A month after a U.S. court ruled against South Korea’s Kolon Industries Inc. for the theft of trade secrets from American firm DuPont Co., the companies have rekindled their dispute here in South Korea.Prosecutors said Thursday they are investigating the two companies’ dispute over technology leaks

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The UN investigator for human rights in North Korea said Wednesday he’s concerned about the growing number of asylum seekers leaving the country, with nearly 870 arriving in Thailand in the first quarter of this year.Marzuki Darusman, the United Nations rights rapporteur for t

The chairman of Orion Group was sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday for embezzling a massive amount of corporate funds.Tam Cheol-gon, 56, was detained and indicted in June on charges of misappropriating nearly 30 billion won ($26.4 million) of funds from the confectionery and media group.

President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday that one of his government’s top priorities is to protect "socially weak" people, amid calls from small merchants for further cuts in the commission rates that credit card firms levy on retailers.“We believe we have to protect the socially weak and the governmen

Foreign tourists in Seoul have sent more than 15,000 postcards to friends and family for free over the past four months, via a service provided by the city, the municipal government said Thursday.The Seoul Metropolitan Government launched the “welcome postcard” service in June as part of a campaign

The six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs is the “golden key” to opening the door for regional powers to achieve peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia, former Chinese state councilor Tang Jiaxuan said Wednesday. The comments come amid a flurry of renewed diplomatic efforts on h

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang will visit South Korea next week for talks on bilateral relations and Korean Peninsula issues, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Wednesday.Li is the seventh-ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China and is expected to rise to premie

MUNICH/MADRID (Yonhap News) -- With South Korea scheduled to select the winner of its project for 60 new fighter jets next fall, the European consortium of Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft has offered to fully share its technology with its South Korean partners.Germany, Spain, Italy and Britain are part

The national budget to protect defense systems against cyber attacks has been increased for next year amid increasing threats, the defense ministry said Tuesday.The ministry said in a statement that the budget allocated for defending defense information for next year has been pegged at 25.8 billion

ATHENS (Yonhap News) ― A senior North Korean official, who is on a rare trip to the United States, said Monday the security condition on the Korean Peninsula is so unstable that a war may occur again anytime.Rhee Jong-hyuk, a ranking member of the all-powerful Workers’ Party of the communist nation,

South Korea’s inter-government task force to better deal with crimes by American soldiers will hold its first meeting this week, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The task force, consisting of senior officials from the foreign ministry, police, the defense ministry and the South Korea-U.S.Combined

The right to vote is a constitutional right granted to all citizens regardless of their location, a senior official of the National Election Commission said. “One does not have to perform taxpaying or military duties nor prove one’s qualification to exercise one’s constitutional rights,” said Jeong

Yoo Young-sookA member of the prestigious French Academy, Erik Orsenna, in his book ‘The Future of Water,’ describes the water crisis caused by climate change in Australia, China, Africa and Southeast Asia to demonstrate the stark reality of the water crises many countries are facing and their strug

The air quality of movie theaters, exhibition halls, Internet cafes and private education institutes will be newly regulated, the government said Sunday, with fines to be issued for poor maintenance. The Ministry of Environment will add the four types of public facilities to its list of places where

Nearly nine out of 10 South Koreans distrust domestic politics and politicians, a poll showed Sunday, illustrating a growing sense of crisis among rival political parties.According to a poll of 1,018 adults and 730 youths by the Office of the Minister of Special Affairs, 87.1 percent of adults and 8

President returns home from trip highlighted by ratification of free trade agreementPresident Lee Myung-bak’s state visit to the United States was a demonstration of their stronger alliance through the U.S. Congress ratification of the bilateral trade agreement.Lee returned home Sunday, wrapping up

Civic group against private education criticizes early foreign language learningEarly English education does not always guarantee proficiency in the language or a good school record. In fact, some believe it could disrupt a child’s balanced development.Their assertion runs counter to a widespread be

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The Barack Obama administration and Congress have demonstrated their commitment to a stronger alliance with South Korea, not just militarily but also economically, by completing the long-overdue process of endorsing a free trade agreement in time for President Lee Myung-ba

South Korea demanded that Japan take “legal responsibility” for the aging Korean women forced into sexual slavery to serve Japan’s World War II soldiers, formally raising the issue at a U.N. meeting for the first time in 14 years, a foreign ministry official said Wednesday. “These systematic rapes a

A senior South Korean diplomat in Germany has been investigated by local police on allegations of drunk driving, a foreign ministry official in Seoul said Tuesday. The diplomat rammed his vehicle into a cement wall near a restaurant last Friday in downtown Berlin and crashed into four parked cars, a