A man who strangled his brother to aid his suicide attempt was given four years in prison by the Busan district court, Sunday. The convicted 57-year-old and his 55-year-old brother had drunk herbicide to kill themselves amid financial hardship. The two men made two attempts -- one on Oct. 15 and then two days later on Oct. 17 – but survived the poisoning both times. During the second try the younger brother reportedly suffered physical pain and breathing difficulties that prompted the older sibl

발랄한 팝송 라스트 프라이데이 나잇 (Last Friday Night), 티네이지 드림 (Teenage Dream) 등으로 국내에도 잘 알려진 美 여가수 케이티 페리가 특정 대선 주자를 지원하는 내용의 사진을 사회관계망 서비스 (SNS)에 게재한 것이 뒤늦게 주목을 받고 있다. 페리는 지난 3월 인스타그램에 공화당 대선주자 힐러리 클린턴과 그 남편이자 전직 대통령인 빌 클린턴과 나란히 찍은 사진을 게시했다.  (Katy Perry's Instagram)또한, “힐러리 클린턴은 짱이다 (baddass)”는 문구가 적힌 흰 티셔츠를 입은 단독 사진을 올리는 등 적극적인 ‘지원 사격’을 보냈다. 페리는 아이오와 주와 뉴욕 시티에서 힐러리 클린턴의 선거 유세를 돕기도 했다. 그녀는 클린턴 유세를 함께 도울 자원봉사자들을 공개 모집하며 사은품을 약속하는 등 적극적인 행보를 보였다. (Katy Perry's Instagram)이처럼 연예인의 활발한 정치활동 참여는 비단 한국뿐만이 아니라 미국에

The South Korean parliamentary speaker said Monday that last year's agreement reached by Seoul and Tokyo on the wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women does not require approval from the National Assembly, but added that the deal was reached without sufficient public discussion.Under last year's landmark deal, Tokyo expressed its apology and contrition for its colonial-era atrocities, and agreed to provide 1 billion yen ($9.2 million) for a foundation to be established by Seoul to support the

(The Korea Herald)The month of May is a time for university festivals. While these festivals are mainly student-organized, with unique games and cultural performances of all sorts, there are also high-profile K-pop celebrity stages which help attract people other than university students to visit and add to the atmosphere. The celebrity line-ups often remain a secret until the day of the festival to rally up excitement among speculative visitors. The Korea Herald has compiled the dates of each u

South Korean shipbuilders' worst-ever slump may stretch into next year, as demand for new ships is expected to remain low amid still slackened oil prices and slumping global trade, prodding local shipyards to cut their output capacity, industry sources said Monday.According to a report compiled by the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank), a total of 2.32 million compensated gross tons worth of new shipbuilding orders were placed around the globe during the first quarter of the year, down

A 42-year-old woman set fire on Thursday to her rented flat in Yeongdo-gu, Busan, in an apparent suicide attempt, police said.She was arrested by the police under charges of arson.  (123RF)Police said she had told investigators that she wanted to die because of her financial difficulties, but once she started the fire, she regretted her actions and escaped.The woman, identified by her surname Lee, lived with her husband in a 1.2 square-meter flat with a monthly rent of 160,000 won ($136). While

President Park Geun-hye began talks Friday with the new floor leaders and top policymakers of the three major political parties, a crucial meeting that could set the tone of Park’s relations with the rival parties in the new parliament.It marked the first time that Park has held a face-to-face meeting with the leaders following last month's parliamentary elections.The ruling Saenuri Party won 122 out of 300 seats up for grabs in a crushing setback to Park. The main opposition Minjoo Party and th

서울의 한 택시기사가 중국인 여성 관광객에게 승차거부를 하며 욕설을 퍼붓는 동영상이 인터넷 상에서 화제가 되고 있다. 최근 한 인터넷 커뮤니티에 올라온 이 동영상에서는 중년의 남성으로 보이는 택시 운전기사가 새벽에 동대문 시장 근처에서 탑승한 중국 여성 둘을 강제로 내리게 하는 모습이 찍혀 있다. 여성 중 한명이 “나 당신 안다. 예전에도 승차거부한 적이 있다”라고 하자 이 기사는 거친 욕설을 퍼붓는다.동영상을 올린 마모(33세.회사원)씨는 자신이 영상에 찍힌 여성 중 한 명인 왕모(30.자영업자)씨의 남편이라고 밝히며 “아내는 지금까지 10번 넘게 이런경우를 경험했다고 한다. 중국인들이 야간 시간에 이런 경우를 경험하는 것은 허다하다고 한다”라고 밝혔다.그는 “이런 문제들이 계속해서 발생되고 있고 현재 중국에서 수만 수 십만명이 한국에 와서 소비를 하고 있고 여행을 오는데 오히려 일부 한국인들 때문에 정당한 권리나 법의 보호를 받지 못한다고 생각한다. 이에 대해서 아주 큰 실망을

Gimpo airport, located just west of Seoul, will open dedicated facilities for private and chartered planes next month, South Korea's airport authority said Friday.The Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center will open at Gimpo International Airport in mid-June with an exclusive terminal and a hangar, according to the Korea Airports Corp.The terminal will have customs, immigration and quarantine facilities, as well as VIP rooms. The new aircraft hangar will be able to accommodate four planes at once,

LINE, the mobile messaging app of South Korean portal giant NAVER, has beaten its rivals in sales of applications available on Google Play Store for the past four years, a global industry tracker said Friday. In the four years up to March this year, the Korean messaging app topped others in the Google Play app worldwide revenue rankings. It took the top three spots due to robust sales of games, cartoon content and avatar apps, according to a report from App Annie, a U.S.-based app analytics comp

The South Korean government on Friday said it is gearing up to roll out a set of cutting-edge information, communication and technology systems to support the successful hosting of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.Automatic translation services, based on artificial intelligence, will be offered in seven languages, including English, Chinese and French, in real time for athletes and visitors to the event to be held in the Gangwon Province town, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Fu

The deaths and permanent bodily damage traced to humidifier disinfectants have loudly sounded alarms about what goes into making household cleaning products.Experts are now calling on consumers to raise their safety awareness and pressing the government to intensively verify any potential harm before the products are marketed.Participants in a boycott of goods from Oxy Reckitt Benckiser were growing, in both consumers and shops, after nearly 100 deaths were blamed on toxic chemicals that were in

Injured South Korean gymnast Yang Hak-seon has registered for the upcoming Olympic trials, though his status remains doubtful, officials said Friday.The Korea Gymnastics Association said Yang submitted his entry for the May 21-22 national team trials in Seoul. The 2012 Olympic champion in the men's vault, however, is still recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon in his right foot, sustained during practice on March 23.At the time of the injury, KGA officials said rehab would take three to fou

The Bank of Korea’s monetary policy committee on Friday left the base interest rate unchanged at a record-low 1.5 percent for the 11th consecutive month in May. The decision was expected by 11 of 12 analysts in a Yonhap News survey. The rate freeze comes as the Korean central bank comes under increasing pressure to provide liquidity to two policy banks which are heavily exposed to troubled shipping and shipbuilding industries. Discussions on how to recapitalize the state-run lenders are currentl

Net fund assets operated by South Korean asset management companies have recently exceeded 450 trillion won ($385 billion) as investors opt for higher-yielding products away from low-rate bank products, an asset investment association said Friday. The total net asset size of publicly and privately placed funds under the management of local asset managers reached 450.67 trillion won as of May 11, jumping from 401.9 trillion won on March 13 last year, according to data from the Korea Financial Inv

Only around 5 percent of South Korean companies make use of "big data" in their businesses, far lower than 29 percent of global firms, recent surveys showed.Among local firms with 100 employees or more, 4.3 percent were using big data, which is large volumes of instant digital data, as of October last year, according to South Korea's National Information Society Agency.The rate was 9.6 percent among those with over 100 billion won ($85 million) in revenue.A majority of companies said they feel n

LG International Corp., the trading arm of South Korea's LG Group, said Friday that it has signed a tentative deal with the Iranian government to cooperate in developing electric vehicles and establishing necessary infrastructure.Under the deal, LG International will work with local companies to develop electric vehicles and build charging stations. They also agreed to produce about 60,000 units of EVs by 2023.Other details on the terms of the agreement were not known.Both sides are seeking to f

President Park Geun-hye will meet with her Mongolian counterpart, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, in Seoul next week to discuss bilateral ties, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.The meeting, which will take place next Thursday, will be an opportunity for the two countries to expand bilateral ties, the presidential office said.The Mongolian leader will arrive in Seoul next Wednesday for a three-day visit. It marks the first time that he has visited South Korea since taking office in 2009."The trip will be an oppo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a machinery exhibition in his first public field inspection since he was appointed the chairman of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea earlier this week, according to the country's state news outlet on Friday."Kim Jong-un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, went around the exhibition of machinery and equipment manufactured as labor gifts of loyalty to be presented to the congress of the motherly party," the North's Korean Central News Agency said

Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea's auto giant, has unveiled photos of a wearable robot that can be applied in plants, national defense and many other areas, group officials said Friday.The robot that one can wear by simply buckling into it is reminiscent of the suit seen in “Iron Man,” a Hollywood blockbuster movie. It has been developed by major affiliates of the auto giant including Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp. and Hyundai Rotem Co., according to the officials. Some photos of the robot