ATHENS -- While financial leaders of the eurozone sought to agree to terms with Greece on another bailout program, people were torn over Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who they elected to oppose the creditors’ demands. Greece risks default if a bailout is not secured, but, unwilling to agree to creditors’ demands, Tsipras announced that the bailout offer would be put to a referendum. On the ...

Korea International Trade Association’s e-Biz Support Center has built up a reputation of being a “seamless e-Business” booster across Asia. Starting with signing a pact with the Department of International Trade Promotion of Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce for sales of the website- and marketing-design models to the Southeast Asian country, KITA is now spreading the service to Vietnam and Indo...

President Park Geun-hye has said "considerable progress" has been made with Japan on the issue of former South Korean sex slaves for Japan's World War II soldiers, according to an interview posted Friday. Seoul-Tokyo relations remain badly frayed largely because of Japan's refusal to atone for its past wrongdoing stemming from its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45. One of the ke...

Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., South Korea's No. 2 shipping line, said Friday that it will sell off its stake in a brokerage affiliate as part of efforts to improve its financial health. In a regulatory filing, the shipping company said that its board has made the decision to sell 53,070,736 shares of Hyundai Securities to Buffalo Finance. They represent 22.4 percent of its outstanding shares. Bu...

The ruling Saenuri Party unilaterally adopted a confirmation report on Prime Minister-designate Hwang Kyo-ahn on Friday, brushing aside the opposition's resistance toward the nominee over influence-peddling and lobbying allegations. The report was adopted by the special parliamentary committee on the nominee, with only seven ruling party members of the 13-member panel present. The adoption of a ...

SYDNEY, (AFP) - A 6.3-magnitude quake struck off the Pacific nation of Tonga late Friday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning. The tremor hit at 11:07 pm local time (1107 GMT) 89 kilometres (55 miles) east-northeast of Hihifo, Tonga, and 235 kilometres southeast of the Samoan capital Apia, USGS said. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said no tsunami war...

GENEVA (AFP) - The World Health Organization said Friday it would soon call an emergency meeting on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) as the death toll from the virus rises in South Korea. South Korea has suffered the largest outbreak of the virus outside Saudi Arabia. A 72-year-old woman became the latest fatality on Friday after being infected by a MERS patient at a hospital, the he...

SANAA, Yemen (AP) _ Saudi-led airstrikes targeting Shiite rebels and their allies destroyed historic houses in the Old City of the capital, Sanaa, a UNESCO world heritage site. At least five civilians were killed and others buried under the rubble, medical officials and witnesses said. Warplanes dropped missiles apparently targeting a house occupied by a senior rebel commander, witnesses said. T...

Samsung C&T Co., a construction and trading arm of Samsung Group, said Friday that it is seeking to delist its depositary receipts (DRs) traded on the British stock market in an apparent move to stem a possible lawsuit there by a U.S. hedge fund over its attempt to merge with its sister firm. Samsung C&T said it will report its plan to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which oversees the Lo...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit South Korea next week to discuss pending bilateral issues ahead of President Park Geun-hye's trip to Washington, a diplomatic source said Monday. "Secretary Kerry is scheduled to arrive in Seoul around May 17. He plans to stay overnight," the source said. "Discussions are under way (between the two nations) about his detailed itinerary." On the tab...

North Korea's nominal head of state, Kim Yong-nam, had briefly met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an event in Moscow marking the end of World War II in Europe, but the meeting was not meaningful,according to the North's state media and a diplomatic source on Monday. Kim, president of North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament, "met and exchanged greetings" with leaders, includi...

MOSCOW (AP) _ U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet in Sochi on Tuesday with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, for talks on Ukraine, Syria, Yemen and Iran, Russian news agencies reported Monday. State news agency RIA-Novosti cited a diplomatic source as saying the Kremlin hopes Kerry will bring new proposals on reaching a settlement in Ukraine. There was no immediate confirmation f...