HAVANA (AP) -- Former President Fidel Castro, who led a rebel army to improbable victory in Cuba, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 U.S. presidents during his half century rule, has died at age 90.With a shaking voice, President Raul Castro said on state television that his older brother died at 10:29 p.m. Friday. He ended the announcement by shouting the revolutionary slogan: ``Toward victory, always!''  Castro's reign over the island-nation 90 miles (145 kilometers) fr

BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese authorities detained 13 people over the collapse of scaffolding at a power plant construction site that killed 74 workers, as a preliminary investigation zeroed in on how the building company had rushed the job.Most of the dead had been working on the interior concrete wall of a massive circular cooling tower 70 meters (230 feet) up when the scaffolding collapsed Thursday morning, resulting in one of China's most serious industrial accidents in years. In a statement issue

A record number of protesters are set to gather in central Seoul on Saturday, as parliament takes steps to impeach President Park Geun-hye after state prosecutors accused her of being an accomplice in the influence-peddling and corruption scandal linked to her confidante.With the opposition parties planning to put the impeachment motion up for a vote in early December, local police said around1,500 liberal and progressive civic groups have organized a massive rally around Gwanghwamun Square call

South Korea has solidified its No. 3 place in the world's new official baseball rankings, narrowing the gap with the United States, according to a related global organization on Saturday.The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) updated the list based on the four-year performances through 2016 of 70 countries' entire national teams from U-12 to professional.South Korea maintained its third place but "advanced within striking distance of the No. 2 spot, closing the distance behind the U.S.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted a statement expressing "grave concerns" over North Korea's continued missile launches without forewarnings, the foreign ministry said Saturday. The statement was issued by the 97th session of IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) held in London for five days through Friday.South Korea attended the session as one of IMO's 171 member states.North Korea is also a member."The Maritime Safety Committee ... received a report on numerous missile

South Korean shares will likely take a breather next week ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting early next month, local analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1974.46 on Friday, only slightly down from 1,974.58 a week earlier.Investors were mostly swayed by increased volatility in the won-dollar exchange rate amid what the analysts called a lack of any apparent leads this week.Foreigners purchased a net 446 billion won (US$379 milli

FRANKFURT (Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank warned that the risk of an abrupt global market correction on the back of rising political uncertainty has intensified, posing a threat to banks, stability and economic growth.“More volatility in the near future is likely and the potential for an abrupt reversal remains significant,” the central bank said in its twice-yearly Financial Stability Review published on Thursday.“Elevated geopolitical tensions and heightened political uncertainty amid

MANILA (AP) -- Continued engagement by the United States with Asia under President-elect Donald Trump would be good for both the region and America, the head of the Asian Development Bank said Thursday.Takehiko Nakao, who began his second term as president of the Manila-based development bank on Thursday, also said there is a strong case for regional agreements to liberalize trade and investment despite Trump's threat to withdraw from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership. Nakao made the comme

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party said Thursday it will speed up drafting a legislative motion to impeach President Park Geun-hye, aiming to have it pass parliament early next month. Floor leader Rep. Woo Sang-ho also said it will put the issue of forming a national unity government led by an opposition-picked prime minister on the back-burner for the time being."We are planning to hold a vote on the impeachment as early as Dec. 2, or no later than Dec. 9," he said. Three opposition

BEIJING (AFP) -- Coca-Cola workers in three Chinese cities have gone on strike after the US soft drinks giant announced it was selling its bottling interests in the country. Strikes and other labour protests have surged in recent years in China, where growth is slowing and parts of the economy are moribund.The beverage giant announced last week it was selling all its bottling assets in mainland China to Hong Kong conglomerate Swire Pacific and COFCO Corporation, one of China's state-owned food g

BEIJING (AFP) -- At least 67 people were killed when part of a power station under construction in China collapsed Thursday, state media reported, the latest industrial accident in a country with a dismal safety record. A cooling tower platform plunged to the ground in the early hours, trapping an unknown number of people beneath it, the official Xinhua news agency said.State broadcaster CCTV put the toll at 67, with local reports saying one person was still missing and two others injured.Pictur

Free agent slugger Choi Hyoung-woo became the first baseball player to get paid 10 billion won(US$8.48 million) in South Korea. The Kia Tigers in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Thursday they signed Choi to a four-year deal worth 10 billion won -- 6 billion won in total salary and a 4 billion won signing bonus. This is the largest free agent contract signed in the KBO. Choi surpasses Park Sok-min who inked to a four-year deal worth 8.6 billion won with a 1 billion won option in 2015. 

The credit outlook for Korean financial and non-financial corporations are stable for 2017 on the back of support by steady economic growth and low commodity prices, Moody’s announced on Tuesday. At a media briefing session prior to the 14th annual conference on Korean firm’s credit outlook in Seoul, Michael Taylor, managing director and chief credit officer at Moody’s Investors Service based in Hong Kong, highlighted Korea’s strong fiscal position that will help to smooth the ongoing economic r

Market watchers have their eye on Amotech, a leading firm in the integrated part materials field, as its long-term growth prospects look bright with the backing of outstanding capabilities to develop new materials. Founded in 1994, the company’s technical expertise has been strengthened in light of the development of the country’s telecommunication products, information technology-based home appliances and energy-related products. It owns a total of 549 domestic and overseas patents, as of Janua

The South Korean financial sector is gearing up for turbulence in the global market in light of the high possibility of a US interest rate hike and the impact of the US presidential election.Lee Ju-yeol, governor of the Bank of Korea, said Friday that the central bank would take timely measures to ease growing market anxiety if the uncertainties spread across the sectors, posing a threat to the financial system.  “It is still hard to judge how significant the impact of the surprising US election

The burden of mortgages on households is rapidly increasing as interest rates continue to rise amid growing uncertainties in the global financial market after the US presidential election win by Donald Trump. According to the banking industry Thursday, interest rates of both fixed and floating mortgages at major commercial banks have risen by more than 0.1 percentage point compared to late October. KEB Hana Bank’s fixed rate for five-year mortgages rose from between 3.20 and 4.4 percent to betwe

In yet another spillover effect of the Choi Soon-sil scandal, the financial sector is paying close attention to who will replace some of the outgoing heads of major financial institutions, many of which have often been criticized for being a hotbed for revolving-door practices.Starting with Woori Bank and Industrial Bank of Korea in December, a handful of public and private financial institutions have outgoing chief executive officers. But they have not yet embarked on the appointment process as

Insurance holders are less likely to default on their financial borrowings, showed the nation’s first big data analysis by a government institution on Tuesday. According to the results of an analysis of credit information of around 760 million consumers by Korea Credit Information Services, there is some correlation between insurance subscription and repayment of loans.Among 18 million borrowers (aged over 20) who took loans from the period between June 2015 and June 2016, those who were holding

AXA Group, a Paris-based multinational insurance group, will expand its presence into the general insurance market in South Korea next year, the group’s Seoul subsidiary confirmed on Tuesday. According to AXA Direct Korea, the group will invest 25 billion won ($21.4 million) in the Seoul-based subsidiary in a bid to increase the general insurance business of the company, moving beyond the originally-focused direct car insurance market. CEO Francois Lecomte, who visited the group headquarters las

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles on the alarming state of the country’s economy and the challenges to be addressed. This is the fifth installment. -- Ed.South Korea’s software capacity such as artificial intelligence and smart cars has much to be desired due to the lack of personnel, investment and partnership among industries, experts said. 　According to data from Hyundai Research Institute, Korea’s AI technology is still at the 75 percent level compared to the nations holdin