A great weekend is no gamble at the cycle velodromeOn a Friday afternoon, a man who looks to be in his late-30s takes off his tie and tucks it away in his suitcase. He takes out a booklet and studies it carefully with a yellow highlighter pen. At a quick glance, he looks like he is preparing for a meeting, but, in fact, the man is sitting up high in the stands at the Speedom, in Gwangmyeong, Gyeon

Exhibitions“WA: The Spirit of Harmony and Japanese Design Today”: This show explains why adjectives such as “minimal,” “delicate” and, surprisingly, “thoughtful,” cannot help but be used to describe products made in Japan. It does more than introducing the latest cutting-edge designs: it offers an overall view of historically important designs by the Japanese that were created over 50 years ago an

JAKARTA (AFP) ― A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian resort island of Bali early Friday but was located too deep to generate a tsunami in the Indian Ocean, seismologists said.The tremor hit at 1:08 a.m. and was centered 261 kilometers northeast of Bali’s capital Denpasar at a depth of 510 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawai

Cadillac Championship to be only 10th competitive round of yearDORAL, Florida (AP) ― Tiger Woods is hitting some of his best shots when no one is watching.That’s typically the case when Woods tries to build a new golf swing, and his third major swing change is no exception. Put him on the practice range at home in Isleworth and he says he goes through long stretches of hitting the ball how he want

Spurs survive Milan to roar into Champions League quartersLONDON (AP) ― Tottenham kept up its impressive debut in the Champions League by ousting AC Milan on Wednesday, while Felix Magath’s future as Schalke coach remains uncertain despite the German side reaching the quarterfinals with a victory over Valencia.Tottenham protected its 1-0 first-leg lead over seven-time European champion Milan by ho

LONDON (AP) ― The IOC agreed Wednesday to step in to settle a financial dispute between two British Olympic bodies responsible for delivering the 2012 London Games.The British Olympic Association claims it deserves to receive millions of dollars more from its joint marketing agreement with the London 2012 organizing committee, known as LOCOG.The BOA says it faces a budget shortfall of up to $16 mi

Daejeon Ye Dental Clinic earned accreditation from Joint Commission International in January. This type of accreditation ― a first for a Korean clinic ― is widely used to evaluate the overall facilities as well as the techniques and services of a medical institute according to an international standard. “Earning accreditation from the JCI will be another step toward excellence,” said clinic chief

The number of people suffering from constipation is on a steep rise, the National Health Insurance Corporation said Monday. According to its research on insurance payments between 2002 and 2009, 1.428 million people were treated for constipation in 2009, which is about a 50 percent jump from 2002’s 927,000.Women outnumbered men 800,000 to 630,000 and teenagers showed a significant increase of 7.65

Doctors at Seoul National University Hospital successfully transplanted a lung on a stage-4 lung cancer patient last year for the first time in Korea. According to Prof. Kang Chang-hyun of the cardiothoracic department, a 58-year-old patient was diagnosed with stage-1 lung cancer in 2006 and had her left lower lobe removed. Then in 2007, the disease relapsed, spread to both lungs and the cancer de

Shakhtar join Spanish giants in quarterfinalsLONDON (AP) ― Barcelona overwhelmed Arsenal with a 3-1 victory following Lionel Messi’s double and Shakhtar Donetsk reached the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time after beating AS Roma 3-0 on Tuesday.While Barcelona outclassed Arsenal for the second successive season, the match turned in the Spanish champions’ favor in a three-minute spel

The eight existing teams in the top-division South Korean professional baseball league decided on Tuesday to supply an expansion team with extra rookies and foreign players to help smooth its entry into the league.During their six-hour meeting over the future of the new club, to be run by local online game company NCsoft, the eight team presidents of the Korea Baseball Organization agreed that the

The South Korean government’s positive evaluation of two local sports federations has come under fire for its oversight of some recent wrongdoings by those bodies.The Korea Volleyball Association and the Korea Wrestling Federation each scored high marks in the recent evaluation by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and have received extra grants for training, according to sources.The vol

With about a month left until the start of the new season, teams in South Korea’s first-division professional baseball league said Wednesday they are hoping to draw a record number of fans in 2011.According to the Korea Baseball Organization, the combined number of fans that the eight teams hope to attract this season amounts to 6.63 million, surpassing the single-season record of 5.92 million set

Korean adoptee dreams of F1 debutChoi Myung-gil, 25, is at ease now in Seoul. He has not always been comfortable in this crowded city; adopted as an infant by a Dutch family, Choi in fact says he often finds it difficult to live here.“People expect me to be 100 percent Korean, but I grew up in a different country and I think differently,” says Choi.He grew up as Recardo Bruins in the small village

South Korea has a new member inside the top 10 in the latest women’s world golf rankings.Park In-bee jumped from 13th to ninth in this week’s rankings, announced by the LPGA Tour, thanks to her victory at the first Japan LPGA Tour event of the season on Sunday. Following that win, Park had said her goal was to be among the top 10 golfers in the world this year.There was no change among the eight g

Tiger Woods, the former No. 1 golfer in the world, is scheduled to visit South Korea next month for a youth golf camp, his corporate sponsor announced Tuesday.Nike Golf Korea said Woods will come to South Korea on April 14 as part of the company’s “Make It Matter” youth clinic series covering Asia. Woods will first go to China in early April, after the April 7-10 Masters, and then make a stop here

Kia Motors Corp.’s China venture will invest about $150 million on a research and development center to produce its own brand of cars, according to the parent of the Chinese partner.The venture, Dongfeng Yueda Kia Motors Co., will start construction this year and will complete building the center by 2015, Jiangsu Yueda Group Co.’s Vice Chairman Shao Yong said in an interview in Beijing.Automakers

Last year was one to remember for Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. The team from just south of Seoul not only won the Asian Champions League but went on to finish in third place at the FIFA Club World Cup after meeting European champion Inter Milan.It was even better for Sasa Ognenovski, a man looking forward to his third K-League season. The Australian was the man handed the trophy in Tokyo in November. He

Fresh off her first victory of the 2011 season, South Korean female golfer Park In-bee said she has her sight on a bigger goal.“This year, I would like to be among the top 10 players of the world,” Park said after winning the Daichi Orchid Ladies Golf Tournament in Okinawa over the weekend. It was the first event of the 2011 Japan LPGA Tour, and Park overcame a three-stroke deficit to win by three

With five more days and nights ― at least ― to reach an agreement, the NFL and the players’ union might find money off the top is not the bottom line.The owners’ request that about $2 billion of total revenues be deducted before they split the rest with the players has been a sticking point ever since 2008. That’s when the owners opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement, which woul