Patents, which are the exclusive rights granted for creative ideas and innovative inventions, can be considered one of the driving forces behind technological innovation, industrial competitiveness, and economic growth. Paul Romer, an American economist at New York University and co-recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in economics, demonstrated through his life’s research that investment in technology encouraged by patents can bolster economies. This is all the more evident in business setti

[Contribution] How to restore deforested land in North Korea　By Nam Song-heeThe restoration of deforested and degraded land in North Korea is becoming a critical issue not only in the two Koreans and among international organizations. According to the “Forest Resource Assessment” by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the country’s forest cover has dramatically decreased from 8.2 million hectares in 1990 to 5.67 million hectares in 2010, representing a deforestation rate of 127,000 hecta

North Korean athletes at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics refused to accept smartphones offered on condition they returned them after the Games, news reports said, as the IOC backed down over a similar demand for Iranians.The IOC is providing Galaxy Note 8 devices from Olympic sponsor Samsung to all athletes and officials at the Games, loaded with essential logistical and competition information. North Korean athletes attend the ceremony for team's entrance into athletes' village for Olympics thi

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putinsaid on Thursday that a strike on North Korea by the United States would have catastrophic consequences and that he hoped to work with Washington eventually to resolve the crisis on the Korean peninsula.Russia does not accept North Korea's nuclear status, Putin told an annual news conference. But he also said that some of Washington's past actions had provoked North Korea into violating a 2005 agreement to curb its nuclear program."We believe th

European Union ministers adopted on Tuesday a blacklist of 17 non-EU tax havens including Panama, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates after a year of tough negotiations.The Paradise Papers leak last month gave a new impetus to the plan, making public some of the intricate ways the world's rich evade tax using offshore havens. Buildings in central Seoul (Bloomberg)"We have adopted at EU level a list of states which are not doing enough to fight tax evasion. This blacklist includes 17 states,

 BEIJING (Yonhap) -- The top diplomats of South Korea and China held talks on Wednesday during which they sought to mend ties ahead of an upcoming summit between their leaders. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for the talks with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. On Tuesday, Kang said that she and Wang will focus on fine-tuning preparations for the visit by South Korean President Moon Jae-in to Beijing next month.  Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha meets he

No South Korean casualties have been reported during a shooting spree in Las Vegas that left at least 50 people dead, the foreign ministry in Seoul said Monday.On Sunday (local time), more than 200 people were wounded in an attack on a Las Vegas concert, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.  A view of the main stage at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival during a performance by 'Big & Rich' a few hours before Sunday nights deadly shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada on Su

The US military will send "strategic assets" to Korea in a stern response to North Korea's firing of another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), South Korea's defense chief said Saturday.Strategic assets refer to high-profile weapons systems, such as stealth bombers and aircraft carriers. Defense Minister Song Young-moo speaks at a news conference on Saturday. (Yonhap)In a statement, Defense Minister Song Young-moo said the North's ICBM test is a "grave provocation" that jeopardizes the s

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Saturday proposed a set of tough countermeasures against North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch, including the deployment of additional THAAD launchers, according to his office.Presiding over an emergency National Security Council (NSC) session, Moon ordered consultations with the United States on ways to bolster "strategic deterrence" against the North, his chief press secretary, Yoon Young-chan, told reporters.The measures would include a show of th

US President Donald Trump condemned North Korea's latest missile launch Friday, warning such a "reckless and dangerous" action will deepen its isolation."The United States condemns this test and rejects the regime's claim that these tests -- and these weapons -- ensure North Korea's security," he said in a statement. "In reality, they have the opposite effect. By threatening the world, these weapons and tests further isolate North Korea, weaken its economy, and deprive its people."North Korea fi

WASHINGTON - A Democratic congressman on Wednesday became the first US lawmaker to formally file an article of impeachment against President Donald Trump, but the effort is likely to stall in the Republican-controlled Congress.Democrat Brad Sherman of California followed through on a threat he made last month to seek to remove the president from office, filing a four-page resolution aimed at "impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors."US Presi

The United States formally notified South Korea that it wants to start the process of revising the free trade agreement between the two countries, the office of the US Trade Representative said Wednesday.USTR Robert Lighthizer made the notification in a letter to South Korean Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan, calling for the convening of "a special Joint Committee meeting under the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement to start the process of negotiating to remove barriers to US trade and consider needed a

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. predicted Friday that its second-quarter operating profit shot up nearly 72 percent on-year to post a record-high quarterly level, apparently helped by the robust performance of its chip business.Operating profit is estimated at 14 trillion won ($12.1 billion) in the April-June period, compared with 8.14 trillion won posted a year earlier, the South Korean tech giant said in its regulatory filing.It marks the highest quarterly operating profit ever

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday urged China to do more to rid North Korea of nuclear weapons, noting the communist state may acquire nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile in "the not too distant future.""I believe China is making efforts to stop North Korea from making additional provocations, yet there are no tangible results as of yet," the new South Korean president was quoted as saying in an interview with Reuters. North Korean military shows its submarine-to-ground ballistic m

South Korea’s Justice Minister nominee Ahn Kyung-whan withdrew himself from consideration amid snowballing controversy over his alleged ethical lapses, the presidential office said. Cheong Wa Dae said late Friday that Ahn had decided to turn down President Moon Jae-in’s offer to lead the Ministry of Justice, as he did not want to “stand in the way of the president’s efforts to reform the nation’s prosecution.” Nominee Ahn Kyong-whan apologizes for misdeeds at a news conference on Friday. (Yonhap

In this March 16, 2016, file photo, American student Otto Warmbier is escorted at the Supreme Court in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP-Yonhap)The father of a comatose American college student released from North Korea said Thursday his son was "brutalized and terrorized" in the communist nation, and he doesn't believe Pyongyang's claim the son fell into a come due to "botulism" food poisoning."What I would say to the North Korean regime, I would say I'm so proud of Otto, my son, who has been in a pa

One professor was injured in an explosion incident at Yonsei University in the morning on Tuesday, witnesses said.The explosion took place inside the university's college of engineering building in western Seoul, they said. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)The building of college of engineering of Yonsei University

LONDON (AP) -- An exit poll suggested Thursday that British Prime Minister Theresa May's gamble in calling an early election has backfired spectacularly, with her Conservative Party in danger of losing its majority in Parliament. An opposition Labour Party that had been written off by many pollsters surged in the final weeks of a campaign that was marred by deadly attacks in Manchester and London. If accurate, the result will confound those who said Labour's left-wing leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was

 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former FBI Director James Comey asserted Thursday that President Donald Trump fired him to interfere with his investigation of Russia's ties to the Trump campaign, bluntly accusing the White House of spreading ``lies, plain and simple.'' Comey also revealed that he'd orchestrated the public release of information about his private conversations with the president in an effort to further the investigation. Comey's testimony, at a hugely anticipated congressional hearing that c

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- The United States imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea on Thursday, blacklisting the regime's highest office, the State Affairs Commission, money-making firms and other entities and individuals as it further tightens the screws on Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs.The sanctions came after a series of successful missile tests by North Korea in recent months that demonstrated steady progress in its pursuit of various types of missiles, including a nuclear-tipped