Korea will reduce the speed limit to 50 kilometers per hour on city streets by 2021 in an effort to cut down on pedestrian accidents, the transportation ministry said Tuesday.In a long-term plan on traffic safety, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said the maximum speed in downtown areas will be lowered to 50 kph from the current 60 kph in the coming five years.(Yonhap)On side streets, the limit will be set at 30 kph, with safety zones for children and seniors to be expanded.The

Three fresh foot-and-mouth disease cases were confirmed in central South Korea, the agriculture ministry here said Tuesday, amid rising concerns over a nationwide spread of the animal epidemic.Cows at three farms located in Boeun, North Chungcheong Province, some 180 kilometers southeast of Seoul, tested positive for the contagious virus according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.(Yonhap)With the latest infections, South Korea has had a total of nine confirmed FMD cases sin

A conservative former journalist will join South Korea's ruling Liberty Korea Party's primary for its presidential candidate, the party said Tuesday. Kim Jin, who previously worked as an editorial writer for the JoongAng Ilbo, will enter the party on Wednesday and become its third contender to formally declare a presidential bid, according to the party, formerly called Saenuri Party. So far the other candidates are former six-term lawmaker Rhee In-je and former floor leader Rep. Won Yoo-chul.Pol

North Korean restaurants have been floundering in Cambodia as the South Korean community in the country has avoided them amid the implementation of UN sanctions aimed at halting Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development, industry sources said Tuesday.According to the sources, one North Korean restaurant after another has folded. Also, the sanctions have prevented one of the restaurants from selling kimchi through local shopping malls.This provided photo shows a North Korean restaurant in Cambo

South Korea's spy agency said Tuesday the latest missile launched by Pyongyang that reached a top speed of Mach 8.5 is capable of flying more than 2,000 kilometers.During the meeting with the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee, the National Intelligence Service said the missile was launched at a high angle of 89 degrees that limited its range. (Yonhap)If it were fired at a lower angle, it would have traveled much farther than what was covered in the latest flight.North Korea fired the ne

The late night office comedy "Good Manager" maintained its lead on a benchmark TV popularity chart, while the idol-studded period show "Hwarang" recouped losses, data showed Tuesday. (KBS)"Good Manager," the KBS 2TV show starring Namkoong Min, scored 241.8 points on the Content Power Index, staying as the No. 1 TV program during the Jan. 30-Feb. 5 period.CPI, developed by entertainment company CJ E&M and Nielsen Korea, measures the popularity of TV shows based on the number of views of related n

South Korea's home transactions dropped more than 6 percent from a year earlier last month, government data showed Tuesday, as investors stayed cautious amid growing uncertainties at home and abroad.The number of home transactions came to 58,539 in January, down 6.1 percent from the same month in 2016, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The tally marked a 33.9-percent plunge from the previous month. (Yonhap)Industry experts attributed the decrease to people taking a

Several family members of North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-ryol have been purged in connection with Jang Song-thaek, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's uncle who was executed in 2013 on charges of treason, a document showed Tuesday.In the wake of Jang's execution, Ri Ung-gik, the parents of Han's son-in-law, the son-in-law and his child were sent to a prison camp, according to the document produced by the North Korea Strategy Center here after an interview with Thae Yong-ho. North Kor

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is focusing on boosting nuclear and missile capabilities while seeking to consolidate the base of his power, Seoul's unification ministry said Tuesday.Ahead of key events, such as this week's 75th birthday of late former leader Kim Jong-il, North Korea is making efforts to further consolidate the regime by strengthening its so-called reign of terror, according to the ministry's report to the National Assembly.Kim Jong-un at missile launch site (Yonhap)"North Korea

Korea's Cheonghae Unit will take part in a counter-piracy military operation led by the European Union for the first time next month, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The naval unit, currently stationed in the Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen, will partner with EU forces to prevent acts of piracy and armed robbery in the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement. Korea's Cheonghae Unit (Yonhap)The Korean unit's participation in the international counter-piracy operatio

South Korea and Southeast Asian countries agreed to speed up negotiations to upgrade their free trade agreement, Seoul's trade ministry said Tuesday, amid rising fears over trade protectionism.Seoul has been in talks with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations to improve the FTA, which took effect in 2007, with Singapore becoming the chair country of the Korea-ASEAN FTA implementation committee. South Korea's Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan (Yonhap file photo)Thanks to the FTA, trade betwee

North Korea's latest launch of a new missile is aimed at showing off its confidence that the country will be able to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile within this year, a report showed Tuesday.North Korea may avoid launching an ICBM in March when Seoul and Washington's surveillance of Pyongyang will be intensified while they hold a joint annual military exercise, according to the report by the Institute for National Security Strategy. The Pukguksong-2 (Yonhap)Pyongyang fired off a

The price of chocolate grew annually for nine years in a row in 2016, a statistical agency said Tuesday, mainly on the back of an increase in expensive imported brands.Chocolate prices fell for seven years straight from 2000 to 2006, according to Statistics Korea. However, chocolate prices increased 5.5 percent on-year in 2007 and hiked 23.4 percent on-year in 2008. Last year's on-year rise was 0.1 percent, compared with 4.6 percent in 2015 and 16.7 percent in 2014.  (Yonhap)Industry experts att

The United States will send its strategic assets to a joint military exercise with South Korea next month as North Korea has escalated tensions with its latest missile launch, military officials said Tuesday. "The two sides have agreed to send such weapons as the F-22 stealth fighter and a nuclear-powered submarine to the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises in March," a defense official familiar with the matter told Yonhap News Agency.  In this photo taken on Feb. 17, 2016, an F-22 stealth figh

South Korea's ruling Liberty Korea Party returned lapel badges to its lawmakers in a symbolic gesture of normalization Tuesday, a day after changing the name to improve its image tarnished by a corruption scandal centered on President Park Geun-hye.Earlier in January, tens of its members had handed in their lawmaker badges to the party's headquarters amid the public's criticism after the impeachment of Park from office. The lawmakers then asked In Myung-jin, the interim head, to decide on their

Senior defense officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan vowed Tuesday to strengthen intelligence sharing to better counter North Korea's growing missile threats, the defense ministry said.In an hour-long video conference from 7:30 a.m., the US also reaffirmed its commitment to the defense of its key Asian allies, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement. (Yonhap)The first trilateral talks since Donald Trump became president on Jan. 20 came after North Korea test-fired

South Korea's state pension fund is expected to receive over 1 trillion won ($869 million) in stock dividends from the country's top 30 conglomerates, sharply up 20 percent from last year's tally, industry data showed Tuesday.Industry tracker CEO Score analyzed dividend payments planned by the conglomerates-affiliated 97 companies in which the National Pension Service has stakes of over 5 percent. (Yonhap)Of the surveyed firms, 65 firms announced their stock dividend payment plans, with the stat

North Korea has misappropriated part of an international relief package to help it deal with the devastation caused by deadly flooding last year for its major infrastructure projects, a US broadcast said Tuesday.A source in the northern Ryanggang Province told Radio Free Asia that materials and funds in humanitarian aid for flood-hit areas offered by the international community were partly used to roof public buildings and houses for locals, and the rest was diverted to Ryomyong Street developme

Non-durable goods sold better than sturdy but more expensive durables last year, state statistics showed Tuesday, another indication of downed consumer sentiment. Sales of nondurables in 2016 increased 4.7 percent from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea, the most in nine years since 5.4 percent in 2007 at the height of the global financial crisis. Food and beverages led the rise with a 3.4-percent increase, also the highest since 6.3 percent in 2007.  (Yonhap)High demand for conven

South Korean mobile service users with traditional numbers, starting with old prefix such as 011 and 016, significantly dropped to below 1 million, the government said Tuesday, more than a decade after the introduction of a prefix number integration policy.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said a total of 970,000 people were using mobile numbers that start with 011, 016, 017, 018 and 019 as of the end of January.  (Yonhap)In 2004, the government introduced 010 as a unified telepho