SEOUL/NIIGATA (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government has pulled all members of its rescue team sent to quake-stricken Japan out of the ravaged city of Sendai due to concerns about the workers' possible exposure to radiation, a senior government official said Saturday.   "Some members of the team who had remained in Sendai are moving to Niigata, where the main force is staying," said the officia

   OSAKA, Japan (AFP) - Electricity is expected to be restored to four reactors at a stricken Japanese atomic plant on Saturday to power cooling systems, the nuclear and safety agency said.

   SEOSAN (Yonhap) -- A South Korean forestry helicopter crashed into a reservoir Sunday, leaving one crew member dead while two others were rescued, authorities said.   The Korea Forest Service (KFS) chopper carrying three crew members crashed into a reservoir in Seosan, some 277 kilometers south of Seoul, at 6:47 a.m., a few minutes after taking off for an extinguishing operation in the nearby M

   WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Samsung SDI Co. has agreed to pay US$32 million in fines for trying to fix the prices of color display tubes used for computer monitors, the Justice Department said Friday.   "Samsung SDI Company Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a $32 million criminal fine for its role in a global conspiracy to fix prices, reduce output and allocate market shares o

   South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan left for quake-ravaged Japan on Saturday for annual three-way cooperation talks with his Japanese and Chinese counterparts that were overshadowed by deepening fears of a potential nuclear disaster following the already-devastating earthquake and tsunami.   The one-day meeting among Kim, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto and Chinese Foreign M

   SEOUL/TOKYO (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak paid a visit to the Japanese embassy in Seoul Friday to convey a message of condolences for the victims of last week's massive earthquake and tsunami.   Lee signed a condolence book, writing, "All of our people offer condolences for the victims. (We) are confident that Japan will quickly recover (from damage) and the Republic of Korea will be with

   JEJU ISLAND (Yonhap) -- South Korea promised Friday its full support to help its southern resort island win global recognition as an awe-inspiring natural site.   Jeju Island has been vying against 27 other natural sites to become one of the "New7Wonders of Nature," a project initiated by the New7Wonders Foundation, a Switzerland-based nonprofit organization, in 2007.   The finalists include th

Several South Korean firms are considering evacuating their Japan-based employees or moving their operations to southern Japan amid growing concern over a nuclear crisis there, company officials said Thursday.   Japan is battling to minimize nuclear disaster following Friday's devastating 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami that claimed thousands of lives and crippled a nuclear plant 240 kilometers no

 The global governing body of gymnastics has opened disciplinary proceedings against a Chinese judge for altering scores to help a Chinese athlete share a gold medal with a South Korean gymnast at last year's Asian Games. The South Korean flag is projected on giant screens during the closing ceremony of the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010. The South Korean city of Inc

 Sales at the nation's major discount outlets fell sharply in February mainly due to a drop in consumer demand following the Lunar New Year's holiday, a government report showed Thursday.E-Mart (The Korea Herald)   Total sales at the three leading discount outlets contracted 10.9 percent on-year last month, compared with a 21.4 percent surge reported in the previous month, the Ministry of Knowledg

After the devastation of the earthquake that hit Japan on March 11, some news outlets have been lambasted for the way they portrayed the tragic developments.Some Korean national newspapers are under fire for using a provocative headline; in contrast, a British paper sent a much-needed message of hope encouraging the Japanese to keep going, a move that prompted unanimous public praise. A growing nu

South Korean stocks started 1.19 percent lower on Thursday as Japan's nuclear power plant problem rekindled investor jitters, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 23.27 points to trade at 1,934.7 in the first 15 minutes of trading.    The deteriorating situation in Fukushima's crippled nuclear power plant, hit by last week's massive earthquake and tsunam

 SK Telecom Co. began to ship pre-ordered iPhone 4 smartphones to its customers on Wednesday, creating a rare scene as South Korea's top mobile carrier lavishly promoted a foreign brand's handset.    As SK Telecom belatedly joined the race to woo potential iPhone buyers and steal customers from its rival KT Corp., the iPhone is enjoying special treatment from the usually snooty mobile operator tha

   BEIJING (AP) _ Japan's neighbors have ordered strengthened radiation monitoring of shipments from Japan, but said they don't foresee their countries having any immediate effects of contamination from the Japanese nuclear crisis.   China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine issued an order Wednesday calling for radiation monitoring to track any goods contami

Samsung Group, South Korea's largest business conglomerate, said Tuesday that it has donated 100 million yen ($1.22 million) to help Japan's earthquake relief.    In addition to the donation, the group will dispatch 10 rescue workers from Samsung Rescue Corps. and 11 medical workers from the Samsung Medical Center after consulting with the Japanese government, it said in a statement.    The group

North Korea's state TV carried its first report Sunday on the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan, two days after the catastrophe hit the neighboring nation.   Pyongyang's Korean Central Television showed footage of the tsunami engulfing a village in its 20-second report on the disaster during its 8 p.m. news program. On Saturday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported o

   TOKYO (AFP) - A volcano in southwestern Japan erupted Sunday after nearly two weeks of relative silence, sending ash and rocks up to four kilometres (two and a half miles) into the air, a local official said.   It was not immediately clear if the eruption was a direct result of the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked northern areas Friday, unleashing a fierce tsunami and sparking fears

   ABU DHABI -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on an official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced Sunday that his country has signed its largest-ever oil field development deal, potentially valued at 110 trillion won ($98 billion), with the oil-rich Middle East country.   The deal, signed after Lee's summit with his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, here and

South Korea is on the lookout for a possible impact from a radiation leak at a Japanese nuclear power plant, holding an inter-agency meeting Sunday to assess the possibility of radiation reaching the country and discuss countermeasures.   Radiation has leaked from the damaged plant in Fukushima, 240 kilometers north of Tokyo, after Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Ja

   South Korea will provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japanese power companies that have been forced to turn off nuclear power plants due to last week's massive earthquake, the government said Sunday.    The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said the state-run Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) has decided to divert some LNG shipments that it planned to receive from abroad so they can go to Japan.   The shi