The United States agreed to provide up to 240,000 tons of food aid to North Korea in recent talks held in Beijing, diplomatic sources in Seoul said Saturday, noting the agreement could help ensure progress at a fresh round of nuclear negotiations scheduled for later this month.The sides, the sources

South Korea's first icebreaker, the Araon, is set to embark on a rescue mission to help save a Russian boat trapped in the Antarctic, ship operators said Saturday.The South Korean ship, currently anchored at New Zealand's second-largest city of Christchurch, will set sail later Saturday to head for

Park Tae-Joon, the late founder and honorary chairman of South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO, was buried at the country's National Cemetery in Seoul on Saturday.The funeral service was attended by over 600 people, including top political and government figures such as National Assembly Speaker Park H

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. weather agency says concentrations of global warming gases are at record levels from emissions that exceed scientists' worst-case scenarios.The World Meteorological Organization says heat-trapping carbon dioxide concentrations in the air have reached 389 parts per millio

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission, the EU executive, believes that the joint issuing of eurobonds by the 17 euro nations would be the most effective way to tackle the financial crisis, according to a draft paper seen Monday.The study by the European Commission, the EU's executive branch,

Tous les Jours on Thursday signed a royalty deal with CBM Corporation Co., a Cambodia-based franchise company, to allow its brand name to be used in the Southeast Asian country. Following the first deal with a Philippine retailer in December, the local bakery chain, operated by CJ Foodville, aims to

GlaxoSmithKline has been fined for colluding with a local drug maker to hinder the generic sale of its anti-emetic Zofran for the past 12 years, antitrust authorities said Sunday. It is the first time that a multinational drug company has been found to offer financial benefits in return for the with

INCHEON ― The Tesco-Homeplus Academy will offer the highest standard of retail education programs, Homeplus CEO Lee Seung-han said Friday, celebrating the 100th day of the employee training institute in Korea. Homeplus, the nation’s No. 2 supermarket chain, started in 1999 as a joint venture between

Maeil, CJ, Amore Pacific make special products for minorities as part of CSRChung Hye-jin discovered her baby daughter had phenylketonuria, or PKU, 12 years ago. The rare disease affects only one in 60,000 babies here. In order to avoid damage to the brain, people with PKU should adhere to a strict

Food and pharmaceutical company CJ CheilJedang on Wednesday filed a nullity suit against Pfizer over the “use” patent of impotence medicine Viagra. “This is the first lawsuit filed to nullify the patent of Viagra in Korea. Other drug companies that are preparing for the generic forms are also keepin

The Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday warned consumers to take extra care when purchasing products through social commerce websites. Social commerce, through which consumers can enjoy discount deals online, has grown rapidly into a 500 billion won market in Korea.  FTC chairman Kim Dong-soo (Y

Visitors look around the booths of participating companies at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Smart Korea 2011 on Wednesday kicked off its four-day run to show off the nation’s IT progress over the past year. The nation’s largest IT exhibition, mark

 

 

BEIJING (AFP) -- Moscow and Beijing are nearing the "final stage" of negotiating a huge gas deal delayed for years by disagreements on price, Russia's prime minister said Tuesday during a visit to Beijing.Vladimir Putin made the comments after meeting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the first day of t

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Tuesday was found guilty of abuse of office and sentenced to seven years in jail, in a trial widely condemned in the West as politically motivated.Judge Rodion Kireyev also barred Tymoshenko, now the country's top opposit

VIPS, a local steakhouse chain owned by CJ Foodville, has seen a 30 percent increase in its sales since singer/actor Rain became a commercial model for the company in July. “Many of the new customers are Rain’s fans from China and Japan who have watched the TV commercials through YouTube,” said a CJ

The Fair Trade Commission said Tuesday that it has launched an investigation into major local and foreign brands sold at the so-called “Big Three” department stores in the nation. The probe started as part of the antitrust regulator’s determination to root out unfair business activities in the retai

The Financial Services Commission said Monday that it is considering allowing businesses to reject credit cards for small payments.The potential upper limit would be 10,000 won ($8.55) similar to the United States and Canada, which impose a $10 cap, the nation’s top financial regulator said. “This i

Local retailers from duty-free shops to convenience stores enjoyed a sales boom during the Chinese golden week of Oct. 1-7, industry sources said Sunday. According to Lotte Department Store, transactions paid with China’s Union Pay credit card jumped 242.6 percent at all its stores last week compare