The Korea Herald

Police: 68 killed in bombings in NW Pakistan

World NewsMay 13, 2011

Twin explosions struck a paramilitary training center in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 68 people _ nearly all recruits _ in the bloodiest attack in the country since a U.S. raid killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. A suicide bomber detonated at least one of the blasts at the main gate of the facility for the Frontier Constabulary, a poorly equipped but front-line force in P...
Facebook-Google rivalry intensifies with PR fiasco

TechnologyMay 13, 2011

The intense rivalry between Facebook and Google just got juicier. In a twist seemingly out of a Hollywood thriller, Facebook hired a prominent public relations firm to try to plant stories harshly criticizing Google's privacy practices in leading news outlets. The efforts backfired when the firm approached a blogger who not only declined the assignment, but also went public with the offer. The ...
10-year-old Bolivian seeking mom ends up in Chile

Social affairsMay 13, 2011

SANTIAGO, (AFP) - A 10-year-old Bolivian boy who hid on a truck in an effort to visit his mother who had just been released from prison ended up in Chile after an unexpected 500-kilometer (300-mile) trek through the Andes mountains, officials said. The boy, identified as Franklin Vilca, ended up Saturday in the Chilean city of Iquique, some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) north of Santiago, after...
BOK freezes key rate at 3 %

May 13, 2011

BOK freezes key rate at 3 % South Korea's central bank unexpectedly froze the key interest rate on Friday for the second straight month as economic uncertainty such as the eurozone debt crisis persists even in the face of inflation risks. Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his fellow policymakers held steady the benchmark seven-day repo rate, dubbed the base rate, at 3 percent for May....
Toll rapidly mounting in northern Mexico

WorldMay 13, 2011

The bodies of eight decapitated men were dumped Thursday along roads in Durango, a drug-gang-plagued northern Mexican state already grappling with the horror of discovering mass graves where 196 corpses have been unearthed so far. Six of the naked bodies were found along a highway leading out of the state capital of Durango city, their heads lying nearby, according to a statement from the state ...
How bin Laden emailed without being detected by US

World NewsMay 13, 2011

Despite having no Internet access in his hideout, Osama bin Laden was a prolific email writer who built a painstaking system that kept him one step ahead of the U.S. government's best eavesdroppers. His methods, described in new detail to The Associated Press by a counterterrorism official and a second person briefed on the U.S. investigation, served him well for years and frustrated Western eff...
[Urgent] BOK freezes key rate at 3 pct for 2nd month

May 13, 2011

South Korea's central bank unexpectedly froze the key interest rate on Friday for the second straight month as economic uncertainty such as the eurozone debt crisis persists even in the face of inflation risks. Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his fellow policymakers held steady the benchmark seven-day repo rate, dubbed the base rate, at 3 percent for May. The decision came as a surp...
Half of singles have no interest in marriage

CultureMay 13, 2011

About half of Korean office workers said they were neutral about marriage, according to research. Korea-based recruitment website Job Korea surveyed 633 office workers on their thoughts on marriage. Although only 2.7 percent said they would not get married at all, 50.2 percent answered that either way was fine. Another 47.1 percent said they were definite about getting married in the future. T...
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No it’s…comic nerd?

Social affairsMay 13, 2011

A 31 year-old man was arrested for imitating batman while possessing dangerous weapons, according to U.S. police in Michigan. Mark Williams, a comic book fan, was found hanging from the rooftop of a hardware store about 10 meters off the ground. When police arrested the man, they found a striking weapon, gloves, and a can of irritant chemical spray. William’s My Space lists his favorite movie ...
Dix wins 100m event at Daegu competition

More sportsMay 12, 2011

DAEGU (Yonhap News) -- American Walter Dix won the men's 100 meter race Thursday at an international athletics competition in Daegu, a southeastern Korean metropolitan city, where the next world athletics championships will be held later this year. (Walter Dix (center) wins the men's 100 meter race at the Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting on Thursday. (Yonhap News) The 25-year-old came i...
Lee says N.K. reaction to invitation not official one

PoliticsMay 12, 2011

COPENHAGEN (Yonhap News) -- President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday he does not expect North Korea to respond quickly to his offer to invite leader Kim Jong-il to an international summit in Seoul next year and even a negative response does not necessarily mean a rejection. Lee made the remark a day after the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland denounced his offer as ...
After bin Laden death, a boom in SEAL imposters

World NewsMay 12, 2011

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia, May 11, 2011 (AFP) - In the fortnight since elite US Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden, faux commandos wearing the SEALs' gold trident and medals on their chests have been popping up all over the place. SEAL members (AFP-Yonhap News) SEALs have been spotted in improbable places like a church in Pennsylvania, on Greyhound buses, in Wal-Marts and at fastfood restaurants....
Seoul to discuss Lee’s overture with N. Korea

PoliticsMay 12, 2011

COPENHAGEN -- An aide to President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday that Seoul may hold working-level talks with Pyongyang to follow up on Lee’s conditional invitation of Kim Jong-il to a global nuclear summit next year. Pyongyang downplayed Lee’s latest overture in Berlin that he would invite the reclusive North Korean leader to the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul next spring if Pyongyang made a fi...
[Herald Interview] G20 speakers to gather in Seoul for talks

PoliticsMay 12, 2011

Speaker Park says Korea should take leading role in promoting world peace Following Seoul’s hosting of the Group of 20 summit last year, the National Assembly speaker is set to lead a meeting of G20 parliamentary speakers next week. “We are now living in a global era and the parliament, as the state’s key legislative organ, should keep pace with the changing world,” Park Hee-tae told The Korea ...
Contest pits brewer against brewer

Expat LivingMay 12, 2011

Korea’s beer-making fraternity will try to out-brew each other at Homebrew Korea’s “Brew Your Hops Off” contest at Oktoberfest in Gangnam on May 14th There will be three categories -- pale ales and IPAs, stouts and dark beers and lager, wheat and specialty beers. Contestants must bring at least 500 ml of beer per entry. Unlimited house pilsner, weizen and dunkel will be available and each tabl...