More than 10,000 Marines from South Korea and the United States will kick off their largest-ever joint amphibious landing training late this month, the Pentagon said Monday.This year's Ssang Yong (double dragon) exercise will be held from March 27 to April 7 on the Korean Peninsula, involving about 7,500 U.S. Marines, 2,000 U.S. Navy personnel as well as 3,500 South Korean Marines and 1,000 South Korea Navy sailors, according to Lt. Col. Jeff Pool, a Department of Defense spokesman.The U.S. Mari

혈액 검사로 노인의 치매성 질환을 조기 진단할 수 있다는 연구결과가 나왔다고 미국 Fox 뉴스가 10일 보도했다. 하워드 페더로프 박사를 위시한 미국 조지타운 대학교 메디컬 연구팀에 따르면, 노인의 혈액에 함유된 10가지 지용성 화합물질(lipid)의 농도를 조사해 보면 치매 증상이 전혀 드러나지 않은 극히 초기 상태에서도 치매성 질환에 걸렸는지 여부를 90%의 정확도로 알 수 있다.알츠하이머 등 치매성 질환에 걸리면 노인 환자의 뇌세포막이 파괴되면서 혈중의 지용성 화합물질의 함유량이 낮아지는 현상이 나타나기 때문에, 아무런 증상이 나타나지 않은 상태에서도 향후 치매 발병 여부를 알 수 있다는 것이다. 조지타운대 메디컬 팀의 금번 연구는 총 525명의 만 70세 이상 노인을 대상으로 이루어졌다.특히 페더로프 박사는 "우리의 연구결과는 사전 검사를 상업화 시키는 데 크게 일조했다고 본다"며 "치매성 질환 고위험군에 속한 사람들을 진단하는 데 유용한 수단이 될 것"이라고 언론에 밝혔다.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was elected to a new rubber-stamp legislature, the country's state media reported Monday, a day after elections that could provide a rare glimpse of a power shift under Kim's leadership.All the voters of Kim's constituency voted for Kim, the Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch, citing election results of the Central Election Committee.The dispatch said Kim's election demonstrated soldiers and people's "absolute support and profound trust" in their young

Britain's fashion house Burberry said Monday it filed a patent violation suit against SBW, a South Korean underwear maker, with a Seoul court for using its trademark check pattern.Company officials said they concluded SBW's TRY underwear products were in violation of Burberry's trademark."On Jan. 9, the disputed TRY brand underwear products were found on various online shopping malls. We asked SBW to stop selling them via certified mail and phone calls several times, but the company took no meas

South Korean figure skating icon Kim Yu-na will hold farewell ice shows in Seoul this spring, her agency announced Monday.All That Sports said Kim will take the center stage at her corporate-sponsored ice shows from May 4 to 6 in the nation's capital.The 23-year-old star retired from competition after the Sochi Winter Olympics last month. She picked up the silver medal behind Adelina Sotnikova of Russia, after winning the gold at the previous Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010.The agency said

100년 전 그림엽서가 발견돼 기네스북 신기록을 경신할 전망이다. 10일 UPI 등 외신의 보도에 따르면 발견된 엽서는 독일 어선의 선장인 슐레스빅-홀슈타인이 발틱 해에서 건져낸 것으로, 소인이 찍힌 날짜는 100년 전인 1913년 5월 17일이다. 이 100년 전 그림엽서는 현존하는 “병에 담긴 쪽지 및 편지” 중 가장 오래된 것으로, 현재 기네스북에 등재 돼 있는 97년 된 유리병 편지(2012년에 발견)보다도 3-4년 앞선다. 이에 대해 슐레스빅-홀슈타인 선장은 “소인 날짜를 보고 무척 흥분했다”며 소감을 밝혔다. 그림 엽서는 리차드 플라츠라는 남성이 쓴 것으로, 엽서 자체는 덴마크 제, 우표는 독일제이며 목적지는 플라츠의 자택인 독일 베를린으로 되어있다. 또 엽서에는 “이 병을 찾아낸 사람은 엽서를 우체통에 넣어 달라”는 내용이 담겨 있다. 한편, 이 그림 엽서를 발견한 슐레스빅-홀슈타인 선장은 지난 50년 간 어업에 종사해오면서 금번

South Korea's telecom watchdog is expected to slap mobile carriers with another business suspension in May, industry sources said Monday, as part of the government's drive to eradicate the custom of using subsidies to increase clients.The Korea Communications Commission, Seoul's top telecom watchdog, is expected to announce its disciplinary measures against the mobile carriers on Thursday, the sources said. The measures are to follow last week's 45-day business suspension handed down by the Mini

Doctors pushed ahead with a one-day strike Monday in protest of the government's medical policy, including one allowing telemedicine and profit-oriented hospitals.The massive walkout by doctors, the first of its kind in 14 years, involves medical clinics and interns and resident physicians working in hospitals. The exact number of participating medical clinics was yet unknown."We oppose the government's plan to allow remote medical examinations and treatment, as well as for-profit hospitals, and

Financial firms will be slapped with fines amounting to 3 percent of their annual sales when responsible for a massive leak of personal data, and clients will be given an option to revoke their consent to providing their private information, the country's financial regulator said Monday.Also, financial firms will be required to delete clients' data upon termination of financial transactions during a given grace period and barred from sharing the data with their affiliates beyond a set limit, acc

만취 상태로 도박을 한 50대 남성이 카지노에 진 빚 약 5억3천만 원을 갚지 않겠다며 소송을 냈다. 7일 UPI에 따르면 캘리포니아 주에 거주하는 마크 존스턴(52)은 카지노 측이 그가 만취 상태로 카지노에 입장한 것을 알고도 지속적으로 술을 먹이고, 이성적 판단이 불가한 상태에서 도박을 해 카지노 측에 50만 달러를 빚지도록 방관했다고 주장했다.전직 자동차 딜러인 존스턴은 지난 해 10월 수퍼볼 시즌을 맞아 네바다 주 라스베가스를 여행하던 중 “다운타운 그랜드 카지노”라는 도박장을 방문한 것으로 알려졌다.존스턴은 자신이 만취해 “필름이 끊긴” 상태로 도박장에 들어선 것을 카지노 측이 알고 있었음에도 공짜 술을 권했고, “필름이 끊긴 상태에서” 몇 시간이고 블랙잭과 바이가우 (Pai Gow) 등 게임을 하도록 내버려 뒀다고 주장했다. 그는 도박을 시작한 지 몇 시간이 지나서야 술이 깨서 얼마나 큰 빚을 졌는지 알아차렸다고 말했다.라스베가스 주 법에 따르면, 외관상으로 명백히 술에

South Korea's telecom ministry said Friday it will launch an investigation into the latest hacking incident at KT Corp. that led to millions of customers' personal data being leaked.The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency said on Thursday it arrested three suspects for allegedly hacking into the company's website and stealing data of some 12 million clients of the mobile carrier.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said it will establish a team of government officials and online secur

China's commerce minister said Friday he is "fully" confident of meeting a 7.5 percent growth target in trade this year, citing what he calls an "improving environment" in the global economy."Given our comprehensive analysis of the international market, we are fully confident of achieving our target of 7.5 percent growth in foreign trade in 2014," Commerce Minister Gao Hucheong told reporters.Gao made the remarks at a press briefing on the sidelines of China's annual legislative policy-setting s

베이컨 굽는 냄새와 소리를 재현한 아이폰용 알람 앱과 특수 어댑터가 개발돼 화제다. 이 알람은 이용자의 청각 뿐만 아니라 후각을 자극하는 제품이라는 점에서 특히 주목을 받았다.6일 미국 ABC 뉴스 등에 따르면, 아이폰에 “Oscar Mayer Wake Up & Smell the Bacon”이란 앱을 설치하고 헤드폰 잭에 육류 가공업체가 개발한 특수 어댑터를 장착하면, 지정된 시간에 베이컨 굽는 냄새와 함께 지글지글하는 소리가 난다. 이는 미국 위스콘신 주 매디슨에 소재한 오스카 마이어 사의 “오스카 마이어 베이컨 발전 연구소 (Oscar Mayer Institute for the Advancement of Bacon)”의 역작이다. 오스카 마이어 사는 미국 굴지의 식품기업 “크래프트 푸드 그룹” 육류 가공 부문 계열사로, 1924년에 최초로 베이컨을 포장판매한 기업으로 유명하다. 제품 광고 카피에 "(로스트 베이컨의 향기에) 콧털이 쫑긋할 것"이라는 익살스런 문구 역시 유명세를 탔

President Park Geun-hye named a former vice chief of the home affairs ministry as its new minister on Friday, her spokesman said.Kang Byung-kyu, who served as the second vice minister from 2009-2010 before leaving the ministry, has been nominated to succeed Yoo Jeong-bok as minister for security and public administration, presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said.Yoo quit earlier this week to run for mayor of Incheon in June's local elections.The nomination is subject to a parliamentary confirm

The United States on Thursday imposed visa bans and set the stage for wider sanctions against Russia, warning any move to split the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine would break international law.President Barack Obama spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin to explain the measures, which he said were in response to Russia's "violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity."Obama further stiffened the US response to Russia's incursion into Ukraine as his Secretary of State John Kerry

The United States urged Moscow on Thursday to help international observers enter Crimea, as it joined allies in denouncing the semi-autonomous peninsula's planned referendum to separate from Ukraine.In a fourth emergency session on the Ukraine crisis in less than a week, the United Nations Security Council was once again clearly divided, with Western powers denouncing the Crimean parliament's "illegal" decision to put the question of secession from Ukraine to a referendum on March 16."We call on

Japan's government said Friday that Bitcoin is not a currency but that it "is natural" that transactions involving the virtual unit should be taxed."As a matter of common sense, if there are transactions and subsequent gains, it is natural... for the finance ministry to consider how it can impose taxes," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters. (AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited an air force unit, the country's state media reported Friday, an inspection trip that also quelled speculation of any change in the political fate of one of his top aides.Kim was accompanied by nine officials, including Choe Ryong-hae, the director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, the Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch.The dispatch came more than two weeks after the North Korean military's top political officer di

Police on Friday raided the office of the nation's taekwondo governing body as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations that it had fixed matches to benefit selected players.The Korea Taekwondo Association is under suspicion of rigging the results by coercing referees to make favorable decisions for the selected players during national team tryouts so that they can take the spot in the team.A team of investigators from the National Police Agency obtained computer hard drives and confide

South Korea will spend 4 trillion won ($3.8 billion) over the next three years to boost venture start-ups and encourage entrepreneurship, the finance minister said Friday."We will improve systems for each stage from business launch to growth, recoupment of invested money and retrying (after a failure), and spend 4 trillion won by the end of 2017 to regain vitality in business start-ups and unrelenting spirit," Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok told a public-private joint meeting on realizing the "cr