The Federal Reserve is being engulfed by the one thing it tries to prevent: uncertainty.Will the Fed take its first step Wednesday toward reducing the extraordinary stimulus it's given the U.S. economy?Will its eventual pullback jolt the financial markets?Who will fill several expected vacancies on the Fed's policy board next year?And, with Lawrence Summers' withdrawal from consideration, who will lead the Fed once Ben Bernanke's term expires in January, ending one of the most tumultuous chapter

South Korea will provide 5.3 trillion won (US$4.9 billion) in additional financial support aimed at stimulating corporate investment on facilities, the country's top economic policymaker said Tuesday.Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said that the support will be provided through state-run policy financing agencies."We will strengthen our supporting efforts for corporate investment in a way that the recent improving trend in our economic conditions could spill over even into the private sector," Hyu

BMW Group Korea, the local importer and distributor of German automaker BMW AG, is voluntarily recalling over 1,300 vehicles sold in South Korea due to defective fuel filter heaters and airbags, the government said Tuesday.According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the fuel filter heater in 790 units of the 120d, 520d,X3 20d, X5 30d and X6 30d vehicles, produced between May and November of 2009, may experience an electrical overload, which in turn can cause it to become per

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Washington this week for talks mainly on North Korea and Syria, Kerry's department announced Monday.Their meeting, slated for Thursday, is part of regular consultations between the two global powers on a range of bilateral, regional and other issues, it said."While this meeting has been planned for some time, we do expect the secretary and foreign minister to discuss current issues such as the DPRK and Syria," the

South Korea's producer prices declined for the 11th straight month in August due to on-year retreats in oil costs and the local currency's gain against the U.S. dollar, the central bank said Tuesday. The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, slid 1.3 percent in August from a year earlier, compared with a 1 percent on-year decline in July, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).On an annual basis, the producer prices have fallen every month since October 2012 when such pri

Careful not to blame either side for a deadly chemical weapon attack, U.N. inspectors reported Monday that rockets loaded with the nerve agent sarin had been fired from an area where Syria's military has bases, but said the evidence could have been manipulated in the rebel-controlled stricken neighborhoods.The U.S., Britain and France jumped on evidence in the report _ especially the type of rockets, the composition of the sarin agent, and trajectory of the missiles _ to declare that President B

A military contractor launched an attack Monday morning inside a building at a U.S. Navy complex, spraying gunfire on office workers in the cafeteria and in the hallway at the heavily secured installation, authorities said. Thirteen people were killed, including the gunman.Authorities said they were looking for a second possible attacker who may have been disguised in a military-style uniform.   President Barack Obama said he was mourning “yet another mass shooting” and called it a “cowardly act

 자신이 경찰로부터 스토킹 당한다고 주장하며 스스로의 삶을 인터넷에 생중계한 한국 여성의 사연이 외신에 소개되었다.영국 데일리 메일은 최근 외국의 네티즌들로부터 “칩 챈”이라는 별명이 붙은 한 여성에 대해 소개했다. 이름, 직업, 나이, 거주지 등이 모두 불명인 이 여성은 하루에 20시간 정도 수면을 취하는 것으로 보이며 하루의 대부분을 여러 장의 담요를 담고 지내며 집을 나서는 일이 거의 없다고 한다. 또한 집을 나설 때는 얼굴을 알아볼 수 없을만큼 심한 변장을 하고 나선다. “칩 챈”이 한국인이라는 점이 밝혀진 것은 그녀가 직접 쓴 것으로 보이는 문구가 적힌 플래카드가 인터넷 중계창에 노출되었기 때문이다.그녀는 이 플래카드를 통해 자신이 “P”라는 이름을 가진 경정으로부터 스토킹 당하고 있으며, 이 경찰이 그녀의 몸 곳곳에 “마인드 컨트롤 무기”를 심었다고 주장했다.현재 네이버에는 “칩 챈”이 운영하는 것으로 추정되는 블로그가 있는데, 이 곳에는 인터넷 중계장에서 보인 플래카드에

South Korean soldiers fatally shot a man who attempted to cross the Imjingang River to North Korea on Monday, the military said.The incident occurred about 5 kilometers west of Imjingak, a pavilion near the Panmunjeom border village, in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.The troops fired at the man, believed to be a civilian in his 40s, at 2:23 p.m. after he ignored warnings to return to the south side, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.He jumped into the river and was holding onto the buoy at the tim

인천 국제공한 근처에 외부에서 보이지 않게 하는 첨단 기술을 이용한 건물이 세워질 예정이다.CNN 등 외신은 15일 (현지시간) 미국의 건축 회사인 GDS 아키텍츠(GDS Architects) 등이 인천에 세워질 타워 인피니티(Tower Infinity)의 건축 허가를 받았다고 밝혔다. 한국 토지주택공사 (LH)측에 따르면 현재로서는 이 건물의 기본 설계만 이뤄진 단계로, 시공사 선정이나 실시 설계는 아직 이뤄지지 않았다고 한다. 이 건물의 설계에 참여한 업체는 GDS 아키텍츠와 삼우건축사사무소, ANU 디자인 그룹이 있다,LH 관계자는 완공시기나 착공시기는 아직 정해지지 않았다고 밝혔다.만약 디자인대로 완공된다면 이 건물의 높이는 450미터로 세계에서 여섯 번째로 높은 타워가 된다. 타워 인피니티의 가장 큰 특징은 LED 스크린과 카메라를 이용해 건물을 “보이지 않는 (invisible)” 상태로 만든다는 것이다. 건물의 여러 부분에 위치한 카메라는 타워의 주변 환경을 촬영한 뒤

The Miss America pageant has crowned its first winner of Indian heritage.Moments after winning the 2014 crown, 24-year-old Nina Davuluri described how delighted she is that the nearly century-old pageant sees beauty and talent of all kinds.“I'm so happy this organization has embraced diversity,” she said in her first press conference after winning the crown in Atlantic City, New Jersey's Boardwalk Hall. “I'm thankful there are children watching at home who can finally relate to a new Miss Americ

An opposition lawmaker claimed Monday that a senior presidential secretary had colluded with a top intelligence official to spy on Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook, suggesting they had masterminded the scandal over Chae's alleged illegitimate son.Rep. Park Jie-won of the main opposition Democratic Party raised the allegations at a meeting of the parliamentary legislative and judiciary committee, claiming Chae was put under constant surveillance during the month of August.The scandal surrounding

The government and the ruling Saenuri Party agreed Monday to increase soldiers' monthly pay by 15 percent next year as part of President Park Geun-hye's push to double their salary during her five-year term, the party's policymaker said.  Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok, Saenuri Party's policy maker Kim Ki-hyun and other senior officials held a meeting to fine-tune the 2014 budget proposal, which will be announced later this month. The move comes after Park promised to double soldiers' pay during

President Park Geun-hye was to visit the National Assembly on Monday for talks with the opposition party chief about how to break a parliamentary gridlock that worsened after the prosecutor general offered to resign over allegations of an illegitimate child.The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) believes that Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook has been forced to quit for aggressively pursuing an investigation into allegations that the state intelligence agency attempted to influence December's

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Monday, due mainly to gains in tech firms and carmakers, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 17.13 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2,011.45 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech shares led the market gain, with No. 1 Samsung Electronics moving up 0.57 percent and top chipmaker SK hynix adding 2.41 percent. LG Electronics advanced 0.82 percent, and LG Display increased 0.73 percent.Carmakers also gathered ground,

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative allies triumphed in Bavaria's state election Sunday, a week before the whole country votes, though a painful setback for her coalition partners added to uncertainty over the outcome of the national election.The Merkel-allied Christian Social Union, traditionally the dominant force in the prosperous southern region, won 47.7 percent of the vote, official results showed. It won back a majority in the state legislature it humiliatingly lost in 2008, ga

An inter-Korean factory zone in North Korea began its trial-run production on Monday after a five-month hiatus, as the two Koreas discuss ways to ensure sustainable growth of the joint economic venture.More than half of the 123 South Korean firms with factories at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the North's eponymous city were set to start trial operations, with the aim of fully normalizing operations thereafter, and have asked North Korean workers to report to work, the Unification Ministry

Choo Shin-soo of the Cincinnati Reds surpassed 100 walks in a season for the first time in his career in a road game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.Choo went 0-for-3 against the Brewers but had two walks to reach 101 free passes for 2013. The South Korean outfielder also stole a base and scored a run in the game, as the Reds lost 6-5.Only Joey Votto, Choo's teammate, has drawn more walks in the National League (NL) this season with 118. In the American League (AL), Mike Trout of the Los

While dealing with the Syria crisis, the Barack Obama administration once underscored the need to set a precedent for North Korea, Iran and terrorist groups jeopardizing the interests of the U.S. and its regional partners.But concerns are growing that Washington's tactic on Syria may be sending the wrong signal, especially to Pyongyang."The (North Korean) regime is probably heartened by signs of a declining American willingness to intervene overseas even when confronted by evidence of the use of

South Korea has set up a new office specifically tasked with dealing with non-tariff trade barriers raised by other countries, the government said Monday, in a move to boost its exports.The move comes as the government is expected to announce a list of plans for dealing with non-tariff trade barriers at the end of this month.A recent survey showed nearly three out of every 10 small- and medium-sized enterprises here that export their goods and services to Japan have experienced some type of non-