At the very heart of bustling Tokyo, a surreally serene, spacious shrine greets hundreds of thousands of worshippers every year seeking to pay tribute to their ancestors and lost loved ones. Albeit being one of the city’s most exquisite landmarks, the temple has for decades been a source of diplomatic feuds between Japan and its neighbors such as Korea and China. Yasukuni Shrine honors nearly 2...

Businesses and politicians are clashing over plans to implement a substitute holiday system, under which employers would be required to give employees a day off during the week when a public holiday falls on a Sunday. The bill for revising related regulations was approved by the Security and Public Administration Committee’s review committee on Friday, and will be raised in the National Assembly...

The two young men implicated in the recent terror bombings at the Boston Marathon last week are described by their neighbors as “regular American kids.” Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, ethnic Chechen brothers who arrived in the United States about 10 years ago, used to be seen riding bikes and skateboards on the street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they lived. Authorities in the United Sta...

The controversy surrounding the planned closure of Jinju Medical Center showed no signs of letting up, with the proposal pending at the provincial assembly. Members of the medical trade union and the police clashed as the workers attempted to prevent Saenuri Party councilors from attending a plenary session of the local assembly in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, while lawmakers of opposition ...

The 63-year-old Cho Yong-pil has returned to the music scene with his first single in 10 years, titled “Bounce.” The track is a prerelease single from his upcoming 19th album “Hello,” which will be unveiled next week. “Bounce,” released on Tuesday, was ranked in the top 10 on all the major local music singles charts, including Bugs and Soribada charts where it overtook Psy’s global hit “Gentlema...

The heir to Hugo Chavez’s “Bolivarian Revolution” has secured a mandate to continue what his mentor started ― but only just. Nicolas Maduro, Chavez’s handpicked vice president and a former bus driver and union leader, prevailed in Venezuela’s presidential election on Sunday, beating pro-business rival Henrique Capriles by just 1.6 percent of the vote. Capriles has disputed the result, calling fo...

Adam Scott ended Australia’s long wait for a Masters win on Sunday. Scott, 32, beat Angel Cabrera of Argentina at the second playoff hole of the 77th Masters to become the first Australian to win the tournament. He recorded a total of 9-under 279 for four rounds. It was also his first major title. He took home $1.44 million in prize money. Adams won by using a long putter for the first time in...

The “Gentleman” music video was officially released to the public and uploaded on YouTube at 9 p.m. Korean time on the night of his concert. The music video is a comedic portrayal of Psy as a not-so-gentlemanly man, arrogantly strutting about the city of Seoul causing mischief tagged with the chorus line of “I’m a mother father gentleman.” The song’s signature dance move, which the singer dubbe...

North Korea is bolstering its cyber warfare capabilities through its Reconnaissance General Bureau, Pyongyang’s premier intelligence body, with some north Korean defectors comparing its abilities to that of the U.S.’ Central Intelligence Agency. The Reconnaissance General Bureau, which is thought to have carried out the March 20 and March 26 hacking attacks on South Korean news and financial org...

Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the ruling Saenuri Party is once again causing a stir over nuclear armament, saying Seoul should keep open the option of withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to better deal with North Korea. “Facing an extraordinary threat to national security, South Korea may exercise the right to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as stipulated in article ...

Small and mid-sized South Korean companies running factories in the sole inter-Korean industrial complex in the North’s border city of Gaeseong are being hit hardest by the stoppage of their production lines in the industrial park. About 53,000 North Korean factory workers did not come to the complex Monday following the North’s announcement that it temporarily suspended Gaeseong’s operations. ...

South Korea’s Park In-bee is building up momentum as an ace pro golfer. The 24-year-old finished with a 15-under-par 273 to beat runner-up compatriot Ryu So-yeon to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship by four strokes on Sunday. It was Park’s first major title of the season and also her second career major title in addition to her 2008 U.S. Women’s Open. The 24-year-old is also the second succes...

What do George Orwell’s “1984” and E.L. James’ “Fifty Shades of Grey” have in common? Starting later on in 2013, they’ll both be owned by the same company after a merger is completed between publishing heavyweights Penguin and Random House. The two have received unconditional approval from several regulatory commissions on competition in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with the late...

President Park Geun-hye’s pick for minister of oceans and fisheries has become a new thorn in an ongoing nomination row after a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday revealed her lack of vision and knowledge of key issues. Both ruling and opposition lawmakers questioned nominee Yoon Jin-sook’s qualifications for the job. The main opposition Democratic United Party on Thursday called for her withdrawa...

Founded under the agreement signed between South Korea’s Hyundai Asan Corp. and the North Korean government in 2000, the Gaeseong Industrial District is the largest inter-Korean economic project to date. More than 53,000 North Korean workers are employed by 123 South Korean companies that recorded a combined output of nearly $47 million in goods in 2012. In addition, provided that the industria...