China urged all relevant countries on Friday to make joint efforts to resume long-stalled nuclear talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programs as South Korea floated the idea of holding talks without North Korea.The disarmament-for-aid talks, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, have been stalled since late 2008.North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 in the clearest sign that it has no intention of giving up nuclear ambition.China's Foreign Ministry spo

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se vowed Friday to push for a meeting of five regional powers that would pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program in the wake of its fourth nuclear test.President Park Geun-hye proposed the meeting earlier in the day, saying there needs to be a "creative approach" to denuclearizing the North after its latest detonation on Jan. 6.South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia are members of the six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization, but th

The Hanwha Eagles on Friday announced their signing of former major league catcher Wilin Rosario.The Korea Baseball Organization club inked the 26-year-old from the Dominican Republic to a one-year deal worthUS$1.3 million, which included a signing bonus of $300,000.Rosario has also played first base during his five-year big league career, all with the Colorado Rockies.After making his debut and playing just 16 games in 2011, Rosario exploded for 28 home runs and 71 RBIs in 117 games the followi

On the eve of his team's showdown against Jordan at the Olympic men's football qualifying tournament, South Korea head coach Shin Tae-yong fired verbal salvo at his opponent, calling on the Middle East team to play the game the right way.South Korea and Jordan on Saturday will clash in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation U-23 Championship, which is also the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Only the top three nations will get to play in

South Korea's pointman on inter-Korean affairs made it clear Friday the government is not considering shutting down a joint industrial complex in North Korea or withdraw South Koreans from there despite the North's nuclear test."The government is seeking to focus on how to operate the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North in a stable manner,"Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said in a press briefing.His remarks came amid concerns that an extension of inter-Korean tension sparked by the North'

The number of locals and foreigners going in and out of South Korea recorded the largest figure last year, a 7.7 percent increase from the previous year, the Ministry of Justice said Friday.The tally came to some 66.37 million, with the number of locals reaching 39.11 million and that of foreigners coming in at 27.26 million.But the number of foreigners visiting South Korea stood at13.35 million, a 6.3 percent decrease from the previous year, the ministry said.The decline, the first in 12 years

(Yonhap)현저한 저성과자를 해고할 수 있게 하고 취업규칙 변경 요건을 완화하는 내용의 정부 행정지침이 22일 전격 발표됐다.정부는 정년 60세 제도의 안착과 직무·성과 중심으로의 노동시장 변화를 위해 양대 지침이 필요하다는 입장이다. 노동계는 '쉬운 해고'와 '노동개악'이라며 강력히 반발하고 있다. (Yonhap)이기권 고용노동부 장관은 이날 정부세종청사에서 '공정인사' 및 '취업규칙 지침' 등 양대 지침을 발표했다.공정인사 지침은 '직무능력과 성과 중심 인력 운영'과 '근로계약 해지' 등 두 부분으로 이뤄졌다.논란이 된 근로계약 해지 부분에서는 '징계·정리·통상(일반)해고' 등의 해고유형과 유형별 정당한 이유와 절차 등 제한사항을 구체적으로 설명했다.지침에서는 대다수 성실한 근로자는 일반해고 대상이 될 수 없음을 분명히 밝히고, '극히 예외적으로 업무능력이 현저히 낮거나 근무성적이 부진해 주변 동료 근로자에게 부담이 되는 경우' 등을 해고요건으로 규정했다.이 경우에도 해고가

Longest-running Korean boy band Shinhwa will stage concerts in March commemorating the 18th anniversary of its debut, the group's agency said Friday.Shinhwa Company said the concerts will be held on March 26 and 27 at Seoul Olympic Gymnasium in the southern part of the capital city.The six-member boy band achieved huge success with their latest album released in February last year, as the act earned 10 trophies, topping weekly TV music show "M Countdown" numerous times. The album pays tribute to

South Korea called on Japan Friday to drop its reckless claim to sovereignty over a pair of rocky islets in the East Sea.It was responding to a Tokyo speech by Japan's top diplomat Fumio Kishida. He reiterated that Dokdo belong to Japan and said his government will deliver the position constantly.In a statement, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said it can't help deploring Kishida's repeat of such an "unfair claim.""(We) urge the Japanese government to immediately abandon its reckless claim to Dokdo, wh

North Korea said Friday that it has arrested a U.S college student for allegedly conducting hostile acts against the North's regime.The student is being questioned by North Korean officials after being caught taking part in anti-North Korea activity, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch.The state news agency claimed that the student entered North Korea nominally for tourism, though the real intention was to undermine North Korea's unity under the U.S. governme

The government announced Friday contentious labor guidelines as part of its efforts to make the rigid labor market more flexible and help revitalize the sagging economy.The guidelines finalized and released by the Ministry of Labor and Employment ease restrictions for employers to fire "noticeably"underperforming workers and allow companies to change employment rules more easily.Labor representatives strongly voiced opposition to the move, saying that the government policy would make it easier f

A local court on Friday sentenced an activist to three years in prison for organizing violent rallies in central Seoul over a deadly ferry disaster.Still, the Seoul Central District Court suspended the sentence for Park Rae-gun for four years and ordered him to perform 160 hours of community service.The 55-year-old activist was convicted of holding unauthorized rallies and injuring police officers in 2014 and 2015 over the ferry sinking. The 6,825-ton ferry Sewol sank in waters off the country's

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described South Korea on Friday as his country's "most important neighbor that shares strategic interests," an expression reflecting the mood of improved bilateral ties.In his annual policy speech in parliament, Abe pointed out that Seoul and Tokyo have put an end to a longstanding source of conflict with a deal on the "comfort women" issue late last month.Under the agreement, Japan admitted that it's responsible for the sexual enslavement of many Korean women

The government decided Friday to extend its pig movement restrictions for a southwestern province for seven days to help stem the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.Two new cases of the highly contagious animal disease were confirmed at pig farms in Gimje and Gochang, North Jeolla Province, earlier in the month, the Agriculture Ministry said. It said the outbreaks in the southwestern part of the country caused 10,842 animals to be culled. "The restrictions will be pushed back to midnight on Jan. 2

A South Korean alpine skiing venue for an upcoming Winter Games test event officially opened Friday, two days after receiving its approval from the sport's international governing body.The Jeongseon Alpine Centre, the venue for the International Ski Federation Alpine Skiing World Cup on Feb. 6-7, was declared ready for the competition in an opening ceremony.   Jeongseon, some 210 kilometers east of Seoul in Gangwon Province, will be among the sub-host cities of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympi

The government and the national skiing federation said Friday they will strengthen their efforts to raise South Korea's competitiveness in Olympic snow events at home.Kim Jong-deok, minister of culture, sports and tourism, and Shin Dong-bin, president of the Korea Ski Association, discussed ways to improve the country's chances of winning its first Olympic medal on snow at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, officials said.Kim and Shin both attended the opening ceremony for the Jeongseon Alpine C

Oil prices leaped from 12-year lows Thursday, lifted by a swing to optimism on equity markets after steep losses since the beginning of the year.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for March jumped $1.18 (4.2 percent) to $29.53 a barrel on the contract's first day of trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March, the European benchmark, finished at $29.25 a barrel in London, a gain of $1.37 (4.9 percent) from Wednesday's settlement.On Wednesday, both cont

The largest exchange-traded fund tracking Russian equities has made the worst start to a year on record with over 50 percent of the stocks the ETF holds losing more than 10 percent so far in 2016.The Market Vectors Russia ETF advanced 1.9 percent to $12.42 on Thursday, narrowing its loss this year to 15 percent. The ETF’s price swings, with daily losses reaching as much as 7 percent, have pushed its historical volatility to levels unseen since the global equity rout in late August.“Selloffs are

The chief nuclear envoys of Japan and China held talks in Beijing this week during which they discussed North Korea's nuclear issue, China's foreign ministry said Friday. Kimihiro Ishikane, director-general of the Japanese foreign ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, met his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, on Thursday, the Chinese ministry said in a brief statement. The two sides "exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue," the statement said, without elaborating further.The

President Park Geun-hye proposed Friday that South Korea hold talks with the United States, China and other regional partners to discuss ways to denuclearize North Korea."We should find various and creative approaches, including attempting to hold five-way talks excluding North Korea," Park said in a meeting with officials on how to deal with North Korea.The comments represent growing doubts about the effectiveness of the nuclear talks, which showed no signs of resumption.North Korea quit the di