Korail’s South Jeolla Province office said it will run a “free accommodation summer train,” which will leave Seoul on Aug. 5 for a one-night, two-day trip to Balpo Beach in Goheung County in South Jeolla Province. The train will leave at 8:10 a.m. and arrive in Suncheon Station at 1 p.m. Major tourist sites of the package will include Naro Space Center, Sorok Island and Balpo Beach. A free accommo

The Visit Korea Year Committee said it will hold a three-week event through Aug. 10 on its website, www.visitkoreayear.com, to celebrate the upcoming Daegu IAAF World Championship, slated for Aug. 27. On the website, participants can choose their favorite game and leave comments on why they chose it. The committee will give away prizes to 113 participants through a lottery. The prizes include a on

The Korea Tourism Organization said the numbers of Japanese and Chinese tourists visiting Korea which had declined following the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan have recently rebounded.According to data by the KTO, the monthly number of Japanese tourists fell 7 percent year-on-year in May but rose 10 percent in June year-on-year. The growth rate of Chinese tourists visiting Korea was 9.7 per

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― The Chinese subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate SK Group said Thursday it has entered the car rental business in a bid to tap into the world’s most populous country.SK China Co. said it started renting automobiles this month in nine cities, including Beijing, Hangzhou and Shenyang.It currently has 1,200 vehicles, including sedans and sport utility vehicles manufacture

South Korea’s top soft drink maker Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co. said Thursday that it decided to absorb and merge with Lotte Liquor BG Co., its alcoholic beverage affiliate, to boost shareholder value.Lotte Chilsung said the merger will take effect on Oct. 1, and the merger ratio will be 1:0. Lotte Chilsung holds a 100 percent stake in Lotte Liquor.“The merger is aimed at maximizing shareholder val

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. said Thursday that its second-quarter earnings fell 3.6 percent from a year earlier as it filled more orders for low-priced ships that were won following the global economic downturn.Net income reached 170 billion won ($162 million) in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 177 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filin

Venereal disease among the elderly population is rising, the Ministry of Health and Welfare revealed Monday.According to the National Health Insurance Corporation, a ministry affiliate, the number of people treated for various venereal diseases marked 352,000 in 2010, up 19,000 from four years ago. Women outnumbered men: Female patients marked 249,000 compared to 102,000 men. The rate of increase

Doctors at Gangnam Severance Hospital successfully transplanted a pair of lungs to a leukemia patient for the first time in Korea, the medical center said Tuesday.Dr. Paik Hyo-chae and Dr. Haam Seok-jin of the hospital said the patient, a 21-year-old male, received the operation in September last year and is recovering. The man had received a bone marrow transplant in June 2008 when his lungs show

A group of doctors here has developed a special marker that can be stuck onto teeth for identification. A patent has been filed for the marker.According to Dental Leaders Club, the “tooth label” is made of “inlay,” a material to fill in cavities, and is stuck to the face of a back tooth. There, the name, national identification number as well as emergency contact are written. “Inlay is quite solid

ZURICH (AP) ― World and European champion Spain remained at No. 1 in the monthly FIFA rankings released Wednesday and the United States dropped six places to No. 30.Netherlands and Germany rounded out the top three in the standings that will be used to help decide seedings in Saturday’s World Cup qualifying draw.Brazil climbed one place to fourth despite only reaching the Copa America quarterfinal

Korean looks to ride 400-meter freestyle gold into OlympicsSo far so good. Olympic gold medalist Park Tae-hwan has ended his 2011 World Championship campaign on a high note, successfully retaining his 400-meter freestyle title and raising expectations for the 2012 Olympics.Having had a bitter experience at the previous worlds in Rome, where he failed to advance into finals in any race, Park was de

HARRISON, New Jersey (AP) ― Wayne Rooney set up two goals and Park Ji-sung danced around a defender for another as Manchester United put on another show during its tour of the United States with a 4-0 victory over the MLS All-Stars on Wednesday.Anderson, Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Welbeck also scored for the reigning English Premier League champions, who have outscored their opponents 18-2 to win

South Korea’s state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Wednesday its first-half earnings more than doubled from a year earlier on commission income from its investment banking business.Net income came to 1.02 trillion won ($972.7 million) in the January-June period, up 148.6 percent from the previous year, said the bank, an affiliate of KDB Financial Group Inc. Its operating profit jumped 106.3

GS Engineering & Construction Corp., South Korea’s third-largest builder, said Wednesday that it has won a 402 billion won ($383 million) contract to build subway sections in downtown Singapore.Under the deal with Singapore’s Land Transport Authority, GS Engineering will complete the project by the end of 2016, after starting work next month.GS Engineering said that it expects to post 74.5 billion

A big green and white sign greeted Mark Sanchez as he drove up to the New York Jets’ training facility for the first time in months.And, boy, was it a pleasant sight.“Welcome Back!” it blared in block letters, followed by “Here Come The Jets.”“It was wonderful,” Sanchez said with a big smile Tuesday. “Now we’re back and we can start playing, so it’s good.”The gates were up, facilities were open al

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce says Korean striker Ji Dong-won has done his chances of earning a first-team spot for the start of the new Premier League term no harm after an impressive preseason.The 20-year-old Korea international joined the Black Cats from K-League club Chunnam Dragons during the offseason after interest from PSV Eindhoven, Schalke and Newcastle.Sunderland’s Ji Dong-won (Yonhap New

London ready to mark one-year countdown for OlympicsLONDON (AP) ― With most of the venues already completed, tickets nearly sold out and a massive security operation in the works, London is preparing to mark the one-year countdown to the biggest sports show on earth.Exactly one year from Wednesday, London will be staging the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics. Using the backdrop of one of the w

LG Chem, South Korea’s leading chemical maker, said Tuesday that it has clinched a $10 million contract to develop a lithium ion battery for U.S. automakers.Under the deal with U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium, LG Chem will develop a high-powered, high-capacity lithium-ion battery for plug-in electric vehicles by 2013, the company said.The consortium is composed of the U.S. Department of Energy an

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Now it can be said with certainty: Get ready for some football!NFL players voted to OK a final deal Monday, days after the owners approved a tentative agreement, and the sides finally managed to put an end to the 4 1/2-month lockout, the longest work stoppage in league history. “This is a long time coming, and football’s back,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said, “and that’s the

Park Yong-sung rules out possibility of co-hosting Olympics with N.K.He was relaxing for the first time in several months. Sitting in his office in Seoul on Monday morning, Park Yong-sung, the president of Korean Olympic Committee, said he was taking a short break from the sports world.Until last week, Park had kept a grueling schedule, travelling around the world, participating in numerous intern