BERLIN -- More than 250 passengers of the “Eurasia Express” staged a parade through the Brandenburg Gate on Friday in a display of South Korea’s commitment to a reunification with the North as their 20-day, 14,400-kilometer journey came to an end. 　The one-hour, 2-kilometer march kicked off at the Victory Column, a monument built in 1864 to mark then Prussia’s defeat of Denmark, passing through the 17th of June Street, which was named after the day of a bloody workers’ uprising in 1953 in the ea

U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday vowed to commit himself to improving strained Inter-Korea relations during his meeting with the ruling party’s chief in New York.　“I am more than willing to play any role in bringing North Korea back to talks and improving South-North relations,” Ban said in a closed-door meeting with the ruling Saenuri Party chairman Kim Moo-Sung at the United Nations headquarters. 　“Marking the 70th anniversary of the U.N. and the division of two Koreas this year,

The main opposition party Thursday called for a full-fledged special parliamentary investigation into the burgeoning allegations that the nation’s top spy agency used hacking software to engage in illegal civilian surveillance, as the current discussion at relevant committees, according to them, failed to shed light.　Rep. Lee Jong-kul, floor leader for the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, urged the government to take “extraordinary measures,” claiming that new evidence was found to link the

  The ruling Saenuri Party Leader Rep. Kim Moo-sung set out to consolidate his conservative base during his trip to the U.S. in the past week, unleashing remarks that appeal to conservative voters as he sought to solidify his growing popularity at home as a presidential hopeful.　In his first-ever trip to Washington as the Saenuri Party leader, Kim devoted most of his schedule to highlighting the significance of the Korean-U.S. alliance and paying tribute to the Korean War veterans, while express

 Tension escalated between the main political parties on Tuesday over the testimonies from the spy agency chief who had denied during a parliamentary session the use of hacking software to conduct civilian surveillance.　The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy condemned the testimonies as an attempt to cover up its wrongdoing while the ruling Saenuri Party urged the NPAD to stop inflating rumors that might compromise the nation’s cybersecurity.  NPAD Floor Leader Rep. Lee Jong-kul

Korea’s top spy agency chief Monday categorically denied allegations the agency used a hacking program to wiretap citizens during the first session of a bipartisan parliamentary committee that aims to probe any wrongdoings by the NIS.  National Intelligence Agency chief Lee Byung-ho (center) enters the plenary session of the Intelligence Committee at the National Assembly on Monday. (Yonhap)Lee testified before the National Assembly Intelligence Committee’s closed-door session, saying that the N

Lawmakers are set to begin a parliamentary probe this week into allegations that the nation’s spy agency purchased a hacking program to wiretap civilians, starting with an analysis of related computer files. 　Starting from Monday, the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee will begin a session to hear from the National Intelligence Service’s top officials, including its chief Lee Byung-ho, about the result of the agency’s internal investigation. The NIS has been recovering the deleted data o

The number of those killed in car accidents on highways surged last month, police said Thursday, suggesting that the decrease in sobriety testing conducted in the month due to the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak appears to have affected the rise.The National Police Agency said 25 people were killed on Korean roads in June, a 50 percent increase from 18 deaths a year ago. The number of overall casualties during the first half of this year, however, decreased, with 109 people having been

Lawmakers are pushing to abolish the time limit for murder cases in an effort to prevent those who commit heinous crimes from circumventing punishment.The bill review subcommittee of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee on Wednesday passed a bill to lift the statute of limitation, which puts an expiration date on prosecution of crimes, on all kinds of homicide cases. The current criminal procedure law stipulates a 25-year statute of limitation for those accused of committi

The main opposition party’s Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo on Tuesday said he would request extensive information on the hacking software that had sparked public debate as to whether the nation’s intelligence agency used it to spy on its own people.The former CEO of an antivirus software company said in a press conference that he would formally ask the National Intelligence Service to submit some 30 documents, including all log files of the Remote Control System, software that has the capability to tap into

The main opposition party on Monday approved the first batch of reform measures aimed at restructuring the party’s leadership ahead of next year’s general election.Under the reform plan, the party will abolish the secretary-general post, a key position that was given authority to nominate members for elections.Out of the 395 New Politics Alliance for Democracy officials present for the vote, 302 voted in favor of revising the party’s regulations to reflect the reform package.  Kim Sang-kon. (Yon

Some 14,000 athletes and officials from about 170 countries will participate in the 28th Summer Universiade in Gwangju, July 3-14.They will compete for 272 gold medals at stake in 21 sports ― 13 compulsory and eight optional.The compulsory sports are athletics, artistic gymnastics, baseball, basketball, fencing, football, judo, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, tennis, volleyball and water polo. The organizers chose archery, badminton, baseball, golf, handball, rowing, shooting and ta

There are quite a few must-watch Korean athletes at the 28th Universiade 2015 in Gwangju. Some of them are already familiar to sports fans, while others have kept a relatively low-profile. Here are some notable athletes to watch out for.Son Yon-jae in rhythmic gymnasticsSon Yon-jae, the darling of Korean gymnastics fans, has been the face of Korean women’s rhythmic gymnastics since age 15, when she won bronze in the individual all-around at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. Since then, the 20-year

The Gwangju Universiade opening ceremony was designed to unite young people from all over the world and encourage them to work for peace and harmony, according to Park Myung-sung, chief director of the event’s opening ceremony. Attended by more than 13,000 university students from 148 countries, the event was held under the slogan of “U are Shining.” The official theme of the opening ceremony epitomizes the spirit of youth and brings hopes and passion to young people. “(Through the theme) I want

A South Korean victim of wartime sex slavery on Friday said she would file a lawsuit in a U.S. court against the Japanese government and other wartime entities, seeking compensation for damages caused by military sexual enslavement that Tokyo has refused to acknowledge.Yoo Hee-nam, 87, will sue Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japanese conglomerates that were involved with Japanese military expansion during World War II, according to Kim Hyung-jin, an attorney representing Yoo in the case.

The governing party on Tuesday vowed to push through the parliamentary confirmation of Prime Minister nominee Hwang Kyo-ahn despite the main opposition party’s objection, signaling a partisan showdown at a parliamentary session this week. The ruling Saenuri Party said it would unilaterally approve Hwang’s confirmation at an upcoming National Assembly plenary session unless the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy accepted the nomination. The Assembly is slated to gather for an int

Rival parties agreed Monday on a controversial bill that enables lawmakers to demand changes to government ordinances, accepting the compromise suggested by the National Assembly speaker and passing it to the government that adamantly opposed the original version.President Park Geun-hye hinted at possibly vetoing the bill, saying that it could encroach upon the executive branch’s authority and violate the constitutional rule of separation of powers.The ruling Saenuri Party and the main oppositio

The Education Ministry on Sunday decided to lower the threshold for foreign part-time teachers to become college instructors, allowing them to compete on an equal footing with Korean teachers in seeking jobs at colleges.The ministry said that it would seek changes in the laws to allow part-time foreign teachers who have worked for more than 15 hours per week at kindergarten or elementary, junior high or high schools to be eligible for teaching jobs at colleges. They need to have taught related s

Rival parties continued their standoff over the pending confirmation of Prime Minister-designate Hwang Kyo-ahn and the controversial amendment enabling lawmakers to demand changes to government ordinances.The ruling Saenuri Party said it would consider unilaterally pushing to approve Hwang to “normalize the governance,” as the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy continued to object to the nominee as “unfit” for the job.On Friday, the Saenuri Party unilaterally adopted a parliamen

It had not occurred to Choi Jin-kyu, 30, until he was older that eating bosintang, or a hot soup made of dog meat, might be a habit that was frowned upon.His father has been taking him to eat the soup, long perceived here as energy-boosting and good for one’s health, since he was 10. He continues to enjoy it especially during the sizzling summer heat.“My father used to take me to this place. He said it would strengthen immunity and fend off viruses. Now that MERS is in town, I should eat it more