The total number of HIV/AIDS cases in Korea surpassed the 8,000 mark with a record number of new infections last year, health authorities said Tuesday. According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 888 more Koreans were found to have contracted HIV, which can lead to AIDS, in 2011, raising the total number to 8,544. Some 1,512 of the 8,514 infected have died, which leaves 7,...

No stranger to incendiary rhetoric, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad riled Israel and the West once again with his remarks on Monday that the world’s only Jewish-majority state had no roots in the Middle East and would be “eliminated.” Speaking in New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad also dismissed the credibility of Israel’s threats to strike Iran...

Moon Jae-in focuses on welfare, economic democratization, political reform, improved ties with N.K. From a recalcitrant student activist to a human rights lawyer and now the presidential candidate of the main opposition Democratic United Party, the life of Rep. Moon Jae-in has been tumultuous yet fortuitous. Until early last year, few had thought the former chief of staff to late President Roh ...

Around 40 percent of households in Seoul with elementary and secondary school students spend more than 910,000 won ($813) on private education per month, a survey showed Tuesday. According to the telephone survey of 261 parents having elementary and secondary school children, 36.6 percent said they spend more than 910,000 won on average per month for private education, followed by 410,000 won to...

In many Asian countries, the English language proficiency test is one of the main pillars of the school gate. In these countries, English competency is not only an important asset for the individual or society in this global era, but also an important subject of the high-stakes test for college entrance. For this reason, the format of English language testing for college entrance in Asian countri...

President Park Jong-won emphasizes integrated education, artists’ contribution to society This summer a pool of Korean violinists took European audiences by surprise by making up one-quarter of the 12 finalists at the Queen Elisabeth competition in Belgium, regarded as one of the world’s three most acclaimed contests alongside Russia’s Tchaikovsky and Poland’s Chopin competitions. At that time,...

Microorganisms embedded in fragments of distant planets that crashed to Earth might have been seeds of life on our planet, U.S. and European researchers say. Scientists from Princeton University, the University of Arizona and the Centro de Astrobiologia in Spain, writing in the journal Astrobiology, said there is a possibility that life came to Earth -- or spread from Earth to other planets -- d...