On April 28, Heinosky Korea (CEO Lee Seung-hee) announced that it will begin supplying EPS (expanded polystyrene) insulation boards to several advanced countries, including France, from the second half of this year. Better known as “Styrofoam,” EPS is widely used as an insulation material. Heinosky has taken this material and added fire-retardant and thermosetting properties to create a product that does not catch fire easily or become deformed when exposed to high temperatures. However, what ha

Three North Korean security agents might have killed an ethnic Korean priest who was found dead in a Chinese border town last week, the head of a group of South Korean abductees' families said Monday.The Chinese national, only identified by his surname Han and known as a supporter of North Korean defectors, was found dead on Saturday in a northeastern Chinese town near the border with North Korea.Han is believed to have been murdered by three North Korean agents who were dispatched to the Chines

South Korea and Iran agreed to build a complex to promote the Korean Wave in the Middle East country, South Korea's presidential office said Monday, the latest in a series of Seoul's efforts to spread the Korean Wave.The complex -- tentatively named K-Tower -- will display contents of the Korean Wave and offer Korean and Taekwondo classes, a traditional Korean martial art.It will also house Korean restaurants and shopping malls for Korean cosmetic products and other South Korean goods, according

South Korea and Iran agreed Monday to promote partnerships in science and technology, riding on President Park Geun-hye's landmark visit to Tehran.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning here said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran's Ministry of Science Research and Technology on "various research cooperation" in both the basic and applied science fields.The two sides plan to launch a joint science-technology committee next year to discussion the details, it added.T

China has replaced its deputy chief envoy to the long-stalled talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, a diplomatic source said Monday, in an apparent regular reshuffle of positions. Xiao Qian, who assumed the role in May last year, was promoted as the director-general of the Asian affairs department at China's foreign ministry, the source said on the condition of anonymity. "The successor (of Xiao) has been named, but no formal appointment has been made yet," the source said, without goi

Argentine Vice President Gabriela Michetti will visit South Korea next week for a series of high-level meetings as the two nations seek to expand bilateral ties, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.Michetti, who doubles as president of the Argentine National Senate, will arrive in Seoul on Sunday at the invitation of Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and stay here for three days, the ministry said in a press release.She is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on President Park Geun-hye, hold talks with Hwan

The nation's military, naval and air force academies have decided to allow their cadets to wear civilian clothes and drink alcohol when they are off campus, authorities said Monday.A military official said the three academies have revised school regulations banning cadets from wearing civilian clothing and drinking liquor last year and have been implementing the new rules since March this year.But those cadets who are younger than the legal drinking age of 18 still cannot drink alcohol or wear c

North Korea was set to complete the 70-day campaign designed to press its people to work harder on Monday as it is preparing to hold the first party congress in more than 30 years later this week.In late February, the North kicked off the "70-day campaign of loyalty," under which the North's regime has been mobilizing its people to complete construction and other projects ahead of the party event."A set of construction works have been under way with the aim to complete them by May 2, when the 70

The number of foreign residents in South Korea reached 1.9 million this year, with a steady increase in the number of Chinese nationals, government data showed Monday.The number of foreigners living in South Korea reached 1.94 million as of March, up 4.7 percent from a month earlier and 7.2 percent from March 2015, according to the Ministry of Justice.By nationality, Chinese people topped the list at 50.8 percent, followed by Americans at 7.4 percent and Vietnamese people at 7.1 percent, the dat

South Korea and East Timor will hold a "friendship week" in the Southeast Asian nation next week to build closer ties between their people, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.The 2016 Korea and Timor-Leste Friendship Week will be held in the capital Dili from Monday through Saturday featuring a Korean film screening and a joint concert, the ministry said in a press release.Under the program, the film "Ode to My Father," which tells the story of South Korea's economic development in the 20th centur

Kuwait's Prime Minister Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah will visit Seoul this week for talks with high-level South Korean government officials and business leaders to bolster bilateral economic cooperation, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.Jaber will arrive here on Sunday for a four-day visit on the invitation of South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn. Korea is the fourth leg of his five-nation trip to Asia that includes Bangladesh, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan.During his stay here, he is scheduled to

The chief of Oxy Reckitt Benckiser on Monday formerly apologized and promised compensation for the victims of a toxic humidifier sterilizer amid a full-fledged prosecution probe into the Korean unit of the British firm and local consumers' move to boycott its products.The humidifier disinfectant case, one of the worst scandals involving consumer products using chemicals, came to light after four pregnant women died of lung problems for unknown reason in 2011. A government-led investigation confi

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Monday praised dozens of celebrities for their donations, expressing hope that more people will participate in social contribution activities."I ask that the act of social contribution will become more established in our lives so that it becomes our society's seeds of hope," Hwang said.The premier made the remarks during a luncheon with 12 actors and singers, including actress Jan Na-ra and singer Sean, at his official residence in central Seoul.Jang, who is popul

The head of South Korea's central bank vowed full support for corporate restructuring Monday, but warned against what he called public misunderstanding."The bank has repeatedly stressed that corporate restructuring is a very important task for our economy and that it will actively fulfill its necessary role in the process," Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said while meeting with senior BOK officials. BOK chief Lee Ju-yeol (Yonhap)"As discussions on corporate restructuring are now seriously underw

More than eight out of 10 Koreans living in the United States expressed a need for the unification of the divided Korean Peninsula, a survey showed Monday.According to a poll by the Overseas Koreans Foundation carried out on 676 Korean-Americans, 81.5 percent of them expressed the need for Korean unification, while 15.8 percent said unification is not necessary. Only 2.7 percent said they are not interested in reunification.The foundation is a South Korean government agency tasked with supportin

South Korea hosted a cooking event in Tehran over the weekend to give Iranians a rare chance to savor the taste of some of Korea's most popular foods, as the Asian country stepped up its foray into one of the world's least-tapped markets, organizers said Monday.  Hosted by the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation on Sunday, the "K-Food Cooking Class" was attended by100 Iranians. The participants were selected among more than 350 applicants, organizers said.At the event Irani

South Korean President Park Geun-hye is to hold talks with her Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, on Monday, a historic meeting that could set the tone for relations between the two countries.It will be the first summit between the leaders of the two countries since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations in 1962.South Korea is seeking to tap into business opportunities in Iran, which has emerged as a promising market following the lifting of international sanctions earlier this ye

China appears to have not been invited to a rare congress of North Korea's ruling party, a diplomatic source said Monday, reinforcing speculation that Beijing is unlikely to send a delegation to Pyongyang. The first party congress in 36 years, which will start on Friday, is expected to display the North Korean regime's unity toward leader Kim Jong-un. "There have been no signs that the Chinese government is preparing to send its delegation to the North Korean party congress," the diplomatic sour

An appeals court has handed down a reduced jail term to a former vice-president of South Korea's largest tobacco maker for receiving kickbacks from a company subcontractor, court records showed Monday.The defendant, identified only by his surname Lee, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on charges of receiving hundreds of millions of won from a local cigarette pack maker. The court also ordered Lee, 61, to forfeit some 325 million won  he received.The former vice-president of KT&G was indicted

The latest commercial satellite imagery shows continued low-level activity at North Korea's nuclear test site, a U.S. website monitoring the communist nation said Sunday, amid concern Pyongyang could conduct its fifth nuclear test in the coming days.Based on the April 28 imagery of the North's Punggye-ri test site, however, it is not possible to determine whether these activities are related to continued maintenance or reflect that Pyongyang has completed test preparations and a detonation is im