A new presidential committee tasked with job creation vowed Thursday to reorganize state affairs in a way that promotes job growth within President Moon Jae-in's first 100 days in office.The plan is to carry out an overall review of the government system, budget and tax system, and reorient them in a way that fosters job creation, according to the committee. (Yonhap)"We will make the creation of quality jobs a top policy priority," said Lee Yong-sup, vice chair of the committee, in a press confe

South Korea strongly condemned the latest deadly bombing in Kabul on Thursday, vowing to work with the international community to rebuild Afghanistan and root out terrorism in the region. On Wednesday morning (local time), a truck bomb went off during rush hour in central Kabul, killing at least 90 people and injuring some 400 others. The blast occurred in front of the German Embassy building located inside a diplomatic complex, local media reported.  (AP-Yonhap)"Under any circumstances, it cann

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers has thrown a solid outing in his return to the starting rotation, while fellow Korean pitcher Oh Seung-hwan earned a save for the St. Louis Cardinals in the same game.Ryu tossed six effective innings in a no-decision against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Wednesday (local time). Ryu held the Cards to a run on three hits over those half-dozen frames, while striking out four and walking one, but the Cardinals went on to win the game 2-1.The l

South Korean football club Seongnam FC said on Thursday they've recently filed a suit against the K League, the operator of the country's professional football leagues, to amend the promotion playoff result in 2016.Seongnam said they previously requested that the K League fofeit the second leg of the promotion playoffs on Nov. 20, 2016, due to Gangwon FC's use of an ineligible player. But since the league didn't take any action, they decided to take the case to court on May 23. In this file phot

DAEJEON -- Former major league players Alexi Ogando and Wilin Rosario on Wednesday became the first batterymates from the Dominican Republic to win a game in the Korea Baseball Organization.Ogando tossed six strong innings for the Hanwha Eagles with countryman Rosario behind the plate, as they beat the Doosan Bears 3-1 at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul. The Eagles are now enjoying a season-high four-game winning streak.Ogando gave up just one earned run on

Six KF-16 fighter jets of South Korea headed to the US state of Alaska on Thursday to take part in a multinational air combat training led by Pacific Air Forces.The KF-16s took off at around 5:30 a.m., originally scheduled to arrive in Alaska about 10 hours later, according to South Korea's Air Force. South Korea`s KF-16 fighter jets prepare for takeoff to fly to Alaska to join the RED FLAG training on June 1, 2017, in this photo provided by the Air Force. (Yonhap)The flight distance to the Eiel

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday ratcheted up his push to secure a 10 trillion-won ($8.9 billion) extra budget for job creation, saying he would visit parliament to gain its backing at an "appropriate time" if need be.During a regular meeting with his senior secretaries, Moon also directed the government to accelerate the process of submitting a bill for the supplementary budget to the National Assembly in order to deliver on his key election pledge of creating 810,000 jobs in the public sector

South Korea's consumption of antibiotics has been greatly reduced, a government report showed Thursday, but the country remains the top user among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries.According to the report by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the prescription rate of antibiotics for acute upper respiratory infections came to 40.99 percent in the second half of last year, down 2.53 percent from a year earlier. (123RF)The government has been pu

South Korea is set for the mass-production of the Raybolt medium-range anti-tank guided missile, as it has passed a "quality certification" test, the nation's arms procurement agency said Thursday.The live-fire test of the man-portable rocket system was successful, held at a Pocheon range, northeast of Seoul, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. A Raybolt medium-range anti-tank guided missile is test-fired in this undated photo provided by the Defense Acquisition Program

Moving into a town full of complete strangers may be hard and stressful to most people. When Kwon Ji-hyun, a 36-year-old working mom, decided to bear it and relocate to an unheard-of village in west Seoul four years ago, there was only one thing on her mind: a daycare center where her child can be in good hands."I was at a loss for what to do when my mother said she had to move out of town. She was of great help in taking care of my son," she said, asking for an alias to be used.She couldn't fin

South Korea's troubled defense minister will attend a high-level security forum to open in Singapore later this week, his ministry announced Thursday.It would serve as a chance for the minister, Han Min-koo, to focus on a round of "defense diplomacy" on the North Korean issue, taking a break from a massive political controversy over the handling of the US deployment of its advanced missile defense system, called THAAD, here. South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo (right) shakes hands with his

WASHINGTON -- This week's successful ICBM intercept test by the United States sends a clear message to North Korea that the US is capable of shooting down any oncoming missile from the communist nation, a senator said Wednesday."This test clearly demonstrates to our adversaries that our homeland missile defense system remains on track to defend our country. Today is an important day for our nation's missile defenders, our scientists and engineers, and the American people," Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-A

One out of every 3 firefighters in South Korea suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a report showed Thursday, underscoring the mental health issue facing emergency workers. The report showed that 34.4 percent of the firefighters showed some symptoms of the disease, the report by the National Center for Mental Health said. The report was based on a survey conducted on 212 firefighters with an average age of 41.4.PTSD occurs when a person is exposed to traumatic events and represents sympt

South Korea's central bank should maintain the current monetary easing policy to support growth, a member of the Bank of Korea's monetary policy board said Wednesday.Koh Seung-beom made the case during a luncheon meeting with reporters at the BOK headquarters in central Seoul, noting the recovery of domestic demand is not strong yet. He also said he does not believe a US rate hike could trigger any immediate foreign capital outflows from South Korea.His comments came six days after the BOK's mon

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- Yemen is descending into total collapse, with its people facing war, famine and a deadly outbreak of cholera, as the world watches, the UN aid chief said Tuesday.Speaking to the UN Security Council, Stephen O’Brien said “the time is now” to end the world’s largest food emergency and put Yemen back on the path to survival.“Crisis is not coming, it is not looming, it is here today -- on our watch and ordinary people are paying the price,” said O’Brien, the UN under-secretar

TOKYO (AFP) -- Japanese employers are scrambling to find staff, unemployment is at its lowest level in more than two decades and the labor market is tighter than it was during Japan’s booming bubble economy years.This should be great news for the world’s No. 3 economy, but analysts are warning not to pop the champagne quite yet because it is mostly due to a shrinking labor force. And many jobs are temporary and pay very little.Japan tied with Iceland in 2016 for the lowest annual unemployment ra

BAB AL-HAWA, Turkey-Syria Border (AP) -- Nikki Haley crouched low in the trailer of an 18-wheeler taping up a box of lentils and wheat for besieged Syrians, her hands-on diplomacy a world apart from the gleaming new NATO headquarters where President Donald Trump was debuting his “America First” doctrine overseas.Haley, Trump’s UN ambassador, had started the day in Turkey’s capital, opened a refugee school in the south of the country, then traveled hours in an armored vehicle to the Syrian border

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon scored an important success Tuesday in a test of its oft-criticized missile defense program, destroying a mock warhead over the Pacific Ocean with an interceptor that is key to protecting US territory from a North Korean attack.Vice Adm. Jim Syring, director of the Pentagon agency in charge of developing the missile defense system, called the test result “an incredible accomplishment” and a critical milestone for a program hampered by setbacks over the years. Peop

GWANGJU -- A group of South Korean scientists successfully created an artificial brain-like three-dimensional neural structure, a local university said Wednesday, a finding that may contribute to studies in various brain diseases including Alzheimer's.The team led by Yoon Myung-han at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in collaboration with a research team from Seoul National University said they used graphene oxide nanoflakes to create bacterial cellulose. (Photo courtesy of the Gw

The National Assembly on Wednesday adopted its report on the outcome of a confirmation hearing for National Intelligence Service (NIS) director-designate Suh Hoon, clearing the way for his official appointment.The report was published after Suh faced a last-minute hurdle -- opposition lawmakers taking issue with a sudden rise in his personal assets in 2007. The lawmakers demanded he explain the rise in writing, delaying the adoption of the report. This photo, taken on May 29, 2017, shows Nationa