The ruling Saenuri Party and the Democratic United Party struck a deal over a Government Organization Act revision on Sunday after 47 days of negotiation deadlock and 21 days of administration stagnation. The parties plan to process the bill on Wednesday.The two sides agreed to uphold most of the original plans by President Park Geun-hye but implement additional measures to address concerns raised by the opposition party, namely concerning the authority over new media outlets.The agreement final

SEOUL -- Global warming has made winter up to 14 days shorter on the Korean Peninsula over the past three decades, weather officials said Sunday.The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said it recently analyzed the duration of seasons in 10 spots across the country and found that the average length of winter in the 2000s was shorter by up to 14 days than in the 1980s.Gwangju, a southwestern city, experienced the biggest change as the length of winter dropped from 90.9 days on average in th

SEOUL -- The nominee to lead South Korea's financial regulator has said that a merger and acquisition of state-owned Woori Finance Holdings Co. is an option to privatize the country's top banking group by assets.Shin Je-yoon, President Park Geun-hye's choice to lead the Financial Services Commission, said all investors should be allowed to place bids for Woori Finance and it would be better to quickly privatize financial firms that received public funds, according to a written answer to lawmaker

SEOUL -- North Korea has legislated to levy taxes on foreigners doing business in the tax-free Mount Geumgang tourist zone, a South Korean government report said Sunday, amid concerns that taxes could trigger dispute after a resumption of the long-stalled inter-Korean tourism project there.The newly-inaugurated Park Geun-hye government has expressed willingness to resume inter-Korean ties, which plummeted to the lowest level in decades under the previous Lee Myung-bak government.North Korea adop

SEOUL -- North Korea's political leaders recently sent a series of congratulatory message to China's newleadership, state media have reported, amid rumors of diplomatic dispute between the close allies over the North's third nuclear test.The North's Premier Choe Yong-rim sent a message on Saturday to Li Keqiang to congratulate him on his election as China's new premier, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).Choe, in the message, "expressed hope that the Chinese peop