South Korean gymnasts Lee Sang-wook and Yun Na-rae won bronze medals in the men's and women's individual all-around finals at the Asian Games on Tuesday.   Lee scored a total of 87.200 points from the floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar, giving South Korea its first Asiad medal in the men's individual all-around in 12 years.   Yuya Kamoto and Masayoshi Yamamoto, both of Japan, took the gold and silver. Kamoto scored 87.950 points and Yamamoto earned87.500

South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan won the bronze medal in the men's 400-meter freestyle race on Tuesday.   Park finished the race in 3:48.33, falling behind Sun Yang of China and Kosuke Hagino of Japan. Park came up short of winning his third straight Asian Games gold in this distance.   Sun won his first gold medal in Incheon with 3:43.23, and Hagino finished second with 3:44.48. South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan races in the men`s 400-meter freestyle race at the Asian Games in Incheon on Tue

South Korea defeated Japan for the gold medal in the men's epee fencing team event at the Asian Games on Tuesday.   The squad of Jung Jin-sun, Park Kyoung-doo, Park Sang-young and Kweon Young-jun defeated the Japanese side of Kazuyasu Minobe, Masaru Yamada and Keisuke Sakamoto 25-21, giving South Korea its third straight Asiad gold in the team events. Team Korea holds out gold medals after the men's epee fencing match with Japan at the Asian Games on Tuesday. (Yonhap)   Three fencers from each s

South Korea defeated China for the gold medal in the women's sabre fencing team event at the Asian Games on Tuesday.   The team of Kim Ji-yeon, Lee Ra-jin and Yoon Ji-su beat the Chinese squad of Shen Chen, Yu Xinting, Qian Jiarui and Li Fei 45-41. Team Korea bites gold medals after defeating China in the women's sabre fencing team event at the Asian Games in Incheon on Tuesday.(Yonhap)   Three fencers from each side take the piste in the team competition, but teams can each use up to one substi

South Korea's national debt neared 490 trillion won ($470.8 billion) in 2013 as the government increased borrowing to make up for its deficit, a government report showed Tuesday.According to the report by the finance ministry, the debt owed by the central and provincial governments came to 489.8 trillion won in 2013, up 46.6 trillion won from a year earlier. The debt represents 34.3 percent of the country's gross domestic product.The central government's debt rose 38.9 trillion won on-year to 46

South Korea on Monday called on local companies operating in Iraq to make utmost efforts to ensure the safety of their staff amid growing security threats from Islamic State militants there.About 80 Korean companies, including subcontractors, are doing business in Iraq with about 1,100 South Koreans staying in the Middle Eastern country. Concerns over the safety of foreigners are running high after IS' killing of several hostages from overseas."South Korean companies in Iraq should ensure the sa

The organizing committee of the ongoing Asian Games in Incheon said Monday it is sponsoring a photo exhibition that explores the raw beauty of the port city's mud flats."Incheon with Mysterious Tidal Flats" displays 55 photos of the city's iconic mud flats, which were designated to be "of international importance" by the Ramsar Convention in July.The exhibition kicked off at the Namdong Sorae Arts Hall in the southern part of the city on Sept. 15 for a 21-day run. The dates were set to coincide

The South Korean female team won gold in the 25-meter pistol event at the Asian Games, edging out its rival China by one point.The team of Kim Jang-mi, Lee Jung-eun and Kwak Jung-hye claimed the first podium finish with 1,748 points, defeating China that took 1,747 points. India scored 1,729 for bronze.It is South Korea's first team gold in the women's shooting at the Asiad underway in the country's western city of Incheon, and the second medal of the day. Hours earlier, their colleagues grabbed

After referees' reversal of their earlier decision to disqualify one of its athletes, the Chinese women's shooting team regained its world record and the gold medal in the 10-meter air rifle event at the Asian Games on Monday.The Chinese trio of Yi Siling, Zhang Binbin and Wu Liuxi combined for 1253.8 points to win the team gold at Ongnyeon International Shooting Range, breaking the previous world record set by their own teammates last year by 0.1 point.It is the first world record from shooting

A former senior presidential secretary for education has been under a police probe on suspicion of running an illegal educational course when he worked as a university chief, police and education sources said Monday. Song Kwang-yong offered to resign on Saturday, three months after he assumed the post, which President Park Geun-hye immediately accepted. His abrupt resignation has raised speculation about his possible wrongdoings.Neither Song nor the president gave a reason for the resignation, s

The Chinese women's shooting team was stripped of a world record in the 10-meter air rifle event at the Asian Games on Monday after the disqualification of one of its shooters. Initially, the Chinese trio of Yi Siling, Zhang Binbin and Wu Liuxi combined for 1253.8 points to win the team gold at Ongnyeon International Shooting Range, breaking the previous world record set by their own teammates last year by 0.1 point.But Zhang later got disqualified for using unauthorized equipment for the event,

Some 20 wealthy people, mostly conglomerate owners, have been under investigation by the country's financial watchdog for their suspected illegal foreign exchange transactions, industry sources said Monday.According to the sources, they had received a combined $50 million in their bank accounts between 2011 and 2014, which they claimed were investment returns, proceeds from asset sales made overseas, and wage income.But some of them had not reported such cases to the concerned authorities before

South Korean golfer Hur Mi-jung picked up her first LPGA Tour win in five years on Sunday in Alabama, taking the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic with a tournament record score.Hu shot a final round of 6-under 66 for a four-round total of 21-under 267 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Prattville, Alabama. Stacy Lewis, the world No. 1, was a distant second at 17-under.Hur had last won on the tour in 2009. She took home $195,000 in the winner's check.Hur began the final round tied at the top with

An American man detained in North Korea for nearly five months has recently been terminated from his job with a city government in Ohio because of his prolonged absence, local media reported.The Moraine city government made the decision about Jeffrey Edward Fowle, saying in a letter to him and his family that it had to "act in the best interests of the city of Moraine and its residents," according to the Dayton Daily News.But the decision includes more than $70,000 in severance pay and the abili

European stocks dropped for a fourth day, their longest streak of losses in five weeks, as the region’s governments weighed tougher sanctions on Russia and concern grew the U.K. may be heading for partition. U.S. index futures were little changed, while Asian shares fell.Sports Direct International Plc slid 3.3 percent after saying its performance in its first accounting quarter was hurt by England’s early exit from World Cup soccer tournament. Bilfinger SE lost 2.3 percent after announcing job

Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's leading tech giant, saw its market capitalization fall below the 200 trillion won ($195.1 billion) mark for the first time in two years, data showed Wednesday, as its mainstay mobile unit continued to suffer amid the rise of Chinese rivals.Samsung's market cap came to 198.34 trillion won on Sept. 2, falling below the 200 trillion won mark for the first time since Sept. 7, 2012. While it managed to return to 200.5 trillion won on Thursday, it slipped back to

LG Uplus Corp., South Korea's No. 3 mobile carrier, will sell Apple Inc.'s latest iPhones in South Korea along with its bigger rivals SK Telecom Co. and KT Corp., industry sources said Wednesday, marking the first time for LG Uplus to distribute Apple products here.Apple on Wednesday released the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, which are 6.9 mm and 7.1 mm thin, respectively.While the devices are set to be available starting Sept. 19, the launch schedule for the South Korean market

　행복은 성적순이 아니라는 말보다, 학점 우수자가 “일류 대학”을 졸업하고 “일류 직장”에 취직해 고액 연봉을 받는다는 믿음이 뿌리 깊게 자리잡은 시대다. 　그러나 “천재들의 학창시절 (Genius in the School)”의 저자 게르하르트 프라우제에 따르면 수많은 천재들, 역사를 주도한 위인들 중에는 낙제생들도 많았다. 독일 출신의 저널리스트이자 철학자인 프라우제가 소개한 “낙제생 천재들”은 이르든 늦든 자신의 꿈과 재능을 깨닫고, 주위의 반대와 불리한 현실적 조건을 극복한 사람들이다. 　이들이 그처럼 학교에서 밑바닥 성적을 거두었던 이유는 여러 가지가 있지만, 그 중에서도 “일방적권위에 의한 부자유 또는 구속에 대한 반발”이라는 공통점이 두드러진다. 　학생들이 학교에서 필연적으로 겪게 되는 강제에 대해, 어떤 방향으로든 벗어나려고 한 시도는 얼마든지 찾을 수 있다. 예나 지금이나 학교가 싫은 학생들은 거짓말을 하거나, 꾀병을 부리거나, 대놓고 교권에 반항을 하거나, 혹은 학교

The president of Kookmin Bank stepped down on Thursday soon after the financial watchdog imposed heavier punishment against him and the chairman of the bank's parent, KB Financial Group, for management failures over an expensive computer system change."I've done what I have to do as a bank president. I believe that the watchdog has made the right decision on my conduct," said Lee Kun-ho, the bank's president.Just before his resignation, Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Choi Soo-hyun overturned

President Park Geun-hye called Thursday for a drastic easing of regulations to ensure private companies can produce and sell energy as the country seeks to better cope with challenges posed by climate change.Currently, private companies are restricted from participating in the electricity market virtually monopolized by state-run power provider Korea Electric Power Corp. "There is a need to lift barriers to entry for private companies," Park said in a debate on the energy industry. "We should dr