South Korea and Mongolia will engage in a "clean coal" development project that can improve energy efficiency of the fossil fuel resource, the government said Tuesday. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) reached between the two countries in Seoul calls for South Korea to transfer technology related to upgrading coal quality used for heating and power generation, the Ministry of Knowledge Econo...

Woori Finance Holdings Co., South Korea's No. 2 banking group, said Tuesday it picked the vice president of Woori Bank as the new chief executive officer of the group's flagship banking unit. The state-run financial services company said its seven-member special president selection committee selected Lee Soon-woo, 61, to lead South Korea's second-largest lender for three years. Woori Bank is cu...

No radioactive materials have been found in rain that fell on South Korea over the weekend, despite escalating fears of radiation in Japan, the government said Tuesday. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said a thorough examination of rainwater samples collected from across the country on Sunday showed no traces of radioactive iodine or cesium. "There was no trace of either iodin...

Security of the state Internet network being used by central and local administrations will be beefed up, the home affairs ministry said Tuesday, after the country came under a massive cyber attack, known as the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, early this month. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said it will put intranets of city, county and ward offices as well as t...

More than a dozen pharmacists were indicted Monday for distributing fake Viagra pills. This is the first time pharmacists have been charged with selling the fake drugs, purchased through the back door by men seeking for solution to erectile dysfunction or to enhance their libido. Investigators at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office said they have sought a summary indictment for a phar...

Korean retailers said Monday that they have decided to suspend imports of foods and products from Japan due to growing consumer concern over their possible contamination with radiation released from an earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant. Lotte Mart Co., Korea’s third-largest discount store chain, said it will not sell pollack which have mainly been imported from Japan, starting Tuesday. “Th...

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan will visit China next week for talks with his counterpart and other senior officials, the ministry said Tuesday, as the twocountries differ over how to deal with North Korea's uranium enrichment program. During the March 28-30 trip, Kim will hold talks with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and pay a visit to Premier Wen Jiabao, the ministry said in a state...

President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that Warren Buffett's continued donations have inspired many Korean firms to rethink their social responsibility. "(Your activity) has become a good example for companies in Korea and has aroused a lot of discussions on corporations' social responsibility," Lee said in a 45-minute meeting with the well-known American investor at the presidential office Cheong ...

State-run Korea National Oil Corp. has purchased a 23.67 percent stake in a U.S. oil field from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for US$1.55 billion, the government said Monday. The shale oil field in the Maverick Basin region in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border is estimated to hold 491 million barrels of oil equivalent, said the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, adding that KNOC will secure 116 million B...