Taeyang, a member of K-pop boy band Big Bang, ranked No. 1 on major local charts and iTunes charts in five countries with his latest solo upon its release Friday, the singer's management agency said."Ringa Linga," the title piece off his second full-length solo album, rose to the top of real-time charts of major local music services such as Olleh Music, Mnet, Bugs and Naver Music, after it was uploaded on the Internet at midnight Thursday before the album's release, YG Entertainment said.The son

The government plans to raise the salaries of soldiers by 15 percent next year as part of efforts to improve their overall welfare conditions, the finance ministry said Friday.According to the ministry, the government will hike the salaries of corporals to 134,600 won (US$126) a month next year from this year's 117,000 won.Salaries for private and private first class soldiers will also increase to 112,500 won and 121,700, respectively, from 97,800 won and 105,800 won, the ministry said. Sergeant

The United States plans to send its special envoy for North Korean human rights to Seoul later this month, a diplomatic source said Thursday, raising expectations that he may also travel to Pyongyang on a mission to negotiate the release of a jailed American man."Amb. Robert King is scheduled to visit South Korea in the week starting on Nov. 18," the source told Yonhap News Agency on the condition of anonymity.The State Department will soon make the announcement of his trip, which may also inclu

A head coach of a local women's football club has resigned after controversially joining fellow coaches in demanding a star player on a rival squad take a gender verification test.Lee Sung-gyun, bench boss for Suwon FMC in the WK-League, offered to step down late Thursday, after he'd organized a meeting among six coaches in which they raised questions about the gender identity of Park Eun-seon, striker on the seventh WK-League club, Seoul City Hall Amazones.The coaches had agreed to boycott comp

The United States plans to send its special envoy for North Korean human rights to Seoul later this month, a diplomatic source said Thursday, raising expectations that he may also travel to Pyongyang on a mission to negotiate the release of a jailed American man."Amb. Robert King is scheduled to visit South Korea in the week starting on Nov. 18," the source told Yonhap News Agency on the condition of anonymity.The State Department will soon make the announcement of his trip, which may also inclu

The reigning South Korean football champion FC Seoul will be eyeing a prestigious continental trophy in China on the weekend as they take on Guangzhou Evergrande in the second leg of the AFC Champions League final.The match will be held at Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou on Saturday at 8 p.m. local time, or 9 p.m. in Korea.The two clubs played to a 2-2 draw in the opening leg at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Oct. 26, as FC Seoul's Montenegrin striker Dejan Damjanovic scored a late equalizer for the dra

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is taking advantage of sports as a means to bolster his leadership and the image of the reclusive country, a government report said Friday.South Korea's unification ministry said in the report Kim has made 25 public appearances at various sports and athletic gatherings this year, showing active interest in large-scale construction projects. The number of appearances marks a four-fold increase from six tallied for all of 2012.The ministry said Pyongyang has been mo

South Korea is expected to soon become a member of the Europe's research and development (R&D) program Eurostars, the Seoul government said Friday.Eurostars is a joint R&D programme run by EUREKA, a network of 41 European states, including all 28 member states of the European Union, according to the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.A memorandum of understanding centered on South Korea becoming a member of the programme was by South Korean Minister Yoon Sang-jick, who is currently ac

Seeking a new budget and vender for its next-generation fighter jet procurement program, South Korea may be offered lower prices of F-35s than Lockheed Martin originally proposed, a U.S. defense industry expert said Thursday.South Korea has delayed the selection of a winning bidder as it weighs the pros and cons of the F-35, Boeing's F-15SE and the Eurofighter Typhoon.Lockheed and Eurofighter were priced out of the contest, moving Boeing closer to clinching the US$7.4-billion deal.South Korea, f

A new video that surfaced Thursday showed Toronto Mayor Rob Ford threatening to “murder” someone and “poke his eyes out” in a rambling rage, deepening the conviction among both critics and allies that he is no longer fit to lead North America's fourth largest city.The mayor told reporters moments after the video was posted online that he was “extremely, extremely inebriated” in it and “embarrassed” by it. The context of the video is unknown and it's unclear who the target of Ford's wrath is. The

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday, as investors were unnerved by predictions that the U.S. might start trimming the stimulus sooner following the latest growth data, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 14.31 points, or 0.71 percent, to 1,989.73 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Shares lost ground across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics sliding 1.04 percent, with No. 2 lender KB Financial dipping 1.6 percent. Washington said the p

Shares of Twitter went on sale to the public for the first time Thursday, instantly leaping more than 70 percent above their offering price in a dazzling debut that exceeded even Wall Street's lofty hopes.By the closing bell, the social network that reinvented global communication in 140-character bursts was valued at $31 billion _ nearly as much as Yahoo Inc., an Internet icon from another era, and just below Kraft Foods, the grocery conglomerate founded more than a century ago.The stock's sizz

Nations involved in the long-stalled nuclear talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program should use their "wisdom" to restart the multilateral forum at an early date, China's foreign ministry said Thursday.Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the remarks as China is accelerating its diplomatic efforts to breathe new life into the six-nation talks that have been dormant since late 2008. China's chief nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, is in Pyongyang to discuss ways to resume the talks, Hong sa

 The Saenuri Party’s Rep. Kim Moo-sung and Ambassador to China Kwon Young-se have been questioned by the prosecution investigating the alleged leaking of 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript, it was revealed Thursday.According to the prosecution, Kwon provided answers in writing to questions sent to his location in China. Kim is also reported to be compiling his answers in writing. Kim and Kwon, who held high-level posts in Park’s campaign, have been accused by the main opposition Democratic Part

A special economic zone that North Korea reportedly wants to set up near the western sea border with South Korea seems to be unrelated to Pyongyang’s original plan to create 14 special business zones, a Seoul official said Thursday.The Asahi Shimbun reported Wednesday that the North seeks to establish beaches, golf courses and hotels in Kangryong County near the so-called Northern Limited Line (NLL) in an effort to lure foreign investors that may include South Korean companies. The unification m

 성별 논란에 휩싸인 여자 축구선수 박은선(27·서울시청)에 대해 박원순 서울시장이 안타까운 마음을 표했다. 박원순 서울시장(@wonsoonpark)은 6일 트위터에 “시장 이전에 딸을 둔 아버지의 마음으로 박은선 선수의 인권과 관련된 억울함이 없도록 노력하겠다”고 밝혔다.이는 한 누리꾼이 트위터를 통해 박 시장에게 “여자축구팀의 선수가 수모를 겪고 있는데 뭐라 말씀 좀 해주세요”라고 남긴 글에 답한 것이다. 박은선은 박 시장이 단장으로 있는 서울시청팀 소속이다. 또 박 시장은 1980년대에는 인권변호사로 활약한 바 있어 이번 논란에 대한 행보에 관심이 쏠리고 있다. 전날 서울시청을 제외한 6개 WK리그 구단 감독들이 최근 비공식 간담회를 열고 박은선의 성별을 문제 삼아 “박은선이 계속 WK리그 경기에 나설 경우 2014년도 시즌에 출전을 하지 않겠다”는 의사를 연맹에 전달한 것으로 알려져 파문이 일었다.이들은 박은선이 남자가 아니냐는 의혹을 제기하며 WK리그에서 제외해야 한다고 주

추신수 (신시네티 레즈. 31)의 다음 행선지로 유력하게 여겨졌던 뉴욕 메츠가 그를 영입할 가능성이 낮다는 견해가 나왔다.MLB.com의 메츠 전담기자인 앤쏘니 디코모는 팬들의 질문에 답하는 과정에서 “메츠는 외야수 보강이 절실하다. 제이코비 엘스버리(30,보스턴)나 추신수를 영입할 것이라는 예상이 얼마나 현실성이 있는가?”라는 질문에 대해 “현실적이지 않다”고 대답했다.디코모 기자는 메츠 구단 관계자들과 이야기한 결과 아무도 메츠의 샌디 앨더슨 단장이 한 선수에게 1억달러 넘게 쓴다고 예상하지 않는다는 인상을 받았다면서 고액을 받을 것으로 예상되는 두 선수가 메츠로 향할 가능성이 낮다고 예측했다.그는 메츠는 이미 텍사스 레인저스와 시애틀 마리너스가 관심을 보이고 있는 엘스버리의 영입은 시도조차 하지 않을 것이라고 단정하면서도, 추신수는 그보다는 더 가능성이 있을 것으로 예측했다.디코모 기자는 추신수가 1억달러 이하로 계약할 수도 있기 때문에 메츠가 일단 그를 노리기는 하겠지만, 추

A famed poet was found partially guilty Thursday of election law violations in connection with his campaign for an opposition presidential candidate last year, despite a jury acquittal late last month.The Jeonju District Court convicted Ahn Do-hyun of slandering President Park Geun-hye, then ruling party candidate, but found him not guilty of spreading false rumors.He was sentenced to a suspended fine of 1 million won ($942), the minimum imposable sum for such transgressions, while both the pros

South Korean stocks continued to trade almost flat late Thursday morning as investors maintained their wait-and-see stance amid policy uncertainties around the globe, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged down 0.04 percent, or 0.76 points, to 2,012.91 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech shares lost ground, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 1.03 percent and its local rival LG Electronics losing 1.03 percent. Flat panel maker LG Display decreased 0.41 percent.

Naver Corp., South Korea's top Internet portal operator, said Thursday its third-quarter profit dropped 19.5 percent from a year earlier on a spin-off of its online gaming business and a one-off factor.Net profit reached 76.2 billion won (US$71.9 million) on a consolidated basis in the July-September period, compared with 94.7 billion won the previous year, Naver, formerly known as NHN, said in a regulatory filing.However, revenue jumped 42 percent on-year to reach 585 billion won in the third q