The EU and United States began a second round of talks Monday on the world's largest free-trade accord despite damaging revelations of US spying on its allies.Chief negotiators, the EU's Ignacio Garcia Bercero and Dan Mullaney for the United States, stepped before the cameras for an official handshake but made no statement as they began a weeklong round of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.This second round was to have been held in October, but due to the US gove

The Chinese currency is becoming more popular in North Korea than the U.S. dollar as transactions through the renminbi make it easier to evade international sanctions against the North's nuclear and missile programs, a South Korean diplomat in Beijing said Monday.Although North Korea, one of the world's most isolated nations, officially bans people from using foreign currencies such as the yuan or the greenback, the use of foreign hard currencies is rampant in the black market, the diplomat said

South Korean boy band Super Junior gave a special lecture at the University of Oxford, the band's management agency said Monday.Four members of the group -- Eun-hyuk, Kyu-hyun, Kang-in and Si-won -- delivered the lecture before about 400 students at the university's campus located in Oxford, Britain, on Sunday evening (local time), S.M. Entertainment said.The group, composed of 13 members, was in Britain for the "Super Show 5" world tour that has taken the band all over the world since March of

The Samsung Lions defeated the Doosan Bears 7-5 in Game 5 of the Korean Series on Tuesday, staying alive in the best-of-seven championship final for the Korea Baseball Organization.On the road at Seoul's Jamsil Stadium, the Lions' Park Han-yi hit a tie-breaking two-run single in the top eighth after they blew an early 3-0 lead, as the two-time defending champion staved off elimination. The Bears still lead the Korean Series 3-2.The Lions wielded hot bats in windy and chilly conditions with 11 hi

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Tuesday that Japan having an accurate perception of historical events will serve as a crucial watershed to restore frayed relations between the two countries. "A turning point is needed to make qualitative changes in Seoul-Tokyo relations," Yoon said during a seminar with S. Korean and Japanese journalists in Seoul. The minister further said the Japanese government should realize that a distorted historical view is one of the most crucial factors h

India's central bank raised its key interest rate for the second time in two months Tuesday, underlining the determination of its new chief to control inflation despite concerns economic growth could slow further.Reserve Bank of India Gov. Raghuram Rajan said the benchmark interest rate was raised by a quarter percentage point to 7.75 percent. His hard line against inflation increases pressure on the government to revive growth through reforms to make the economy more efficient, instead of relyi

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Tuesday that France was suspending a new "ecotax" on road transport due to take effect on January 1, after violent protests.In the latest government backdown on a controversial tax hike, Ayrault said the application of the tax had been put off across the country so the government can listen to opponents."Courage is not obstinance, it is listening, understanding," Ayrault told reporters after urgent government talks that followed clashes between police and an

Five South Korean men were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on Tuesday for jointly taking part in the murder of a wealthy South Korean businessman in the Philippines, the country's top court said.The Supreme Court of Korea upheld an appellate court's 17-year prison term for a 35-year-old man, surnamed Yoon, while also confirming the roughly 15-year terms for the three other men, all in their early 30's, over the murder case in August of last year.One more man -- surnamed Song, age 42 -- was als

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers made a triumphant return home on Tuesday following a successful rookie season in Major League Baseball.Greeted by hundreds of fans at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, the left-hander said he had the fondest memories of his first regular season win, his first complete game shutout and also his first playoff victory this year."I'd like to give myself 99 points (out of 100) for this season," said the smiling Ryu, who went 14-8 during the regular

Chinese President Xi Jinping sought Monday to reassure Asian business and political leaders that his country only aspires to peace and that he is confident its economic growth will remain robust despite a recent slowdown.China's growth and other indicators are within reasonable expectations, Xi told a business conference on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.``I want to emphasize that I am fully confident about the future of China,'' Xi said in a ke

China, the biggest foreign owner of U.S. debt, on Monday urged Washington to take measures to pass a debt-ceiling increase, as the U.S. is moving closer to the possibility of the first-ever default on its debt.U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warned Sunday that the government will default unless America's US$16.7 trillion debt limit is raised by Oct. 17. The partial U.S. government shutdown forced President Barack Obama to cancel his four-nation tour to Asia and miss APEC as well as the East Asi

South Korea topped a global list of information and communications technology (ICT) development for the fourth year in 2013, bolstering its status as one of the world's most wired countries, data showed Monday.South Korea ranked as the leading country for the fourth straight year in the ICT Development Index, which measured 157 countries on ICT access, use and skills, according to the recent data by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United Nations body specializing in ICT.South

The Seoul prosecution on Monday obtained a local tax office's probe data on Hyosung Group for further investigation into allegations that the country's 26thlargest conglomerate evaded a massive amount of taxes, prosecutors said.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has been looking into the case since the Seoul Regional Tax Office filed a charge last month against the group's chairman, Cho Suck-rai, 79, for allegedly leading the tax evasion scheme through various illegal methods."We too

South Korea's central bank said Monday that it has decided not to file a lawsuit to nullify Hana Financial Group Inc.'s share-swap move, through which the banking group took full control of Korea Exchange Bank (KEB).The Bank of Korea (BOK), which was previously the second-largest shareholder in KEB, in April exercised its right to request Hana Financial Group to buy its KEB stake because it had to sell it by law, as Hana made attempts to raise its shares in KEB to 100 percent.But some KEB minori

Former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum was in a remote Japanese fishing village Monday to protest against its annual dolphin hunt.Sorum, who now leads his own group, is the latest celebrity to join the increasingly global campaign to stop the dolphin kill in Taiji, a quaint fishing village in central Japan made famous by the Academy Award-winning 2009 film about the hunt called ``The Cove.''The movie depicts how dolphins are herded into a cove and speared by fishermen for their meat. The fisher

Heading into the final days of the contest to host the 2020 Olympics, Tokyo is hoping concern over leaks of highly radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant won't damage its image as the safest choice among the bids.With anti-government demonstrations plaguing Istanbul's bid and a recession and high unemployment hanging over Madrid's candidacy, Tokyo is pushing its bid as the safe choice in uncertain times.The IOC will select the 2020 host on Sept. 7 in Buenos Aires, Argent

The lawmaker who was recently accused of plotting to overthrow the government had visited North Korea on two different occasions, the government said Monday.Rep. Lee Seok-ki, a first-term lawmaker of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party, is suspected of organizing an underground entity called the Revolutionary Organization with the aim of subverting the South Korean government and blowing up infrastructure facilities throughout the country.Reports have said Lee traveled to North Korea

The chief nuclear envoys from China and North Korea discussed ways to resume the long-stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear weapons programs, China's foreign ministry said Monday.Amid indications Beijing is accelerating its efforts to revive the six-party talks, the Chinese nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, made a five-day visit to North Korea last week and held talks with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan."The two sides exchanged views on the current situation on the Korean Peninsula a

South Korea and China will hold a new round of negotiations for their free trade agreement early next month, the Trade Ministry in Seoul said Monday.The seventh round of the FTA talks will be held in the Chinese city of Weifang, Shandong Province from Sept. 3-5, the ministry said.In the upcoming round, Seoul plans to complete issues involving how and at what level commodity and service markets will be deregulated and discussions over the modality of their FTA negotiations.Seoul and Beijing launc

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Monday that it proposed amendments to customs legislations allowing the expansion of duty free shops operated by small and medium enterprises.The revision also included downsizing duty free shops owned by conglomerates such as Lotte and Shinsegae, and restricting them to maintain a market share below 60 percent.SMEs, meanwhile, will be able to see the benefits from this revision that will allow an increase in the number of their shops to account for more