The foreign ministry has suspended a senior diplomat in Auckland from regular duties for alleged ethical lapses, a ministry official said Saturday.   The consul general in Auckland, whose name was withheld, was called home on June 15 after being accused of engaging in a scuffle with a fellow Korean official posted in New Zealand and sexually harassing female embassy staff.   The ministry will hold

  ROTTERDAM, Netherlands -- Severe sleep deprivation affects the body's immune system the same way physical stress does, researchers in the Netherlands and Britain found. Lead author Katrin Ackermann, a post-doctoral researcher at the Eramus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues at the University of Surrey said if the study findings were confirmed using more da

North Korea has publicly executed four citizens who were recently repatriated from China after being caught by the Chinese authorities, a North Korean defector in South Korea claimed Monday.   The four were among a group of 44 North Koreans who fled to China to avoid political oppression and chronic food shortages in the North, according to Kim Heung-kwang, the head of NK Intellectuals Solidarity,

   SAN FRANCISCO -- Google shareholders gave CEO Larry Page what he wanted Thursday by approving an unconventional stock split meant to cement his authority, but he wasn't around to hail the victory.   Page missed the Internet search leader's annual shareholders meeting because he has lost his voice, a previously undisclosed problem. Google didn't provide any other details about co-founder Page's

올해 서른. 김동욱이 돌아왔다. <발레교습소>의 우울한 소년가장, <커피프린스>의 발랄한 하림의 여운은 찾기 힘들다. 최근 개봉한 김대승 감독의 <후궁: 제왕의 첩>에서 모습을 드러낸 그는 불운하고 유약한 왕자가 광기와 욕망에 사로잡힌 제왕으로 변해가는 과정을 섬뜩할 정도로 설득력있게 표현해낸다.주연 배우들의 노출을 화두로 한 선정적인 홍보 마케팅 끝에 베일을 벗은 <후궁>은, 사실 단순히 "에로틱 사극"으로 정의내리기엔 굉장히 복잡다단하고 다양한 욕망과 가치가 상충하는 영화다. 슬픈 제왕 "성원 대군"으로 돌아온 김동욱을 만났다.Actor Kim Dong-wook                                                           (Chung Hee-cho/The Kor

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- In an election crucial for Greece, Europe and the world, exit polls on Sunday showed the two top contenders in Greece to be neck-and-neck.The outcome of Sunday's vote could determine whether Greece remains in the euro or is forced to leave the joint currency, a move that could drag down other European countries and have potentially catastrophic consequences for the global ec

North Korea on Sunday slammed U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for what it calls "reckless remarks" on the North's human rights and public livelihood issues.In a spokesman's remark given to the official Korean Central News Agency, the North's foreign ministry urged Clinton to pay more attention to the issues of U.S. economic crisis and huge hordes of jobless people, instead of "imprudently"

 Blizzard Entertainment is facing growing criticism and outcry from fans and industry experts against its latest hit game Diablo 3 for failing to live up to its proposed expectations, according to various media reports.Failure of smooth data connections and repeated error messages while logging in or playing the game compelled Korean users, game cafe operators and regulators to take the matter int

   YEOSU -- Dozens of K-pop groups and popular singers will hold a series of separate concerts at the World Expo here starting this week, organizers said Sunday.   The move is part of efforts by organizers to increase the number of visitors to the quadrennial fair, which opened on May 12 for a 93-day run.    A four-member boy band 2AM will hold its concert at the Expo venue on Tuesday, followed by

Seoul subway authorities said Sunday they will begin operating closed circuit televisions in more than 500 subway trains this week to help prevent crimes.A small number of CCTVs have been installed in each of the 504 trains running on Line 7 of Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corp., which operates subway lines 5-8 in the country's capital, a spokesman for the corporation said. SeoulMetro operates

마이크로소프트가 소셜서비스 업체인 야머를 12억불에 전격 인수할 것으로 알려졌다. 소식통에 따르면 인수계약에 대한 공식발표는 6월 말로 예정되어 있으며 마이크로소프트와 야머의 홍보담당자는 공식적인 언급을 거부했다고 블룸버그가 보도했다.마이크로소프트의 야머 인수는 최근 스마트폰과 SNS의 급격한 성장세에 밀려 마이크로소프트의 입지가 정체되어 있는 상황과 관련이 있다. 페이스북과 트위터 등의 새로운 서비스가 각광을 받고 있지만 마이크로소프트는 해당 분야에서 주목할 만한 성과를 내지 못하고 있다. 야머를 인수함으로써 마이크로소프트는 오피스 등의 프로그램과 연동해 새로운 시너지를 확보하려는 의지로 해석되고 있다.미국 IT업계에서는 최근 비슷한 SNS 업체 인수가 유행이다. 세일즈포스의 경우 6월 초 버디미디어 소셜마케팅 솔루션 회사를 인수한 것이 한 예. 오라클도 소설미디어 사이트를 분석하는 회사 2개를 최근에 인수했다. 샌프란시스코에 본사를 둔 야머는 2008년에 데이빗 삭스에 의해 만들

Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, has agreed to purchase Yammer Inc., operator of a social network for businesses, for $1.2 billion, said a person familiar with the matter.The deal is expected to be announced by the end of June, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. Dee Anna McPherson, a spokeswoman for Yammer, declined to comment

Former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan was elected the new chairman of the main opposition Democratic United Party, beating rival Rep. Kim Han-gil in the party's national convention on Saturday.Lee won 24.3 percent of the entire votes to come out the final winner. The following five including Kim (23.8 percent), Choo Mi-ae (14.1 percent), Kang Ki-jung (10 percent), Lee Jong-kul (8.4 percent) and Woo S

North Korea will field 49 athletes in 11 sports in the upcoming Olympic Games in London, the country's official news agency reported Friday.   Thirty-five female and 14 male athletes have so far qualified for the July 27 through Aug. 12 games in women's football, marathon, table tennis, wrestling and weight lifting, the (North) Korean Central News Agency said.   The weight lifters and wrestlers ar

  The Bank of Korea held off from altering borrowing costs for a 12th straight month as easing inflation gave policy makers room to wait and see how Europe's debt crisis and China's slowdown affect the economy.    Governor Kim Choong-soo and his board kept the benchmark seven-day repurchase rate unchanged at 3.25 percent as predicted by all 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.    South Korea

   TOKYO (AP) -- Sony's stock price has fallen below 1,000 yen for the first time since 1980 in a symptom of its decline since huge success with the Walkman three decades ago.   Sony Corp. has struggled to turn around its money-losing TV business for eight years and has been battered by competitors such as Apple and Samsung.   Sony's shares dipped to 990 yen Monday before recovering slightly on th

전 미국 국방정책담당 차관 몰튼 핼퍼린은 최근 미 하원의 한반도 전술핵 재배치 주장에 대해 “어리석은 생각”이며 워싱턴 정부가 이와 같은 주장을 받아들일 가능성은 현재, 그리고 앞으로도 희박하다고 말했다. 그는 코리아 헤럴드와의 단독 인터뷰에서 이와 같은 주장은 미 공화당의 전술핵에 대한 “로맨스” 때문이라고 일축했다. 그는 공화당이 전술핵을 통해서 군 인력과 예산을 줄일 수 있다고 주장해왔다고 설명했다. 그는 또한 한국국방이 지나치게 북한에 초점을 맞추는 것에서 벗어나 지역 내 잠재적 위협에도 관심을 가져야 하지 않겠냐는 기자의 질문에 중국이나 일본은 한국에게 군사적 위협이 되지 않을 것이라고 말했다.특히 오늘날의 권력은 군사력보다는 경제력에서 나오는 것이라며, 중국은 그간 경제력을 바탕으로 국제사회에 영향력을 행사할 수 있었다고 주장했다.미국의 국방예산 삭감으로 인한 한반도 안보 공약 약화의 우려에 대해서는, 한반도의 전략적 가치로 볼 때 그럴 가능성은 매우 낮다고 말했다. 최근

   ULSAN -- South Korea's oldest nuclear reactors at the Gori-1 nuclear plant will come under a special inspection from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) this week, the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) said Sunday.   The KHNP said that the IAEA will conduct an expert mission on the Gori-1 reactors from June 4-11 to look into its blackout accident in February, adding the

Park Tae-hwan (Yonhap)SANTA CLARA, California, -- South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan won the 200-meter freestyle event at the Santa Clara International Grand Prix Saturday, raising his golds at the event to four and brightening his outlook for the upcoming London Olympics.   Park, who won the 2008 Olympic gold in the 400-meter freestyle and a silver in the 200-meter freestyle, finished in a time o

More than 1 million people have so far flocked to the World Expo in South Korea's southern coastal city of Yeosu, organizers said Sunday.The Yeosu Expo has attracted 1.03 million people as of Saturday since the 93-day fair opened on May 12, the organizers said.If the current trend continues, the visitor turnout is expected to reach about 5 million, only about half of what South Korea had hoped to