WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The Obama administration is committed to pass through Congress pending free trade deals with South Korea, Panama and Colombia this year, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday.   "We would like to pass all of them, alongside trade adjustment assistance, and we want to do it this year," Geithner told a Senate Finance Committee hearing. "They're overwhelmingly i

 Park Geun-hye, former chairwoman of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP), said Wednesday that President Lee Myung-bak will have to assume full responsibility for his possible attempt to review his election pledge to build an "international science-business belt" in the central Chungcheong province.  Park, a leading presidential hopeful who has frequently clashed with Lee over key state policies,

Samsung Electronics unveiled the upgraded versions of its flagship smartphone Galaxy S and its tablet PC Galaxy Tab for the first time in an event held a day before the launch of the global mobile industry show in Barcelona on Sunday.In an event called “Samsung Mobile Unpack,” the world’s second-largest handset maker presented Galaxy S 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1, while designating 2011 as the year of s

   A South Korean fishing vessel, freed by Somali pirates after four months of captivity, is expected to arrive at a Kenyan port this week en route to South Korea, a government official here said Sunday.   "The ship, Keummi 305, is currently passing through international waters at 8-knot average speed after receiving fuel supply from a Finnish warship belonging to a fleet of the European Union," t

   North Korea's foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has spread across many parts of the country after the first case was confirmed in the capital city on Dec. 25, a U.S. broadcaster said Sunday.   Radio Free Asia (RFA), quoting a report by the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health, said the communist country confirmed that since the first case hit a small cattle farm in Pyongyang, the highly

Thousands demand reforms in Algeria; 400 arrestedALGIERS, Algeria (AP) -- Heavily outnumbered by riot police, thousands of Algerians have defied government warnings and dodged barricades to rally in their capital, demanding democratic reforms a day after mass protests toppled Egypt's autocratic ruler.   Protesters chanting ``No to the police state!'' and brandishing signs that read ``Give us back

  Nearly half of North Korean defectors here have remitted money to their families in the impoverished communist nation under U.N. sanctions, a poll showed Sunday.   According to the survey of 396 North Korean defectors residing in South Korea, aged 15 or older, 49.5 percent said they have sent money to their families in the North, while 46 percent said they have not and 4.5 percent said that they

  Prices of many daily necessities increased in January despite government efforts to fight rising inflation, a report by the state-run consumer protection watchdog showed Sunday.   The report by the Korea Consumer Agency showed that of the 80 everyday consumer necessities monitored such as sugar, cereals and detergents, prices for 53 of the products, or 66.3 percent, went up in the cited month co

  A South Korean fishing vessel released from four months of captivity in Somalia met with a European Union warship in international waters and all crew members were confirmed safe, Seoul's foreign ministry said.   The 241-ton trawler Keummi 305 and its 43 crew members were freed Wednesday four months after the vessel was seized by Somali pirates on Oct. 9. The crew consisted of two Koreans, two C

   The Air Force said Wednesday that it is deploying satellite-guided joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs) on its KF-16 fighter jets, enhancing the capability to neutralize long-range North Korean artillery.   The South Korean Air Force has been working with the U.S. military since 2008 to modify the KF-16's computer systems to carry the all-weather "smart" bombs guided by an internal navigation

   GM Daewoo Auto & Technology, the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., introduced Wednesday its new seven-seat, multi-purpose vehicle, the Chevrolet Orlando, in South Korea.   "We are carving out a new segment in the market with the Orlando," said Mike Arcamone, president and CEO of GM Daewoo, defining the vehicle as South Korea's first Active Life Vehicle (ALV). The Chevrolet Orlando (Yonha

   Foreign vehicle brands in South Korea saw a large boost to their sales last month, flashing a green light to their goal of selling over 100,000 cars in the local market for the first time, a local trade association said Tuesday.   A total of 8,659 imported vehicles were sold here in January, up 35.8 percent from the same period last year, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distribu

  South Korea will hold a fashion show and set up a showroom in the United States during the upcoming New York Fashion Week in a bid to promote and introduce Korean designers overseas, officials said Tuesday.   The "Concept Korea: Cultural Treasures 2011" project, a government-led plan, is designed to expand global recognition of rising Korean designers and their fashion work through the influenti

 Military officers from South and North Korea were set to hold working-level talks on Tuesday to lay the groundwork for a meeting of higher-level officials, the first such cross-border meeting since the North's deadly artillery attack on a border island last November, officials here said.    The colonel-level talks to be held at the border truce village of Panmunjom separating the two Koreas are a

 South Korean football player Park Ji-sung has set up his own charity foundation to help the development of youth football.   Park announced Monday that he will serve as the executive director of the JS Foundation, named after his own initials. Park Ji-sung (Yonhap News)   "Our vision is to help globalize South Korean football and to share happiness through the sport," Park said through a statemen

  Hanbul Motors Corp., the local importer of French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen, on Monday introduced the latest version of Peugeot's Smart Urban Vehicle, the New 3008, that comes with an astonishing 21.2 km/l fuel efficiency.   The top-rated fuel efficiency is a 10 percent improvement from the previous version as the vehicle comes with a new HDi engine that took nearly four years and 1.5 billio

A British restaurant promises a free meal to anyone who can finish a 4,200-calorie burger with side dishes under a time limit. According to the British Daily Mail, Oscar’s Diner, an American-themed burger restaurant, in Telford, Shropshire, offers a prize to anyone who can finish their mammoth Titanic burger in the given time.Weighing-in at 1.1 kilograms, the jumbo burger features 450 grams of bee

A German man had “MINI” tattooed on his penis in a bid to win a £20,000 ($31,800) Mini Cooper.According to the British Metro, Andreas Muller, 39, announced he would get the tattoo there and then at a radio station contest to see who deserved the prize.Muller’s high-pitched scream while getting the tatoo was aired live on radio, but the stunt nabbed him the prize.“Once I’m sitting in the car, it wo

   A prolonged anti-government protest in Egypt could deal a blow to South Korean exports to the North African state and hamper the recovery of Asia's fourth-largest economy by pushing up commodity costs, watchers said Tuesday.   Thousands of protesters took to the streets of major cities in Egypt last week, demanding their president, Hosni Mubarak, to end his iron-fisted rule of 30-odd years.   M

   Millions of South Koreans headed to their hometowns Tuesday, on the eve of the three-day Lunar New Year holiday, which will extend through the weekend.   This year's Lunar New Year holiday, which falls from Feb. 2-4, is followed by the weekend and could last for nine days for those who took off the preceding Monday and Tuesday.   According to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs