Zhu Guangya, a nuclear physicist and one of the key scientists engaged in the development of China’s first atom bomb and first hydrogen bomb, died on Saturday at the age of 87, China Daily reported.A pioneer of China’s nuclear science, Zhu contributed to breakthroughs in the research for nuclear energy, and helped the country’s development of defense technology.Born in Yichang, central China’s Hub

The U.S. Navy has seen another Korean-American take the helms of a U.S. guided-missile destroyer.Steven Lee became the 14th commanding officer of USS Gonzalez in Norfolk, Virginia, on Feb. 25, according to the official website of USS Gonzalez. He is the third Korean-American captain of a U.S. destroyer, following Choi Hee-dong, commander of the USS Chafee and Jeffrey Kim of the destroyer USS John

Kim In-hei, 49, vocal music professor of Seoul National University, was sacked on Monday for habitually inflicting violence on her students and other alleged misconduct.The school’s disciplinary committee decided on Monday to fire her after a marathon discussion. It was the first time that the nation’s top university has dismissed a professor over abuse of students.The professor was hit by inside

Shin Young-moo, a 67-year-old veteran lawyer, was elected the new president of the Korean Bar Association during its general assembly in Seoul on Monday.Shin ran for the post as the candidate recommended by Seoul Bar Association and won 167 votes, beating runner-up Shin Yong-do, who had stood for Busan-based lawyers but only received 49 votes. Shin began his judicial career as a judge at Daejeon D

A foundation set up by Um Hong-gil, who has climbed 16 peaks of 8,000 meters or higher in the Himalayas, has built its second school for children in Nepal.The Um Hong Gil Human Foundation said Friday that it had completed the construction of the school in Trishuli, 95 km northwest of capital Kathmandu.The residents in the poverty-stricken region are isolated from civilization and scrape a living b

A Japanese lawyer has been honored with a human rights award by South Korean National Assembly lawmakers in recognition of his legal struggle for ethnic Koreans on Sakhalin Island.Kenichi Takagi, 67, received the fifth National Assembly human rights prize from the Human Rights Forum of South Korean lawmakers at a round table meeting on Sakhalin issues with Japanese lawmakers in Tokyo, Japan, on Fr

Hwang Young-ok, a 72-year-old woman, has donated real estate worth 6 billion won ($5.32 million) to Seoul Women’s University, the university said Thursday.The university launched a scholarship committee in her name. Hwang Young-okHwang has been unmarried all her life while running a kindergarten for about four decades. The devout Christian has given students scholarships through churches. In her 2

BEIJING ― When 3-year-old Peng Wenle vanished into the night in March 2008, his parents despaired of ever seeing him again. Although a video surveillance camera had captured footage of a man scooping up the youngster from a crowded street outside the family’s small shop in the southern city of Shenzhen, the images were too grainy to identify the perpetrator or provide clues on where he might have

Janggu master Kim says modernization does not mean WesternizationAlthough, Kim Duk-soo, a master percussionist, is mostly known as a virtuoso of the “janggu,” an hourglass-shaped Korean drum, he said expertise in a single instrument is not enough to be considered a master in the field of Korean traditional music. Unlike the western way of categorizing expertise by instrument ― such as violin maste

Pop singer Kim Jang-hoon and self-styled Korea promotion expert Seo Kyoung-duk posted a full-page Korean tourism advertisement in the New York Times on Tuesday. The advert appeared on Page 5 in Section A, and was bannered “Visit Korea” over the Korean map where seven islands ― Ganghwado, Heuksando, Ieodo, Jejudo, Geojedo, Ulleungdo and Dokdo ― were marked in bold letters.The ad noted that South Ko

Actress Lee Young-ae has given birth to twins, her agent said on Monday.Lee, 40, gave birth to a boy and a girl at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday at a Seoul Hospital, said Storms Company. “The mother and the babies are healthy,” it said. She surprised her fans in 2009 when she was secretly married in the United States to a Korean businessman.  Lee Young-aeThe superstar of the Korean Wave debuted in a TV com

Lee Dae-myung, triple gold medalist in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games shooting event, received the sports grand prize, the most prestigious award by the Korean Olympic Committee, on Tuesday.The award ceremony took place in Olympic Parktel in the Olympic Park, Seoul. Lee Dae-myungThe committee said Monday that it had chosen Lee as the winner of its 57th annual grand prize in recognition of his achi

Pop singer Kim Jang-hoon will hold a “Dokdo festival” aboard a cruise ship in the East Sea on Feb. 28, along with self-styled Korea promoter Seo Kyoung-duk.The two celebrities will invite about 300 people to the ship, which will be anchored between the two Dokdo islets to stage a concert. Kim Jang-hoon“I planned the concert on the sea a day before the March 1 independence movement day, to make the

KATMANDU, Nepal ― Being a “living virgin goddess” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.Imagine the bruising you get when you tumble back to earth.It’s been two decades since Rashmila Shakya, a 33-year-old with a sweet smile and gentle voice, reached puberty and “retired” as a royal kumari, as the young Nepalese goddesses are known.Sitting in her modest bedroom next to an oversized Minnie Mouse doll, sh

Economics professor Ahn Kook-shin has been appointed president of Chung-Ang University.The university said Thursday that its board named 64-year-old Ahn as its 13th president as the incumbent President Park Bum-hoon offered to resign. Ahn Kook-shinAhn graduated with a major in economics from Seoul National University in 1969 and earned a doctoral degree in economics from University of Minnesota in

Vice chairman of the Korea Audit Bureau of Circulations Kim Young-il has become the bureau’s chairman.The bureau promoted 71-year-old Kim to chairman at its board meeting at Korea Press Center, Thursday. Kim Young-ilKim is a graduate from College of Business and Economics at Yonsei University, who worked as a Washington correspondent of the now defunct Hapdong News Agency. His career includes exec

Windsor plans to hold his first exhibition on his new home in JulyThere is an old tale about the “Hallasan-shin,” the spirits of Jeju Island’s Mount Halla, but world-renowned American artist Windsor Joe Innis didn’t believe it on one of his first trips to the island. “I was told that if you leave without paying tribute to the biggest spirit here, the Old Woman of the Mountain, she will chase you d

PHOENIX (AP) ― There was a moment when Henry Morello began to lose hope, as he was stuck for five long days with his car in a ditch in the Arizona desert.The 84-year-old drank windshield wiper fluid after he got thirsty, used car mats to stay warm and even read a car manual from cover to cover to pass time.Then, he heard a knock on a window from a hiker, and suddenly his long, painful ordeal was o

Kim Jae-cheul was re-elected president of Munhwa Broadcasting Corp. by its board of directors Wednesday.The Foundation for Broadcast Culture, which holds the majority stake in the television network, selected Kim at its board meeting held to screen presidential candidates. Kim Jae-cheulThe 58-year-old president-elect is expected to be determined as president at the shareholders’ meeting late this

Beginning Tuesday, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s foundation sent letters to 250 cultural groups, inviting them to apply for some of the $32 million the charity plans to distribute to arts organizations over the next two years, The Wall Street Journal reported.“At Bloomberg Philanthropies, we see the arts as fundamental to New York City’s cultural and economic wellbeing,” the letter says. Mich