Lee Jay-yong Samsung’s heir-apparent Lee Jay-yong has taken the next crucial step toward inheriting the Samsung empire. His promotion to vice chairman of Samsung Electronics was widely expected, as the younger Lee has quickly gone through a number of high-ranking posts in recent years, including the position of president. Explaining the move, a Samsung press release said the junior Lee was “rec...

A belated ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Shin-Gori nuclear power plant units 1 and 2 was held near the site, located in Gijang, Busan, on Tuesday. Despite the completion of unit 1 in February 2011 and unit 2 in July this year, the ceremony had been delayed due to opposition against operations by local citizens and safety concerns raised by a recent controversy over the usage of subs...

Lee Choon-sang, a long-time aide to presidential candidate Park Geun-hye, died on the campaign trail Sunday. The demise of the little-known politician seems to resonate across political spectrum amid the presidential election frenzy, creating a solemn moment of self-reflection for many politicians in the country. A vehicle carrying Lee and five other camp staffers hit a pole near Hongcheon, Gang...

Four South Korean sailors who were captured by Somali pirates are returning to their families, ending nearly two miserable years under constant threats and fear of death. They were freed on Saturday after ransom talks between the Singapore-based owner of the MT Gemini and the pirates made a breakthrough. They are expected to arrive in Kenya on Monday on the South Korean navy vessel that operate...

Jo Seong-jin LG Electronics appointed, for the first time, a high school graduate CEO. The Seoul-based consumer electronics giant announced on Thursday the promotion of Jo Seong-jin, former executive vice president of the company’s home appliances department, to the position of president. Jo joined the company in its Gold Star days after graduating from Yongsan Technical High School in 1976. H...

U.S. Republican Rep. Edward Randall Royce U.S. Republican Rep. Edward Randall Royce, known for his efforts to address Korean Peninsular issues, was tapped on Tuesday to chair the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The nomination should be endorsed at the party’s plenary session slated for Wednesday. As the nomination is almost certain in the Republican-controlled House, Royce is to officially ...

Models stand at Pyeonghwa Motors Corp.’s booth at an industrial fair in Pyongyang in May 2008. (Pyeonghwa Motors Corp) Pyeonghwa Motors Corp. has been a symbol of reconciliation between the two Koreas since the Unification Church unveiled its ambitious joint venture with the communist North in 2000. Twelve years later, Tongil Group, the church’s colossal business empire, appears to be retreatin...

Samsung owner Lee Kun-hee and his wife Hong Ra-hee topped the lists of Korea’s wealthiest in terms of stock holdings. Lee ranked the richest on the list for men, while Hong was at the top for women. This was the first time the couple nabbed the No. 1 slot for both lists, according to Chaebul.com, a local website providing exclusive business information on conglomerates. As of last Friday, Lee’s...

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Last week was a good one for former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. After a key ally held onto the leadership of his party on Monday, Sarkozy himself was all but cleared in a political funding scandal three days later. Sarkozy was called to testify on accusations of receiving money from Liliane Bettencourt, France’s richest woman and a principal shareh...

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to strengthen the country’s military and revise its peace constitution to introduce collective self-defense, further spurring Japan’s rightward political shift. The leader of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday announced its campaign platform “to recover Japan and rebuild its economy.” The conservative party is expected ...

Kang Shin-ho Kang Shin-ho, chairman of the nation’s top pharmaceutical company Dong-A Pharmaceutical, is being hit with a barrage of criticism over scandals that have hit him and his company. The most recent charge against the company is that it sought to create slush funds worth tens of billions won by purchasing gift cards ― a type of prepaid card ― and reselling them for cash. The prosecuti...

Kim Kwang-jun, a senior prosecutor at Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, was arrested Monday on suspicion of corruption in a case that is tainting the reputation of the prosecution. The 51-year-old is accused of a long list of wrongdoings, mostly bribery and influence-peddling. Among them is that he may have received nearly 900 million won ($826,000) from Cho Hee-pal, the mastermind of Korea’s bigg...

Gaza’s Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (AP-Yonhap News) Gaza’s ruling Islamist movement Hamas laid out its conditions for a cease-fire with Israel over the weekend, but Monday failed to see an end to the deadliest hostilities since 2009 as violence continued into its sixth day. The militant organization, defined by the U.S. and EU as a terrorist group, has demanded an end to the blockade of...

Peng Liyuan Since China’s Hu Jintao handed over power Thursday to his vice president Xi Jinping, the world may be hearing a new song in the communist country’s austere halls of power ― not from Xi, but from his wife. Peng Liyuan, endearingly nicknamed the “Peony Fairy,” rose to prominence as the sweet soprano at the forefront of the People’s Liberation Army with nationalistic folk songs like “P...

Tension is mounting in front of the iconic Deoksu Palace in central Seoul as rag-tag protesters vow to defy a government order to end their months-long decampment or face eviction by police. The Jung-gu district office delivered a notice Wednesday that it would ask police to break up their protest tents and impose fines unless they take them down voluntarily within 15 days. The roadside street ...