The Pentagon is preparing top-to-bottom changes, including a push to limit the growth of military pay, as it adjusts to steep budget cuts and the winding down of war in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday.In a speech on U.S. defense priorities, Hagel said that as the Obama administration preserves the military's strength it will make it a less prominent tool of foreign policy. That is not a new goal but one Hagel said is more achievable now that the U.S. is ending more than a

South Korea and Singapore have agreed to allow code-sharing of their flag carriers with those of third countries, allowing freer air travel between the two nations, the South Korean government said Wednesday.The agreement came at the latest round of aviation dialogue held in Seoul for two days from Monday, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The countries' flag carriers are already offering nearly 50 flights per week between the countries, but the start of code-sharin

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford acknowledged for the first time Tuesday that he smoked crack “probably a year ago” when he was in a “drunken stupor,” but he refused to resign despite immense pressure to step aside as leader of Canada's largest city.Ford said he loves his job and “for the sake of the taxpayers, we must get back to work immediately.”Allegations that the mayor had been caught on video smoking crack surfaced in news reports in May. Ford initially insisted the video did not exist, sidestepped

Award-winning chef Charlie Trotter, a self-taught culinary master whose eponymous Chicago restaurant elevated the city's cuisine and provided a training ground for some of the nation's other best chefs, has died at the age of 54.Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said rescue crews were called around 10 a.m. Tuesday to his Lincoln Park home, where they found Trotter unresponsive. Langford said an ambulance crew transported Trotter to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died aft

After a rocky day of U.N.-brokered talks, the United States and Russia failed to agree on a date to bring Syria's warring sides back to the negotiating table, and the two powers remained divided Tuesday over what role Iran should play in a hoped-for Geneva peace conference.The U.N.-Arab League's top envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, told reporters at the end of the talks involving the U.S., Russia and other nations that the impasse did not mean all hopes of resuming negotiations from June 2012 we

LG Electronics Inc., the world's fourth-largest smartphone maker, unveiled the G Flex, the latest in its smartphone line-up and its first smart device with a curved display.The G Flex has a 6-inch plastic OLED display that curves inward from top and bottom. Samsung Electronics Co., its bigger local rival, also unveiled a similar curved-screen smartphone last month.LG said the G Flex is equipped with a curved battery, which its affiliate LG Chem Ltd. started to produce last month. The smartphone

In an unprecedented move, the Cabinet on Tuesday passed a petition calling for the disbandment of a left-leaning minor opposition party.The petition to disband the Unified Progressive Party (UPP) comes two months after some of its members, including Rep. Lee Seok-ki, were arrested on charges of plotting to overthrow the government in the event of an inter-Korean war.The members have also been accused of praising the North Korean communist regime in violation of South Korean law.On Tuesday, the C

Two South Korean companies with factories at the inter-Korean factory park in Gaeseong have decided to close operations in the face of unfavorable business conditions, sources said Tuesday.The unification ministry and corporate insiders said a textile manufacturer and an electronic parts producer opted to close their factories at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and signed contracts to sell off their assets.Another company is also close to inking a deal to sell off its holdings in the face of mou

Samsung Electronics Co., a South Korean tech giant, said Tuesday that over a dozen of its products were chosen as the best products of the year by a renowned U.S. consumer evaluation agency.Reviewed.com, a division of USA Today, a national American daily newspaper, has picked Samsung's curved OLED TV, monitor, and 11 other products as the best products of the year, according to Samsung. "Samsung's OLED TV can deliver true black levels, unlike older technologies, which means shadows and contours

The Senate pushed a major anti-bias gay rights bill passed a first, big hurdle Monday, a clear sign of Americans' greater acceptance of homosexuality nearly two decades after lawmakers narrowly rejected discrimination legislation.By a vote of 61-30, one more than necessary, the Senate agreed to move ahead on the bill that would prohibit workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. Lawmakers could pass the bill by week's end, but its prospects in the Republican-majori

South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in London on Monday for a four-day state visit that includes an elaborate ceremonial welcome at Buckingham Palace, meetings with Queen Elizabeth II and summit talks with Prime Minister David Cameron.Park is the second South Korean president to make a state visit to Britain after the late President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004. Britain invites only about two foreign leaders for state visits to the country a year, officials said.A slew of events are set for Tue

North Korea's trade with China gained 4.4 percent from a year ago in the first nine months of this year, new data showed Tuesday, raising questions about the effectiveness of sanctions put in place to punish the North for conducting its third nuclear test earlier this year.Trade volume rose to US$4.69 billion between January and September from $4.49 billion for the same period last year, according to the data released by the China Customs Information Center. The data, seen by Yonhap News Agency,

South Korea's foreign-exchange reserves rose to a fresh record high in October, aided by a weak U.S. dollar and an increase in investment profit, the central bank said Tuesday.The country's foreign reserves totaled a record $343.23 billion as of end-October, up $6.3 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).The October gain also marked the largest monthly growth since October 2011 when the FX reserves rose by $7.59 billion.The foreign reserves rose for the fourth stra

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will travel to South Korea early next month as part of his Northeast Asia swing, the White House announced Monday."The Vice President will travel to Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea the first week of December," it said in a press release. The Republic of Korea is the formal name for South Korea.In Seoul, he will meet with key leaders to "address bilateral, regional and global challenges, including in particular our close cooperation and coordination to addres

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Tuesday led by gains in blue-chip auto- and steelmakers, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 1.67 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,026.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Hyundai Mobis, an auto parts maker, shot up 2 percent, with leading steelmaker POSCO climbing 1.4 percent. Analysts expected the main index to move in a tight range with institutions opting to take profit from recent rallies. The local currency w

Amid growing media speculation that the resumption of nuclear talks with North Korea may be in the offing, top South Korean and U.S. officials had a four-hour meeting here Monday aimed at "fine-tuning" a strategy on North Korea demanding dialogue without pre-conditions attached. Cho Tae-yong, Seoul's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security, said he had "very productive and useful" discussions with his American counterpart Glyn Davies."We reaffirmed that our line of thinkin

민주당 문재인 의원은 2007년 남북정상 회담 대화록 미(未) 이관과 관련, 검찰이 참고인으로 출석할 것을 요구한 데 대해 "의연하고 당당하게 응하겠다"는 입장을 검찰에 전달한 것으로 4일 확인됐다.문 의원은 지난 2일 검찰로부터 참고인 출석 요구 통보를 받은 직후 이 같은 입장을 변호인을 통해 검찰에 전했다고 문 의원측 핵심 관계자가 연합뉴스와의 통화에 서 밝혔다.문 의원은 검찰의 통보를 받은 뒤 당 지도부에도 이 같은 사실을 알린 것으로 전해졌다. 이와 관련, 문 의원은 4일 오후 국회 의원회관에서 열린 꿈보따리정책연구원(원 장 김성훈)의 창립 심포지엄에 참석, 기자들과 만나 "검찰과 협의하는 대로 내일이든 모레든 가급적 빠르게 소환(출석 요구)에 응하겠다"고 밝혔다.'검찰의 출석 요구에 문제가 있다고 보느냐'는 질문에는 "(이미) 제가 응하겠다 고 입장을 밝힌 바도 있고…"라며 언급을 자제했다.출석 요구의 시점과 형식에 대해선 "크게 중요하지 않다"고 말했다.무소속 안철수 의원

당정이 4일 취득세 영구 인하 조치를 소 급적용하기로 합의함에 따라 움츠러들었던 부동산시장 매매심리가 다소 살아날 전망 이다.국회 안전행정위원회 소속 새누리당 의원들은 이날 오전 국회에서 유정복 안전행정부 장관과 당정협의를 통해 정부가 대책을 발표한 올해 8월 28일부터 소급적용하기로 합의했다.정부는 취득세율을 ▲ 6억원 이하 주택은 2%에서 1%로 ▲ 9억원 초과 주택은 4% 에서 3%로 각각 1%포인트 내리고 6억~9억원 주택은 현행 2%를 유지하는 방안을 발표 했다. 그러나 취득세 인하 방안 후속 처리가 좀처럼 속도를 내지 못하자 최근까지 시장에선 불안감만 증폭돼 투자자들이 관망세를 보이면서 매매를 미뤘다. 부동산시장은 이날 당정 합의 소식이 전해지자 즉각 환영했다. 한국공인중개사협회 관계자는 "시장이 다 죽게 생겨서 온갖 처방을 써도 회복될 까 말까 한 상황인데 강력하게 요구했던 사안이 하나 해결됐다는 점에서 환영한다"고 밝혔다.서울 성북구의 현대공인중개사 관계자는 "매매시장

Home buyers who signed a contract from Aug. 28 will pay a less property acquisition tax, as the government and the ruling party agreed Monday on the timeline for the implementation of the tax benefit.The property tax cut measure was announced by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Aug. 28 in a bid to encourage property transactions in the sluggish real estate market, but the measure floated without a fixed timeline for its implementation due to concerns by local governments over a fall in th

Park Byung-ho of the Nexen Heroes was voted the most valuable player in the top South Korean baseball league for the second straight year on Monday.Park earned 84 out of 98 possible votes to pick up his second MVP trophy in a row in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). The slugging first baseman led the league in five offensive categories, including home runs and RBIs.Park became just the fourth player to repeat as the MVP in the KBO, and the first since Lee Seung-yeop of the Samsung Lions won