South Korea plans to open a probe next year to determine if North Korea has infringed on the human rights of former South Korean soldiers, abduction victims and residents whose families are in the South, a government official said Monday. The official at the Center for North Korean Human Rights Records, a body established under the Unification Ministry dealing with inter-Korean affairs, said the...

Sales at South Korean duty-free stores fell during the extended holiday season compared to a year ago mainly due to a sharp drop in incoming Chinese travelers, industry officials said Monday. Local duty-free shops have prepared a wide range of promotional events to woo shoppers at home and abroad as China's Oct. 1-8 National Day holidays overlaps with the this year's 10-day long Chuseok holiday ...

BIEL/BIENNE, Switzerland -- South Korea football coach Shin Tae-yong said Monday players having easygoing mentality will not be selected for the national team as his side gear up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Shin's team arrived in Switzerland on Sunday to play a friendly match with Morocco. The Taeguk Warriors are scheduled to face the African side at Tissot Arena in Biel/Bienne on Tuesday. The...

Exports of South Korean ramyun instant noodles, beer and dried laver to China have surged despite the diplomatic row over the deployment of an advanced anti-missile system here, government data showed Monday. According to data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Rural Affairs exports of the three products from January through August of this year reached to around $150 million. This is ...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday sent a congratulatory message to a meeting marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of a Korean women's group in Japan, official media reported. According to the Korean Central News Agency, Kim said the 70 years covered by the Korean Democratic Union, an organ under the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, known as Chongryo...

Samsung Electronics Co. will launch an Internet of Things system that can incorporate artificial intelligence into the management of buildings, industry sources said Monday. Business insiders said the South Korean tech giant will unveil its smart building the system at its headquarters in southern Seoul on Oct. 18. The so-called b.IoT can be used to automatically control the temperature and lig...

BUSAN -- The well-worn baseball cliche has it that pitching and defense help teams win championships. And in their crucial postseason victory in the Korea Baseball Organization on Saturday, the NC Dinos enjoyed some stellar pitching while exploiting their opponents' shoddy defense. They had smart base running to boot, making for a lethal combination against any team. The Dinos defeated the Lotte...

BUSAN -- The NC Dinos stole a road game in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason Sunday, beating the Lotte Giants 9-2 in 11 innings to open their best-of-five first round series. The Dinos exploded for seven runs in the top of the 11th at Sajik Stadium in Busan, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, powered by Mo Chang-min's grand slam. The winner of Game 1 in the first round has gone on to t...

The number of passengers using South Korea's main gateway Incheon International Airport during the extended fall harvest holiday is expected to surpass the two million mark, its operator said Monday. Incheon International Airport Corp. said the number of passengers using its facility from Sept. 29 to Monday will likely exceed 2.06 million. The airport authority has tentatively tallied 1.87 milli...

South Korea's large retailers posted solid sales ahead and during this year's Chuseok holiday helped by all out marketing efforts to attract customers, industry sources said Monday. Data provided by local retailers showed double digit growth by some companies as the country celebrated the longest holiday in decades. Chuseok, or the Korean autumn harvest celebration, that fell on Wednesday this ...

South Korea's financial authorities have been reviewing countermeasures against the threat of an electromagnetic pulse attack by North Korea that could paralyze a nation's financial system, according to officials Monday. EMP bombs can jam and damage high-tech defense systems and wreck havoc on communications networks and electrical grids. With tension escalating over Pyongyang's nuclear and miss...

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump was clearly referring to military options when he said "only one thing will work" to end North Korea's nuclear program, an aide said Sunday. Trump tweeted Saturday that agreements and negotiations have only made fools of US negotiators. He also said, without elaborating, that "only one thing will work." "I think what the president is clearly telegraphing,...

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump again blamed past administrations for handing him a "mess" in North Korea and the Middle East. In an interview aired Saturday evening, he said the problem of North Korea's nuclear weapons program should have been handled 25 years ago, and the war in Iraq was one of the "truly big mistakes" in American history. "For almost 30 years, through numerous admini...

North Korea celebrated the 20th anniversary of former leader Kim Jong-il's ascent to power Sunday, pledging to uphold his legacy of fighting against its archenemy the United States and building a powerful socialist nation. The North's state media released eulogies on the achievements of the father of incumbent leader Kim Jong-un. Some 100,000 people, including top officials, participated in a r...

Prosecutors are looking into a former intelligence official's alleged collaboration with a rightist civic group seeking to have the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to former President Kim Dae-jung revoked, officials said Sunday. A prosecution team investigating the National Intelligence Service's interference with politics and blacklisting of celebrities has recently examined emails exchanged bet...