Malaysia has requested the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur allow a diplomat and an airline employee to submit to a probe into the death of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother the North's incumbent leader, a source said Monday.Malaysian police said last week that Hyon Kwang-song, the second secretary at the embassy, and Kim Uk-il, an employee at Air Koryo, the country's flag carrier, are suspected of being involved in the killing of Kim on Feb. 13.Kim was killed at an airport in Malaysia after tw

South Korea's liberal opposition parties said Monday they will push for the impeachment of the acting president after he refused to extend an independent probe into a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye. The main opposition Democratic Party, as well as the People's Party and the Justice Party, said they will cooperate and seek to oust Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn. The conservative Bareun Party, on the other hand, said it needs to examine the matter with its

South Korea's ruling Liberty Korea Party said Monday it respects the acting president's decision not to extend the special probe into a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye.Earlier in the day, Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn rejected the independent counsel's request to extend the term of the independent counsel, which ends Tuesday. Rep. Chung Woo-taik, the floor leader of the Liberty Korea Party, speaks to reporters at the National Assembly in Seoul on Feb. 27,

Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. said Monday it has agreed with Airbus of the United Kingdom to extend a contract to supply wing parts for five more years until the end of 2030. South Korea's sole airplane manufacturer had contracted to provide wing panels for the A320 passenger carrier until the end of 2025. (Yonhap)The company said in a statement the two sides signed a revised deal for a five-year extension, estimated to be worth 381.15 billion won ($336 million).KAI won the $600 million deal i

A concert by South Korean boy band 2PM was abruptly halted over the weekend after member Jun. K was injured while performing, the group's agency said Monday. (Yonhap)The concert held at Seoul Olympic Park on Sunday was canceled after Jun. K fell off a moving vehicle while singing, JYP Entertainment said.Jun. K was immediately hospitalized and was later found out to have fractured his right elbow and right ring finger. Concert attendees will receive refunds for the canceled show, according to JYP

A lawmaker from the main opposition Democratic Party said Monday part of the fund provided by the Japanese government to the victims of sexual enslavement during the colonial period (1910-45) was used to run the foundation created to support the victims."The government has been claiming that fund will be used for the victims only. It is inappropriate to allocate the fund for the operational costs of the foundation," Rep. Park Ju-min of the Democratic Party claimed. A statue of a girl symbolizing

US psychological thriller "Split" packed moviegoers in at the local box office last weekend, opening in first place with a robust 698,900 in attendance, data showed Monday. (Universal Pictures International Korea)Helmed by director M. Night Shyamalan, the film follows a man with 23 different personalities who kidnaps three girls.It was followed by three homegrown films on the chart.The courtroom drama "New Trial," which topped the box office the previous weekend, is the runner-up with 439,586 in

Young owner members of major South Korean pharmaceutical manufacturers, such as sons and grandsons of company founders, are on the fast track to management positions, industry sources said Monday. Lim Jong-hoon, third son of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Chairman Lim Sung-ki, is set to be registered as a member of the board of directors during the shareholder meeting scheduled for March 10, the sources said.(Yonhap)Lim Jong-hoon, 40, who has so far served as the company's director, will join the manageme

Despite South Korea's high youth unemployment, local smaller firms are struggling to hire new workers as young job seekers prefer higher-paying jobs at big businesses, financial firms and state-run companies, data showed Monday.According to a survey conducted by the Korea Small Business Institute in 2015, more than 80 percent of local small and medium enterprises replied they were facing troubles in recruiting workers.This photo, taken on Nov. 28, 2016, shows job seekers pack the site of a job f

South Korea's stock market capitalization was ranked 15th in the world last year, down one notch from a year ago, according to the nation's stock market operator on Monday.The nation's market cap rose 4.1 percent on year to $1.28 trillion at the end of 2016, data by Korea Exchange showed.(Yonhap)Last year, global stock market capitalization gained 4.5 percent on year to $70.1 trillion at the end of last year, according to the data. Buoyed by solid economic growth and expectations about US Presid

South Korea's per capita rice consumption is forecast to hit a new low in 2017 due to people's changing eating habits, a report showed Monday.The average annual consumption of rice per person is likely to reach 59.6 kilograms this year, compared with 61.9 kg a year earlier, according to the report by the Korea Rural Economic Institute.(Yonhap)It will mark the first time for the country's per capita rice consumption to fall below the 60-kg mark. It will also be equal to 40 percent of the record h

Moon Jae-in, former head of the main opposition Democratic Party, solidified his lead among presidential contenders last week, as his rivals lost ground following controversies, an opinion poll indicated Monday. According to the poll by Realmeter, Moon posted an approval rating of 33.5 percent last week, up 1 percentage point from a week earlier. The survey was conducted on 2,516 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Moon Jae-in, former head of the Democratic Part

All indicators point to Pyongyang's responsibility in the killing of the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a former CIA chief said Sunday, after Malaysia determined a banned chemical weapons agent was used in the killing.John Brennan, who served as CIA director until January, made the remark in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" after Malaysian police announced the nerve agent VX was used in the killing of Kim Jong-nam at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13. Fo

The recent killing of the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be a key topic when South Korea, the United States and Japan hold trilateral strategy talks on how to deal with Pyongyang, an official said Sunday.Kim Hong-kyun, Seoul's chief negotiator on the North Korean nuclear issue, made the remark upon arriving in Washington for the trilateral talks with his US and Japanese counterparts Joseph Yun and Kenji Kanasugi, respectively. (Yonhap)The meeting, set for Monday, takes plac

The daily foreign exchange turnover by local and foreign banks in South Korea dropped 0.1 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, the central bank said Monday.The daily FX turnover averaged $48.38 billion in 2016, down from $48.43 billion in 2015, according to the Bank of Korea.(Yonhap)The daily trading volume of foreign exchange spots reached $19.43 billion in 2016, down 2.7 percent from a year earlier.By currency type, the daily dollar-won trading volume came to $14.52 billion in 2016 while the d

Japan will decide when its top envoy will return to Seoul after seeing whether a statue symbolizing the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery will be relocated in Busan. The move followed the delivery of an official letter from South Korea's foreign ministry to municipalities asking for the relocation, Japan's public broadcaster NHK said Sunday.South Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday it sent the letter to the Busan regional government, the city's dong ward office and the Busan municipal

South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Sunday that he is carefully reviewing the independent counsel's request to extend the probe into the scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her longtime confidante.In a meeting with opposition lawmakers demanding an extension for another month, Hwang pointed out that he has until Tuesday to make a reply."I am currently looking into many aspects and then I should make my position clear on the matter," he said. South Korea

President Park Geun-hye has yet to decide whether to appear at the final hearing of her impeachment trial slated for this week, her lawyers said Sunday.The Constitutional Court is set to hold the last argument session Monday to review whether to reinstate or oust Park who was impeached in December by parliament over a corruption scandal involving her and her close friend. (Yonhap)"Park has not decided on whether to attend the hearing. She is known to be carefully reviewing the move," said a pres

No trace of the nerve agent that killed the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been found at the capital city's airport, Malay authorities said Sunday.The country's police said they thoroughly swept through Kuala Lumpur International Airport's second terminal, and found the site free of contamination and hazardous material. The screening was conducted in the early hours of the day as the Southeast Asian country confirmed that the autopsy of Kim Jong-nam found traces of

한인 앤드류 안 (Andrew Ahn) 감독의 영화 ‘스파 나이트 (Spa Night)’가 독립영화제 시상식 ‘인디펜던트 스피릿 어워드 (Independent Spirit Awards)’에서 수상의 영예를 안게 되었다.앤드류 안(Andrew Ahn)감독 (사진=전주 국제 영화제)25일 (현지시간) 미국 캘리포니아 주에서 열린 시상식에서 존 카사벳 상(John Cassavetes Award)을 수상하였다. 이 상은 5만 달러 이하로 제작된 영화 중 가장 잘 만들어진 영화에게 영예를 안겨주는 상이다. (사진=영화 스파 나이트)‘스파 나이트’는 LA 한인타운을 배경으로 게이 청년 데이비드와 그의 가족이 겪는 갈등을 그려냈다. 26일 (현지시간)으로부터 LA에 위치한 웨스트 할리우드 선댄스 시네마에서 상영된다. 코리아헤럴드 지예은 인턴기자 (yeeunjie@heraldcorp.com)