After ringing in the new year with claims of its first successful hydrogen bomb test, North Korea is now calling on the United States and the world community to accept it as a nuclear power, jettison the pursuit of punitive sanctions and allow it to focus on what it really wants: build up the nation's troubled economy.While waiting to see what kind of new sanctions might be imposed by the United States, the United Nations and others, North Korean officials say that with the test now out of the w

A newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party has expressed its opposition to tougher sanctions against North Korea following its fourth nuclear test, despite calls by South Korea to put enough pressure on Pyongyang to rein in the wayward neighbor. In an editorial published on Friday, the state-run Global Times newspaper also indicated that China put its top priority on maintaining stability in North Korea, rather than its denuclearizion.All eyes are on the role of China, which keeps N

South Korea and the United States agreed Saturday to push for "strong and comprehensive" sanctions against North Korea against its latest nuclear test, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said.The discussion was made during a bilateral meeting between South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken in Tokyo ahead of their trilateral talks involving Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki due later in the day.Earlier this month, North Korea carried out an

North Korea says it could stop its nuclear tests in exchange for signing a peace treaty with the U.S. and a stop to annual military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea. The North's statement is a repeat of past offers that have been rejected by the U.S., which wants Pyongyang to commit to a complete abandonment of nuclear weapons.The state media late Friday carried the statement by an unnamed spokesman of the North's Foreign Ministry, who called the purported hydrogen bomb test on Jan. 6

David Bowie, the other-worldly musician who broke pop and rock boundaries with his creative musicianship, nonconformity, striking visuals and a genre-spanning persona he christened Ziggy Stardust, died of cancer Sunday. He was 69 and had just released a new album.Bowie, whose hits included "Fame,'' "Heroes" and "Let's Dance,'' died "peacefully'' and was surrounded by family, representative Steve Martin said early Monday. The singer had fought cancer for 18 months.Long before alter egos and wild

The Honda Civic has been named North American Car of the Year. The truck of the year is the Volvo XC90.The press preview days for the North American International Auto Show officially kick off with the awards. The announcements came Monday morning at Cobo Center in Detroit.The other finalists in the car category were the Chevrolet Malibu and Mazda MX-5 Miata. The Nissan Titan XD and Honda Pilot also vied for the truck award.About 55 automotive journalists vote on winners from the list of finalis

For Oh Soo-hyun, the mother of a 4-year-old boy in Seoul, last year was a nightmare.“Turning Mecard,” she said. “I’ve been searching for this everywhere, almost every single day. But even though I get it one by one, the company keeps producing different models. … It has no end.” Oh is one of many Korean parents pressured by their kids who are captivated by the hit TV animation series. The action-adventure series features dozens of minicars and main characters who control them with their mysterio

Unionized workers at Asiana Airlines, the nation’s second-largest flag carrier, launched a sit-in protest Tuesday blasting the management’s restructuring plan that would lead to massive layoffs.The move came less than a week after the carrier unveiled the self-rescue plan to improve its financial health and survive in the overheated air transportation and services market. (Yonhap)Under the two-year plan, Asiana is set to close three international routes this year and reduce the number of branch

Song Young-ki, the 28-year-old CEO of start-up DLighter, has a chic office in the business district of Gwanghwamun in central Seoul. Though his 1-year-old company has yet to generate revenue as its mobile app is still in the pilot stage, Song does not have to worry about rent or look for coffee shops that provide free Wi-Fi access.Furnished with desks and sofas designed in a futuristic concept and even a foosball table, the 320-pyeong (1,058-square-meter) office is where he spends days and night

After months of hurdles, Asiana Airlines, the nation’s second-largest flag carrier, has won the government’s permission to operate its second low-cost carrier, moving forward to expand its market presence.The Ministry of Transport has issued a business license to Air Seoul, the second low-cost carrier launched by Asiana Airlines, the air carrier said Monday evening. The government said the license was issued in line with a steady growth in air traffic with an annual average of 7.8 percent. Air S

For lighter, stronger auto body frames, Korea’s top steelmaker POSCO has been producing advanced high-strength steel, the latest steel sheet production technology, with growing market demand.Advanced high-strength steel is one of the fastest-growing material markets in the automotive industry in and out of the country, as it offers enhanced formability and is lighter in weight but stronger than other steel products. With a growing number of carmakers developing lighter but stronger vehicles to e

Years of bitter feuding between Hyundai Elevator, the nation’s leading elevator manufacturer, and Schindler Group, its No. 2 shareholder, resurfaced on Monday after a top Swiss envoy had a rare meeting with Cheong Wa Dae officials requesting the government’s intervention.According to local reports, Swiss Ambassador to Korea Jorg Al. Reding recently met An Chong-bum, senior presidential secretary on economic affairs, to ask South Korea’s top office to step in. He claimed that the Swiss firm has s

An analysis of test data suggests that the defeat device to manipulate emission levels could have an impact on the fuel efficiency of Volkswagen’s diesel vehicles sold in Korea, the government said Thursday.(AP-Yonhap)While the data provided by the Environment Ministry and the Transport Ministry shows a high likelihood, more driving tests need to be conducted to conclusively prove it, an official told Yonhap news agency.“We have concluded that there is a correlation,” the official was quoted as

Korea Gas Corp. on Monday denied a local report that it plans to invest in South Pars gas field in Iran, making it the first Korean company to invest in the Middle East country that had been slapped with international economic sanctions over its nuclear program.According to local reports quoting officials at the Trade Ministry, the state-run company recently sent its officials to discuss ways to invest in the world’s largest gas field, which has been running behind in its development schedule du

In contrast to the central bank’s upbeat forecast of the U.S. rate hike on the Korean economy, the business circles here remained cautious on Thursday, devising ways to minimize the impact in the mid and long term. (Yonhap)The impact of the U.S. Fed hike -- the first in nearly a decade -- will not be felt right away, market watchers said, as the South Korean central bank is keeping its key interest rate at a record low level. However, many Korean companies are concerned about its global impact,

SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won is reportedly considering rejoining the board of three affiliates including the group’s parent company SK Corp., amid mounting pressure on him to hold more legal and ethical responsibilities as the owner of the nation’s third-largest conglomerate. According to industry sources and reports Monday, Chey is likely to join the board of directors of the three firms at the shareholders meeting scheduled in February and March.  SK chairman Chey Tae-won (SK) If shareholder

With local carmakers and electronics giant Samsung jumping into autonomous car business along with the government’s plan to commercialize the sector by the year 2020, interest is growing over one tricky matter: who will be held responsible for accidents involving such vehicles? Automated vehicle is a revolutionary concept in motoring as the human drivers take a backseat while the computerized machine, instead, takes control of navigation. But the question of liability for accidents involving dri

Volkswagen believes that only a small number of employees were behind the emissions scandal, but its board chairman said Thursday the company is still investigating and suggested the probe does not exclude top managers.In an update on the German automaker's attempt to get to the bottom of the scandal, Hans Dieter Poetsch said "we are relentlessly searching for those responsible for what happened and you may rest assured we will bring these persons to account.''He confirmed the company had suspen

The government said Thursday that it would oblige builders to install high-definition security cameras at newly built apartment complexes as of Friday.According to the Ministry of Land and Transport, new apartments should have surveillance cameras of at least 1.3 megapixels to enhance the security level for residents. So far, cameras of a minimum 410,000 pixels have been required for residential complexes. Cameras with low-image quality have been blamed for failing to identify suspects and regis

The government said Thursday that it would levy an acquisition tax on pricey compact cars starting next year, to strengthen tax balance.Buyers of compact cars have been exempted from paying the tax so far, while purchases of regular cars are subject to a 4 percent acquisition tax. The tax deduction rate of a compact car priced at over 50 million won will be reduced to 85 percent from the current 100 percent. Smart Fortwo, manufactured by German carmaker Daimler AG, is the only compact car model