Small car sales rise to year high on economic worries Small automobile sales rose to a year high in August boosted by rising fuel prices and concerns for a new worldwide economic downturn. According to industry data, 38,698 small vehicles were sold on the local market in August, accounting for 53.5 percent of passenger car sales. Small automobiles are defined as those whose engines are less ...

Rumor has it that Apple’s iPhone 5 will be wider, longer, and thinner than its predecessor. Italian blog MacityNet recently posted set of new photos of iPhone cases and claimed that these cases will fit the next generation of Apple’s smartphones. Case manufacturers become frequent sources for Apple rumors because they make prototypes of their best guesses for potential Apple products. The desi...

A new strain of swine flu has shown up in two children in Pennsylvania and Indiana who had direct or indirect contact with pigs. The virus includes a gene from the 2009 pandemic strain that might let it spread more easily than pig viruses normally do. So far, there's no sign that the virus has spread beyond the two children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. “We wa...

South Korea's suicide rate was the highest among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2009 with an average of over 42 people here taking their own lives daily, a government report said Monday. The number of people who committed suicide reached 15,413 in 2009, becoming the number one cause of death for people aged between 10 and 40 years old here...

DAEGU -- Only one world record was set at the 2011 World Championship -- set by sprinting powerhouse Jamaica in the last 4x100m race on Sunday -- but the nine-day event saw a number other records established, including countries’ first medals. Kirani James brought home the first medal Grenada has ever won in either the Olympics or Athletics World Championships by taking gold in the men’s 400 met...

By Kim So-hyun The rise of venture entrepreneur-turned-professor Ahn Cheol-soo as a prospective independent candidate in the Seoul mayoral election has added to the disquiet in political parties struggling to keep support ratings from falling further. Ahn, who has long been wooed by both sides, said Friday that unlike legislators, a mayor can “change many things,” hinting that he would run for ...

The parliamentary state affairs committee, which supervises key state financial bodies, is to audit the overseas branches of its affiliated organs for the first time in the upcoming state inspection. It is thus to be the first parliamentary committee, besides foreign affairs, to include overseas offices in its annual audit. During the inspection period starting Sept. 19, the committee will be s...

The Seoul government is striving to strengthen measures to ensure the safety of South Korean sailors aboard foreign ships as Somali piracy targeting its citizens continues, a government official said Sunday. Following a recent series of piracy cases involving its nationals, it has toughened security rules on South-Korean registered vessels using maritime routes where piracy is rampant. But it w...

DP leader’s handling of scandals and divisions seen as test of presidential potential Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, is grappling with a spate of political setbacks including an bribery scandal involving Seoul’s liberal education superintendent. Observers said that these setbacks could serve as a test of his political fitness. His failure to weather such stor...