DAEGU -- An aged nuclear power reactor located in the southeastern region of South Korea came to a halt on Sunday, its operators said. The Wolsong No. 1 nuclear power reactor on the country's southeast coast was automatically halted at around 3:20 p.m., according to the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co.(Yonhap)No radioactive leak or damage was reported.A KHNP official said that the reactor stopped operation while preparations were made for safety checks.The reactor was supposed to receive checks o

Oh Seung-hwan of the St. Louis Cardinals has earned his 30th career save in Major League Baseball. Oh threw a scoreless ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver on Saturday (local time), preserving the Cards' 3-0 victory. The right-hander gave up a hit but collected two strikeouts to pick up his 11th save of the season.Oh, who made his big league debut last year, had 19 saves last season.  In this photo taken by the Associated Press on May 23, 2017, St. Louis Cardinals

A local company will sign a contract to export 300 billion won ($268 million) worth of bee venom mask packs to China this week, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Sunday.The signing ceremony will be held at the Convention and Exhibition Center in southeastern Seoul on Monday between Beesen Co. and China's DIA Group, the ministry said, adding Beesen has developed the technology for the production of the bee venom mask packs with the financial assistance from the ministry fro

SHANGHAI -- The Google-owned computer algorithm AlphaGo is retiring from playing humans in the ancient Chinese game of Go after roundly defeating the world’s top player this week, its developer said Saturday.AlphaGo defeated brash 19-year-old world number one Ke Jie of China on Saturday to sweep a three-game series that was closely watched as a measure of how far artificial intelligence has come.AlphaGo last year become the first computer programme to beat an elite player in a full Go match, and

A possible delay in appointing South Korea's new prime minister is making headlines across the nation, but to those unfamiliar with South Korean politics, it may be hard to understand why a delay in finding a new premier is such a big deal.The country's parliament is in the process of deliberating on the appointment of Lee Nak-yon, a former legislator and provincial governor, as new prime minister. The appointment is made by the president, but it requires prior approval by the National Assembly.

Hosts South Korea will play Portugal in their round of 16 match of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in front of a sell-out crowd, the local organizing committee of the men's football event said Sunday. South Korea will face Portugal at the 25,814-capacity Cheonan Sports Complex in Cheonan, some 90 kilometers south of Seoul, on Tuesday to vie for a quarterfinals spot at the U-20 World Cup. The organizers said tickets for the round of 16 match were sold out after South Korea confirmed second place in Group

South Korea's exports of cosmetics, medicine and other major consumer goods were led by small and medium-sized enterprises last year, with the active establishment of new firms in the industry, data showed Sunday.The ratio of exports of cosmetics, medicine, clothing, agro-fishery products and household items by SMEs reached $19.8 billion, or 84.1 percent of the total $23.5 billion, last year, according to the figures by the Korea International Trade Association. Big businesses shipped $3.7 billi

Air traffic in South Korea rose 3.8 percent in April from a year earlier helped by increased demand on non-Chinese routes, government data showed Sunday. The number of passengers on Korean and international routes run by domestic airline carriers rose to 8.68 million last month from 8.36 million a year earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation said in a statement. (Yonhap)"An increase in travel demand on routes to and from Japan and Southeast Asian countries helped offset

South Korea needs to step up efforts to develop connected car technology and its standardization in order to not lag behind global competition in the fast growing industry, a report suggested Sunday."The competitiveness in the technology standardization will lead to market domination in the connected car industry just like the case of smartphones," the report released by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade said.The report said the market size of the connected cars will reach 112

The size of funds that invest in real estate and nontraditional assets has topped the 100 trillion-won ($89 billion) mark as investors poured money into alternative vehicles seeking stable returns, industry data showed Sunday.According to the data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association, real estate funds and special asset funds with exposure to commodities, weather, artworks and other alternative investment vehicles had 103.92 trillion won worth of assets under management as of W

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and other major shipyards have seen their stock prices continue to build up gains hitting yearly highs on expectations that the shipbuilding sector is on a recovery track, analysts said Sunday.Hyundai Heavy closed at 179,500 won ($160) on the Seoul bourse on Friday, marking a yearly high, with its smaller rival Samsung Heavy Industries Co. finishing at 12,500 won, also hitting a 52-week high. The rise comes on expectations of rising oil prices and overall trade spurr

South Korea's major petrochemicals firms are increasingly tapping the local bond market to capitalize on low rates and an improvement in their bottom lines, industry sources said Sunday.According to the sources, Kumho Petrochemical Co. is planning to sell 70 billion won ($62.5 million) worth of debts next month following the 45 billion-won debt sale in March to refinance 100 billion won worth of debts that mature in July.The maturing debt carries a coupon rate of 4.7 percent, but next month's de

North Korea's leader has recently inspected the test-fire of a new type of anti-aircraft guided weapon system, ordering its mass-production and deployment to bolster its air supremacy, Pyongyang's state media said Sunday. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim Jong-un watched "the successful test" organized by the Academy of National Defence Science, without revealing the date and location.This photo carried by the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea`s main newspaper, on May 5, 2017, shows North Korean

The Group of Seven member countries on Saturday said North Korea poses an increasing threat to the peace and stability of the international community, according to news reports."North Korea, a top priority in the international agenda, increasingly poses new levels of threat of a grave nature to international peace and stability," read a communique issued following the two-day G-7 summit held in Taormina, Italy, according to Russia's Itar-Tass news agency. (Yonhap)The leaders also insisted that P

It was belatedly disclosed that the Uzbek government requested the South Korean government to arrest about 10 Uzbeks suspected of being members of a terrorist group who had entered the country. According to the National Police Agency on Thursday, the central Asian nation sent the Justice Ministry an official document asking for their arrest and repatriation around October last year.  (Yonhap)The South Korean police immediately kicked off a probe, but found no circumstantial evidence that they ha

MARAWI, Philippines -- Philippine security forces bombed a southern city on Thursday as they battled Islamist militants who were holding hostages and reported to have murdered at least 11 civilians.An initial rampage by the gunmen, who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, through the mainly Muslim city of Marawi on Tuesday prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to impose martial law across the southern third of the Philippines.Authorities said ending the crisis was proving extremely h

The minor opposition People's Party on Thursday picked Deputy National Assembly Speaker Park Joo-sun as its interim leader tasked with shoring up a demoralized party in the wake of an election defeat earlier this month.Park, the four-term lawmaker and former prosecutor, will lead the center-left party until its leadership election expected to come in August. Deputy National Assembly Speaker Park Joo-sun speaks after his election as the minor opposition People's Party's interim leader at the parl

The Seoul metropolitan city has been staging aggressive tour promotion activities in Malaysia as its nationals have been increasingly touring the country in recent years, a city official said Thursday. The number of Malaysians who have come to South Korea has doubled over the past five years, recording 310,000 in 2016. Vice Seoul Mayor Liu Gyoung-gee, who is now on a trip to Southeast Asia, met with Ten Hoy Chin, CEO of Mayflower Holidays, the Southeast Asian country's biggest travel agency, the

The defense ministry will install a special reform panel to deliver on President Moon Jae-in's campaign pledges to bolster military capabilities, shorten military service for draftees and enhance their welfare, Moon's policy advisory panel said Thursday.The ministry will also finalize its defense reform plan over the next year, the State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee said, citing its policy briefing."The issues that will be dealt with by this (reform panel) will include the size of militar

North Korea claimed Thursday that a flying object at which the South Korean military fired shots earlier this week was a group of birds, rejecting Seoul's announcement that it was apparently a balloon carrying propaganda leaflets.The South's military on Tuesday fired around 90 warning shots at an unidentified object flying across the heavily fortified border, judging that it could be a drone. A day later, it said that it was probably a balloon.(Yonhap)The General Staff of the Korean People's Arm