A senior South Korean diplomat on Monday dismissed growing concerns over the absence of progress in Seoul's initiative to build trust with North Korea, saying the initiative is still valid and should be pushed for with a long-term perspective.Speaking at a Seoul forum, Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul also pointed to Pyongyang's recalcitrant and provocative behavior, which he said has made it difficult for Seoul's "peninsular trust-building process" to yield meaningful progress."When Nor

The United States will remain unchanged in its push to deploy its advanced anti-ballistic missile system known as THAAD in South Korea, a defense ministry official here said Monday.Earlier this month, South Korea and the U.S. launched talks on the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, to counter North Korea's increasing nuclear and missile threats.The bilateral negotiations were abruptly put on hold by the U.S. last week without specific reasons, sparking speculations

An action drama for children on the saga of ancient China will be aired on a key South Korean TV channel starting this week, the channel said Monday.Co-produced by South Korea and China, the blockbuster drama named "Legend Hero" will be shown every Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m. on the Educational Broadcasting Station. China Film Animation is a co-producer of EBS.The historic drama has been filmed with special effects at the production expense of some 7 billion won, according to EBS.The 50-epi

China's chief nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, has voiced the country's opposition to the possible deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in South Korea during his meetings with Seoul officials, China's foreign ministry said Monday. Wu, who arrive in South Korea on Sunday, expressed his "solemn position" on the possible deployment of the U.S. missile shield, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery, in South Korea, China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.South Ko

Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun was named on Monday South Korea's chief envoy handling the North Korean nuclear issue, the ministry said.Kim replaces Hwang Joon-kook as special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, who serves as Seoul's top envoy to the now-stalled six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization.Hwang will serve as Seoul's ambassador to London.Since joining the foreign service in 1984, Kim has mostly handled North America and North Korea affairs

The United States is committed to using the full range of its defense capabilities to safeguard South Korea in the event of war with North Korea, a defense ministry official here said Monday after attending a joint defense exercise in California.The allies held their annual anti-nuclear joint exercise at Vandenberg Air Force Base last week where some 40 defense officials from the two countries discussed warfare strategies to counter North Korea's nuclear and weapons of mass destruction threats.

The tvN TV drama "Signal" registered a national rating average of 10.9 percent for the 11th episode on Friday, proving to be a big hit after "Reply 1988" syndrome.Starting with a 6 percent rating for its first episode on Jan. 22, "Signal," which screens every Friday and Saturday, has been gaining an additional 1 percent with each following episode on average, according to Nielsen and reports on Saturday.The drama, starring Kim Hye-soo, Cho Jin-woong and Lee Je-hoon, is about detectives working o

The digitalized hits of the legendary rock band the Beatles have conquered the top six slots in the international sections of major South Korean music charts, data showed Monday. The songs became available on South Korean music streaming websites at midnight, as Universal Music Group, the distributer, authorized 10 South Korean music streaming services to provide online and mobile digital audio streaming and downloading services for the songs. As of 10 a.m., the Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Han

A U.S. college student detained in North Korea has confessed to his "severe" crime of stealing a political sign from a hotel there and has asked for forgiveness, the North's state media said Monday.Otto Frederick Warmbier, a student at the University of Virginia, was questioned by North Korean officials after being caught committing, what the media there called, an anti-North Korea activity.Warmbier said that on Jan. 1 he stole a political sign that had promoted "the Korean people's love for the

Powered by its growing economic and diplomatic clout, Seoul is stepping up public diplomacy, exploring ways to capitalize on its middle-power charm and crafting tailored regional approaches.By promoting scholarly exchanges and cultural and outreach events at overseas diplomatic missions, the government helps people overseas experience Korean culture and build personal ties. It also partners with international celebrities as goodwill ambassadors who can influence their fans and boost Korea’s imag

Derwent London Plc has shelved plans to turn an office building on Savile Row in London’s Mayfair district into 29 luxury apartments after demand was damped when the government raised the sales tax on the most expensive properties.Soaring prices for luxury homes encouraged developers to seek to turn office space into 16,600 new homes in greater London in the two years through May 2015. The higher sales tax has made it more difficult for developers to sell the costliest apartments and is causing

Mexico's Emmanuel Lubezki on Sunday made history with his third consecutive Oscar for cinematography, for his dramatic work in tough conditions on survival epic "The Revenant."Without his keen eye, his mastery of natural light and his ability to produce gorgeous long takes, Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu may not have been able to realize his vision for the film, a tale of revenge shot mainly in Canada's wilderness. Emmanuel Lubezki (AP)"To my parents, my friends and to all the cine

Oscars host Chris Rock hit early and hard Sunday on a race row overshadowing Hollywood's biggest night, mercilessly ribbing both the movie industry and its critics.The comedian wasted no time raising the controversy over the 88th Academy Awards' lack of African American acting nominees, addressing the issue from his first words and discussing virtually nothing else in his monologue."Hey! Well, I'm here at the Academy Awards -- otherwise known as the white People's Choice awards," he said, after

North Korea on Monday called for strengthening its economic self-sufficiency as the United Nations Security Council is poised to slap tougher sanctions on the country for its nuclear and missile programs."Imperialists stick to the scheme to choke liberal countries' economies and coerce them into submission by pushing for sanctions and containment," said the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's main newspaper.The U.N. Security Council looks set to adopt a fresh resolution for what's called "the strongest

Former Olympic-winning marathoner Hwang Young-cho is still excited when he talks about his gold medal run at the 1992 Summer Olympics Games in Barcelona, Spain.Hwang's victory washed out South Koreans' painful memory that dates back to 1936. At the Berlin Olympics, the late Sohn Kee-chung took gold in marathon but couldn't celebrate his victory because he had to wear the Japanese flag as Korea was under Japan's colonization."Sohn had said he wanted to see a Korean runner celebrating with the Oly

The Seoul metropolitan government said Monday it will introduce new subway trains with wider seats beginning late next year. To be first introduced on Seoul subway's No. 2 line, each seat will be widened so that six people can sit in a row instead of the current seven.According to the Seoul city administration and Seoul Metro, each seat will be widened to 480 millimeters from present 450 and made of non-combustible materials.The exterior of the train will feature a white design, according to the

The number of college graduates outside the labor force has more than doubled over the past 15 years due to a rise in those who gave up looking for jobs amid a prolonged economic slump, government data showed Monday.South Korean college graduates who are neither employed nor unemployed reached 3.35 million in 2015, compared with 1.59 million in 2000, according to the data by Statistic Korea.From a year earlier, the number rose 4.7 percent."Companies recruit fewer workers due to lower global dema

A local movie about the abhorrent suffering of the Korean women who were forced into sexual enslavement by imperialist Japan during World War II topped weekend ticket sales, data showed Monday."Spirits' Homecoming" attracted 767,071 moviegoers from Feb.26-28, the first weekend after its cinema launch on Wednesday, according to cinema ticketing services. During the same period, the film was put on the silver screen 8,956 times nationwide and accounted for 30.4 percent of all weekend ticket sales.

China is likely to tighten its enforcement of U.N. sanctions against North Korea as the North's nuclear test and rocket launch this year appear to change a calculus of the Chinese Communist Party on how to solve the North Korean problem, according to a Chinese scholar on Monday. Last week's agreement by the United States and China on a draft U.N. resolution, which includes a ban on the supply of aviation fuel to North Korea, was evidence of the shift in Beijing's stance towards its only treaty a

President Park Geun-hye congratulated three South Korean athletes for winning medals at the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation World Cup, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.The bobsleigh team of Won Yun-jong and Seo Young-woo captured their second career gold medal, while skeleton slider Yun Sung-bin won silver at the eighth and final International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation World Cup in Konigssee, Germany, on Saturday.Park said in a message to the three athletes that she hopes that they