyang threatened to conduct its third nuclear test in response to a U.N. Security Council resolution punishing the regime for its Dec. 12 rocket launch.   The North has

North Korea Jan. 27, 2013

 Singer Rain will break his silence and appear at a military event over the weekend as he seeks to restore his tarnished image after being disciplined for dating a top TV actress during service, military officials said Friday.    The singer, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, was grounded in his unit earlier this month as punishment for dating actress Kim Tae-hee during military service. The 31-year old now serves in a media broadcast unit, which promotes the military, in order to fulfill his mand

Performance Jan. 18, 2013

 Nearly 100 doctors will be scrutinized for allegedly receiving illegal kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies, sources said Friday.   The doctors are accused of accepting money or other kickbacks, known as "rebates," worth more than 3 million won (US$2,840) each, from drug makers in exchange for prescribing their products, prosecution officials and pharmaceutical industry sources said.   Some of them were already notified to appear before prosecutors for questioning, according to the officials

Social Affairs Jan. 18, 2013

기아자동차가 K시리즈에 스포티한 중형세단을 추가할 예정이고 그 모델명은 "K8"이 유력한 것으로 알려졌다. "기아가 이미 납품업체들에 K8생산에 필요한 부품을 요청한 상태이다. 제네시스급의 스포티한 세단인것으로 알고 있다"고 최근 업계 관계자가 코리아 헤럴드에 밝혔다.그는 기아의 첫 럭셔리세단 K9의 판매가 부진한 가운데 K8은 허를 찌르는 마케팅으로 K시리즈 판매에 새로운 돌파구가 될 수도 있을 것이라고 예측했다. "현대가 1995년 아반떼를 처음 출시할 때만해도 소나타와 엑센트의 중간모델이 필요한가에 대한 회의적인 시선이 있었다. 하지만 결과적으로 아반떼는 현대의 베스트셀링카가 됐다"고 그 관계자는 전했다. 정확한 출시 일정 등은 아직 알려지지 않았다. K시리즈는 일요일 현대기아차의 디자인총괄로 임명된 피터슈라이어 사장의 역작으로 현재 K3, K5, K7, K9이 출시된 상태다. (코리아헤럴드 이지윤 기자)Sporty new ’K8’ may spice up Kia's K seri

Podcast Jan. 13, 2013

   The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Sunday that it will reevaluate all of its existing fiscal spending plans from scratch to come up with the necessary funds needed to meet President-elect Park Geun-hye's campaign pledges, sources from the presidential transition team said Sunday.   Park, who takes office as the country's first woman chief executive on Feb. 25, has said she will need 134.5 trillion won(US$127.3 billion) over the next five years to follow through on the various promises

Jan. 13, 2013

  South Korea is expected to try again to launch its space rocket later this month after successfully conducting experiments to check if all systems are working properly, a government source said Sunday.   The official said South Korean and Russian researchers are expected to discuss results of repairs made to the rocket late last year and touch on the present state of the Naro-1 rocket. He added Seoul successfully carried out combustion tests on the kick motor on the locally built second stage

Technology Jan. 13, 2013

  The number of South Koreans going to theaters alone nearly doubled over the past seven years as a growing number of the younger generation enjoy doing activities such as viewing performances or shopping by themselves, a leading online ticket seller said Sunday.   Nearly a quarter (23.9 percent) of those who booked tickets with Interpark Corp., a leading online ticket and book seller, last year purchased one ticket to view performances alone, Interpark said.   The comparable figure for 2005 was

Performance Jan. 13, 2013

  NHN Japan, a subsidiary of South Korea's top portal operator NHN Corp., is likely to see the number of its "LINE" messenger users break the 100 million mark this week, sources said Sunday.   LINE, launched in June 2011, is the company's free group messenger application that runs on the Android, Blackberry and iOS operating systems.   The service, which has been launched in roughly 230 countries, has ranked No. 1 in downloads on Google Play and App Store platforms in 41 countries.   After garne

Technology Jan. 13, 2013

 More than one third of foreign manual workers staying in South Korea under a work permit system overstay their visas, the Justice Ministry said Sunday.   Statistics by the ministry showed that 15,804 foreigner workers, or 37.3 percent of the 42,379 whose E-9 non-professional work visa expired in the first 10 months of 2012, failed to get out of the country.   South Korea introduced a work permit system in 2004 in which laborers from 15 countries are allowed to work here for up to three years wi

Social Affairs Jan. 13, 2013

 The government plans to conduct detailed safety tests on two nuclear reactors that have exceeded their original operating life cycles to ensure no problems occur, an official said Sunday.   The official, who declined to be identified, said the Nuclear Safety Commission will include plans to conduct so-called stress tests on the Gori 1 and Wolsong 1 reactors in a report to President-elect Park Geun-hye's transition committee. A stress test refers to a series of experiments that push the reactors

Technology Jan. 13, 2013

President-elect Park Geun-hye's transition team aims to keep public utility charges below gains in consumer prices to reflect the incoming administration's key policy goal of improving the livelihood of the people, sources said Sunday.   A source in the transition committee told Yonhap News Agency that it is right for hikes in utility prices be kept to a minimum so as not to adversely affect the economy and the lives of ordinary people.    "The goal is to encourage state-run utility companies to

Politics Jan. 13, 2013

  South Korea saw the number of its leading export products fall from a year earlier, raising alarm bells over the country's trade competitiveness, data showed Sunday.   The number of South Korea's leading export products reached 61 in 2011, down from 71 the previous year, according to the data by the financial industry and the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). Leading export products refer to product categories in which South Korea ranks first in export market share.   The data show

Jan. 13, 2013