The Korea Herald

GNP faces reform calls after defeat

PoliticsOct 30, 2011

Opposition DP to hold convention by year-end to select new leader Following Na Kyung-won’s loss to liberal civic activist Park Won-soon in last week’s Seoul mayoral race, the ruling Grand National Party faces mounting calls for reform ahead of general and presidential elections next year. Na, the GNP nominee, lost to Park in 41 out of 48 constituencies in the capital, including her own constitu...
Bodies of crashed plane pilots found

Social affairsOct 30, 2011

The bodies of two pilots of a South Korean cargo plane that crashed into waters off the southern resort island of Jeju were recovered on Sunday nearly three months after the accident took place, Jeju maritime police said. The pilots ― Choi Sang-gi, the 52-year-old captain of the plane, and Lee Jeong-wung, his 43-year-old deputy ― had been unaccounted for after their Boeing 747 cargo plane operat...
Overseas-based Web sites praising N.K. on sharp rise: police

PoliticsOct 30, 2011

The number of overseas-based websites glorifying the North Korean regime has been increasing rapidly, a police report here showed Sunday. With their servers based in foreign countries, South Korean authorities have faced difficulties in dealing with the Korean-language websites legally. Police detected 58 such sites from 2007 until September of this year, and blocked South Korean Internet users...
Court grants divorce to woman suffering from husband's nit-picking

Social affairsOct 30, 2011

The Seoul Family Court said Saturday it has granted divorce to a housewife and ordered her husband to pay her compensation, finding him responsible for ruining the relationship with his constant belittling comments. The 37-year-old wife, identified only by her surname Park, filed for divorce, claiming she could not continue the marriage because her husband kept finding fault with the way she coo...
S. Korea mulls hiking highway, train fares this year: source

Social affairsOct 28, 2011

South Korea will likely raise highway and train service fares by the end of this year following years of unchanged rates aimed at curbing inflation, a source said Friday. The finance ministry and the transportation ministry are currently in the last phase of talks to determine when and by how much they will increase fares for the two major means of transportation, he said. Highway fares will li...
Allies to write defense plan on N. Korea

DefenseOct 28, 2011

South Korea and the U.S. agreed to establish a joint operational plan to counter North Korean provocations within this year and strengthen bilateral cooperation in dealing with cyberspace threats, the allies’ defense chiefs said Friday. They also decided to craft a “tailored bilateral deterrence strategy” to bolster their capabilities to handle North Korea’s nuclear threats and those from its we...
Women wise up to defend themselves

Social affairsOct 28, 2011

Walking home alone after a night out with friends, Anna Desmarais found herself with some unwelcome company. “This guy just grabbed me,” the 34-year-old Korean-American said, recalling the late-night assault that was not the first time she’d been threatened by men in Seoul’s Itaewon area. Luckily, the martial arts gym owner was well-equipped to deal with her attacker. “I just started yelling a...
Does Kakao Talk infringe on rights?

Social affairsOct 28, 2011

The National Human Rights Commission of the Republic of Korea ruled that Kakao Talk, the county’s most popular messenger app for smartphones, to be in violation of the right to informational self-determination on Friday. According to the state’s human rights watchdog, Kakao Talk violates the law on telecom network and information protection, and the group requested the Korea Communications Commi...
Police probe liberal podcast hosts

Social affairsOct 28, 2011

Police are investigating four panelists of an Internet podcast over allegations they spread false information about Na Kyung-won, the Grand National Party’s unsuccessful candidate in Wednesday’s Seoul mayoral by-election. According to the National Police Agency, the investigation was launched after Na’s election camp filed a complaint against the four ― political commentator Kim Yong-min; former...
Opposition parties again vow to block U.S. FTA bill

PoliticsOct 28, 2011

Five opposition parties on Friday reiterated their vehement disapproval of the free trade pact with the U.S., saying they would mobilize “all possible means” to block its parliamentary passage. The main opposition Democratic Party also said that the removal of the clauses concerning the Investor-State Dispute Settlement is the “only condition” for its ratification. Calling some of their worries...
Conservatives mull ways to grab young minds

PoliticsOct 28, 2011

GNP, Cheong Wa Dae plan targeted pitch for voters under 50 The conservative ruling Grand National Party, stung by a sharp fall in support among younger voters, continued agonizing Friday over how to reform itself. The party’s leaders, including chairman Hong Joon-pyo, looked set to stay on and lead the reform measures. “We should take the initiative and push for a complete overhaul of the part...
Former S. Korean diplomat in Russia under probe over embezzlement

Foreign affairsOct 28, 2011

A former senior South Korean diplomat in Russia has been under a probe by prosecutors on suspicion of embezzling tens of millions of won of the government's budget, the Seoul prosecution and the culture ministry said on Friday. Ryu Min, 53, is suspected of pocketing about US$51,714 between 2008 and March this year when he worked as a councilor in charge of public relations at the South Korean Em...
Full text of joint communique of ROK-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting

DefenseOct 28, 2011

SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- The following is the full text of the joint communique issued after the 43rd South Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting in Seoul Friday. 1. The 43rd Republic of Korea-United States Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) was held in Seoul on October 28, 2011. ROK Minister of National Defense Kim, Kwan Jin and U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta led their respecti...
S. Korea, U.S. agree to prepare joint operational plan against N. Korea

DefenseOct 28, 2011

SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- Defense chiefs of South Korea and the U.S. on Friday agreed to pursue a joint operational plan to counter potential provocations by North Korea at their annual bilateral security meeting in Seoul. After the 43rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said they "thought highly" of the de...
Teeth study shows big dinosaurs trekked for food

ScienceOct 28, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) — What did giant plant-munching dinosaurs do when they couldn't find enough to eat in the parched American West? They hit the road. An analysis of fossilized teeth adds further evidence that the long-necked dinosaurs called sauropods — the largest land creatures — went on road trips to fill their gargantuan appetites. Scientists have long theorized that sauropods foraged for pre...