...e Korean government said Wednesday that it will send an emergency shipment of boron following Tokyo’s request for the metalloid, which is being mixed with seawater to limit damage at crippled nuclear ...many refineries were forced to shut down due to the devastating quake. Local oil companies such as S-Oil Corp., SK Energy Co. and GS Caltex Corp. said they have received requests from Japanese compan...

...0 employees stationed in Japan would be eligible to request to deport from the country. So far, some 50 workers have said they want to return to Germany, BMW spokespeople said, while the head of BMW’s Japanese corporation has opted to work from Korea. Japan is coping with what its prime minister said was the biggest crisis since World War II after an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude hit Friday. Ther...

...rs. “Korea, we addressed those outstanding issues at the end of last year, achieved greater market access and a greater balance in the agreement and are now ready to submit that to Congress.” Froman’s remarks come just one day after a group of 44 Republican senators threatened to block Obama’s nominations of a replacement of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who was recently appointed U.S. ambassador to China, and other trade-related officials unless Obama sends to Congress the Korea FTA and...

Korea and Peru will sign a free trade deal next week, the latest trade pact that could pave the way for Asia’s fourth-largest economy to tap deeper into the South American region, Seoul’s trade ministry said Wednesday. The trade ministers from both sides will sign the free trade agreement (FTA) in Seoul on Monday, the ministry said. Both countries struck the deal in August last year. Peru marks...

...l funding, on television programming through grants to organizations such as PBS ― home to Big Bird’s “Sesame Street” ― and the Independent Television Service, and $29 million, almost 7 percent of fun...ght to eliminate it. They argue that taxpayer dollars shouldn’t support biased coverage ― last week’s firestorm over comments by a senior NPR official only added to proof of the network’s liberal bias...

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Japan’s northeastern coast on Friday (March 11) ― the fourth largest in the world since 1900 ― has dwarfed all other headlines. The ensuing 23-foot tsunami tr...e adverse health effects that may result from radiation. Potential radiation leaks in Japan have U.S. experts concerned about substantial releases making its way to the U.S. West Coast via the Pacifi...

.... To keep the economy running, the central bank is pumping money into the financial system. The BOJ’s action will weaken the Japanese yen, which will have a negative effect on Korean exports. Korean ...ts to Japan are expected to drop due to a contraction in consumption and investment. Japan is Korea’s third-largest export market, and accounted for 6 percent of Korean exports last year. Manufacture...

...ertheless warnings of radiation triggered panic. Residents in the capital, who had shown calm and orderliness since the quake hit last Friday, rushed to stock up on food and supplies. Although Japan’s nuclear crisis is getting worse, experts say the situation is nowhere near Chernobyl, the world’s worst nuclear power plant catastrophe that happened in the Ukraine in 1986. Even though a partial meltdown of the nuclear fuel has occurred in the Fukushima reactors, the containment structures are ...