One of the three ballistic missiles recently test-fired by North Korea likely exploded in the air during its initial stage of flight due to some sort of malfunction, military officials familiar with the matter said Friday.According to military sources, one of the three missiles blew up at an altitude of less than 30 kilometers, though two others flew 500-600 km from Hwangju, south of Pyongyang, across the communist country before hitting the East Sea early this week."Pyongyang's claim to have us

The U.S. Forces Korea on Friday said a Patriot PAC-3 battery was temporarily relocated from Japan for a U.S.-Korea joint military drill under way in the country amid escalating saber-rattling by North Korea.  A PAC-3 unit arrived in Busan, South Korea's No. 1 seaport, on July 13 and is currently being used in a drill, in which South Korean forces are participating, in Gunsan, 274 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the United States Eighth Army."The drill is aimed at rapidly transporting the

이건희 삼성 회장의 과거 성매매 의혹이 담긴 동영상이 공개돼 파장이 일고 있다.이 과정에서 동영상을 촬영한 이들은 이를 빌미로 삼성 측에 돈을 요구하는 등 협박성 거래를 시도한 것으로 드러났다.삼성은 이번 사안에 대해 "이건희 회장과 관련해 물의가 빚어지고 있는데 대해 당혹스럽다"며 "이 문제는 개인의 사생활과 관련된 일이기 때문에 회사로서는 드릴 말씀이 없다"는 입장을 밝혔다.앞서 뉴스타파는 21일 밤 이건희 회장이 과거 성매매를 했다는 의혹을 불러일으키는 동영상을 공개했다.동영상에는 이 회장으로 추정되는 남성이 젊은 여성들에게 돈 봉투를 건네는 장면, 성관계를 암시하는 남녀 간 대화 등이 등장한다.뉴스타파는 이 동영상이 4월 익명의 제보자로부터 입수한 것으로, 2011년 12월부터 2013년 6월까지 다섯 차례에 걸쳐 서울 강남구 삼성동 이 회장 자택과 논현동 빌라에서 촬영됐다고 보도했다. 촬영 시간은 모두 오후 1시에서 4시 사이였다.뉴스타파는 "동영상에 등장하는 여성들은 한

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., a maker of electronic components, on Friday said its operating profit for the second quarter of this year plunged 84 percent from a year earlier because of a weaker Japanese currency. Samsung Electro-Mechanics posted 15.2 billion won ($13.3 million) in operating profit for the April-June period and sales slightly rose to 1.6 trillion won, the company said in a regulatory filing. A weaker Japanese currency helped Samsung's Japanese rivals boost sales overseas, and S

미국 영부인 미셸 오바마가 영국 코미디언, 미국 랩퍼와 함께 ‘스웨그’를 뽐낸 영상이 온라인상 화제가 되고 있다. 　　지난 20일 영국 코미디언 제임스 코든의 티비쇼는 미셸이 백악관 투어가이드로 자청해 코든과 함께 백악관 관내를 드라이브하며 노래를 불렀던 영상이 방송됐다. 　　조수석에 앉는 게 오랜만이라는 미셸은 영부인으로써 드물게도 유행가를 따라 부르며 비트를 맞추는 경쾌한 모습을 보였다. 　　미국 청소년 사이에서 유행하는 랩퍼 미씨엘리엇의 노래를 부를 때는 뒷좌석에 랩퍼 본인이 등장하여 영부인과 이색 앙상블을 보였다.　　이날 미셸은 개발후진국 소녀들을 위해 교육의 기회 제공에 힘을 합쳐야 한다는 이야기를 하며 여성 권익 향상 내용에 부합하는 팝 음악을 부르기도 했다. (YouTube Capture)　　(khnews@heraldcorp.com)　

South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. again stood to lose billions of won in sales and output as its unionized workers continued their partial strike for a fourth day Friday.Some 13,000 workers at the company's main plant in Ulsan walked off the job at 9 a.m., while an additional 15,000 originally scheduled to start their shift later in the day were set to join the earlier shift in a protest visit to the company's headquarters in Seoul.The company said four-hour strikes over the past thr

A civic group comprised of North Korean defectors on Friday said it sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets via balloons across the inter-Korean border earlier this week, amid escalating military tensions in the Korean Peninsula.The Fighters for Free North Korea said it sent some 300,000 leaflets from Gimpo, just west of Seoul, on Thursday, criticizing the North's test-firing of the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile and the launch of short-rage Scuds. It said 10 members of the U.S.-based civic g

The government will require all registrations of embryonic stem cells to have consent forms from donors and a sample of their biological material on file to block unethical conduct in the research process, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Friday.The new regulation, effective from the day, obligates registrants to provide formal consent forms from donors stating that they agree to give their eggs and somatic cells and that they can be used for research purposes.  Registrants must also subm

President Park Geun-hye will host a luncheon with the heads of some 140 midsized enterprises and economic policymakers to offer them her encouragement and call for their continued efforts to help create new jobs and bolster trade.During the luncheon at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae, Park plans to touch on the outcome of the government's drive to foster midsized companies and her future policy direction, and express her continued commitment to support businesses, her aides said.The pre

SK Innovation Co., South Korea's top oil refiner, on Friday said its second quarter profit rose 6.5 percent from a year earlier, aided by better-than-expected results from its petrochemical business.Net profit reached 626 billion won ($551 million) on a consolidated basis in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 588 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Operating income surged 12 percent on-year to reach 1.12 trillion won over the cited period, while sale

President Park Geun-hye will take a five-day summer vacation next week at her official residence, her office Cheong Wa Dae said Friday, dismissing speculation that her vacation could be pushed back due to a series of ongoing issues, including the disturbing allegations surrounding her senior secretary."Park will take a five-day summer break from Monday," her spokesman Jung Youn-kuk told reporters. "I understand that she will not travel to any provincial area, but will rest at her residence while

Order backlog held by South Korean shipyards fell to the lowest level in 12 years in June amid a protracted slump in the global shipbuilding sector, industry data showed Friday.According to the data compiled by global research firm Clarkson Research Services, the shipbuilding order backlog held by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and its other local rivals stood at 25.1 million compensated gross tons as of end-June, the lowest since January 2004, when the comparable figure was 24.2 million CGTs.Thei

An international town near the country's western coast is turning into a mecca for drone fans and companies as its governing city begins a project next year to build an aeronautics industry complex, officials said Friday.More than 10 firms that develop components for drones have set up offices at the Songdo International Business District in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, over the past two years, according to the city officials.Internet communities and bloggers are calling the district on

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest maker of smartphones, said Friday it has filed a lawsuit against Huawei Technologies Co. in China, accusing the Chinese firm of infringing on Samsung's six patents related to mobile phones and digital images. The move is seen as a countermeasure against Huawei after the Chinese electronics firm sued Samsung in May in the United States and China over patent infringements.In a statement, Samsung criticized Huawei's smartphones and tablets for infringing

German carmaker Volkswagen has decided to voluntarily suspend sales of its vehicle models implicated in an emissions scandal in South Korea, market sources said Friday.In a recent letter to local dealers, Audi Volkswagen Korea, the South Korean unit of the German carmaker, said it will stop delivering 79 models of 34 vehicle types starting next week.The country's environment ministry earlier said it might revoke its certification of the 79 vehicle models, based on the outcome of a prosecution in

Banana-flavored snacks may not be selling as much as before, but they are still a big help in pushing up overall snack sales, retailers' data showed Friday.Banana has been the new honey for the market, replacing the craze over potato chips with sweet taste. Makers of chocolate pie snacks reaped instant success when they marketed the same snack in banana flavor in March. (123rf)According to retail giant E-Mart, snack sales in the first quarter only grew 0.5 percent compared with the same period l

South Korea will make a strong push to highlight the threats that North Korea's nuclear ambitions are posing both to the Asian region and the global community as a whole during the upcoming regional security meeting, observers and government officials said Friday.Top diplomats from 27 Asia-Pacific countries and the European Union are scheduled to meet in Vientiane for a series of talks led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations starting this weekend. South Korea's Foreign Minister Yun Byu

A U.S. research institute on Thursday said it has located a suspected secret nuclear facility that North Korea used in the early stages of its uranium enrichment program."Recent information suggests that an early centrifuge research and development facility was located at the Panghyon Aircraft Plant, at or near the Panghyon Air Base, which is located about 45 kilometers west of the Yongbyon nuclear site," the Institute for Science and International Studies said in a report. "This is a preliminar

The United States will work closely with South Korea to deploy the THAAD missile defense system in a way that maximizes the protection it provides and minimizes any inconvenience it causes, the White House said Thursday."This is a highly sophisticated anti-ballistic missile defense system in South Korea to protect our allies from the missile threat emanating North Korea," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said at a regular press briefing."So we are certainly going to work closely with the

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama should not adopt a nuclear "no first use" doctrine at a time when North Korea increases its nuclear arsenal and threatens key U.S. allies South Korea and Japan, U.S. experts said Thursday.Jonathan Pollack and Richard Bush, senior experts at the Brookings Institution, made the appeal in a joint article, saying the Obama administration is reportedly trying to enunciate the "no-first use" doctrine to advance Obama's nuclear-free world vision in his