Rival parties agree on filibuster, new rules aimed at ending violence on floorRival political parties on Monday agreed on a set of measures, including a filibuster, which they hope would help end legislative violence and upgrade the political process. “A meeting of the ruling Grand National Party and the opposition Democratic Party worked out a tentative agreement on a number of issues, including

A senior South Korean official said Monday his government could temporarily put sensitive issues behind it once the stalled dialogue with North Korea resumes, hinting at growing flexibility to tackle the current stalemate. Since the latest attacks last year, Seoul has suspended aid and dialogue, with firm determination not to do the North any favors until it admits responsibility for the deaths of

With typhoon Maeri fizzling out, sparing the Korean Peninsula from predicted damage, two more typhoons may hit here this season, according to the state’s weather agency on Monday.The Korea Meteorological Administration predicts that 23 typhoons will form this year, following the yearly average of 23.3 typhoons during the season, between June and December.Of those predicted, one or two typhoons are

South Korea will dispatch 10 members of its Navy’s Underwater Demolition Team to the United Arab Emirates next month to help train troops in the Middle East country, an official at the Ministry of National Defense said Monday.They will join the 130-member contingent, which was deployed there in January following the UAE’s request last August that South Korea help it nurture world-class special war

The Ministry of National Defense will implement a stringent inspection system next month as the government strives to root out corruption and enhance public trust, officials said Monday.From October, it will also apply the property registration rule to more military officials in a bid to boost the anti-corruption drive.Such measures came as some 120 officials from the ministry, the Joint Chiefs of

The number of Chinese firms making inroads into the local market has climbed almost three-fold over the past decade, reflecting its expanding presence as Korea’s No. 1 trading partner and the world’s second-largest economy, tax authorities said Monday.The National Tax Service said the number of companies headquartered in mainland China reached 620 as of the end of 2009, up from 225 in 1999. Combin

Korean women continue to be paid less than men despite improvements in their social standing.A Statistics Korea report showed that the average salary of women stood at 67 percent that of men last year. While the figure is higher than that for 2009 ― when it was 66.5 percent ― it remains disparate from the rapid rise in women’s presence in universities, professional vocations and as successful appl