When Park Geun-hye last lived in the presidential Blue House more than 30 years ago, she was a young, stand-in first lady, serving after the assassination of her mother and before the killing of her dictator father.After defeating Moon Jae-in in elections Wednesday, she will return to her childhood home as the first female president of a country where women continue to face widespread sexism, huge income gaps with men doing the same work and few opportunities to rise to the top in business, poli

 Peninsular trust-building processAt the core of Park’s policy toward North Korea is the Korean Peninsular Trust-Building Process, which is aimed at entrenching durable peace and laying the groundwork for reunification.The process is based on a flexible and balanced approach. It shuns a dichotomist attitude of taking either appeasement or a hard-line stance, which she says has been unhelpful in bringing positive change in the communist state.Under the process, Seoul is to resume dialogue with Py

Time magazine on Wednesday named the recently re-elected US President Barack Obama as its person of the year for 2012 -- the second time it has accorded him this honor.The venerable American news magazine said the United States is in the midst of huge cultural and demographic changes and Obama is "both the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America."The magazine noted that Obama was the first president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt to win more than 50 percent of the vote in two

Conservative Park Geun-hye clinched a climactic election victory Wednesday to become South Korea’s first female president on the back of pledges for political reform and measured economic democratization. The 60-year-old candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party won the race by a larger margin than those predicted by the most recent opinion surveys and exit polls. She beat progressive rival Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party, who campaigned for more drastic reform in local conglomerates and

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner unveiled his "Plan B" on Tuesday as Republican lawmakers wrangled with Democratic President Barack Obama over how to steer the economy past the so-called fiscal cliff.Boehner, whose party holds a majority in the lower house, said he was now prepared to countenance a tax rise for Americans earning more than $1 million per year, a concession but one that falls short of Obama's demands.The president wants to raise taxes on those earning more than $400,000, and Boehne

Want to cheat on your partner? Then the online dating service Ashley Madison is the perfect place for you.Since it arrived in Brazil 15 months ago, the website has attracted one million lusty Brazilians, turning this South American country of 194 million people into one of the biggest markets for the Canadian company.Created 10 years ago, Ashley Madison and its slogan: "Life is short. Have an affair" is now present in 24 countries, with eight million members in the United States and six million

Israel's prime minister on Tuesday rejected international criticism of plans to build thousands more Jewish homes in east Jerusalem, insisting that construction will move forward.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued the tough response as European diplomats were discussing plans to condemn Israel in the U.N. Security Council. A U.N. resolution would be the latest in a wave of angry international reactions to Israeli plans to build in areas the Palestinians claim for a future state.“Jerusalem

The U.S. current account trade deficit narrowed in the July-September quarter to the smallest level since late 2010, but the improvement may not last.The deficit fell to $107.5 billion in the third quarter, down 9 percent from the second quarter imbalance of $118.1 billion, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. It was the lowest trade gap since the final three months of 2010.The current account is the broadest measure of trade. It tracks the sale of merchandise and services between nations a

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has suffered a stroke and was in intensive care at a Baghdad hospital Tuesday, injecting new uncertainty into the country's political future a year after the U.S. military left.Although his official powers are limited, Talabani, 79, is respected by many Iraqis as a rare unifying figure seen as able to rise above the ethnic and sectarian rifts that still divide the country. Known for his joking manner and walrus-like moustache, Talabani has been actively involved in

Some U.S. Republicans now say they're willing to discuss the politically treacherous issue of gun control, along with mental health issues and violent video games, while President Barack Obama said he supports efforts in Congress to reinstate an assault weapons ban in the wake of last week's Connecticut school shooting.Republicans in the House of Representatives discussed the gun issue at their regular closed-door meeting Tuesday, and at least some were willing to consider gun control as part of

Japan's trade deficit in November expanded 37.9 percent on-year to $11.3 billion, a record for the month, official data showed Wednesday, in a worrying sign for the world's third-largest economy.The trade shortfall came to 953.4 billion yen, marking the fifth straight month of deficit and a widening from a year-earlier deficit of 691.2 billion yen.Overall, exports fell 4.1 percent while imports edged up 0.8 percent.Shipments to key trader partner China tumbled 14.5 percent, marking another month

Voter turnout in Wednesday's presidential election was 70.1 percent as of 5 p.m., with still two hours before the polls close, reflecting the high interest South Koreans have in the close race, according to the state election watchdog.About 28.4 million out of a total 40.5 million eligible voters have cast their ballots since voting began at 6 a.m. at 13,542 polling stations nationwide, the National Election Commission (NEC) said.The polls are scheduled to close at 6 p.m.No voter turnout numbers

Samsung has overtaken Nokia as the top mobile phone brand for 2012 and has opened up a decisive lead over Apple in the smartphone market, a research firm said Tuesday.This will mark the first time in 14 years that Finnish-based Nokia will not sit atop the global mobile phone business on an annual basis, according to IHS iSuppli.Samsung is expected to account for 29 percent of worldwide cellphone shipments, up from 24 percent in 2011, according to the IHS, which said Nokia's share dropped to 24 p

The International Criminal Court has acquitted a Congolese militia leader of all charges of leading fighters who destroyed a strategic village in eastern Congo in 2003, hacking to death and raping some 200 people including women and children. Tuesday's acquittal of Mathieu Ngudjolo is only the second verdict in the court's 10-year history and the first time it has cleared a suspect.Prosecutor Fatou Besnouda immediately indicated she would appeal and ask for Ngudjolo to be kept in custody.Ngudjol

Entertainment such as K-Pop and dramas topped the list of positive sources about South Korea's national image among foreigners residing here, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.The ministry gleaned the results from essays submitted by 455 foreigners from 59 countries for a contest hosted for two months from September on the subjects of South Korea's image and distinguishing features.The largest share representing 49.2 percent of entries described entertainment including K-Pop, soap operas and spo

A U.S. judge jailed a computer hacker for 10 years on Monday for breaking into the email accounts of stars, including Scarlett Johansson, naked pictures of whom were leaked online.A federal judge in Los Angeles also ordered 36-year-old Christopher Chaney, from Florida, to pay a total of $76,000 to Johansson, Christina Aguilera and Renee Olstead, who were among dozens of other people he hacked.Chaney pleaded guilty in March, in a deal with prosecutors. He could have been jailed for up to 121 year

Prime Minister David Cameron said it is ‘imaginable’ for the U.K. to leave the European Union, the first time he has conceded his nation may leave the bloc altogether.“All futures for Britain are imaginable,” Cameron told lawmakers in Parliament in London today, when asked if he foresaw a British withdrawal from the EU. He said a British departure is “Not my preference.”Cameron has said he will set out his plans to renegotiate the U.K.’s membership of the 27-nation bloc next year and that he wil

Israel on Monday said it was pushing forward with plans to build hundreds of homes in a Jewish settlement of east Jerusalem, risking renewed tensions with the Palestinians and its Western allies over the contentious project.The announcement was part of a new Israeli settlement push announced earlier this month as retaliation for the Palestinians' success in winning U.N. recognition for a state at the United Nations. Israel was widely criticized internationally for the settlement plans, though ac

An Indian college announced on Monday it had banned girls from wearing jeans, short dresses and T-shirts to crack down on sexual harassment, sparking outrage from pupils and rights campaigners.The Adarsh Women's College in Haryana state, 110 kilometers west of New Delhi, said students would be fined 100 rupees (1.8 dollars) each time they broke the dress code."We have imposed a ban on jeans and T-shirts because these are completely Westernized and (so) are short dresses," school head Alaka Sharm

President Barack Obama has softened his demand for higher taxes at upper income levels and agreed to curtail future inflation adjustments for recipients of Social Security pensions as part of accelerating talks with Republicans to avoid a “fiscal cliff,” people familiar with the talks said Monday. The maneuvering is aimed at reaching an agreement to rein in deficit spending before an automatic year-end hike in taxes for nearly all wage-earners hits, as well as deep spending cuts in defense and i