North Korea on Wednesday denounced Seoul's refusal of its demand for a joint investigation into three drones found in South Korea, saying a preliminary result that pointed at Pyongyang's involvement is a "malicious slander."South Korea's defense ministry last week said the drones recently discovered in inter-Korean border areas were produced and sent by North Korea for spying purposes, though the conclusive evidence has yet to be found.On Tuesday, the North's powerful National Defense Commission

수학여행을 간 고등학생 325명과 교사 14명을 비롯해 총 475명을 태운 여객선이 16일 오전 전남 진도 해상에서  좌초 하는 사고가 발생했다.사건 발생 사흘째인 오전 5:30분 현재 구조된 인원은 179명, 사망한 인원은 25명이며 아직 271명이 생사 파악이 되지 않은 상황이다. 이틀째인 17일까지 확인된 사망자는 여성 선상 직원 박지영(22·여)씨와 안산 단원고 2학년 정차웅(17), 권오천(17), 임경빈(17), 박성빈(17·여)과 박영인(17) 학생과 교사 최혜정(25·여)씨와 남윤철(35)씨, 그리고 김기웅(29)씨등 총 아홉 명이었으나, 18일 새벽 16명의 시신이 대거 추가 인양되면서 유가족의 곡성이 하늘을 덮었다. 일부 학생은 탈출하는 과정에서 다리 골절을 입는 등 부상을 당한 것으로 알려졌다.사고 선박은 인천발 제주행 6천325t급 여객선 '세월호'로,  무리한 항로변경으로 좌측으로 무게의 중심이 쏠린 영향으로, 선내로 침수가 계속돼 침몰하기 시작한 것으로 추정

South Korea's top fixed-line operator, KT Corp., said Tuesday it will raise $1 billion by selling bonds to overseas investors as it aims to raise cash for debt payments in the coming months.Of the amount, $650 million will mature in three years and the remaining $350 million in five years.The three-year bonds will carry an interest rate 100 basis points above the yield on three-year U.S. Treasurys. The rate of the five-year bonds will be 110 basis points higher than the government bonds of the s

President Park Geun-hye apologized Tuesday for the spy agency's alleged forgery of evidence used in charging a North Korean defector with espionage, ordering the embattled agency to make thorough efforts to reform itself.Park issued the apology during a Cabinet meeting, a day after prosecutors indicted two officials of the National Intelligence Service for their alleged roles in the scandal. NIS Director Nam Jae-joon also offered an apology earlier in the day.The swift apology shows Park takes t

South Korea and Japan will hold high-level talks in Seoul this week on the latter's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, with attention focused on Tokyo's stance on the emotive issue, officials said Tuesday.The director general-level meeting, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, will be the first venue reserved for addressing the wartime atrocity, which remains a cause of frayed bilateral ties.Historians say up to 200,000 women, mainly from Korea and China, were coerced into sexual servitud

　“아이를 가지면서 37kg가 늘었는데, 폴댄스로 30-32kg 뺐어요.”　서울시 마포구 합정동에 위치한 JK 댄스 스튜디오의 폴댄스 강사인 장연주(27)씨의 말이다. 기자가 본 장연주 씨는 5살난 아들을 둔 워킹맘으로, 댄스 강사답게 탄탄하게 다져진 몸매와 깍듯한 매너가 인상적이다.　급속히 늘어난 군살을 빼려고 다른 운동도 많이 했다는 그녀는 폴댄스 역시 다이어트를 목적으로 시작했다고 한다.　‘간헐적 헬스장 출입’과 ‘벼락치기 다이어트’로 점철된 바쁜 현대인의 일상에, 춤으로 몸짱이 된 그녀의 사례는 충분히 벤치마킹 할만하다. 　그렇다면 폴댄스는 얼마나 운동이 되는 것일까? 　 　폴댄스의 운동효과　 　“폴댄스를 15분동안 출 때 소모되는 열량이 러닝머신을 1시간 뛰는 것과 같아요. 특히 셀룰라이트가 가장 많이 모이는 부위인 엉덩이 바로 뒷부분이나 팔뚝 안쪽살, 등살 같은 곳들이 집중적으로 운동이 돼요. 자신감을 키우려고 오시는 분들도 있고요.” 그러고 보니 그녀의 표정이나 제스처에

The South Korean government said Tuesday it will introduce an apprenticeship system similar to that of Switzerland where students can receive education or training while also working, a move aimed at boosting the country's youth employment rate.The measure is an effort to improve the country's youth employment rate that continues to drop despite rises in the overall employment in recent years, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance."An increase in youth unemployment rate not only mean

The U.S. government may return a set of Korean national treasures, apparently stolen by an American soldier during the Korean War, when President Barack Obama visits Seoul next week, diplomatic sources here said Monday."The two sides are in the final stage of consultations to complete relevant procedures," a source said.There is a possibility that the process will finish ahead of Obama's departure for Asia next Tuesday, added the source.Obama is expected to arrive in Seoul on Friday following a

U.S. President Barack Obama will visit South Korea next week for talks with PresidentPark Geun-hye on the alliance between the two countries, North Korea and its nuclear program, and other regional and global issues, both sides announced.Obama will arrive on April 25 for a two-day visit, Seoul's presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said. It will be Obama's first trip to Seoul since Park took office last year. Park made a state visit to Washington last year, and the two leaders have since met on

South Korea rejected on Tuesday North Korea's demand that the rival Koreas conduct a joint investigation into drones that Seoul said Pyongyang sent to the South for spying purposes.  South Korea said Friday that it believes North Korea was the origin of three unmanned aerial vehicles that crashed in the South, though conclusive evidence has yet to be found, adding it will continue investigations into the drones in a scientific manner to ensure that the drones belonged to North Korea."In no case

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid respects to his grandfather and founder of the communist country on Tuesday marking his 102nd birthday, the North's state media said.Kim visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the body of Kim Il-sung, along with his son and former leader Kim Jong-un, lies in state, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency.The founding father died in 1994, and his birthday is one of the most important holidays in North Korea.In his visit to the palace, the yo

North Korean human rights abuses should be formally discussed at the six-party talks, even though the talks focus mainly on the communist nation's nuclear program, the head of a U.N. investigation team said Monday.Michael Kirby, chief of the Commission of Inquiry, stressed that the North Korean human rights issue should be addressed in every dialogue with Pyongyang.He pointed out, however, it is still uncertain when the six-party talks will resume. The talks were last held in December 2008, join

South Korea handed over to North Korea the body of a man found dead off South Korea's southern coast where a Mongolian cargo ship carrying North Korean sailors sank earlier this month, an official said Monday.The repatriation took place at the border village of Panmunjom inside a military buffer zone that separates the two Koreas, according to the government official.The move came three days after North Korea confirmed the man's identity. On Friday, South Korea asked North Korea to help identify

글로벌 K-POP 대표 브랜드 1theK(원더케이)가 론칭 후 처음으로 글로벌 팬들을 위한 '원더풀 팬 사이닝 이벤트(Wonderful Fan Signing Event)'를 마련했다.한-영 두 가지 언어로 진행되는 '원더풀 팬 사이닝 이벤트'는 1theK 페이스북 채널(www.facebook.com/1theK)을 통해 최정상 K-POP 스타와 팬이 만나는 특별하고 인터랙티브한 일대일 소셜 팬사인회로, 총 2회에 걸쳐 진행된다. 이번 이벤트는 글로벌 K-POP팬들을 대상으로 기획되었으며 PC와 모바일 1theK 페이스북 이벤트 페이지에서 참여 할 수 있다. 첫 번째 이벤트 스타는 국내외 많은 팬들의 사랑을 받고 있는 ‘아이유’와 ‘B.A.P(비에이피)’다. 이벤트 영상에서는 아이유의 사랑스러운 애교와 감미로운 기타 연주, B.A.P 멤버들의 익살스럽고 파워풀한 영상을 감상할 수 있고 이벤트 참여 후 제공되는 “나만의 사인페이퍼”는 페이스북 커버사이즈로 다운로드 되어 다양하게 활용 가능

Loen Entertainment has launched a creative signing event for K-pop stars on its 1theK Facebook account, the agency said Monday.Upon clicking “like” for the “Wonderful Fan Signing Event” at www.facebook.com/1theK, each user can choose between a video clip of K-pop singer IU or boy band B.A.P. In each video clip, the K-pop artists hold up the user’s Facebook profile picture and have a “mini concert.” At the end, the singers sign autographs with the user’s name and profile picture automatically pri

미국 뉴욕에서 60대 한국 출신 이민자가 맥도날드 직원에게 빗자루로 맞는 등 '육체적, 정신적인 모욕을 당했다’며 100억원대 피해배상을 요구하는 소송을 냈다.13일(현지시간) 뉴욕ㆍ뉴저지의 법무법인 김앤배(Kim&Bae)에 따르면 미국 뉴욕에 사는 김모(62)씨는 맥도날드 본사와 뉴욕지사, 퀸즈 매장의 루시 사자드(50•여) 매니저 및 복수의 직원을 상대로 1000만 달러(약 103억원)를 요구하는 민사소송을 뉴욕주 퀸즈카운티 법원에 제출했다.김앤배에 따르면 김씨는 약 30년 전 미국으로 이민 간 현 미국 시민권자로, 일요일이던 지난 2월16일 오후 4시30분께 퀸즈 플러싱 메인 스트리트에 40-18번지에 있는 맥도날드 매장을 찾았다.당시 계산원은 4명이 있었으나 3명은 웃고 떠드느라 정신이 없었고 1명만 손님들을 상대했다.줄을 서서 10여분을 기다린 끝에 차례가 된 김씨가 커피를 주문하면서 “시간이 너무 오래 걸린다”고 불만을 제기하자 계산원 뒤에서 이 말을 들은 사자드가 다짜고

An elderly ethnic Korean in New York has filed a multi-million-dollar suit against McDonald's for an alleged racist attack by one of its workers, his lawyer said Sunday.The 62-year-old man residing in the U.S. city surnamed Kim sued the head and New York branch offices of McDonald's and several officials seeking $10 million in compensation after he allegedly experienced verbal and physical attacks by a McDonald's manager in Flushing, Queens, according to the law firm Kim & Bae.In the afternoon o

The former head of television-based retailer Lotte Homeshopping Co. was called in by prosecutors Monday to face questioning over suspicions of receiving kickbacks from suppliers.Shin Heon, who headed the retailer from 2008 to 2012, entered the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul around 9 a.m. to undergo questioning as a suspect in the corruption case.Shin, 60, now serves as chief executive of the country's largest department store chain, Lotte Shopping.The summons comes

North Korea warned Monday that it will force South Korea to pay a dear price for its criticism of the North's dignity, the latest in a series of verbal threats against the South.The rival Koreas agreed in February to halt cross-border slander during their first high-level talks in seven years.Still, the North has since claimed South Korea hurled mud at the North's leadership and its social system with the communist country citing, among other things, anti-Pyongyang leaflets.For years, North Kore

Popular approval for French President Francois Hollande has hit a new low of 18 percent, far below the 58 percent for his new Prime Minister Manuel Valls, an opinion poll showed Sunday.The least popular French president for decades,  Hollande's poll rating fell five points, dipping below 20 percent for the first time since coming to power in 2012.In contrast Valls, who took office late last month, becomes the most popular French premier at the start of his tenure, according to the monthly findin