Two people were killed and hundreds left homeless after heavy rains pounded North Korea over the past three days, state media said Saturday."Flood damage occurred in the central DPRK," (North Korea) the Korean Central News Agency said, citing preliminary tallies compiled as of late Friday.Large swathes of farmland were flooded in the provinces of South Hamkyong, North Hwanghae and Kangwon, KCNA said.Poor weather makes it harder for the communist state to feed its 24-million-strong population as

South Korean businessmen visited the inter-Korean industrial park in Kaesong for a second consecutive day to bring back finished products and raw manufacturing materials, the government said Saturday.Ministry of Unification that handles relations with the communist country said 115 businessmen and workers crossed the demilitarized zone (DMZ) with 112 vehicles earlier in the day to retrieve materials from the joint venture that has remained idle for over three months.On Friday, personnel from 44

SAN FRANCISCO (Yonhap News) -- A teenage girl died Friday after succumbing to injuries sustained last week during the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 at San Francisco International Airport, authorities said. San Francisco General Hospital did not reveal the name of the girl but confirmed she had been in critical condition. Her death was confirmed by the Chinese consulate in the city, which also said that she was a Chinese citizen. The latest death brings the total number of fatalities to thr

Shaking up his national security team, President Barack Obama tapped diplomat Susan Rice as his national security adviser, defying Republicans who have vigorously criticized her faulty explanation about the attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya.“Susan is the consummate public servant _ a patriot who puts her country first,'' Obama said while announcing Rice's appointment Wednesday during a Rose Garden ceremony.Rice will take over the top national security post from Tom Donilon, who is resigning

South Korea on Wednesday criticized the repatriation by Laos of nine North Korean defectors at a U.N. meeting, calling for the international community’s support to ensure their safety and humanitarian treatment. The seven men and two women aged between 15 and 23 were caught by Laotian authorities while trying to reach the South Korean Embassy on May 10. They were expelled to China last week and now likely face severe punishment in their oppressive homeland. Shin Dong-ik, deputy minister for mult

President Park Geun-hye called Tuesday for sweeping deregulation aimed at facilitating mergers and acquisitions of venture start-ups, saying investments, not loans, are key to revitalizing the industry that is considered a backbone for her "creative economy" vision.Park has championed the vision as one of her main economic policies. It calls for boosting South Korea's economy by creating unheard-of business opportunities and more jobs through the fusion of information technology and cultural and

지난 주말 청와대는 엠바고를 요청한 5개 주요 대사 임명을 불과 몇 수십분 후 본인들이 누설하는 전례없는 외교적 결례를 저질렀다.시작의 발단은 일간지의 30일 토요일자 보도였다. 친박인 권영세 전 국회의원이 주중대사로 발탁이 됐다는 보도 직후 청와대 김행 대변인은 브리핑을 자처했다. 김행 대변인은 미국, 중국, 일본, 러시아, UN대사로 임명된 이름들을 열거한 뒤 상대국에서 아그레망을 보내오기 전까지 엠바고를 준수해 줄 것을 요청했다.“외교관 인사는 상대국의 아그레망을 받아야하는 등의 외교적 절차와 관례가 있다. 때문에 언론사는 미리 취재가 됐더라도, 상대국의 아그레망을 받을 때까지 포괄적 엠바고를 적용하는 것이 관례였다. 이 보도에 대해 심심한 유감을 표시한다”라고 대변인은 밝혔다.그러나 불과 30분도 지나지 않아 이 브리핑의 내용은 청와대 홈페이지로 자동 연결이 되었고 해당 글이 직후 홈페이지에서 삭제되었다. 그러나 이번엔 해당 내용이 그대로 청와대 블로그로 연결이 되어 결국 주

President Park Geun-hye on Saturday nominated Nam Jae-joon, former Army chief of staff, as her first head of the state intelligence agency, her spokesman said.The president also nominated Shin Je-yoon, the first vice finance minister, as head of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the nation's financial watchdog, while Kim Dong-yeon, the second vice finance minister, was named to be chief of the Prime Minister's Office.A professor at Seoul's Seokyeong University, Nam was a career soldier wh

President Park Geun-hye proposed a meeting with leaders of rival parties this week to urge them to quickly pass her government reorganization bill, her spokesman said Saturday.Park will "invite Hwang Woo-yea, the chief of the Saenuri Party, and the party's floor leader Lee Hahn-koo; Moon Hee-sang, the chief of the Democratic United Party; and the party's floor leader Park Ki-choon to Cheong Wa Dae at 2 p.m. Sunday and discuss the government reorganization bill," presidential spokesman Yoon Chang

South Korean stocks are expected to trade higher next week despite automatic spending cuts in the United States, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed up 0.1 percent to 2,026.49 on Friday from the previous week.The KOSPI rebounded later this week as Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, made comments that suggested a continuation of the monetary easing policy.Weekly foreign net-buying totaled 70 billion won (US$64 million), while

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Huge spending cuts will start to hit the U.S. military and a vast array of other government programs Saturday after President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans failed to find a compromise that would have blocked the $85 billion budget reduction, a move designed to whittle away at the country's enormous debt but one that could threaten the still-weak economy.Both Obama and the Republican leaders in the House and Senate declared themselves still deadlocked after a last-

Actor Park Si-hoo returned home after nearly 10 hours of questioning by police on Friday over allegations that he sexually assaulted a 24-year old aspiring actress last month.“Although there is much that I would like the say, I have clarified (my position) enough with the police,” Park told reporters, saying the truth will come out.Park’s friend identified as his surname Kim, who is accused of sexually harassing the woman, also returned home after receiving investigation with Park.The well-known

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) -- The U.S. government accused the North Korean leadership Friday of "wining and dining" former NBA star Dennis Rodman and the Harlem Globetrotters while many of its people are starving."Clearly, you've got the regime spending money to wine and dine foreign visitors when they should be feeding their own people,"Patrick Ventrell, acting deputy spokesman for the State Department, said at a press briefing.He was answering a question about Washington's view on Rodman's trip

SAN FRANCISCO (Yonhap News) -- Overturning her previous ruling, a U.S. federal judge in charge of a Samsung-Apple patent suit on Friday almost halved Samsung's penalty.U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ordered Samsung to pay Apple $598.9 million, about $450 million less than before.In a ruling in August, Koh set Apple's award at $1.05 billion, accepting the jury's conclusion that the South Korean tech giant infringed on some of Apple's patents.The jury said Samsung copied some designs and technologie

  대통령직 인수위원회는 21일 오후 ‘국민행복, 희망의 새시대’라는 국정비전 하에 추진할 5대 국정목표와 21개 실행전략, 그리고 140개의 국정과제를 발표했다.인수위는 국정목표로 일자리 중심의 창조경제, 맞춤형 고용•복지, 창의교육과 문화가 있는 삶, 안전과 통합의 사회, 그리고 통일시대의 기반 구축을 제시했다.새 정부는 또한 국민연금과 기초연금을 통합한 `국민행복연금‘을 내년 7월부터 도입해 소득수준에 따라 현행 국민연금 외에 매월 4만∼20만원까지의 기초연금을 지급하기로 했다. 검찰 개혁의 일환으로 대검찰청 중수부는 올해 내 폐지하되 일선 지검에 특수수사를 총괄할 부서를 신설하는 한편, 대통령 친인척 및 측근비리 방지를 위해 특별감찰관제도 도입하기로 했다. 새 정부는 나아가 북한의 핵실험으로 고조된 긴장에 따라 확고한 안보의지를 다지고 국가재정증가율을 상회하는 수준으로 국방예산을 증액하기로 했다.행복한 통일시대의 기반구축을 위해 인수위는 튼튼한 안보와 지속가능한 평화 실현,

Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan has decided to cancel his planned visit to India, the final leg of his ongoing five-nation trip to Africa and Asia, and will return home later this week in view of a decision that will force the ministry to lose its jurisdiction over trade, an official said Wednesday. The Tuesday decision by President-elect Park Geun-hye's transition team to hand over the ministry's trade division to the commerce ministry has sent shock waves through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

LONDON (AP) -- A helicopter crashed into a crane and fell on a street in central London during rush hour Wednesday, sending black plumes of smoke into the air as it smashed into a crowded street. Two people were killed and nine others injured, officials said.The helicopter crashed just south of the River Thames near the Underground and mainline train station at Vauxhall, and near the British spy agency MI6.Police said one person had critical injuries. Several people were taken to a nearby hospit

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) -- Islamist militants from Mali attacked a natural gas field partly operated by BP in southern Algeria early on Wednesday, killing a security guard and kidnapping at least eight people, including English, Norwegian and Japanese nationals, an Algerian security official and local media said.Algerian forces, however, caught up with and surrounded the kidnappers and negotiations for the release of the hostages are ongoing, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity b

South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Wednesday they are aiming to increase their combined sales in China by 10 percent to 1.47 million units this year. The sales target represents 20 percent of the carmakers' total global sales of 7.41 million units planned for this year, they said. The Chinese car market is expected to grow 9.6 percent to 13.94 million units this year from last year, but its outlook is not all upbeat due to the prolonged global e

South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Kang Chang-hee and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra agreed Wednesday to boost their countries' cooperation in the field of water resources management, a spokesman said.Kang, now on a 13-day trip through Southeast Asia, paid a courtesy call on the Thai leader in Bangkok earlier in the day and the two sides discussed ways to deepen their economic ties, National Assembly spokesman Bae Sung-rye said in an e-mailed press briefing.Citing the two nations'