A Korean student has been selected to make a spring commencement speech at Northern Michigan University on Saturday.Lee Young-jong, whose major is media production with a minor in art and design, worked for the Korean Broadcasting System and a cable company as an assistant producer for two years before coming to NMU.His commencement speech will mention the advantages of coming to the school, including personalized attention from faculty and staff, according to the university.(wone0102@heraldm.co

A fire broke out in Hallasan National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site, on Jeju Island Tuesday. No injuries were reported.A hiker found the blaze at an “oreum,” or a parasitic volcanic cone, at around 12 p.m. Around 4,000 firefighters and park rangers battled the fire for around two hours.They put out the fire at around 2 p.m. Some 16,000 square meters of forest were damaged, according to the fire department.The fire is thought to have started at a water fountain at Sajaebi Oreum, which is 1,3

The nation’s largest teachers’ group asked the government to give special judicial authority to teachers to curb school violence. In a meeting with the Education Ministry on Monday, the Korean Federation of Teachers Associations also demanded the government extend counseling and therapy and set up more alternative schools.The teachers said it has become even more difficult to control unruly students because of rules on students’ human rights that went into effect in Seoul this year.The governmen

The Ministry of National Defense nominated Lt. Gen. Sung Il-hwan as the new Air Force chief of staff on Monday, Sung has served as commander of the Air Force Education and Training Command and superintendent of the Air Force Academy.Ministry officials said that President Lee Myung-bak will appoint him the new Air Force chief of staff after Cabinet approval on Tuesday.Outgoing chief of staff Park Jong-heon has held the post since 2010.The new chief of staff exhibits strong leadership and is highl

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday approved 28 billion euros ($36.56 billion) in funding for crisis-hit Greece over the next four years, while Standard and Poor‘s warned that the country’s new bonds remained vulnerable to default despite this month‘s massive debt writedown.The IMF’s executive board granted the immediate release of 1.65 billion euros ($2.15 billion) of these funds as part of the country‘s second bailout, a statement said.Greece will receive a total 172.7 billion euros in

Dozens of Iranian banks were blocked from doing business with much of the world as the West tightens the financial screws on a country it wants to prevent from developing nuclear weapons.The Belgium-based company that facilitates most international bank transfers on Thursday took the unprecedented step of blocking 30 Iranian banks from using its service. The move is likely to hurt Iran‘s all-important oil industry and make it difficult for citizens to receive money from relatives living abroad.T

Iranian oil exports are likely to fall by nearly half within six months, the IEA said Wednesday while holding its estimate of global oil demand steady for the first time in six months.The report underscored two forces in the oil market, where prices have risen sharply, pushing up energy costs in many sectors. These are the effect of EU sanctions against Iran and other disruptions to supply together with tighter market conditions.For a long period the underlying tone of IEA monthly reports has be

Fitch lowered Britain‘s long-term outlook Wednesday to negative from stable, while confirming its top-level AAA rating.The ratings agency said the revision “reflects the very limited fiscal space to absorb further adverse economic shocks in light of such elevated debt levels and a potentially weaker than currently forecast economic recovery.”The change represented a more than 50 percent chance of a downgrade over the next two years, Fitch said, citing ongoing financial tensions in the eurozone.”

GAZA CITY (AP) ― Egypt has mediated a cease-fire between Palestinian militant factions and Israel after four days of violence, an Egyptian security official said.The official told the Associated Press that a cease-fire went into effect at 1 a.m. Tuesday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. It was not immediately clear when a formal announcement of a cease-fire would be made.The official said that after hours of talks, the Palestinians agreed to stop launch

GAZA CITY (AFP) -- Israeli air strikes on Gaza killed three Palestinians on Sunday, raising the toll to 18, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed no let-up against rocket-firing militants.Hamas said it was talking with Egyptian officials in a bid to reach a truce with Israel, but warned that it expected the Jewish state to hold fire first and that talks had so far been unproductive.And Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for most of the rockets fired from Gaza in recent days, warned