Police said Sunday they have requested an arrest warrant for a Japanese man on a sightseeing visit to South Korea's southern Jeju Island on charges of sexually harassing two Korean women at an airport restaurant. The 67-year-old Japanese man is accused of touching the hips of two female employees in their 40s at a Jeju International Airport restaurant on Friday morning, police said. The man was...

Three foreign law firms have been allowed to offer foreign legal consultancy services in South Korea for the first time, the Justice Ministry said Sunday. The three firms permitted to open branches in Seoul to provide international law-related consultancy services are Ropes & Gray, Sheppard Mullin and Clifford Chance, the ministry said, noting they registered themselves as foreign legal consulta...

The foreign ministry has suspended a senior diplomat in Auckland from regular duties for alleged ethical lapses, a ministry official said Saturday. The consul general in Auckland, whose name was withheld, was called home on June 15 after being accused of engaging in a scuffle with a fellow Korean official posted in New Zealand and sexually harassing female embassy staff. The ministry will hold ...

North Korea has publicly executed four citizens who were recently repatriated from China after being caught by the Chinese authorities, a North Korean defector in South Korea claimed Monday. The four were among a group of 44 North Koreans who fled to China to avoid political oppression and chronic food shortages in the North, according to Kim Heung-kwang, the head of NK Intellectuals Solidarity,...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google shareholders gave CEO Larry Page what he wanted Thursday by approving an unconventional stock split meant to cement his authority, but he wasn't around to hail the victory. Page missed the Internet search leader's annual shareholders meeting because he has lost his voice, a previously undisclosed problem. Google didn't provide any other details about co-founder Page's con...

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- In an election crucial for Greece, Europe and the world, exit polls on Sunday showed the two top contenders in Greece to be neck-and-neck. The outcome of Sunday's vote could determine whether Greece remains in the euro or is forced to leave the joint currency, a move that could drag down other European countries and have potentially catastrophic consequences for the global...

North Korea on Sunday slammed U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for what it calls "reckless remarks" on the North's human rights and public livelihood issues. In a spokesman's remark given to the official Korean Central News Agency, the North's foreign ministry urged Clinton to pay more attention to the issues of U.S. economic crisis and huge hordes of jobless people, instead of "imprudent...

YEOSU -- Dozens of K-pop groups and popular singers will hold a series of separate concerts at the World Expo here starting this week, organizers said Sunday. The move is part of efforts by organizers to increase the number of visitors to the quadrennial fair, which opened on May 12 for a 93-day run. A four-member boy band 2AM will hold its concert at the Expo venue on Tuesday, followed by Shin...

마이크로소프트가 소셜서비스 업체인 야머를 12억불에 전격 인수할 것으로 알려졌다. 소식통에 따르면 인수계약에 대한 공식발표는 6월 말로 예정되어 있으며 마이크로소프트와 야머의 홍보담당자는 공식적인 언급을 거부했다고 블룸버그가 보도했다. 마이크로소프트의 야머 인수는 최근 스마트폰과 SNS의 급격한 성장세에 밀려 마이크로소프트의 입지가 정체되어 있는 상황과 관련이 있다. 페이스북과 트위터 등의 새로운 서비스가 각광을 받고 있지만 마이크로소프트는 해당 분야에서 주목할 만한 성과를 내지 못하고 있다. 야머를 인수함으로써 마이크로소프트는 오피스 등의 프로그램과 연동해 새로운 시너지를 확보하려는 의지로 해석되고 있다. 미국 IT업계에서는 최근 비슷한 SNS 업체 인수가 유행이다. 세일즈포스의 경우 6월 초 버...

Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, has agreed to purchase Yammer Inc., operator of a social network for businesses, for $1.2 billion, said a person familiar with the matter. The deal is expected to be announced by the end of June, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. Dee Anna McPherson, a spokeswoman for Yammer, declined to comme...