Former champion Liu Xiang left the Olympics Games in the first heat of the 110-meter hurdles for the second time in a row, clutching his right Achilles after he crashed into the first obstacle.It left one of the signature races of the games without one of its main characters, as many had hoped to see China's Liu challenge defending champion Dayron Robles and this year's top performer Aries Merrit

The Saenuri Party said Tuesday all of its lawmakers will give up their salaries for this month in accordance with the party leadership's decision to stick to the "no-work, no-pay" principle, a cornerstone in the ruling party's parliamentary reform measures.The measure to forfeit salaries when the parliament is out of work is one of six major reform measures the party is seeking to reduce privilege

North Korea appears to be ratcheting up threats against South Korea in an attempt to help new leader Kim Jong-un consolidate his grip on power, but the South does not rule out and is fully prepared for the possibility of new provocations, President Lee Myung-bak said Monday.In an interview with local and foreign media, Lee also urged Japan to take humanitarian steps to address long-running grievan

TOKYO -- The last working reactor in Japan is to be switched off Saturday, leaving the country without nuclear power just over a year after the world's worst atomic accident in a quarter of a century.As technicians ready to close down the No. 3 unit at Tomari in Hokkaido, the debate over whether Japan needs nuclear power has been reignited, amid increasingly shrill warnings of summer power blackou

SHANGHAI -- South Korea, China and Japan agreed on an action plan Saturday aimed at expanding cultural cooperation and exchange between the three countries.The deal reached in Shanghai calls for the designation of so-called cultural cities in each of the three countries in 2014, and the hosting of joint art fairs that can attract leading traditional and modern artists.The action plan was reached a

YEOSU -- Organizers for the 2012 Yeosu Expo said Saturday that they have successfully carried out a full-fledged dress rehearsal to check overall preparations for the international event.The three-month-long exposition that will officially open on May 12 is expected to attract visitors from all over the world, and highlight efforts being made to combat the challenges of climate change and its impa

LG Electronics Inc., the world's No. 3 handset maker, unveiled on Saturday a new Optimus smartphone running on the fourth-generation long-term evolution (LTE) network.LG Electronics said that the Optimus LTE 2 has 5 gigabytes of random access memory, the largest among smartphones sold in South Korea.The company said the RAM on the smartphone is twice as powerful as those found in many tablet PCs a

FRESNO, California (Yonhap) -- South Korean inspectors sent to the United States to check the safety of beef failed to visit a cattle farm in central California that reported the latest case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), an official source said Friday. Joo E-suk, head of the inspection team, said indirect contact was made with the owner of the farm through a veterinarian.He did not el

LONDON (AP) -- London's comic and outspoken mayor Boris Johnson won reelection Friday, triumphing in a closer-than-expected vote to secure a second term and his status as the unvarnished and unpredictable host of the 2012 Olympics.Johnson's victory, in election results confirmed late Friday, was a bright spot on a rough day for his colleagues in Prime Minister David Cameron's governing Conservativ

TOKYO (Reuters) – Less than a fortnight into his job as CEO, Kazuo Hirai sketched out a strategy to revive Sony Corp: a major push into smartphones, growth in games and cameras, and big cost cuts in a TV business that has not made a profit in 8 years.The Sony veteran, in his first public briefing as CEO, also targeted new business in medical equipment and electric car batteries, and set a target f

 

This is the first installment in a series that spotlights Korean products enjoyed by people abroad. ― Ed. Choco-Pie, the flagship brand of local snack maker Orion Corp., is often called a “little giant” here.It is a small round chocolate pie with a marshmallow center, which is 7 centimeters in diameter and weighs about 35 grams.Since 1974, the Choco-Pie has been enjoyed by every age group of Korea

 Heads of family-run conglomerates continue to control empires with little stakesOwners of Korea’s leading family-run conglomerates, or chaebol, are still opting to employ circular intra-group shareholding practices to run a large number of affiliates with little or no stake ownership, the state-run antitrust regulator said Thursday.According to the Fair Trade Commission, each chairperson of the c

Starbucks Korea is considering launching its instant coffee mixes here soon, the president said Wednesday marking the 12th anniversary of the Seattle-based company’s Korean business.“The instant coffee brand, which was launched last year in Japan following the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., would be introduced to Korean consumers,” Lee Suk-koo, the head of Starbucks Korea, said in a press conference

Amore Pacific, Korea’ top cosmetics maker, is now targeting the fast-growing Chinese market, devising a premium positioning strategy with its high-end herbal medicine cosmetics brand Sulwhasoo.After successfully entering the markets in Hong Kong in 2004 and the U.S. in 2010, the brand Sulwhasoo made its Chinese debut this year.  An advertisement for Sulwhasoo at Shin Kong Palace, a Beijing departm

Premium brand Sulwhasoo realizes 66 years of research effortsAmore Pacific, Korea’s top beauty company, officially launched its high-end herbal medicine cosmetics brand Sulwhasoo in Beijing on June 22. With about 100 journalists and industry people in China and Hong Kong in attendance, CEO and president Suh Kyung-bae expressed strong confidence about the brand’s success in Asia as well as in China

STX Offshore and Shipbuilding Co. will face punitive measures for unfairly reducing subcontracting fees to a service provider, a state-run antitrust regulator said Monday. The nation’s leading shipbuilder, based in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, had signed a contract with a subcontractor, identified by its initial H, since 2008 for the work of putting vessels together to be moved.For six mon

On Thursday afternoon, Jeong Hyun-sook, a 55-year-old housewife, belatedly realized she did not have enough milk for breakfast. She rushed to a nearby supermarket but all she could find was organic milk, which was almost twice the price of ordinary milk. “A clerk said that the milk shelf often becomes empty earlier than usual recently. I was just stunned,” she said.Jeong eventually bought two 200-

Amore Pacific Corp. is considering acquiring a French luxury perfume brand, Annick Goutal, in the hope of diversifying its global portfolio, company officials said Thursday.  Amore Pacific CEOSuh Kyung-baeThe nation’s largest cosmetics manufacturer, however, made it clear that nothing had been decided regarding the potential takeover.  “The possible takeover will pave the way for us to go global i

 Siemens Korea will become a “true Korean company” that contributes to the country’s economic growth and job creation, its new and first Korean chief executive said Thursday. “I’m the first Korean CEO in the 60-year-old history of Siemens Korea. The headquarters may have thought a native would know better about the local market and respond faster to it,” Kim Jong-kap, chairman and CEO of Siemens K