The comedy-action film "The Pirates" has topped 5 million in attendance, helping lead Korean movie sales along with the mega hit history film "Roaring Currents," according to its distributor Friday.The action film with the subtitle "Bandits Going to the Sea" reached the mark early Friday morning, Lotte Entertainment said.Friday was the 17th day since the movie's release.With the latest feat, the film exceeded the break-even point with profits fully covering all investments.It also became the thi

An extraordinary parliamentary session kicked off Friday, with rival parties deadlocked over a special bill aimed at uncovering the truth behind April's ferry sinking that left more than 300 people dead or missing.The session, which is to run for 10 days until the start of the regular parliamentary session in September, was requested by the No. 1 opposition party, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), on Tuesday, just as the rival parties failed to pass the special bill through the pre

A man who lost his daughter in South Korea's April ferry sinking has been hospitalized after being on hunger strike for more than a month, his spokesman said Friday.Kim Young-oh, whose daughter died in the capsized ferry, the Sewol, had been fasting for 40 days to demand an independent probe into the disaster.On Friday morning, he was sent to a hospital in northeastern Seoul from the site of his protest in Gwanghwamun Square in the city center, Yoo Kyung-geun, the spokesman for the victims'famil

Two American missionaries who contracted Ebola while treating patients in Liberia have left hospital after making a full recovery, doctors said on Thursday, as authorities in the west African nation struggled to deal with their dead.Doctors Kent Brantly, 33, and Nancy Writebol, 60, caught the disease in Monrovia in the midst of an outbreak that has killed 1,350 people since March in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.The pair were given experimental drugs before being airlifted back to th

North Korea is expected to complete the expansion of a long-range rocket launch site on the country's west coast by this fall, a report said Thursday, in a move that will allow the regime to fire bigger rockets with heavier payloads.The website 38 North, run by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, made the assessment based on recent satellite imagery of what the North calls the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, according to an Associated Press repo

Three of five sitting lawmakers accused of taking bribes have been detained to face further questioning, court officials said Friday, hours before the National Assembly was called into session at midnight. Reps. Kim Jae-yun of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) and Cho Hyun-ryong and Park Sang-eun of the ruling Saenuri Party were put behind bars after a Seoul court issued warrants for their detention on Thursday night. The Seoul Central District Court, however, dismis

Police confirmed Friday that the man committing lewd behavior in public last week is the former chief of the prosecution office on the southern island of Jeju, citing analysis of footage from security cameras.Kim Soo-chang, a 52-year-old former chief of the Jeju District Prosecutors' Office, is being investigated by police on suspicion of masturbating in public near his residence on the resort island on Aug. 12.  Kim Soo-chang (Yonhap)The National Institute for Scientific Investigation, the fore

K-pop girl group Kara’s former member Kang Ji-young is to make her way into the Japanese entertainment scene as an actress in partnership with a Japanese agency, Japanese news outlets reported Thursday. According to the news reports, Kang signed a management contract with Japanese talent agency Sweet Power to launch her acting career. Sweet Power is a Japanese entertainment powerhouse that manages a slew of Japanese top-tier actresses including Maki Horikita and Meisa Kuroki. “Kang will show her

A Seoul appellate court on Thursday reduced the suspended prison term of the founder of one of the world's largest Christian churches for embezzling church funds, partly overturning a lower court ruling.In a lower court ruling earlier this year, Rev. Cho Yong-gi, the founder and pastor emeritus of Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, was sentenced to three years in prison with a five-year stay of execution.In its ruling on Thursday, the Seoul High Court sentenced the pastor to two years and six mo

An opposition lawmaker accused of taking bribes appeared before a Seoul court Thursday to attend a hearing to review the legality of his arrest.Rep. Kim Jae-yun of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) showed up at the Seoul Central District Court at around 2 p.m. after the prosecution, in an unprecedented move, vowed to forcibly detain him. "I have sincerely prepared to attend a court hearing from the beginning," Kim told reporters before entering a court building. Kim,

Prosecutors on Thursday sought a 15-year prison term for the head of financially troubled Tong Yang Group charged with fraudulently issuing and selling financial products, inflicting losses on nearly 40,000 individual investors.Chairman Hyun Jae-hyun is standing trial on charges of orchestrating the issuance of fraudulent corporate bonds and commercial paper (CP) worth some 1.33 trillion won (US$1.22 billion) under the names of the group's affiliates between February and September of last year,

South Korean researchers said Thursday they have uncovered dozens of artifacts used in Buddhist ceremonies nearly a millenium ago, as they begin to unravel the mystery behind an ancient shrine where they were discovered.The 77 artifacts include a vajra, a type of club with ribbed spherical heads, bells and censers thought to be from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), or possibly even earlier.Researchers at the Seoul Institute of Cultural Heritage were wrapping up an archaeological field survey on D

The number of newly established firms in South Korea soared to a new high in July as retirees opted to start their own businesses, central bank data showed Thursday.A total of 8,129 companies were established last month, compared with 7,133 in June, according to the Bank of Korea. The July figure is the highest since the central bank began compiling the data in January 1998."A continued rise in the number of baby boomers opening their businesses and an increase in the number of working days last

Sales of the boxy compact Soul, now dubbed the "popemobile," jumped around the time of Pope Francis' visit to Korea earlier this month after his ride throughout the country in the tiny vehicle was broadcast worldwide, the car's maker Kia Motors Corp. said Thursday.The daily average number of orders received for the second-generation Soul for the nine days since Aug. 11 came to 32.5 units, up 62.5 percent from the previous average of 20 cars for all of July, according to Kia officials. The nine-d

South Korea's top mobile carriers were fined 58.41 billion won (US$57.15 million) by the telecom authority on Thursday for continuing to pay illegal subsidies to win new clients.The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said two of the three carriers being punished -- SK Telecom Co. and LG Uplus Corp. -- will also be banned from signing on new customers for one week starting at the end of this month. KT Corp. was excluded from the suspension.SK Telecom, the biggest carrier, was ordered to pay a

Violence erupted in an Ebola quarantine zone in Liberia's capital Wednesday when soldiers opened fire and used tear gas on crowds as they evacuated a state official and her family.Four residents were injured in the clashes that flared in Monrovia's West Point slum which has been contained as part of new security measures aimed at containing the deadly virus.The crackdown in Liberia comes as authorities around the world scramble to stem the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola, which has killed more than

Thailand's junta-picked national assembly on Thursday chose coup leader General Prayut Chan-O-Cha as prime minister in a one-horse race that entrenched the military's hold on power.Prayut, who ousted an elected government in a bloodless coup on May 22, was backed by 191 members of the 197-strong assembly, with three abstentions and three voters absent.No assembly member opposed the selection of the army chief, who was the sole candidate for the post.His appointment must be approved by King Bhumi

Prosecutors said Thursday they will forcibly detain five sitting lawmakers, who are suspected of taking bribes, for further questioning. The move comes as the five -- Reps. Cho Hyun-ryong, Park Sang-eun of the ruling Saenuri Party, and Kim Jae-yun, Shin Hak-yong and Shin Geh-ryeun of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy -- have decided not to appear at court hearings scheduled later in the day. District courts were scheduled to hold hearings to review the legality of the arres

(SM Entertainment)South Korean boy band Super Junior will release its seventh full-length album "Mamacita" on Sept. 1, its agency said Thursday.It is the group's first full-length album since July 2012, when it released "Sexy, Free & Single."The new album's title "Mamacita" means an "attractive, pretty girl" in Spanish, according to S.M. Entertainment.Prior to the album's release, the boys will begin promotional activities, starting with appearances on KBS 2TV's music program, Music Bank.They wi

Samsung Electronics Co.'s average sales price for its flat-screen TVs fell 13 percent in the first half of 2014 from last year, apparently as the firm sought a bigger world market share over profit, data showed Thursday.The price of the company's flat TV lineup averaged US$646 in the January-June period, while the combined shipment advanced 16 percent, the data compiled by Strategy Analytics showed.The industry tracker said demands for Samsung products gained in Latin America due to the FIFA Wor