Incheon Mayor Song Young-gil left for Moscow on Wednesday for a five-day visit, during which he is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit comes at the invitation of Putin, and Song's meeting with the Russian president is scheduled for Friday, city officials said.They said Putin gave no clear reason for inviting the mayor.Incheon city officials said, however, that Putin is expected to award a state medal to Song to recognize the mayor's role in promoting ties between th

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Friday that it has taken 11 companies off the list that limits mutual investments and loan guarantees.The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said the number of corporate affiliates on the list stood at 1,791 as of end-December, down from1,802 tallied in the previous month.Eighteen companies were newly added to the list, while 29 affiliates were taken off over the past month, the FTC said.The net decline comes as the political community is pushing for a fairer busin

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova has pulled out of an upcoming exhibition match in Seoul against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark due to an injury, organizers said Tuesday.The match between the two former No. 1-ranked female players, initially set for this Friday, will not take place after Sharapova ruled herself out of competition with a collarbone injury, organizers added.According to organizers, Sharapova injured herself during a recent practice in the United States and informed organizers of

A man who escaped five days ago from a police station where he was being questioned for rape allegations has been arrested, local police said Tuesday.Noh Young-dae, 32, was found hiding in a residential building in Ansan, Gyeonggi Provice at 4:25 p.m., with his left hand still handcuffed, the police said. Noh, alleged of raping a woman at an Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province apartment earlier this month, had been apprehended for questioning on Dec. 17. He fled the Ilsan police station on Dec. 20 while of

The Choson Sinbo, a Japan-based pro-North Korean newspaper, gave an unusual prediction of improved economic relations with South Korea amid optimism that the re-election of U.S. President Barack Obama and election of a new South Korean president in December may help thaw Pyongyang's relations with the two countries."Domestic (North Korean) economic officials ... are predicting that South-North economic cooperation projects will take off at a high speed only if objective conditions are met," the

South Korea's defense minister said Thursday North Korea has made a rather smooth power transition to young leader Kim Jong-un, but the communist state still faces tough challenges to revive its moribund economy."At present, North Korea's power shift appears to have gone smoothly," Kim Kwan-jin said in a meeting with a group of senior journalists at the defense ministry.The defense chief said the largely untested leader, who took pwer in December following death of his father Kim Jong-il, was ty

North Korea has expressed its hope for friendlier relations with China, its major ally and patron, in a letter sent to mark the neighboring country's congress to usher in a new leadership, the North's state media said Thursday."We will as ever join the Chinese comrades in making positive efforts to put the traditional DPRK-China friendship, the common wealth of the two peoples, on a higher stage," the Workers' Party of (North) Korea was quoted by its Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying i

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged Thursday to cooperate closely to conclude free trade negotiations between the two countries at an early date, the presidential office said.Lee and Yudhoyono reached the agreement when they met bilaterally on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on the sidelines of the Bali Democracy Forum, an annual high-level conference aimed at promoting democracy in the Asia-Pacific region, the office said.In July,

Special prosecutors summoned a former close aide to President Lee Myung-bak for questioning Saturday over alleged irregularities on a deal to purchase land for Lee's now-scrapped retirement home project.Kim Paik-joon, a former senior secretary to the president for administrative affairs, denied any involvement in the controversial project in which critics say taxpayer money was used, as he appeared before prosecutors. "I was not involved," the 72-year-old Kim responded to a reporter who asked ab

Two dozen military aircraft delivered utility bucket trucks, equipment and people from Phoenix to help storm-ravaged New York and New Jersey, officials said.The Friday and Saturday deliveries were part of a massive accelerated U.S. military response to help relieve millions suffering in the devastating destruction Hurricane Sandy left behind, the Defense Department said.The department moved 630 tons of equipment, including 69 Southern California Edison bucket trucks and pickup trucks, to the are

Canada is taking more time to review Chinese state-owned CNOOC's takeover bid for Canadian oil and gas producer Nexen. It would be China's biggest overseas energy acquisition.Canada's Industry Minister Christian Paradis said in a statement that the review of the proposed purchase, with its $15.1 billion price tag, has been extended by 30 days until Dec. 10.Extensions under the Act are not unusual, Paradis said. It's the second time the review has been extended.Canada is in the process of studyin

Hyundai and Kia, Korea's two biggest automakers, overstated the gas mileage on 900,000 vehicles sold in the past three years, a discovery that could bring sanctions from the U.S. government and millions of dollars in reimbursements to car owners.The inflated mileage was uncovered in an audit of test results by the Environmental Protection Agency, which ordered the Korean automakers to replace fuel economy stickers on the affected cars. The new window stickers will have figures that are one-to-si

Researchers at North Carolina State University say a vulnerability discovered in Android could lead to text message phishing for personal information.The vulnerability affects devices running Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean versions of the Android operating system, Slash Gear reported.The vulnerability would allow a downloaded app infected with malware to make it appear the phone receive texts messages from someone on the phone user's contact list.Such fake messages can be used t

Korea's decades-old project to build an airfield on an island in the East Sea was thrown into doubt again Saturday as a state-run think tank raised questions about its economic feasibility.Since the 1980s, South Korea has planned to build a mini-airport that could handle 50-seater aircraft on Ulleung Island, the closest Korean territory to its easternmost islets of Dokdo. A final decision to proceed with the project worth 479.8 billion won ($439 million) has been delayed because of its uncertain

A highly anticipated economic report failed to jolt the fiercely close U.S. presidential race four days before Americans choose between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, two candidates prescribing starkly different solutions for putting the country on a more prosperous path.Obama and Romney both tried to seize on the monthly jobs report released Friday to energize their bases and sway the few undecided voters still out there.The numbers held something for both candida

Israel has expressed an interest in buying four frigates from South Korea and plans to send a team of its officials to Seoul next month to pursue a potential deal, a Seoul official said Saturday."Israel recently expressed an interest to buy four frigates," said the official at the state-run weapons procurement agency, Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). The official said Israel will "send its due diligence team to two South Korean manufacturers of warships in the middle of next mo

South Korea and India agreed to provide a combined US$1.1 billion worth of financial support for their bilateral business cooperation, the finance ministry said.The agreement was signed during the finance minsters' meeting held in central Seoul earlier in the day between the two countries, according to the ministry.Under the agreement, both will provide the financial support through their own export-import banks over the next five years to companies seeking to join in infrastructure construction

Samsung Electronics Co. said it is considering delaying the completion of a factory to produce system semiconductors due to macroeconomic headwinds.Samsung Electronics said that it is considering pushing back the completion of a 2.25 trillion won (US$2.06 billion) factory due to the global economic slowdown and market conditions. The factory, located in Hwaseong, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, is under construction.The world's top maker of computer memory chips originally planned to finish the co

The head of South Korea's top sports body has vowed to investigate badminton and fencing officials for their roles in off-field controversies.Park Yong-sung, president of the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC), said he will look to hold badminton coaches responsible for the match-throwing scandal that saw four South Korean female doubles players disqualified from the London Olympics earlier this month

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has questioned some of the judging at the London Olympics, specifically in boxing and weightlifting.Mutko pointed to Irish lightweight Katie Taylor's 10-8 win over Russia's Sofya Ochigava in the women's boxing final on Thursday.``How can you give such scores? You'd have to be blind,'' Mutko was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying.The head of Russia's Ol