Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Thursday the United States is stronger and safer thanks to the "power of allies," warning that her Republican rival, Donald Trump, would significantly weaken the relationships.In a foreign policy speech, Clinton cited as an example how the U.S., South Korea and Japan worked together to cope with threats from North Korea, a country she called "the most repressive regime on the planet run by a sadistic dictator who wants to develop long-range

The United States left out North Korea from its latest list of states sponsoring terrorism Thursday, despite persistent calls for putting Pyongyang back on the list.The State Department's Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 said the North "is not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight in 1987."The North was put on the list in 1988 for the airliner bombing that killed all 115 people aboard, but the designation was rescinded in 2008 in exchange for p

South Korean President Park Geun-hye pledged Thursday to further facilitate startups by young people from South Korea and France as Seoul seeks to expand trade and investments with the European country.She said the two countries are set to sign a cooperation deal on creative economy following her summit with French counterpart Francois Hollande on Friday. President Park Geun-hye arrives in Paris Orly airport on June 1 (Yonhap)Park has been pushing for a creative economy by viewing it as the only

China said Thursday it opposes unilateral sanctions by a certain country against North Korea, reacting coolly to a U.S. decision that designated North Korea as a "primary money laundering concern" with the aim of blocking the North's access to the global financial system. The designation by the U.S. Treasury Department came as part of the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act enacted in February to punish Pyongyang for conducting its fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range roc

The South Korean government on Thursday said it will designate a total of 53 special languages which it said are strategically important for sustainable national growth.The education ministry issued a preannouncement of legislation implementing the ordinance of the special foreign language education promotion law. This, it said, will help the country train people fluent in many languages that have growth potential. Better fluency in a language can help local companies enter new markets and fuel

The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Thursday proposed a new measure to grant an extra 100,000 won ($84) monthly subsidy to families with a third child. In a bid to prop up the sluggish child birth rate in Korea, the government is supplying special subsidies to households with children under the age of 7 who are raising kids at home without the help of nurseries or kindergartens. (123RF)Currently, families with a third child who has yet to turn 1-year-old can receive a monthly subsidy of 200,00

A customer with disability who was charged an excessive fee of 520,000 won ($440) by a hair salon to have her hair dyed emphasized in a police inquiry that what she wants is a sincere apology, not a refund. The police said Wednesday that they are currently investigating the case. (123RF)The average cost for women to have their hair dyed at Korean hair salons is around 50,000 won. “The price may go up if the customer’s hair is extremely long, in which case we need to use more product. But that st

An annual cultural festival at Hwaseong Fortress, a UNESCO-designated cultural heritage site, is set to return to the city of Suwon, just south of Seoul, this fall to be culminated by a full-scale reenactment of a filial monarch's pilgrimage to his father's tomb, the Suwon municipal government said Thursday.The 53rd Suwon Hwaseong Fortress Cultural Festival, which will open on Oct. 7 for a three-day run, is held in celebration of the 220th anniversary of the fortress' construction. King Jeongjo,

A 40-year-old man surnamed Yoo was arrested on suspicion of raping his 17-year-old stepdaughter, police in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, said Thursday. Yoo is accused of raping the victim while his wife was out of town, according to staff at the Yongin Dongbu Police Station. The victim’s brother was also away from home serving his mandatory military service. The case was reported to the police by the victim’s friend. Yoo denied the charges and said that he was intoxicated at the time of the alleged

The ruling Saenuri Party officially named a former anticorruption chief as its interim head Thursday, as it moves to reorganize itself and make a comeback after its defeat in the April elections.Kim Hee-ok, the former head of the Government Public Ethics Committee, was officially made party chief at a meeting of members, more than a month after Rep. Kim Moo-sung, the former chairman, stepped down shortly after the general elections.Saenuri not only lost the majority but secured just 122 seats in

The South Korean Navy said Thursday it has launched a new guided missile frigate which is capable of hitting ground targets inside North Korean in the event of conflict taking place on the divided peninsula.Earlier in the day, the Navy held a ceremony to launch the 2,800-ton frigate named Daegu on Geoje Island, 470 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to Navy officials.The ship, an improved Incheon-class frigate, not only has ship-to-ground missiles, but will be equipped with the usual array

The South Korean government said Thursday it will open a virtual reality experience center this week in Pangyo, the nation's mecca for the high-tech industry.The move is part of efforts to create a boom for indoor digital theme parks, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.The ministry is tasked with implementing President Park Geun-hye's "creative economy" drive to foster start-ups and promote a new growth model based on innovation and entrepreneurship.It plans to open th

농림축산식품부는 지난 1월 한국인이 쌀, 김치보다 커피를 더 많이 소비하고 있다고 발표했다. 식품부의 조사에 따르면 2013년 한국인은 일주일 평균 12.2잔의 커피를 마신 반면 동일기간 밥은 6.9번밖에 먹지 않았다는 것이다. 하루에 커피는 두 잔, 밥은 한 번 먹는다는 말이다. 커피를 한 잔 내리고 나면 부산물이 많이 생긴다. 개중에는 이런 부산물 가루를 재떨이에 깔아 활용하는 사람도 있다. 하지만, 2014년 기준 연간 발생하는 커피 찌꺼기는 자그마치 41만 톤. 이를 보다 효과적으로 해결하는 방법이 없을까 모색한 것이 사회적 기업 커피큐브의 시작이었다. (커피큐브)커피큐브는 커피박가루를 반죽해 굳힌 ‘커피점토’를 개발해 이것으로 친환경 화분을 제작하고 있다. 그냥 버려지던 커피 찌꺼기를 기막히게 재탄생시켰는데. 이 화분은 전국에 있는 지역자활센터 어르신들이 직접 손으로 빚어 만들고 있다.화분에 적힌 1D1F라는 문구는 바로 “책상 하나당 화분을 하나 놓자”라는 의미의 “1 D

The United Nations has allocated $8 million in humanitarian aid to North Korea, which has been designated one of the nine countries in the world that need emergency funding to cope with humanitarian crises, a news media report said Thursday.According to the Washington-based Radio Free Asia, the U.N.'s Central Emergency Response Fund provided the fund to North Korea. Quoting a report on the CERF's program for the first half of the year, the RFA said the U.N. organization has set aside a total of

Online shopping sales in South Korea grew at the lowest clip in more than two years in April from a year earlier on decreased demand for tour packages and reservations, a government report showed Thursday.Total online transactions reached 4.76 trillion won ($3.99 billion) in the fourth month of 2016, up 11.3 percent from 4.28 trillion won a year earlier, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.The on-year growth is the slowest since January 2014 when it expanded 11 percent.But the A

South Korea said Thursday that it has developed a new technology to detect the Zika virus within 20 minutes in a joint project with Brazil.Only one or two drops of human blood is needed to check whether he or she is infected with the virus, which spreads primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning."It can be used as conveniently as a pregnancy test kit," the ministry said.Existing DNA tests require an analysis at

Prosecutors raided South Korean retail giant Lotte Group's hotel unit Thursday over allegations it received bribes from the chief of a local cosmetics brand who is at the center of a lobbying scandal that is rocking the country's legal establishment.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it confiscated computer hard discs, accounting books and other related documents from Lotte Hotel Co.'s department in charge of duty-free shops in central Seoul. The house of Shin Young-ja, the head

The South Korean Navy said Thursday it plans to join the Rim of the Pacific exercise, a U.S.-led biennial multinational naval drill, which will kick off late June, in a bid to boost the combat capability of its ships and crew.A group of about 700 servicemen from the Navy and Marine Corps will take part in this year's RIMPAC, which will be held from June 30 to Aug. 4 in waters off Hawaii, according to military officials.The Navy said it plans to send three warships including the Aegis-equipped Se

한국자산관리공사 캠코가 6월 1일부터 15일까지 ‘마음으로 듣는 소리, 당신의 목소리를 기부하세요’ 캠페인에 참여할 일반인 30명을 공개 모집한다.캠코는 이번 캠페인을 통해 시각장애인을 위한 오디오북을 제작해 배포할 예정이다.  　　 (캠코)서울 또는 부산에서 오디오북 녹음을 할 수 있는 만 16세 이상 대한민국 국민은 네이버가 운영하는 사회공헌 포털을 통해 지원할 수 있다. (http://event.happybean.naver.com/kamcoaudiobook)참가자 선정은 온라인 자동 추첨방식으로 진행하고, 발표는 22일 개별 통지한다. 선정된 재능기부자는 서울과 부산에서 열리는 낭독특강에 참여해야 한다. 이후 목소리 톤, 성별, 연령에 맞게 그룹이 정해진 뒤 릴레이 낭독방식으로 녹음이 진행된다. 녹음 일정은 재능기부자 일정에 따라 조정할 수 있다.재능기부자에게는 낭독도서, 제작된 오디오북 CD, 재능기부 확인증 등을 제공한다. (코리아헤럴드 임정요 기자 kaylalim@hera

LINE Corp., the Japanese arm of South Korea's Internet giant Naver Corp., is suspected of pushing to list shares on overseas markets in a bid to allow its staff to exercise stock options for a profit, market watchers said Thursday.Headquartered in Japan, LINE Corp. operates the mobile messenger LINE that is extremely popular in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia. The number of LINE's monthly active users came to 215 billion as of December last year.LINE, the flagship of Naver, has been engulf