US President Donald Trump on Sunday accused James Comey of cowardice by leaking accounts of his meetings with the president, days after the ex-FBI director testified that Trump sought to derail  the Russian probe."I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible," Trump wrote in an early morning tweet. "Totally illegal? Very 'cowardly!'" (AP)

SUWON -- England won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea after edging out Venezuela 1-0 in the final on Sunday.Dominic Calvert-Lewin's first-half strike lifted England to their first U-20 football title in their 11th tournament appearance. It was also England's first title in a FIFA men's competition since their senior team's victory at the 1966 World Cup at home.England's previous best U-20 World Cup finish was in 1993 when they finished third in Australia.England`s under-20 national footbal

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has denied plotting to topple Prime Minister Theresa May, who has been weakened by the Conservative Party's disastrous election result. But May's hold on power remained tenuous Sunday as she tried to finalize a deal with a small Northern Irish party to prop up her minority government.Former Treasury chief George Osborne -- who was fired by May last year --called her a “dead woman walking,” and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was ready to contest an

The government said Sunday it will ban the trade of live birds for two weeks starting midnight Sunday to prevent the further spread of bird flu.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced the ban as the highly pathogenic avian influenza has spread to 21 farms in 10 days. In this photo provided by the South Gyeongsang provincial government, a quarantine official restricts access to a farm suspected of having chickens infected with avian influenza in Goseong, 466 kilometers south

The trial involving former President Park Geun-hye, who is on trial over a series of corruption allegations, will accelerate starting this week, with the court adding one more hearing per week.The Seoul Central District Court is scheduled to hold four hearings every week to look into the alleged bribery allegations involving Samsung Group on Mondays and Tuesdays, and SK and Lotte Group on Thursdays and Fridays. Park, who remains in detention, is on trial over a total of 18 charges including brib

The government plans to push to slash hospital charges for children aged 15 and younger, the Health Ministry said Sunday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it had launched a discussion on the plan to expand the coverage of health insurance as part of efforts to reduce financial burdens facing parents.  (123rf)When children in the age group are hospitalized, the government will support 95 percent of medical fees through the health insurance, falling in line with one of the key election pled

South Korean President Moon Jae-in showed his gratitude to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Sunday in a tweet after the chief congratulated the presidential office's new Twitter account. “Thank you, @jack. I very much look forward to communicating with people through twitter,” Moon said in a tweet in English through the presidential office’s official account.  (Screen captured from Twitter)The tweet comes after Dorsey left a tweet in Korean to congratulate Moon on the launch of the Blue House’s new Tw

Thirteen Philippine marines have been killed in fresh gunbattles with Islamist militants who have overrun  parts of a southern city, a military spokesman said Saturday, in a dramatic surge in the toll from two weeks of fierce fighting. Philippine troops are struggling to dislodge hundreds of fighters, who  rampaged through the mainly Muslim city of Marawi on May 23 flying black flags  of the Islamic State group, and have used bomb-proof tunnels, anti-tank weapons  and human shields to fortify th

South Korea ranked fifth among the 35 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in the growth of food prices in the first quarter, OECD data showed Saturday. In the January-March period, Korean food prices jumped 3.9 percent from a quarter earlier, following Turkey with 9.7 percent growth, Latvia's 5.9 percent, the Czech Republic's 4.1 percent and Estonia's 4 percent, the data showed. Local officials say the spread of avian influenza and the outbreak of foot-and-mout

South Korea's former foreign ministers have come out in support of Kang Kyung-hwa, a beleaguered diplomat nominated by President Moon Jae-in to be his first foreign minister.Ten former top diplomats, who served as foreign ministers in the preceding conservative and liberal governments, issued a joint statement Saturday, saying Kang is the right person to deal actively with the nation's diplomatic challenges and pending thorny issues. Kang Kyung-hwa (Yonhap)"Foreign minister nominee Kang Kyung-hw

Japan's senior ruling party official has arrived in Seoul as a special envoy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Saturday.While meeting with reporters at Gimpo Airport, Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said, "I will cooperate with everyone to try my best to do my job as a special envoy." Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is surrounded by reporters at Gimpo Airport, outside Seou

Princess Astrid of Belgium arrived in South Korea on Saturday along with an economic mission to promote business ties between the two countries, according to theforeign ministry.During her one-week stay, Princess Astrid is scheduled to meet with President Moon Jae-in and Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon to discuss bilateral economic cooperation, a foreign ministry spokesman said. Princess Astrid of Belgium (Yonhap)She also plans to visit the Demilitarized Zone bisecting the two Koreas, as well as hav

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Britain Friday to quickly launch Brexit talks with the European Union after Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a harsh election setback."We are ready for the negotiations. We want to do it quickly, respecting  the calendar," Merkel said during a visit to Mexico.She said talks with Britain on its withdrawal from what will now be the  27-member EU would start "in the coming days.""We were waiting for the election in Britain, but in the next few days  these ta

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Saturday that he won't let democracy falter or backtrack in honor of those who risked their lives to safeguard it.During an address to mark the 30th anniversary of the pro-democracy uprising in June, he said, "Under the Moon Jae-in government, democracy will flourish and human rights will be protected further."In June 1987, a nationwide movement against the dictatorship of the then Chun Doo-hwan government took place, triggered by the state's ruthless crac

A former defense ministry official has been sentenced to five years in jail for receiving bribes in connection with military facility construction projects, the Seoul Central District Court said Saturday.The court handed down the hefty punishment to the former head of the Ministry of Defense's Defense Installations Agency, identified only as a 64-year-old Kim, after convicting him of pocketing 80 million won ($71,000) in bribes from a special door manufacturer in return for helping it be chosen

French photojournalist Mathias Depardon,  who was held for a month in Turkey, said on his return to France Friday night  that Ankara wanted to send a "strong message" to reporters wishing to go to the southeast of the country.Depardon, who was detained near the Syrian border while on assignment for  National Geographic magazine, said he was "happy to be in Paris, to be in  France" as he was met by government officials at Paris' Charles de Gaulle  airport. "I'm fine," the 37-year-old told reporte

Brazil's top electoral court gave embattled President Michel Temer a big victory late Friday, voting to reject allegations of campaign finance violations that could have removed him from office. After four days of deliberations, judges voted 4-3 in a case that many viewed as a measure of whether Temer could remain in office amid a ballooning corruption scandal and single-digit popularity. Last month, a recording emerged that apparently captured Temer endorsing hush money to ex-House Speaker Edua

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to become the world's top chipmaker during the second quarter of this year, a report showed Saturday, beating its traditional rival Intel Corp."Following the rise in number of data centers and expanded demand of solid state drives (SSDs), Samsung is expected to become the No. 1 player in the global chip industry," said Lee Se-cheol, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities Co. (Yonhap)Intel took up 13 percent of the global market in the first quarter of 2016

North Korea's official newspaper claimed Saturday that a test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile is not far away."The series of recent strategic weapons tests show that we are not too far away from test-firing an intercontinental ballistic missile," the Rodong Sinmun said in an editorial.The claim indicates the regime has continued to advance its missile technology since its leader Kim Jong-un said during his annual address on Jan. 1 that the regime was in the final stage of develop

WASHINGTON -- US Under Secretary of State Thomas Shannon will visit South Korea next week for talks on the alliance between the two countries, North Korea and other issues, the State Department announced Friday.Shannon will be in Seoul from Tuesday to Thursday to "meet with senior Korean officials to discuss the US-Korea Alliance and our shared global priorities, including our coordinated responses to the threat posed by the DPRK," the department said in a release. (Yonhap)He will also visit the