Entrepreneur-turned-professor Ahn Cheol-soo on Thursday denied speculation that he would create a political party and run in the general elections next year.Ahn has yet to confirm whether he will enter politics. But he has received media attention as a formidable potential presidential runner who en

SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- Recent photos taken by an American visitor confirmed Thursday that North Korea has mobilized its college students in massive construction projects in Pyongyang ahead of a milestone political event next year.The North has launched the construction drive as part of attempts t

Public prosecutors investigating alleged embezzlement at SK Group summoned the group’s vice chairman Chey Jae-won on Thursday.Chey is the younger brother of SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, who is also under investigation. Prosecutors are said to be considering summoning Chey Tae-won at a later date.

SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- The military court said Thursday it has sentenced two Marine major generals to suspended terms on charges of making false accusations against their former top commander.In a trial held Wednesday, the court handed down six-month suspended terms to the two major generals, sur

 This year’s exports of makgeolli, a traditional Korean rice wine, are set to surpass $50 million for the first time on a sharp rise in demand from Japan and China.According to the Korea Customs Service, 37,027 tons of makgeolli worth $45.29 million were exported in the 10 months to October, ab

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Google's next frontier in digital mapping will span the world's shopping malls and airports.An upgrade of Google's mobile mapping service released Tuesday includes directions within stores, malls, airports and transit centers in the U.S. and Japan.The initial index only covers a

Samsung Electronics won its appeal against Apple’s temporary ban on its sales of tablet PCs in Australia, increasing the possibility of a turnaround in the ongoing patent battle between the two.People walk by a Samsung store in Sydney. (AP-Yonhap News)The Federation Court of Australia on Wednesday o

Japan's retired double Olympic judo gold medallist Masato Uchishiba was fired as a university coach Tuesday for sexually harassing a female student.Uchishiba, 33, who won the 66kg title at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, had been coaching the women's judo team at Kyushu University of Nursing and Social

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge's stern voice broke the silence of a Los Angeles courtroom: "Money for madness medicine," he said before sentencing Dr. Conrad Murray to the maximum four years behind bars for Michael Jackson's death."Absolutely no sense of fault, and is and remains dangerous" to the

Anders Behring Breivikwww.freak.noOSLO, Norway (AP) — Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was insane when he killed 77 people in a bomb and shooting rampage in Norway, and should be sent to a psychiatric ward instead of prison, prosecutors said Tuesday.A psychiatric evaluation ordered

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Germany, which invented the printing industry more than 500 years ago and dominates the market to this day, has lost its talent for making money from the presses.Manroland AG, the biggest maker of newspaper printing machines, filed for insolvency on Nov. 25, threatening the jo

SYDNEY, Nov 28, 2011 (AFP) - WikiLeaks has been recognised in Australia for its "outstanding contribution to journalism", with founder Julian Assange lashing out at "cowardly" Prime Minister Julia Gillard in an acceptance speech.The anti-secrecy website was lauded at the annual Walkley Awards, where

Standard and Poor’s said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s administration hasn’t made progress in tackling the public debt burden, an indication it may be preparing to lower the nation’s sovereign grade. “Japan’s finances are getting worse and worse every day, every second,” Takahira Ogawa, d

PARIS, Nov 24, 2011 (AFP) - The word's first artificial windpipe transplant has been such a success that a second operation has been carried out and a third is being planned, The Lancet reported on Thursday.Andemariam Teklesenbet Beyene, a 36-year-old Eritrean, is doing well after undergoing the gro

 PARIS, Nov 24, 2011 (AFP) - Doctors should read up on Shakespeare, according to an unusual medical study that says the Bard was exceptionally skilled at spotting psychosomatic symptoms.Kenneth Heaton, a doctor at the University of Bristol in western England, trawled through all 42 of Shakespea

MILAN (AP) — George Clooney and his ex-girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis are among more than 200 witnesses accepted Wednesday by a Milan court in the trial of former Premier Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex with an underage prostitute.Clooney has said he was approached by Berlusconi'

Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is shifting production of iPhone and iPad displays to Sharp Corp. in Japan and may introduce a television with screens from the same partner as early as the middle of 2012, Jefferies & Co. said.Apple is moving its business to Sharp largely at the expense of Samsung

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday condemned South Korea's parliament for ramming through a free trade agreement with the United States, saying that the move invited strong backlash from the public and opposition parties.South Korea's ruling-party controlled parliament on Tuesday ra

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's parliamentary secretariat said Wednesday it may take legal action against an opposition lawmaker who set off a tear gas canister in the chamber to block the ratification of a free trade deal with the United States.South Korea's ruling party lawmakers on Tuesd

The Korea Communications Commission granted KT Corp. permission to end its feature phone service beginning on Dec. 8 on Wednesday.The state telecom regulator said KT will have two weeks to inform its existing 159,000 feature phone users by at least two different methods -- including mail -- that the