SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico ― The walls around Old San Juan are tall and very imposing.They are as tall as 42 feet and as thick as 45 feet at the base, 2 feet at the top. The muralla or city wall features two walls of sandstone blocks, filled with sand, mortar, limestone and water.The walls served San Juan well, thwarting pirates and foreign invaders for hundreds of years. That includes the English, the Dutch and the Americans.Slaves began building them in 1630 and continued for 150 years. The walls f

The legendary Japanese rock band L’Arc-en-Ciel will meet long-waiting Korean fans at a concert on Saturday in Seoul, making the city the 10th stop on their grand world tour. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the band embarked on a 14-city world tour, expecting to attract a total of 450,000 fans.“I really thank our fans. Their love and cheers have driven us to keep doing what we have been doing,” said the bassist Tetsuya at a news conference on Friday in Seoul. “I feel so lucky because there are

Singer Lee Hyo-ri renewed her soju model contract with Lotte Liquor, becoming the longest-serving soju model. She signed her first contract with the company in 2007. Lee signed her 9th contract for the brand’s signature soju “Like the First Tim,” in a deal that is renewable every six months. “Lee has made sensational soju of her own like ‘twister soju’ and ‘Hyori soju’ throughout our campaign ‘Shaking the Soju Bottle,’” said a Lotte Liquor official. According to the company, Lee has contributed

 New format may fail to attract viewers; hard to beat other TV auditions for amateur singers MBC’s “I Am a Singer,” last year’s hit singing competition that pitted top performers against one another, kicked off its second season on Sunday amid high expectations from viewers. The show has a new format -- new competition rules, contestants, a live broadcast -- all orchestrated by producer Kim Young-hee, who has been reinstated for the new season after being replaced following last season’s public

New format may fail to attract viewers; hard to beat other TV auditions for amateur singers MBC’s “I Am a Singer,” last year’s hit singing competition that pitted top performers against one another, kicked off its second season on Sunday amid high expectations from viewers. The show has a new format -- new competition rules, contestants, a live broadcast -- all orchestrated by producer Kim Young-hee, who has been reinstated for the new season after being replaced following last season’s public u

Youngest winner at 15 to choose agency among top three K-pop companiesFifteen-year-old Park Ji-min became the winner of SBS’ “K-pop Star,” beating out her rival Lee Ha-yi by one point in the neck-and-neck competition on Sunday evening. With Sunday’s win, Park also became the youngest and first female winner of a local TV singing audition program. “I’m happy because I feel like I’m being rewarded for all the hard work up until now. I would like to thank my parents and the three judges,” said Park

Seoul police chief Lee Kang-deok was named commissioner general of the Korea Coast Guard on Saturday. Lee has headed the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency since November last year. A close aide to President Lee Myung-bak, he was regarded the number one candidate for National Police Agency commissioner. But he was dropped in the wake of a scandal involving the government’s illicit surveillance of civilians.He formerly served as the presidential secretary of public safety and head of public order t

Korean scientists succeeded in cutting a damaged strand of DNA with engineered nuclease technology, or a “molecular scissors,” without generating mutation. The progress in gene editing is expected to help increase the effectiveness of gene therapy which in most cases fails to achieve intended results, said Kim Jin-soo, a chemistry professor at Seoul National University, who led the research. His team was able to prevent mutation with a new DNA-cutting enzyme that cuts only one DNA strand entwine

Local authority plans to install solar panels on all city’s buildingsSeoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday it would reduce energy consumption by the equivalent of one nuclear power plant unit as part of its anti-atomic power drive. It will also reduce dependence on nuclear and fossil fuel energy in favor of alternative energy sources, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said at a news conference. “Seoul plans to improve self-sufficiency in energy from 2.8 percent now to 8 percent in 2014 and 20

Korea’s growth is threatened by a dearth of interest in science and technology and the weakening of entrepreneurship. Ko San, a former astronaut trainee and now venture consultant, has a solution ― linking innovation to business swiftly, massively and without fear of failure.“We have to establish a virtuous circle that creates successful start-ups like those venture practices in Silicon Valley,” Ko, 36, chief of TIDE Institute, a non-profit institute supporting start-ups. said in an interview wi

Seoul Metropolitan Government will open its key meetings to the public via the Internet to promote citizen’s participation in policy making, officials said Monday.Almost 100 kinds of meetings of city government and affiliated committees and organizations will be shown on Internet broadcasting channels or video files.The move is part of Mayor Park Won-soon’s pledge to enhance communication with citizens and transparency in city affairs, Hwang Bo-yeon, director of planning division, said.“We expec

Used diesel car owners in Seoul must install a diesel particulate filter beginning in the latter half of the year under a new regulation to improve air quality, city officials said Monday.Those caught without the device will be fined 200,000 won ($175).Diesel vehicles such as vans, buses and trucks that weigh more than 3.5 tons and have been used more than seven years are subject to the new rule.The vehicles will be monitored through closed circuit television cameras on the streets of the capita

Police are widening an investigation into alleged corruption at a public university after a professor was found to have offered illegal private tutoring to students in exchange for admission. Police requested Sunday an arrest warrant for the 44-year-old contrabass professor of Korea National University of Art. He was charged with offering illegal private tutoring to high school students preparing for the school’s admission test, and giving them undeserved high scores. According to the Seoul Metr

The Anyang police will file a civil suit against a prank caller who made a false report that he was kidnapped.If filed, it will be the first suit against a prank caller by the police.Police will seek compensation for expenditures made to find the man, who made the false report that he was locked in a car trunk, officials said Thursday.The 21-year-old caller, identified by his surname Kim, called the police in the city in Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday.About 50 police officers were mobilized for

Yet another labor union for the nation’s largest state-run broadcasting network announced Thursday it will stage a strike early next month.In a week long vote from April 12-18, about 65 percent of KBS Union 1 chose to go on strike.Out of 2,903 members, 2,456 members cast ballots, with 64.6 percent, or 1,878 members, voting yes, and 572 no. Last month, another labor union with the network began a sit-in, demanding that CEO Kim In-kyu resign. KBS Union 1 is demanding the reform of the CEO appointm

The number of people killed in domestic violence rose from 69 in 2010 to 79 last year, a women’s rights group found on Thursday. The number of females killed in domestic violence was much higher than males, as 65 wives were murdered by their husbands last year, with the remainder being husbands killed by their wives, according to statistics by Korea Women’s Hotline. The numbers jumped from 57 homicides by husbands and 12 by wives in 2010.The group estimates there were more domestic homicides as

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will increase the number of foreign residents invited to local Korean homes because of the rising popularity of its home visit program among foreigners and citizens, officials said Thursday. The city government plans to select 120 foreigners to visit local Korean families on May 13 to experience culture and customs, and enhance their understanding of Korean people by having dinner together and playing traditional games, they said. Last year, about 100 foreign re

Chadwick International School has appointed David Maher, academic dean of a U.S. secondary school, as the inaugural principal of its high school.Maher is academic dean of the Fountain Valley School of Colorado and also an academic director at World Leadership School, which facilitates global immersion education programs for U.S. students in developing countries.He will oversee the high school program of Chadwick International Upper School slated to begin this fall semester. “It is a tremendous h

Seoul education chief Kwak No-hyun vowed to stay in his position, resisting pressure to step down after receiving a one-year jail term from an appeals court Tuesday for bribing his rival candidate in the education superintendent election last year. “I will continue my duty as superintendent,” said Kwak at a news conference at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Wednesday. He also pledged to fight off the accusations regarding the 2010 election process. “There was no illegal deal between

Middle school student jumps to death after  being bullied to join gangA middle school student was found dead after being bullied in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province on Monday. The death, an apparent suicide, comes just two months after the government unveiled a package of preventive measures when a string of school violence suicides shocked the nation. It also undermined President Lee Myung-bak’s visit to Yeoju Middle School in Gyeonggi Province on the same day to praise the school as an examp