President Moon Jae-in said Sunday he will "work together" with his US counterpart Donald Trump to boost the two countries' alliance and resolve North Korea's growing threats, at the upcoming summit meeting set to take place in Washington.Marking the 67th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, Moon wrote in a Facebook post that he will make every effort possible to secure national security based on strong defense capabilities. The two Koreas are technically still at war after the 1950-53

ROGERS, Arkansas -- A few weeks off was all Ryu So-yeon needed to kick-start what is shaping up to be possibly the best year of her LPGA Tour career.　 The third-ranked South Korean star shot a course-record 10-under 61 on Saturday in the NW Arkansas Championship to take a five-stroke lead into the final round, putting in in great position to become the first repeat winner this year.　 The ANA Inspiration winner in April for her second major title, she reached 16 under to break the tournament 36-h

MUJU -- A South Korean lawmaker said Sunday time was running out for the two Koreas to form a join squad at next year's Winter Olympics south of the border, urging political leaders from both sides to make a quick decision.An Min-seok of the ruling Democratic Party attended a luncheon meeting here in Muju, some 240 kilometers south of Seoul, hosted by Choue Chung-won, the South Korean head of the World Taekwondo Federation. The WTF World Taekwondo Championships kicked off Saturday.Also at the ta

The government is considering a move to raise the price of diesel fuel with the aim of reducing fine dust emissions, government sources said Sunday.Among plans under consideration by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, higher taxes could be slapped on diesel gas, which is cheaper than gasoline in Seoul Korea. Diesel has been cited as the main culprit behind the fine dust in the country that has been cited for endangering the public health. The ministry said it will hold a hearing with relevant

INCHEON -- A Navy petty officer was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head Sunday in a suspected suicide case, the military said.The 24-year-old, whose identity was withheld, was found by his colleagues at 1:20 a.m. at a base in Incheon, west of Seoul, according to authorities. (Yonhap)A firearm and a spent cartridge were found on site, but the authorities said there were no suicide note or a magazine. According to the probe, the soldier sent a text message to a friend earlier in the day, i

ISLAMABAD (AFP) -- At least 123 people were killed and scores injured in a fire that broke out after an oil tanker overturned in central Pakistan early Sunday and crowds rushed to collect fuel, an official said.The tragedy came one day before Pakistan was due to begin Eid ul-Fitr celebrations marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, with many roads crowded as people travel home for the holidays.Images of the crash showed rising flames and a thick plume of smoke, along with charred v

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) -- Pakistan has issued its first third-gender passport to a transgender activist, who hailed the move as a step forward for the marginalized community in the deeply conservative South Asian country.Farzana Riaz, a transgender in northwestern Peshawar city, said the new passport would help her campaign globally on behalf of her community, who are also known as khawajasiras -- an umbrella term in Pakistan denoting a third sex that includes transsexuals, transvestites and e

MUJU -- Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon proposed reviving a Seoul-Pyongyang football exchange program to a senior North Korean sports official on Sunday.Park broached the idea at a luncheon meeting with Chang Ung, the lone North Korean member of the International Olympic Committee, at the club house of a country club in Muju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul.Muju is hosting the World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo Championships, and Chang joined a delegation of the North Korea-led International Tae

South Korea and the United States stand at a "critical juncture" in their alliance in the face of the rapidly growing threats from North Korea but they will surely achieve their "common goal" to successfully address the problem, Seoul's top diplomat said Sunday.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha made the remarks in her speech to troops of the US 2nd Infantry Division stationed north of Seoul. She visited the ground unit to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. South Ko

The US dollar is expected to strengthen against the Korean won in the second half due to uncertainties surrounding trade conditions and rate hikes being undertaken by the Federal Reserve, a local think thank said Sunday.The Korea Institute of Finance said judging by overall supply and demand there is a chance that the greenback could appreciate vis-a-vis the Korean currency after losing ground in recent months.The weak dollar this year can be partly attributed to political uncertainties in the U

South Korean sprinter Kim Kuk-young broke his own national record in the men's 100m dash on Sunday.Kim clocked at 10.13 seconds in the 100m semifinals at the KBS Cup National Athletics Championships in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province. He bettered his own previous record, set in July 2015 at the Summer Universiade, by 0.03 second.South Korean sprinter Kim Kuk-young crosses the finish line first in the men`s 100m final at the National Sports Festival in Asan, South Chungcheong Province on Oct. 9, 2016

South Korea's corporate watchdog said Sunday that it has slapped 360 million won ($316,000) in fines on Hyundai Wia Corp., an auto parts affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, for abusing its market power to control subcontractors.Hyundai Wia is accused of "unilaterally" cutting prices during an auction with a smaller subcontractor between September 2013 and June 2016, the Fair Trade Commission said.The FTC probe also showed that the company was involved in other unfair business practices with the su

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon will visit the major cities of Russia and Uzbekistan this week to share city development ideas and expand cooperation with them, a Seoul city official said Sunday. "Mayor Park will visit Russia's Moscow, Ullyanovsk and Saint Petersburg and Uzbekistan's Tashkent for a nine-day run from Monday to stage practical city diplomacy and contribute to the development of South Korea's relations with the nations," the official said.  Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon (Yonhap)In Moscow, th

Labor unions of South Korea's five leading carmakers are in the process of negotiation with their managements to narrow differences over pay raises and other issues, industry sources said Sunday.Workers and management of the five automakers -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. --, however, have not yet to iron out their differences, they said.Representatives of the two sides of the country's leading carmaker, Hyundai, have hel

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Sunday urged North Korea to free South Koreans and Americans detained in the reclusive country in the wake of the death of an American college student who died days after being release in a coma.During a ceremony marking the 67th anniversary of the Korean War, Lee said Pyongyang should stop developing its nuclear and missile capabilities. The two countries are technically still at war after the 1950-53 war ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Prime Minister Lee Nak

The presidential policy advisory panel is speeding up the completion of a report on the Moon Jae-in government's 100 major national tasks so that it can report it to the president prior to his visit to the United States for summit talks set for later this week, an official at the panel said Sunday. "We're studying ways to report the 100 major national tasks of President Moon before he leaves for the US on June 28 and make them public at Gwanghwamun Square (in downtown Seoul) in mid-July," the of

South Korean food products rejected by Chinese customs surged amid heightened tensions surrounding the diplomatic row over the deployments of a US anti-missile defense system here, official data showed Sunday.In March and April 95 shipments of food were turned back by Chinese customs, up a sharp 280 percent from 25 rejections posted for the same two-month period in 2016, the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation said.It said items rejected included various cookies and crackers,

North Korea's state media said Sunday its nuclear weapons program is not subject to negotiation, vowing to continue developing its defensive capabilities.Pyongyang's official newspaper Rodong Sinmun said in an editorial that South Korea and the United States should give up attempts to make the North abandon its nuclear weapons. (Yonhap)"We should make every effort to strengthen our national defense with the nuclear capability as the backbone," it said. "Our self-defensive nuclear deterrent force

MUJU -- At age 29, South Korean taekwondo practitioner Oh Hye-ri isn't exactly a young pup in a sport that requires endurance, strength and speed, not to mention an array of other skills.But Oh, who will be competing in the women's under-73kg at the World Taekwondo Federation World Championships here, still has a youthful exuberance about her, and it is with unbridled joy that she steps up to the mat. South Korean taekwondo practitioner Oh Hye-ri (left) puts on an earpiece with some help from fe

The number of online shopping vendors in South Korea has rapidly expanded, government data showed Sunday, reflecting the development of e-commerce transactions here.According to the data by the National Tax Service, some 151,000 businesses exclusively selling products or services through the Internet were registered as of end 2015, up 14.3 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)The number of businesses that only have online shops has steadily increased from 108,000 in 2012, 114,000 in 2013, to 132