Korea and Indonesia will bolster cooperation in sports as they signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) this week following a summit between two countries. The Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism confirmed Thursday that it has signed the MOU with Indonesia's Ministry of Youth and Sports after President Park Geun-hye and her Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo held a summit at Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea's presidential office. The two sides on Monday signed 11 MOUs in areas like infras

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn left Korea on Thursday to visit Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, his office said, in a move aimed at forging closer ties with his counterparts and finding new business opportunities for local companies.During his trip, Hwang will hold a meeting with Uzbek President Islam Karimov, as well as the country's Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev. He will also hold talks with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to discuss ways to expand ties in energy, construction an

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called on a factory to modernize the process of producing machines by the founding anniversary of the ruling party in October, the North's state media said Thursday.Kim's remarks were made while inspecting a machine manufacturing plant in North Pyongan Province. The visit marks the third time he made an on-site inspection after the country concluded its key party congress on May 9.Pyongyang used the four daylong event to help strengthen Kim's heavy-handed rule

Korean Go master Lee Se-dol, who is known for having faced Google's artificial intelligence (AI) program AlphaGo in the ancient board game, has decided to withdraw from the local professional Go players' association, apparently feeling uncomfortable about how much of a cut of his prize money they take.It turns out that Lee, a ninth-dan player who turned pro at the age of 12, has already submitted a withdrawal letter to Yang Kun, the head of the Korean pro Go players' association, on Tuesday, alo

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Wednesday for rejecting politicians who are unconcerned about climate change and make racist remarks, in what could be a swipe at U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump."We are appalled by war crimes in Syria and elsewhere. We are outraged by racism and hatred, especially when voiced by politicians and would-be leaders who have a duty to bring people together, not drive them apart," Ban said during a speech at the Columbia University commenc

The United States is prepared to engage with North Korea if Pyongyang demonstrates its denuclearization commitment, the White House said Wednesday, after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump expressed his willingness to speak to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."The United States has worked effectively with the international community, including countries like Russia and China, to isolate North Korea because of their failure to abide by their international obligations when it comes to t

Sales of Man Booker International Prize winner "The Vegetarian" by Korean novelist Han Kang have soared overseas, a Korean literary agency said Wednesday.Joseph Lee, president of Korean Literary (KL) Management, told Yonhap News Agency that the book has gone into a second printing of20,000 copies in the United Kingdom and 7,500 copies in the United States. KL Management handles the author's publication rights in foreign markets.He also said many countries, including India, Indonesia and some Ara

An appeals court handed down a 42-month jail term to the chief of a local steelmaker Wednesday for gambling abroad with millions of dollars he embezzled.The Seoul High Court also ordered Chang Sae-joo, chairman of Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., to forfeit some 1.4 billion won ($1.2 million).The business tycoon was indicted in May 2015 on charges of misappropriating more than 20 billion won from the company since 2003 and using part of it to gamble in Las Vegas.A lower court had sentenced him to 42 mont

China on Wednesday expressed its support for direct talks between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, responding to remarks by U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that he is open to speaking with the leader of the reclusive country. "China supports direct negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea," China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, told Reuters in an interview that he

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn will make a five-day trip to Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia later this week to hold talks with counterparts on expanding mutual ties, his office said Wednesday.Hwang is scheduled to leave for Uzbekistan on Thursday to meet Uzbek President Islam Karimov, and discuss expanding exchanges in various industrial segments from energy, infrastructure to information communications.Korea and Uzbekistan will also promote further exchanges in the cultural and education sectors as w

The SPC Group, a leading Korean food company, is working to register the genome of its newly-developed yeast for bread with a U.S. database, company officials said Wednesday.Last year, the bakery giant, which runs bakery brand Paris Baguette, developed the indigenous yeast, "SPC-SNU 70-1," for baking bread, and succeeded in mass commercialization.    The company and the nation's top-notch Seoul National University jointly developed the yeast after 11 years of research.So far, most local companie

Korea will play Nigeria first in an international football tournament created as a warm-up for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, the national football governing body said Wednesday.The Korea Football Association (KFA) said that South Korea will host Nigeria at the four-nation invitational tournament on June 2 at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The men's under-23 football team will then face Honduras on June 4 at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, north of Seoul. They will wrap

Korea will create a new visa type that links studying and working and relax requirements for issuing student visas in an effort to attract talented foreigners, the government said Wednesday.The Ministry of Justice said the new work-study visa will allow government-invited students to get a job here right after their graduation, starting next month.Currently, for a company to hire a foreigner, it has to have at least five South Korean employees. The number of foreigners should also be kept below

Korea's civil rights body ordered the Air Force to revise its discriminatory policy that excludes night college students from getting scholarships, adding that the existing system poses major problems for equality.The country's Air Force currently runs a scholarship program that cherry picks college students through their third year and provides them with tuition and flight education courses so they can become pilots after graduating.The program, however, is only open to those enrolled in daytim

Kim Ki-min has become the first South Korean ballerino to win the world's most prestigious ballet award, organizers said Wednesday.The organizing committee of Benois de la Danse 2016 declared him the best dancer on Tuesday, local time, for his role as Solor in the Paris Opera Ballet's "La Bayadere de Rudolf Noureev" staged in late 2015.The 24-year-old is currently the principal dancer with Russia's Mariinsky Ballet.Previously, two other South Korean ballerinos -- Kim Hyun-woong and Lee Dong-hoon

초식동물이지만 거대한 몸집과 단단한 뿔 때문에 사자 등의 맹수도 함부로 건드리지 못하는 코뿔소와 버펄로의 정면대결 영상이 화제다. 지난 10월 해외동영상공유사이트에 올라온 이 영상은 조회수 9백 만에 육박하면 꾸준한 인기를 얻고 있다. 영상은 코뿔소와 버펄로의 일대일 대결로 대등한 양상을 보이지만 코뿔소는 버펄로를 들어 올리는 괴력을 보이고 대결은 코뿔소의 승리로 끝난다. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

South Korea on Wednesday said it will move to lift a series of regulations covering drones, the biotech industry, autonomous vehicles and other areas with good growth potential, as part of a broader deregulatory campaign aimed at boosting economic growth.The decision was finalized at a meeting of senior government officials in charge of regulatory reform. President Park Geun-hye presided over the meeting -- the fifth of its kind -- at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.  (Yonhap)The panel on

어린 소녀를 소녀의 아버지와 삼촌이 무참히 살해하는 사건이 발생해 충격을 주고 있다. 범행현장에 있던 소 한 마리가 마치 소녀를 보호하려는 듯 남성들을 공격하는 장면이 CCTV에 포착되어 놀라움을 주고 있다. 인도 북부 모레나 (Morena)지역의 한 마을에서 촬영된 것으로 전해진 이 영상에는 두 남성이 넘어져 있는 또 다른 사람을 무참히 공격하는 모습이 포착되었다.  CCTV에 포착된 소와 용의자들. (유튜브)이때, 한 마리 소가 나타나 공격 중인 남성들을 뿔로 들이받으며 몰아낸다. 소녀는 병원으로 옮겨졌지만 결국 목숨을 잃은 것으로 전해졌다. 현지 언론 힌두스탄 타임즈에 따르면, 용의자들은 피해자의 아버지와 삼촌으로 소녀가 22세 남성과 사랑에 빠졌다는 이유로 소위 명예살인을 한 것으로 전해졌다. 보도에 따르면, 소녀는 22세 남성과 사랑에 빠져 가출했고, 소녀의 아버지는 이에 분노해 범행을 저지르고 도주해 현재 수배 중인 것으로 알려졌다. (khnews@heraldcorp.co

Korean civic groups together filed a complaint Wednesday, challenging the constitutionality of the local authorities' collection of user information from mobile carriers without a warrant.The Lawyers for a Democratic Society, or Minbyun, said 500 people, including professors, filed the complaint with the Constitutional Court.Under the current law, local investigative authorities, such as police, prosecution and intelligence agency, can gather personal information of mobile carrier users without

Two former South Korean football stars were appointed honorary ambassadors for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup on Wednesday. The organizing committee of the U-20 World Cup unveiled Park Ji-sung and Ahn Jung-hwan as new goodwill ambassadors for South Korea's first hosting of the FIFA tournament since 2007. The U-20 World Cup, which features 24 nations, will be played from May 20 to June 11, 2017, in Cheonan, Daejeon, Incheon, Jeju, Jeonju and Suwon. Park and Ahn are considered South Korean football