The Korea Herald

East coastal areas hit by heaviest snowfall in a century

Social affairsFeb 13, 2011

CHUNCHEON, Gangwon Province (Yonhap) -- A record-breaking snowfall pounded South Korea's east coast on Saturday, stranding hundreds of motorists on highways and destroying dozens of houses, officials said. President Lee Myung-bak ordered the military to help clear waist-high snow that blanketed the area and transport emergency food to isolated residents. Some sections of a highway linking Seoul...
Pirates face death penalty in Malaysia

InternationalFeb 12, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — A Malaysian court on Friday charged seven suspected Somali pirates for firing at Malaysian forces during a Gulf of Aden raid to free a hijacked tanker, under laws that carry the death penalty. Malaysia became the first nation in Asia to lay charges against suspected Somali pirates, as part of growing legal moves around the world to deal with the piracy crisis off lawless Som...
NASA comet hunter finds its date on Valentine's Day

ScienceFeb 12, 2011

A U.S. spacecraft’s long-awaited rendezvous with a comet will finally be realized on Valentine’s Day. The comet explorer Stardust-NExT (New Exploration of Comet Temple 1) will approach the comet Temple 1 at a distance of only 200 kilometers at 8:37 p.m., PST, Feb. 14 (1:37 p.m., Feb. 15 in Korea) and NASA will broadcast the encounter live on NASA Television and the agency’s website from 8:30 p.m...
Korean parties hail resignation of Mubarak as win for democracy

NationalFeb 12, 2011

Korean political parties on Saturday hailed the toppling of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as a victory for the Egyptian people toward democracy. Mubarak's three-decade reign ended earlier Saturday, Korean time, after the besieged ruler decided to comply with protesters' requests for him to step down. A junta of military commanders will now assume power in a culmination of the 18-day uprising...
Obama welcomes Egypt transition

InternationalFeb 12, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama on Friday welcomed the peaceful transition of power in Egypt with the resignation of longtime President Hosni Mubarak. ``The people of Egypt have spoken. Their voices have been heard. And Egypt will never be the same,'' he declared. In brief remarks at the White House, the president noted that it was ``not the end of Egypt's transition, it's a begin...
'Egypt is Free,' crowds chant after Mubarak quits

InternationalFeb 12, 2011

CAIRO (AP) _ Cries of ``Egypt is free'' rang out and fireworks it up the sky as hundreds of thousands danced, wept and prayed in joyful pandemonium Friday after 18 days of peaceful pro-democracy protests forced President Hosni Mubarak to surrender power to the military, ending three decades of authoritarian rule. Ecstatic protesters in Cairo's Tahrir, or Liberation, Square hoisted soldiers ...
Analysis: Military coup was behind Mubarak's exit

InternationalFeb 12, 2011

CAIRO (AP) - It was the people who forced President Hosni Mubarak from power, but it is the generals who are in charge now. Egypt's 18-day uprising produced a military coup that crept into being over many days — its seeds planted early in the crisis by Mubarak himself. The telltale signs of a coup in the making began to surface soon after Mubarak ordered the army out on the streets to restore or...
Mubarak leaves and Egypt celebrates

InternationalFeb 12, 2011

CAIRO (AP) _ One Egyptian kissed the ground. Another rolled in ecstasy in the grass outside a presidential palace. People wept, jumped, screamed and hugged each other with a shared joy they had never known. Cairo erupted in a cacophony of celebration: fireworks and car horns and gunshots in the air. President Hosni Mubarak resigned and handed power to the military on Friday, and Egypt held its b...
Owner of the missing W1 billion identified

Social affairsFeb 11, 2011

The police are looking for a private lottery dealer in his 30s with the family name Kang for having stored 1 billion won ($980,000) in a Seoul warehouse under borrowed identification and fake phone numbers. The investigators suspect him to have accumulated the money as slush funds from running illegal lotteries. The case was discovered when Yeongdeungpo police received a report of suspected exp...
Pyongyang turns to Seoul lawmakers for talks

PoliticsFeb 11, 2011

North Korea made another proposal for the resumption of talks with South Korea Friday, this time to Seoul's political parties, apparently as its chance of winning concessions from the Seoul government has nearly disappeared. The proposal came one day after the communist nation's military said it will no longer deal with the South Korean government, accusing the latter of lacking any willingness ...
N.K. could attempt further provocations: U.S. spy chief

North KoreaFeb 11, 2011

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il could attempt further provocations to boost the standing of his heir-apparent son, the top U.S. intelligence official predicted Thursday, saying the regime‘s deadly attack on a South Korean island was believed to be part of such efforts. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in written testimony to the House Intelligence ...
U.N. to help with FMD outbreaks in N.K.

PoliticsFeb 11, 2011

Seoul remains lukewarm toward assistance amid stalemate in ties The U.N. has said it will send experts to North Korea next week over a purported foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, in the first international move to help the impoverished state curb the fast-spreading livestock virus. While the South Korean government so far remains lukewarm toward joining the move, North Korea’s apparent call for ...
Who owns W1b cash found in boxes?

Social affairsFeb 11, 2011

The police search for whoever deposited 1 billion won ($980,000) in two cardboard boxes, found Wednesday at a department store in Yeouido has failed to detect any clues so far. Questions are swirling over the mysterious boxes abandoned in the store located in the political and financial hub of Seoul. With experts claiming the modus operandi to be classic money laundering, rumormongers are gossip...
KTX bullet train derails near Seoul

Social affairsFeb 11, 2011

GWANGMYEONG -- A high-speed KTX train bound for Seoul from the southern port city of Busan derailed near a Gyeonggi Province station southwest of the capital Friday, but no casualties were reported, the state-run Korea Railroad said. The incident took place near Gwangmyeong Station, southwest of Seoul, at 1:20 p.m. and forced Seoul-bound KTX lanes to shut down as of Friday afternoon. "There are...
Dog OK after getting head stuck in smudge pot

InternationalFeb 11, 2011

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - A dog in Riverside County is recovering after becoming a real pot head. Animal Services spokesman John Welsh says the male dog got his head stuck in an old smudge pot, a device used for burning oil. An officer safely freed the white dog, who was nicknamed "Smokey" because his face was blackened during his misadventure Friday near Hemet. The officer says the animal was ...