The Financial Services Commission said it has suspended Domin Mutual Savings & Finance, based in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, saying that the bank’s capital shortages were excessive.The latest suspension of the bank came after the financial regulator forced six savings banks to halt their business last week, as their asset erosion and capital shortages triggered jittery depositors to withdraw thei

TOKYO (AP) -- At least two Japanese exchange students were trapped and another 11 missing in the powerful New Zealand earthquake after it sent their language school tumbling down around them as they ate lunch, school and government officials said.A group of 23 students and teachers from Toyama College of Foreign Languages was eating lunch when the quake struck Tuesday, severely damaging the buildi

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday urged chief envoys to foreign countries to keep pace with the rapid changes in the world."You should redouble efforts to catch up with the ever-changing world," Lee told a group of South Korean envoys to overseas countries."I want you to work more actively. Being bound to instructions will not promise any progress," he said.A total of 115 ambassadors

South Korea is advising its people in Libya to leave the unrest-hit country, officials said Tuesday, as anti-government protests escalated across the African nation with rioters attacking a string of Korean-run construction sites.Concern about the safety of about 1,400 South Koreans staying in Libya, most of them construction firm workers, has spiked after a series of South Korean-run construction

Singer Kim Bo-kyung is still an unfamiliar name to most Koreans. But once associated with the word “Superstar K,” her name almost instantly translates into the name of the song, “Because of You” by Kelly Clarkson, which she sang during the Korean version of American Idol aired on cable channel Mnet.Despite her mature and appealing voice, Kim failed to get into the show’s top 11 partly because of b

South Korean people enjoy Chinese movies and food, while Chinese people like Korean television dramas, a survey showed on Monday.According to the poll of 313 South Koreans and 616 Chinese by the Korean Culture and Information Service, 23.6 percent of South Koreans selected Chinese movies as the nation’s most satisfying piece of culture, and 20.8 percent chose Chinese food.Meanwhile, 36.4 percent o

LONDON (AP) ― Royal bride-to-be Kate Middleton’s favorite designer Issa London was basking in the spotlight Saturday on the second day of London Fashion Week.The label was showing its new collection, with interest at fever pitch ever since Middleton announced her engagement to Prince William wearing one of its slinky silk dresses.The U.K.-based label, Middleton’s go-to choice for grown-up, ladylik

Slash, best known as former lead guitarist of U.S. rock band Guns N’ Roses, said he is preparing another solo album while planning to visit Seoul as part of a world tour.After releasing his first solo album “Slash” in Korea in May, the current guitarist of Velvet Revolver is to hold a solo concert on March 20 at Ax-Hall in Seoul.“I am working on material for the next record that I am gonna do outs

Broadway expert lauds Korean talents as ‘exceptional’ on world stageA veteran U.S. musical director has said Seoul’s musical scene boasts a many more talented musical actors than Broadway but lacks the time necessary to perfect technical elements to make the product more sophisticated.Robert Johanson is in Seoul to direct the musical “Monte Cristo” for the second consecutive year. The show is to r

Pianist Sergei Babayan to lead rich list of musiciansInternational and Korea-based classical musicians will put the spotlight on Busan this week, as they gather in the southeastern port city of Korea to hold eight different concerts.The 6th Busan International Music Festival kicked off Sunday at the Paradise Hotel with a chamber concert. The week-long event runs through Feb. 20 at the Busan Cultur

NEW YORK (AP) ― On his new ABC sitcom, “Mr. Sunshine,” Matthew Perry plays a chap whose life is clouded.He plays Ben Donovan, the manager of a big San Diego sports arena, the Sunshine Center, which hosts a variety of attractions.“Every night, 17,505 people come here expecting to have a good time,” Ben declares. “And I make sure they do.”But there are also a host of attendant wacky problems. On the

Grand Hyatt SeoulThe hotel kicked off a series of events titled “The Wine Club” on Feb. 10. The events offer unlimited wine and a Spanish Tapas-style dinner buffet. The second event “Shiraz around the world” is to be held on March 3, followed by “Pinot Noir at its best” on May 12, “Summer Wines” on June 2, “Made for Japan” on Sept. 1 and “Big Reds” on Nov. 2. Entrance fee is 75,000 won per person

There is almost no doubt that galbi, the Korean grilled beef or pork short ribs, is one of the most popular Korean cuisines.But a galbi outing can make you hesitate to go anywhere else afterward, because of the strong smoky odor that lingers on your clothes and hair.Rose Hill, a beef galbi and wine restaurant in southern Seoul, said it tries to differentiate itself from other galbi places by havin

Powerfully presented Broadway music dwarfs Morricone’s prerecorded oboeSince the start of the new year, Korea’s musical scene has been buzzing about two blockbuster musicals by overseas composers, directors and stage designers to premier in Seoul and later target the global audience.While “Tears of Heaven” has “Jekyll & Hyde” composer Frank Widlhorn, “Sweeny Todd” director Gabriel Barre and Tony A

 Boy band Super Junior’s latest album “Miinah (Bonamana)” ranked No. 1 among Korean pop albums sold last year, the Korea Music Content Association said Wednesday.Girl group miss A’s “Bad Girl Good Girl” topped the online chart and veteran singer Lee Seung-chul’s “Geu Saram (That Person),” the mobile chart, of the Gaon Chart, the Korean national record chart similar to U.S. Billboard charts.Culture

Having recently resolved its labor-management problem, the National Theater of Korea plans to stage four new performances in 2011, the president of the state-run theater said.Mired in labor union problems, the theater failed to premier any shows last year.“We felt very sorry that we had to delay or cancel some performances a couple of times last year due to the labor union’s long-term strike. But

English-language journal offers high-quality articles on security, prosperity and community-building in AsiaQuarterly journal Global Asia, the first-ever international magazine representing Asian voices, aims to become an intellectual hub of the region, opening an arena for innovation and the development of a regional identity, its editor-in-chief said.The English-language journal is published by

ROME (AP) ― Lawyers for U.S. student Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend, who were found guilty of killing Knox’s British roommate in Italy, have formally demanded that U.S. television channel Lifetime scrap a planned film about their trial.Attornies Carlo Dalla Vedova and Luca Maori said Saturday they had sent letters to Lifetime warning they would go to U.S. court to try to sequester the film if it

CAIRO (AFP) - Several hundred thousand Egyptians massed Tuesday for the biggest outpouring of anger yet in their drive to oust President Hosni Mubarak, on day eight of a revolt in which an estimated 300 have died.Demonstrators flooded Cairo's Tahrir square protest epicentre from early morning for a "march of a million" set for the capital and second city Alexandria as foreign governments scrambled

LONDON (AP) ― Five-time Oscar-winning composer John Barry, who wrote music for a dozen James Bond films, including “You Only Live Twice” and “Goldfinger” but couldn’t persuade a jury that he composed the suave spy’s theme music, has died. He was 77.Barry died in New York, where he had lived for some time, on Sunday, his family said. The family did not release the cause of death.Though his work on