...e main opposition Democratic Party met to discuss contentious issues prior to the National Assembly’s June session starting Wednesday. Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, floor leader and acting party leader of the ..., and Kim Jin-pyo of the DP on Monday sought agreement over pending problems, including the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement bill and a parliamentary investigation into the savings banks scandal. They...

...ations by North Korea against its western border islands, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said Monday, while visiting the isolated regions that have been the target of North Korean attacks. South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island, one of the five islands located near the western maritime border with the North, became the target of Pyongyang’s deadly bombarding in November. The attack, which came only months after North Korea’s apparent torpedoing of a South Korean warship, killed four people, marking the first attack on the South’s terr...

...aking controversial remarks last year about anchorwomen and women in general. Should the committee’s decision pass the regular session next month, Kang would become the first lawmaker ever dismissed ...-hye, Na Kyung-won and Jeon Hyun-heui, though he denied all charges. Civic groups advocating women’s rights and the Korea Announcers’ Association largely welcomed the committee’s decision. “Rep. Kan...

...inister nominees take office and oust several top aides if necessary after the Grand National Party’s national convention on July 4. The National Assembly wrapped up confirmation hearings for the fiv... Lee’s special envoy to meet with a senior North Korean official for preliminary discussions on Lee’s possible summit with the North’s leader Kim Jong-il. The proposed Lee-Kim summit talks, which lar...

...ted the commandos to a luncheon at the presidential office. “You are heroes of the Republic of Korea and the proud vanguard of the Republic of Korea,” Lee said during the luncheon, using South Korea’s official name. The unit demonstrated the strength of South Korea’s military guaranteeing the lives and properties of the people, Lee said. Lee ordered members of the unit to take a special leave of absence. The January raid came six days after the cargo ship was ...

...ir children at home for significantly longer than their parents did, according to a state-run women’s research institute. The longer so-called empty nest period where husbands and wives live alone af...en leave home creates a financial burden for children who care for their parents. The Korean Women’s Development Institute said the average period that baby boom parents spend alone after their child...

Korea’s economy will likely grow 4.3 percent this year, falling short of a 5 percent expansion forecast earlier by the government due to external uncertainties, a poll showed Monday. According to th...obal economic uncertainties such as the financial crisis in Europe as the key negative factor. FKI’s growth forecast is lower than predictions by most other institutions, including the Organization f...

The number of jobs offered by South Korea’s listed companies soared to a record high last year as companies increased employment on the back of their strong earnings, data showed Monday. A total of ...he figure marks the first double-digit increase since the 2008 global financial crisis. South Korea’s job market had been hit hard by the financial meltdown, with the average number of employees at ea...

S-Oil Corp., the country’s third largest refiner, announced Monday that it will acquire a third of Hankook Silicon Co.’s stakes as part of its drive to expand into the renewable energy business. S-Oil said that the deal, which will see the refiner gain 33.4 percent of Hankook Silicon for 265 billion won ($245 million), will be finalized next month. The company said the decision to buy into the ...

SK Innovation Co., Korea’s top refiner, broke ground on its second plant Monday to produce batteries for electric vehicles, upping the ante for its fledgling green energy business as a next-generatio...tion with battery components suppliers.” SK Innovation said it plans to provide batteries to Korea’s top two automakers, Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., along with German-based Daimler AG’s t...