South Korean winger Son Heung-min picked the perfect time to end his international scoringdrought on Thursday, scoring both goals in the team's 2-0 extra-time win over Uzbekistan to send South Korea into the semifinals at the AFC Asian Cup.Son scored the first goal on a diving header in the 104th minute, taking a cross from left fullback Kim Jin-su and putting it just past goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov.Nesterov had been stellar all match, but could only get a piece of Son's header as it trickled o

　영화배우 이정재가 1일 대상그룹 장녀 임세령씨와의 열애설에 대해 “최근 친구 이상의 감정으로 조심스럽게 만남을 시작한 지 얼마되지 않았다”며 사실상 열애를 인정했다. 배우 이정재(좌)와 대상그룹 장녀 임세령. (OSEN)　이정재의 소속사인 씨제스엔터테인먼트는 이날 보도자료를 통해 “두 사람은 오랜 우정의 친구 사이에서 최근 조심스럽게 마음이 발전한 만큼 연인 관계로 인정하기에는 부담스러운 부분이 있다”면서 이같이 밝혔다.　소속사는 이어 “2010년부터 두 사람이 열애설이 휩싸이긴 했지만 최근까지는 서로의 힘든 일을 들어주는 우정 그 이상이 아닌 친구 사이였음은 분명히 하고 싶다”고 덧붙였다.　연예 전문 인터넷 매체인 디스패치는 이날 두 사람의 데이트 사진과 함께 열애설을 보도했다.　이에 앞서 2010년 두 사람의 열애설이 불거진 데 이어 2012년에는 두 사람의 결혼설까지 불거졌지만 그때마다 이정재 측은 “오랜 친구 사이”라며 “(열애와 결혼은)전혀 사실이 아니다”라며 일축했다.　

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest carmaker, said on Friday it has begun sales of its2015 K3 compact sedan, the latest version of the car otherwise known as the Forte in the United States, in the home market.    The new mid-sized sedan, built for five passengers, is equipped with a tire pressure monitoring system, unlike the previous version for which the monitoring device was only an option.    The automaker, part of the world's No. 5 automotive conglomerate Hyundai Motor Group, sai

South Korea, the United States and Japan will sign a pact next week on sharing their military intelligence about North Korea's nuclear and missile programs in the face of Pyongyang's evolving security threats, officials here said Friday.   The three counties have been discussing the signing of a memorandum of understanding on sharing military secrets since May when they agreed on the need for such an agreement during their defense ministers' talks in Singapore. The conclusion comes two years aft

South Korea said Friday it will soon propose talks with North Korea on ways to set the wages for the North's workers at the Kaesong Industrial Complex.   "The government has plans to offer consultations with the North in the near future in order to resolve the issue," the unification ministry's deputy spokeswoman, Park Soo-jin, told reporters. "The timing has not been decided yet."   The South is upset about the North's unilateral decision to amend the wage system for its 53,000 workers at the j

South Korea's public corporations plan to hire 17,187 new employees in 2015, up 2.9 percent from this year, as every effort is made to create jobs vital for sustainable growth, the government said Friday.    The latest hiring target set by the 302 state-run enterprises and quasi-government agencies comes after the number of people hired by the public sector has been growing gradually since 2011, the finance ministry said.   In 2011, 9,538 people were hired, with that number going up to 14,452 in

Ssangyong Motor Co., the local unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said Friday it will hold off any plans of compensation for the overstated fuel efficiency claims on its Korando Sports CX7 SUV until after the verdict for an ongoing lawsuit comes out.    Earlier in June, carmaker was fined by the government for exaggerating the gas mileage of its Korando Sports 2-liter diesel by as much as 10.7 percent, according to exhaustive tests carried out by automotive institutes. Some 720 ow

North Korea on Friday repatriated a South Korean man accused of illegal entry, Seoul's unification ministry said.   The 52-year-old, identified only by his surname Ma, was sent back to the South through the truce village of Panmunjom, it said.   "The government will proceed with medical check-ups for him and work to confirm the reason for, and method of, his entry into the North," Park Soo-jin, the ministry's deputy spokeswoman, said at a press briefing.   North Korea said Ma entered the North i

The government said Friday that it has made any future sale of eight outer-most islands subject to prior approval, a move apparently aimed at preventing foreign ownership of the islands that make up the country's maritime border.   Under the revised regulation, owners of the eight currently uninhabited islands must obtain prior authorization for the sale of their properties to foreign investors, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.   There are 23 islands that provide

A former presidential secretary again appeared before prosecutors Friday to face questioning over a leaked presidential document claiming a former aide to President Park Geun-hye tried to exert undue influence on state affairs.   The former secretary, Cho Eung-cheon, entered the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul around 10 a.m. as a suspect in the widening scandal.    He previously underwent questioning by prosecutors on Dec. 5.    Citing the internal document, the local daily

A homegrown documentary film about an elderly couple has surpassed the 3 million mark in attendance, setting a new record for a local documentary, an official box-office tracker said.   "My Love, Don't Cross That River" had attracted 3,039,536 moviegoers as of Thursday, breaking the previous record of 2.92 million viewers held by "Old Partner" (2009), according to the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).   Released on Nov. 27, the film by director Ji Mo-young became the first local indie film to draw 10

A roadside bomb struck an Egyptian army vehicle late Thursday killing an officer and a soldier in the insurgent flashpoint of the Sinai Peninsula, security officials said.   The attack occurred south of the town of El-Arish, scene of frequent attacks by Islamist militants on security forces.   One army officer and a soldier were killed in the blast, while another soldier was wounded.   Egypt's military has been battling an insurgency on the peninsula since it overthrew Islamist president Mohamed

Europe will be "vulnerable" if it does not regard viruses as a "national security issue" like the United States, the microbiologist who discovered Ebola said in an interview published Friday.   "It's time the UK and Europe had a well-trained corps of people who are globally experienced and deployable," Peter Piot told the British daily The Independent.   "We don't have that and that makes us vulnerable," said the Belgian scientist, who is director of the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine i

Online hackers have taken credit for an online service outage of Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox game consoles Thursday that occurred as people unwrapped their new toys Christmas morning.   PlayStation and Xbox acknowledged the outages of their networks on Twitter and said they were working to restore service.   A Twitter user going by the name "Lizard Squad" took credit for the outage, claiming they had the "nation on strings."   The account did not return request for comment and only b

Former US president George H. W. Bush is spending Christmas night at a Texas hospital, his third overnight stay after experiencing breathing problems, his spokesman said Thursday.   The 41st president "had another terrific day and is in great spirits," his spokesman Jim McGrath said, without explaining why the president was being hospitalized an extra night.   His wife Barbara, his son Neil and daughter-in-law Maria Bush visited him at hospital.   Bush, 90, was admitted late Tuesday to Houston M

Japan's factory production suffered a surprise drop and inflation continued to slow in November, official data showed Friday despite Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's pro-spending policy blitz to stoke growth.   November industrial production fell 0.6 percent from the previous month, the industry ministry said, against a market forecast for a 0.8 percent rise.   "Industrial production fluctuates indecisively," the ministry said in a monthly report, leaving unchanged its overall assessment despite the

Colombia's FARC guerrillas on Thursday announced that they would release a soldier they captured last week "in the coming days," calling the move a humanitarian gesture.   The decision came in the wake of a unilateral ceasefire the leftist rebels began Saturday during peace negotiations to end Latin America's longest-running insurgency after more than 50 years.   "Today we have launched a special humanitarian protocol for the release of Carlos Becerra Ojeda, a professional soldier captured in co

Pope Francis on Thursday roundly condemned jihadist violence and the "brutal persecution" of religious minorities in a Christmas message to the world's 1.2 billion Catholics and millions of others.   Speaking to a packed crowd outside Saint Peter's Basilica, the popular Argentine pontiff also made a strong call to end violence wrought against children amid "indifference and tears."   His second traditional "urbi et orbi" message (to the city and to the world) comes at the close of a year plagued

Sudan has ordered two senior United Nations officials to leave, a UN spokesman said Thursday, after a recent spike in tensions between Khartoum and the peacekeeping mission in Darfur.   The UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator Ali Zaatari and the UN Development Programme country director Yvonne Helle were asked by the government to leave, a UN staffer said.    Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN has protested the expulsions.    "The UN has filed a protest with the government

The South Korean men's national football team will begin its quest for the elusive AFC Asian Cup title on Saturday, with an eclectic mix of veterans and neophytes hoping to end the country's long drought at the top continental competition.   The 2015 Asian Cup will kick off Jan. 9 in Australia. According to the Korea Football Association (KFA), South Korea, coached by former German international Uli Stielike, will leave for Sydney on Saturday and set up its base camp there.   Stielike unveiled S