Rep. Kang, says ‘silent diplomacy’ is no more than a passive responseKorea should strengthen its policies on Dokdo given the Japanese government’s active involvement in recent years, said the chairman of the parliamentary subcommittee on Dokdo issues.Rep. Kang Chang-il, together with Reps. Moon Hak-jin and Chang Se-hwan of the subcommittee, visited early last week Kunashiri Island, the largest amo

Lawmakers have blasted Cabinet members on the savings banks investigation and unofficial summit suggestions to North Korea during the four-day parliamentary interpellation which started Thursday.Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, who served as chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection in 2008-2010, denied any involvement in the slack supervision of savings banks during that time.The main opposition

U.S. says it has found no official records of orders given to remove materials yetA U.S. Army commander told South Korean officials on Thursday that there was no confirmation that chemicals were removed from Camp Carroll, contrary to earlier statements that herbicides were disposed offsite.Earlier in the month, Lt. Gen. John D. Johnson, commander of the Eighth U.S. Army and head of the Joint Inves

USC professor shares views on the United States’ N.K. policies and Korean StudiesLOS ANGELES ― David Kang, head of the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California, opened his laptop and showed several photos of North ― couples on bicycles, children waving at cameras and soldiers smiling. They are material for one of the talks he gives, entitled “They think they’re normal.” “I

UCLA prof. John Duncan says globalizing Korean Studies is key task for scholars outside peninsulaLOS ANGELES ― What is the point of telling John Smith in small town America that Korea is the fount of Japanese civilization? This was the question posed by John Duncan, director of the UCLA Center for Korean Studies. “I think it is really important to let the world know the strengths of your culture.

CJ Group, the country’s largest food company, is bidding to take over Japan’s biggest food-additive maker, Hayashibara, reportedly in consortium with Japanese private equity firm Unison Capital.CJ confirmed the bidding scheduled for July but declined to comment on its consortium with Unison capital.Acquiring Hayashibara is part of CJ Group’s plan to expand into amino acids and other biochemical fo

Asiana Airlines opened two new routes to Vietnam from Busan, while Korean Air announced that the Airbus A380 will go into service on June 17.On Thursday, Asiana Airlines began operating daily flights to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam from Busan. Asiana Airlines chief executive Yoon Young-doo (left) poses with pilots at the ceremony marking the opening of the Busan-Ho Chi Minh City

Hyundai Heavy Industries set sights Thursday on the top three spots in the booming global robot market with its new plant ready to enter full-swing production.The world’s top shipbuilder said it has remodeled and expanded existing production lines three times at its headquarter in Ulsan, a major industrial port city on the southeast coast of Korea, which began in September to meet surging demand f

Korea’s foreign exchange reserves shrank in May from the previous month as a stronger U.S. dollar reduced the conversion value of assets in other currencies, the central bank said Thursday.The country’s foreign reserves reached $305.08 billion as of the end of May, down $2.12 billion from April’s record high of $307.2 billion, according to the Bank of Korea. It was the first monthly decline since