FRANKFURT (AFP) ― The German luxury carmaker BMW unveiled on Monday its long-awaited new brand, BMW i, with two new models to be equipped with electric and hybrid drive systems from 2013. The group is also creating a venture capital unit to offer mobility services such as car sharing and navigation systems. “This is BMW i ― Born Electric,” a statement quoted sales director Ian Robertson as sayi...

The prosecution asked a local court Tuesday to issue an arrest warrant for a 32-year-old doctor, who is suspected of killing his nine-month-pregnant wife, after an initial rejection earlier this month. The prosecution and the accused husband are now confronting one another over what people labeled the “Korean O.J. Simpson case.” The case dates back to Jan. 14, when police officers visited a stu...

Free lunch for every student will cost more than 13 trillion won ($11 billion) for five years, a report by the National Assembly’s budgetary committee found Tuesday. A total of 13.44 trillion won, including 2.77 trillion won this year, will be needed in the coming five years to offer free meals at all schools, according to the report disclosed by Rep. Kim Dong-sung of the ruling Grand National P...

The Foreign Ministry issued an alert against traveling to all regions of Libya on Tuesday, strengthening its previous warning as anti-government protests have been spreading across the northern African state and rioters breaking into Korean construction sites. Under the second-highest travel alert, all South Korean nationals are advised to leave the state or defer nonessential trips, the ministr...

The North, with its 1.19 million-strong military, boasts the world’s greatest number of special forces soldiers. According to Seoul’s defense whitepaper, the number increased to around 200,000 last year from some 120,000 in 2006 and 180,000 in 2008. The North has been bolstering its special troops as it apparently believes it can effectively defeat its potential enemies ― South Korea and the U.S...

Hyundai Group plans to cancel filing a law suit on the failed purchase of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., the group said Tuesday. Hyundai Group hopes a compromise plan will come from Hyundai Motor Group, which was chosen by the builder’s shareholders as a preferred bidder, according to the statement. Hyundai Motor Group signed a memorandum of understanding with creditors of the builder ...

Deposit withdrawals from secondary banks sharply reduce as officials work to calm market The government and financial institutions were trying to calm savings banks’ jitters on Tuesday, pledging fresh support for troubled secondary banks hit by toxic property loans. Concerns over an industry crisis showed signs of subsiding as deposit withdrawals across the country nearly halved from the previo...