North Korea warned Sunday of a "catastrophe" if South Korea and the United States push ahead with their annual military drill next month.The Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) is one of the two joint military drills South Korea and the United States have been staging annually to test and improve their defense posture against the rival North. Pyongyang, however, has routinely criticized the drills as a rehearsal for a war against the North.This year's edition of the computer simulation exercise is sche

The South Korean government will spend a combined 10 trillion won ($8.9 billion) on the project to develop 20 new drugs over the next five years in collaboration with private local drug makers, the health ministry said Sunday.The government will also form a fund of 500 billion won to help the local pharmaceutical companies expand their presence in the global drug market by acquiring promising overseas drug makers during the same period, the ministry said.The new drug development project aims to

South Korean adults drank more than 330 cups of coffee per person annually in 2011, a report by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Sunday. In a report on the local consumption of processed foods, the ministry said annual domestic consumption of coffee products totaled about 1.26 trillion won (US$1.12 billion) as of 2011.The consumption volume indicates that adult South Koreans drank an average of 331 cups of coffee a year, said the ministry report compiled on the basis of a

 There's no such thing as just a comic book hero anymore. From big-screen films and small-screen animation to books, clothes and makeup, the hero business is big business.Two decades ago, the only place to find the X-Men was in the pages of comics and on Saturday morning cartoons. Now, they, and others, like Superman, Batman and the zombies from ``The Walking Dead'' are cultural juggernauts, crossing over into everything. And nowhere is that more evident than at Comic-Con International.Once just

Japanese broadcasters projected that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition won a majority of seats in the upper house of parliament in elections Sunday, giving it control of both chambers for the first time in six years.The win is seen as an endorsement of Abe's economic program, which has helped spark a tentative recovery, and gives him a legislative mandate to pursue difficult economic reforms that he has promised to help sustain growth in the long run.The victory in the elections, wher

올해 상반기 해외 관광객이 700만 명을 돌파하며 역대 최고치를 기록한 것으로 나타났다.21일 한국관광공사에 따르면 올해 1∼6월 해외로 나간 관광객은 722만9천여명으로 집계됐다.이는 지난해 659만5천여 명에 비해 9.6% 증가한 것으로, 700만 명을 넘어선 것은 올해가 처음이다.경기 불황에도 `레저 열풍'이 불면서 휴가철이 아닌 상반기에도 해외 관광이 급증했기 때문으로 보인다.올해는 특히 엔저 현상으로 일본에 다녀오는 여행객이 1∼4월 기준 37.4% 뛰어 오르면서 성장세를 견인했다.연도별로는 2006년 543만1천여 명으로 500만 명을 넘어선 뒤 2007년 647만여 명, 2008년 657만여 명으로 성장했다.그러나 금융위기와 신종 플루 여파로 2009년엔 447만2천여 명으로 주춤하다가 2010년 593만4천여 명, 2011년 616만4천여 명으로 꾸준히 증가하고 있다.올해 상반기 입국한 외국인 관광객은 553만 명으로 지난해에 비해 3.6% 증가하는 데 그쳤다.이에 따

경찰은 지난 토요일 공주사대부고 학생 5명이 파도에 휩쓸려 숨진 사고와 관련해 유스호스텔 대표를 포함한 5명을 업무상 과실치사 혐의로 조사를 받았다고 태안경찰이 밝혔다.유스호스텔 김(49) 대표는 서울에서 150km 떨어진 태안에서 200여명의 학생이 캠프에 참여했지만 참사가 일어나 업무상 과실치사 혐의를 받고 있다.  학생 5명의 시신은 모두 발견했고 물살이 거셌음에도 불구하고 강사의 지시로 바닷물에 들어간 것이라고 경찰조사를 통해 밝혀졌다. 하지만 관련 강사는 현장에서 체포되지 않았고 사건 이후 연락이 닿지 않았다.관계자들에 의하면 지난 토요일 해병대 체험 사고 관련 업체인 여행사를 대상으로 압수수색을 버린 것으로 알려졌다.한편, 유가족들은 책임자에 대한 강력한 처벌이 이행되고 수사 결과가 발표되기 이전에 장례절차를 밟지 않겠다고 말했다.  <관련 영문 기사>Teacher questioned on negligence charges over deaths of 5 studentsPo

The number of South Korea's overseas tourists topped 7 million in the first half for the first time, official data showed Sunday.The Korea Tourism Organization said a record 7.23 million South Korean residents traveled overseas in the January-June period, up 9.6 percent from 6.59 million a year earlier.The state-run organization explained that a growing leisure boom among locals has contributed to the rapid increase in overseas departures.Notably, the number of South Korean visitors to Japan jum

A wave of bombings killed 65 people in Baghdad province on Saturday night, officials said, as Iraq struggles to contain its worst violence since 2008, in which over 520 have died this month.Twelve car bombs and a roadside bomb hit the city of Baghdad, while another bomb exploded in Madain to the south of the capital, a police colonel and a medical official said.The blasts also wounded 190 people.The bombs struck as Baghdad residents turned out to shop and relax in cafes after iftar, the meal tha

Egypt's interim president selected a team of legal experts Saturday to rewrite controversial portions of the Islamist-drafted constitution, as the military-backed leadership moved quickly to try to capitalize on the coup that ousted the country's first freely elected leader.While supporters of former President Mohammed Morsi still protest in the streets, Egypt's new prime minister called for consensus and participation of all political groups. But Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group officially has

검찰이 수천억원대 비자금을 조성해 운용하면서 2천78억원의 횡령•배임 및 탈세 범죄를 저지른 혐의로 이재현 CJ그룹 회장을 18일 구속 기소했다.서울중앙지검 특수2부(윤대진 부장검사)는 이 회장에게 국내외 비자금을 차명으로 운용하며 546억원의 세금을 포탈한 혐의(특정범죄가중처벌법상 조세포탈)를 적용했다.CJ그룹의 국내외 자산 963억원을 횡령하고 일본 도쿄의 빌딩 2채를 구입하면서 회사에 569억원의 손해를 끼친 혐의(특정경제범죄가중처벌법상 횡령•배임)도 포함됐다.삼성 이건희 회장의 조카 이재현 회장은 국내 8번째 부자며 5월달부터 탈세, 횡령, 고스트 컴퍼니, 회계조작에 대한 집중 조사를 받았다. CJ그룹 회장을 포함한 사장단과 본사에 대한 압수수색을 시작으로 조사를 버렸다. 검찰이 두 달 동안 조사를 받은 이 회장은 현 정부 들어 구속 기소된 첫 대기업 총수로 기록됐다. 박 대통령은 재벌에 대한 부패와 탈세에 대한 처벌을 강화하겠다고 밝힌 적 있다. 또한 기업가들이 대통령의 사

The Korea Communications Commission said Thursday it would slap fines and suspension penalties on the nation’s three telecoms for having offered undue subsidies to attract customers.“The KCC decided to penalize the three mobile carriers ― SK Telecom, KT Corp. and LG Uplus ― for granting financial subsidies to the customers exceeding 270,000 won ($240), the maximum allowed by the law,” said the regulator in a press release. The three telecoms gave out illegal subsidies for up to 72 percent of the

The communications watchdog on Thursday imposed a business suspension on the country's No. 2 mobile carrier and fined it and two other rivals for providing excessive subsidies to lure customers.KT Corp. will be banned from attracting new customers for seven days, as it is judged to have led an overheated competition in the local telecom market, and was fined 20.2 billion won (US$17.84 million), the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said.The watchdog also slapped fines of 36.4 billion won and

South Korea's tax agency and prosecutors have launched an investigation into suspicions that assets of former President Chun Doo-hwan might be concealed in diverse insurance products under the names of his family members, relatives and close aides, industry sources said Thursday.The probe is part of intensifying efforts by the government to find concealed assets of the former president who was ordered by a court in 1997 to return to the state coffers the 220 billion won (US$196.8 million) he was

North Korea denounced Panama Thursday for interdicting a North Korea-flagged ship on suspicion of drug transport, calling it a "fiction.""The Panamanian investigation authorities rashly attacked and detained the captain and crewmen of the ship on the plea of 'drug investigation' and searched its cargo but did not discover any drug," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said, according to Pyongyang's official news agency, KCNA."Yet, they are justifying their violent action, taking issue with

Greece's Parliament narrowly approved a new batch of austerity measures early Thursday, including thousands of public-sector job cuts and transfers, demanded by the country's creditors to keep vital bailout loans flowing.Lawmakers in the 300-seat house backed the cutbacks in an article-by-article vote, with two of the governing coalition's 155 deputies failing to back crucial articles.It was the first major test for conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras since a left-wing party abandoned hi

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has been charged by German prosecutors with paying a $44 million bribe, placing his future as head of the motor sport series in doubt.The 82-year-old British billionaire has been under investigation since a German banker was convicted of taking the payment from him in connection with the sale of a stake in F1.The Munich state court said Ecclestone has until mid-August to respond to charges of bribery and incitement to breach of trust in connection with Gerhard

Cuba's admission that it was secretly sending aging weapons systems to North Korea has turned the global spotlight on a little-known link in a secretive network of rusting freighters and charter jets that moves weapons to and from North Korea despite U.N. sanctions.The revelation that Cuba was shipping the arms, purportedly to be repaired and returned, is certain to jeopardize slowly warming ties between the U.S. and Havana, although the extent of the damage remains uncertain. Experts said Cuba'

The lawmakers chosen to review classified records from the 2007 inter-Korean summit have not been able to locate the wanted transcripts after two rounds of searches, raising the possibility that they may be permanently lost, parliamentary sources said Wednesday.Ten legislators were selected from ruling and opposition parties to confirm dialogue exchanges between then South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader at the time, Kim Jong-il, to see if Roh made remarks or insinuated dis

Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that the U.S. economy is gradually improving but emphasized that the Federal Reserve is not locked into any timetable for scaling back policies aimed at jolting growth.The Fed chairman told Congress there is no ``preset course'' and that any decision to reduce its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program will depend on how the economy performs. And he said that the Fed could maintain or increase those purchases if it sensed the economy was weakening.The bond purchases