LE BOURGET, France (AFP) -- Cheering envoys from 195 nations approved Saturday a historic accord in Paris to stop global warming, offering hope that humanity can avert catastrophic climate change and usher in an energy revolution. [번역] 프랑스 르부르제(AFP) -- 토요일 파리에서 195개국 사절들은, 지구온난화를 막기 위한 역사적인 협정을 승인해 인류가 재앙적인 기후 변화를 피할 수 있으며 에너지 혁명을 도래시킬 수 있다는 희망을 전했다. [/번역] French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabi...

Practices of fraudulent stock trading are still rampant although local regulators pledged to reinforce their scrutiny of alleged perpetrators of financial crimes. Apart from manipulators -- who issue bogus trading orders for price-rigging -- other major scammers continuously tainting the equity market are those who make irregular gains by using insider corporate information. [번역] 당국이 금융 범죄 의혹을 ...

Korea’s liberal party has lost to its conservative counterpart in most elections over the past few years. It allowed the conservative party to score landside victories in the general elections in 2008 and 2012. The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy does not seem to stand a good chance when it comes to the coming April 13 general election. [번역] 지난 몇 년 간 한국 진보당은 대부분의 선거에서 보수당에 패...

Japanese police Wednesday arrested a 27-year-old Korean man suspected of having triggered a small explosion in a restroom at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo last month, according to Japanese reports. [번역] 일본 언론에 따르면, 일본 경찰이 수요일, 지난 달 도쿄 야스쿠니 신사 화장실에서 발생한 소규모 폭발을 일으킨 혐의가 있는 한국인 남성(27)을 체포했다. [/번역] The man, identified by his surname Jeon, denies the charges, reports said. Jeon was arrested on char...

In Korea, low oil prices have long been considered a blessing, as the country has to import crude oil to meet more than one-third of its energy demands. Korea suffered an economic crisis in 1979 due to a surge in oil prices following the second oil shock. But it enjoyed an unprecedented economic boom in the late 1980s thanks to low oil prices. [번역] 에너지 수요의 3분의 1이상을 충족시키기 위해 원유를 수입해야 하는 한국에서 저유가...

It is already well-known that the National Assembly is one of the least trusted public institutions in the country. This public view has obviously worsened during the current 19th Assembly, which ends its last regular session Wednesday. [번역] 국회가 한국에서 가장 신뢰받지 못하는 공공기관 중 하나라는 것은 이미 잘 알려져 있다. 이러한 국민들의 생각은 수요일에 정기 국회 회기가 끝나는 19대 국회에서 명백히 악화됐다. [/번역] A recent Gallup Korea poll found that 82 percen...

The conflict between the central government and local educational offices over the financing of the early childhood education and care program is escalating, causing anxiety among parents with preschoolers. The government introduced the Nuri Curriculum, a universal care service for children aged 3 to 5, in 2013, in line with President Park Geun-hye’s campaign pledge to strengthen the state’s acco...

Last week, the Ministry of Justice committed a folly typical of an immature government. It announced a half-baked policy on the state-run bar exam without consulting with related government offices or thinking about the response of those to be affected by its decision. [번역] 지난 주 법무부가 미숙한 정부가 흔히 저지르는 어리석은 짓을 저질렀다. 법무부는 관련 정부 부처와 협의하거나 이러한 결정에 영향을 받는 이들의 반응을 생각하지도 않고 섣부른 사법시험 정책을 발표했다. [/번역] On...

The International Monetary Fund’s decision earlier this week to add the Chinese currency to its reserve currency basket is expected to benefit Korea in the long term, but it poses policy challenges to Korea’s financial authorities. [번역] 이번 주 초 국제통화기금(IMF)이 중국 위안화를 준비 통화 바스켓에 추가하기로 결정하면서 한국은 장기적으로 이익을 볼 것으로 예상되지만 한국 금융당국은 정책 과제를 안게 됐다. [/번역] The IMF has agreed to give the yuan a weighting of 1...

Leaders and officials from more than 140 countries gathered in Paris to kick off historic talks to set a new legally binding regime to cut greenhouse gas emissions. President Park Geun-hye was also in the French capital to express Korea`s commitment to joining the global endeavors to fight global warming. [번역] 법적 구속력이 있는 새로운 온실가스 배출 감축 체계를 마련하기 위한 역사적 회의를 시작하기 위해 140여개국의 정상. 관계자들이 파리에 모였다. 박근혜 ...

The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy’s former leader Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo has affectively called on the party chairman Moon Jae-in to step down. [번역] 안철수 전 새정치민주연합 대표가 감정적으로 문재인 대표의 사퇴를 요구하고 있다. [/번역] Spurning Moon’s proposal to form a three-way alliance of Moon, himself, and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, Ahn proposed a plan of his own: Holding a party caucus in January to elect...

The possibility of another clash between the police and activist groups is looming large as the organizers of the violent Nov. 14 antigovernment demonstration have vowed to hold a second rally despite a police ban. On Saturday, police banned the Korean Peasants League one of the activist groups that participated in the demonstration at Gwanghwamun Plaza last month -- from holding a rally in the s...

The Environment Ministry’s conclusion that some Volkswagen cars sold in Korea were involved in the same emissions cheating scheme as those sold in the U.S. leaves many things to do for the Korean government, the local car industry and, of course, the German automaker. [번역] 한국에서 팔린 일부 폭스바겐 차량들이 미국에서 팔린 차량과 마찬가지로 배출 조작에 연루됐다는 환경부의 결론은 한국 정부, 국내 자동차 업계, 폭스바겐에 해야 할 많은 일을 남겼다. [/번역] First, the Env...

The average economically active Korean holds 3.4 credit cards, data showed Thursday. According to the Credit Finance Association, there were 27.1 million people using 92.3 million credit cards, which translates to roughly 3.4 cards per person. The number of credit cards peaked at 4.9 cards per person in 2011, but has decreased for four consecutive years since. [번역] 한국의 경제활동인구는 신용카드 3.4장을 갖고 있는 ...

Two more former senior military generals have been implicated in corruption involving arms procurement projects. Given the rampant corruption in defense acquisition, this is hardly big news, but the two cases -- involving a former Navy admiral and a retired Army general -- point to a growing trend: Dirty deals involving family members of military officers. [번역] 두 명 이상의 전직 군 간부들이 방산 비리에 연루됐다. 무기...