Email hacking makes up the bulk of cyberattacks committed by North Korea, a ruling party lawmaker said Thursday, adding the South Korean government must improve its security awareness.According to the data compiled by Rep. Joo Kwang-Deok of the ruling Saenuri Party, 86 percent of the cyberattacks conducted by Pyongyang on the South Korean military in 2015 involved using emails.Last year, Seoul detected 74 cases of North Korean cyberattack using email, with 12 involving malicious codes. Rep. Joo

Overseas orders won by South Korean construction companies this year may drop to the lowest level in a decade, a trade association said Thursday, in the latest sign that local builders are reeling from the impact of low oil prices and a protracted global economic slump.This year's combined overseas orders came to US$18.47 billion by Wednesday, according to data compiled by the International Contractors Association of Korea.The figure represents 53.7 percent of the $34.59 billion posted during th

The head of Britain-based Reckitt Benckiser formally apologized over its toxic humidifier sterilizers that claimed many lives in South Korea, a parliamentary special committee probing the scandal said Thursday.The so-called Oxy humidifier disinfectant case came to light after four pregnant women died of unknown lung problems in 2011. A government-led investigation confirmed a connection between more than a hundred people who died of lung problems and the chemicals used to clean household humidif

South Korean automotive giant Hyundai Motor Group will soon have its global production capacity at near 9 million cars per year with the construction of its latest production facility in China expected to be completed before the year's end, company officials said Thursday.The automaker's overall capacity currently stands at 8.48 million units after a new plant in Mexico, which began producing cars earlier in the year, added 400,000 cars to Kia Motors Corp., the smaller of the two carmakers under

Dozens of UN member states on Wednesday condemned North Korea's fifth nuclear test and urged the communist nation to conduct no more testing, abide by its international obligations and scrap all of its nuclear weapons and programs.The foreign ministers of about 40 countries supportive of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty made the appeal in a joint statement adopted when they held a meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to call for the treaty's ratification."The

Neither South Korea's own nuclear armament nor redeployment of US nuclear weapons in the country would enhance the country's security against North Korea, a senior White House official said Wednesday."I don't believe that North Korea will be any more deterred from taking military action against the South if we have nuclear weapons on the peninsula because North Korea, China, the rest of the world know that we have military capabilities, conventional and otherwise, that can be launched from the U

China has an obligation to prevent the export to North Korea of items banned under UN Security Council resolutions, a senior White House official said, following revelations that a Chinese conglomerate has shipped to the North "dual-use" items that can be used in its weapons programs.Earlier this week, joint research by South Korea's Asan Institute and the US Center for Advanced Defense Studies found that China's Liaoning Hongxiang Group exported aluminum oxide, which can be used in uranium enri

North Korea's state media reported Wednesday that the country has opened an embassy in Belarus, where thousands of North Korean workers are said to be working to earn hard currency for their impoverished nation.An inauguration ceremony was held in Minsk on Monday, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency."Present there on invitation were personages of the government, political parties, parliament and social circles of Belarus," it said.The report said a delegation headed by a

Women accounted for more than 80 percent of North Korean defectors who settled in the South last year, an opposition lawmaker said Wednesday, reflecting the changing demographics among asylum seekers.According to the data compiled by Rep. Sim Jae-kwon of the Minjoo Party of Korea, 1,025 women arrived in South Korea from North Korea last year, taking up 80.3 percent of the total number of defectors.Rep. Sim Jae-kwon of the Minjoo Party of Korea (Yonhap)The figure marks a sharp increase from 12.2

Korean Air Lines Co., the largest shareholder of Hanjin Shipping Co., decided Wednesday to provide 60 billion won ($58.9 million) to the cash-strapped shipper, company officials said.The decision came at a meeting of the Korean Air board of directors, which earlier refused to help out the troubled affiliate, citing fears of misappropriation charges as the container shipping line had little to offer in collateral.The 60 billion won will be injected based on accounts receivable, according to Korea

The number of crimes committed by foreigners in South Korea increased over the past few years, a ruling party lawmaker said Wednesday, with Chinese nationals being responsible for roughly 40 percent of the total.According to the data compiled by Rep. Kim Jin-tae of the Saenuri Party, the number of crimes involving foreign perpetrators came to 46,994 last year, rising sharply from the 32,364 tallied in 2012. The figure also came to 25,570 in the January-June period of 2016.By nationality, Chinese

Police said Wednesday they have requested cooperation from their Chinese counterparts to investigate a Chinese man suspected of killing a South Korean woman who was praying at a Catholic church on the country's resort island of Jeju last week.The 50-year-old man, identified only by his last name Chen, is accused of stabbing the 61-year-old victim while she was inside the church alone on Saturday morning, according to the Jeju Seobu Police Station. The suspect was nabbed a few hours later some 40

South Korean stocks ended higher Wednesday on the Japanese central bank's decision to freeze its key rate. The local currency rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 10.28 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,035.99.The Bank of Japan kept its key rate unchanged at minus 0.1 percent."The BOJ's decision pushed up the benchmark index as investors were relieved from the bank's decision to keep its key rate unchanged," said Kim Ye-eun, an analyst at LIG Investment

South Korea's finance minister said Wednesday that the government will push forward with reforming the corporate sector under the principles of self-help efforts by businesses and do its best to minimize the adverse impact."Based on the principles that creditor banks give out additional aid only when troubled companies come up with painstaking self-reform plans, the government will firmly lead the nationwide corporate restructuring process," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in a meeting of econom

Nearly 8 trillion won ($7.15 billion) was used in medical expenses for more than 11 million diabetes patients in the past five years, a lawmaker said Wednesday.A total of 11.79 million people received medical treatment for diabetes and diabetic complications with the costs amounting to 7.89 trillion won in the 2011-2015 period, In Jae-keun of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea said, citing data of the National Health Insurance Service submitted to the National Assembly.The number of diabe

The agreed setup of a girl statue, symbolizing victims of sex slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II, in a German city has been virtually scuttled because of apparent strong obstruction and pressure by Japan, a civic organization leader said Wednesday. In a July letter sent to Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young, Mayor Dietor Salomon of Freiburg, Germany, notified that his city had accepted Yeom's earlier proposal to build the statue in the German city. Following that, 75 public and civic orga

The United States on Wednesday sent two armed strategic bombers to South Korea, the US Forces Korea said, in the latest move to demonstrate Washington's security commitment to its Asian ally and warn against additional North Korean provocations.One of the two B-1B Lancer bombers landed at Osan Air Base. The other flew over the base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, and returned to US Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, the USFK said.The flyby comes only a week after a pair of B-1B Lancer

Hyundai Department Store Co. said Wednesday it will open Seoul's largest outlet in a new skyscraper to be built in the financial district of Yeouido by 2020.Hyundai Department Store said it has been selected as a preferred bidder to build its latest shopping facility in the new skyscraper called "Parc 1" under a 20-year lease contract for 30 billion won ($26.74 million). It will sign a formal agreement next week.Parc 1 will be built next to the International Finance Center in Yeouido in a space

South Korea has promised to contribute $230 million for global efforts over the next three years to join global humanitarian support for refugees, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.The contribution plan was unveiled Tuesday (local time) by Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, who is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, according to the ministry.In a summit hosted by US President Barack Obama to discuss ways to help refugees, Yun delivered a speech in which Seoul's three-year support plan w

안젤리나 졸리 (41)와 브래드 피트 (52)의 이혼 소식으로 할리우드가 떠들썩한 중, 한 영국 타블로이드지는 졸리의 지나온 연애사를 파헤쳤다. 　　졸리는 널리 알려진 인터뷰에서 일평생 네 명의 남자와 관계를 가졌고 그 중 세 명과 한 때 부부 사이였다고 주장 바 있다. 　　하지만 21일 타블로이드 데일리메일은 졸리가 스스로 주장하는 것 보다 더욱 자유분방한 성생활을 즐겼으며 그녀의 과거는 ‘그 어떤 할리우드 시나리오보다 화려하다’고 보도했다. 　　2007년 OK!매거진과의 인터뷰에서 “유치원 때 성적으로 깨어있었다”고 말했다. 　　“’키시 걸스 (Kissy Girls)’라는 그룹의 일원이었는데, 남자 아이들에게 키스하고 옷을 벗고 놀았다”며 “그 때문에 문제를 많이 일으켰다”고 말했다. 　　졸리는 2003년 코스모폴리탄과의 인터뷰에서 “14세때 남자 친구와 첫 경험을 했다”고 밝혔다. 　　그 뿐 아니라 “서로를 칼로 긋고 피를 나누며 더욱 가까워졌다”며 자기파괴적인 성향도 드러냈다