Korea Aerospace Industries, the nation’s sole aircraft manufacturer, launched its 1.6 trillion won ($1.4 billion) worth small-size helicopter development project Thursday. An image of KAI’s light civil helicopter to be codeveloped with Airbus Helicopters by 2020 KAI“The Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, KAI-led consortium and Airbus Helicopters agreed to jointly finance the project to develop light armed and light civil helicopters,’’ KAI sai

The international community is concerned about Korea’s possible retreat from its emissions reduction drive based on the four options proposed by the government for the post-2020 target.The government announced four options on June 10 to finalize Korea’s emission target by the end of this month. It plans to submit one target -- after a public consultation process -- to the U.N. before the Paris Climate Change Conference from Nov. 30-Dec. 11. “(Regarding the expectation for Korea’s post-2020 emiss

The National Pension Service, the nation’s largest institutional investor, is facing growing pressure to raise their voice in merger plans being pushed by conglomerates.On Monday, Solidarity for Economic Reform, a civic group pushing for reforms of family-controlled South Korean conglomerates, or chaebol, urged the fund to review the merger plan between SK Holdings and SK C&C and to decide whether to back or veto the deal before a shareholders meeting Friday. The merger plan between the two SK a

A severe drought may reduce North Korea's rice harvest by 12 percent this year from a year earlier, a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. showed Saturday, warning of the worsening food shortage in the communist country.The recent FAO report put North Korea's rice production at an estimated 2.3 million tons for this year, compared with the country's rice harvest of 2.6 million tons a year earlier. The estimated production may be less than the average amount of rice produce

Kia Motors Corp. and affiliate Hyundai Motor Co. widened their lead in U.S. new-vehicle quality as Japanese automakers fell below the industry average for the first time, according to a J.D. Power & Associates survey.The two South Korean companies averaged 90 problems per 100 vehicles in the Initial Quality Study, released Wednesday, outpacing European, U.S. and Japanese competitors. Porsche was the top brand for the third year in a row, followed by Kia, Jaguar and Hyundai. The survey is based o

With a dark past and complicated present, race relations have always been a challenge in Charleston, the city where police say a young white man shot nine people to death at a historic black church.The city along the South Carolina coast was once a major slave port and the site of the first shots in the Civil War. A century later, it also served as a hub for civil rights activists who frequently gathered at the church, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal.Progress in recent decades has included t

Thailand confirmed on Thursday its first known case of the deadly MERS virus, a 75-year-old man who recently arrived from Oman for treatment of a heart condition.   Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin said two laboratories had confirmed the results.The man has been quarantined at the ministry's infectious diseases facility, he said.He said the patient was traveling with three other family members, who also are being watched at the facility. Public health officials are also monitoring other

A U.S. soldier has been arrested on charges of injuring the owners of a Seoul motel who rejected her stay for breaching service rules, police said Thursday.   On June 6, the 31-year-old American sergeant allegedly hit the married couple who run the motel in central Seoul after they tried to block the soldier and her acquaintances from checking into one room, the Yongsan Police Station investigating the case said.   The husband returned the money to the U.S. soldier after the group, including two

Hotel Shilla, the luxury accommodation affiliate of South Korea's biggest conglomerate, Samsung Group, said Thursday that it has suspended its business on the southern resort island of Jeju over the deadly MERS virus.   Shilla said its operations will not be resumed until after concerns over the possible transmission of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome are dispelled.   It said it has asked its guests to leave the hotel on the island.   The announcement came after media reports that an uniden

A protester wearing a mask depicting FIFA President Sepp Blatter stands in front of the building where the 65th FIFA congress takes place in Zurich, Switzerland, Friday. YonhapBritain's Prime Minister David Cameron says FIFA president Sepp Blatter must resign and ``the sooner that happens the better.''Asked about the FIFA scandals at a joint press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Cameron said it was ``unthinkable'' that Blatter was the right person to take the world soc

South Korea and the United States have kicked off a joint committee to look into the incident involving a live anthrax sample that was mistakenly sent to an American military base in South Korea from the U.S., a diplomatic source said Friday.   U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday that 22 personnel may have come in contact with a live anthrax sample that was accidentally sent to Osan Air Base in South Korea, but none have shown signs of infection. A U.S. military laboratory in Utah inadvertent

A volcano erupted in spectacular fashion on a small island in southern Japan on Friday, spewing out rocks and sending black clouds of ash 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) into the sky. Authorities told people on the island to evacuate.Smoke billows after Japan Eruption. YonhapOne person was reported to have suffered minor burns from falling debris after Mount Shindake erupted about 10 a.m. (0100 GMT), sending dense pyroclastic flows of rock and hot gases seaward, the Japan Meteorological Agency reported

South Korean football club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors clinched a knockout berth at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League with a huge victory at home Wednesday.   Thanks to a 4-1 win over Shandong Luneng at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, Jeonbuk finished second in Group E with 11 points. Jeonbuk joins three other K League Classic sides in the round of 16. The top South Korean league last put four teams in the knockout stage in 2010.   Earlier Wednesday, S

Rival parties on Wednesday failed to pass a pension reform bill for civil servants aimed at reducing chronic deficits in funds.   The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) couldn't get the bill through the National Assembly during the plenary session. The proposal calls for raising the contribution rate from the current 7 percent to 9 percent over the next five years, with the entitlement rate to be reduced from 1.9 to 1.7 percent in stages over

Swaziland hopes South Korea will reopen its embassy in the southern African country to better strengthen cooperation between the two countries, the lower house speaker of the African country said Wednesday."We do need the Korean embassy to reopen in our country ... I believe it will be easy for us to cooperate, to be closer to each other and to talk through the embassy," Themba Msibi, the House of Assembly Speaker, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency.The South Korean embassy in Pretoria

Hwang Pyong-so, the top political officer of North Korea's military, has been promoted to a member of the politburo presidium at the country's political party, making him again the North's de facto No. 2 man, Pyongyang's media reported Wednesday.The North Korean Central Television described Hwang as doubling the posts of a member of the political bureau presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK)'s central committee as well as a director of the general political bureau of the Korean People's

A top aide to President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the White House’s classified computer systems are secure while acknowledging vulnerabilities in its unclassified system.Obama adviser Ben Rhodes made the remarks in response to a CNN report that Russian hackers got access to sensitive White House information such as the president’s private schedule.The White House acknowledged in October that it had detected suspicious activity on its unclassified network while assessing possible cyberthreat

Four South Koreans died and one was seriously injured on Monday as a bus carrying them collided with another bus in Nepal, Seoul's foreign ministry said.   The accident occurred as a bus carrying more than 15 people collided with the oncoming bus while on the move to Kathmandu from Pokhara, about 200 kilometers west of the capital, according to the ministry.Two Korean men in their 60s and another two women in their 50s were found dead and another Korean man in his 60s was in critical condition,

Top-ranked Lydia Ko shot a course-record and career-best 11-under 61 on Saturday to take the early second-round lead in the New Zealand Women's Open.The 17-year-old New Zealander, coming off a victory Sunday in the Women's Australian Open, broke the Clearwater record of 63 set last year by Mi Hyang Lee in her victory.Ko rebounded from an opening bogey with an eagle on the par-5 second and birdied Nos. 4-7, 9-13 and 18. ``I didn't know what I was shooting but when I went past the scoreboard on 13

Uber says a database containing the names and drivers' license numbers of 50,000 of its drivers was breached in May.The ride-sharing service says it has notified the drivers and hasn't received any reports of the information being misused. Uber says it will offer a one-year membership in Experian's ProtectMyID Alert identity theft protection service to the drivers involved.The company said Friday the breach affects drivers in multiple states, but involves only a ``small percentage'' of its curre