TOKYO, May 27 (Yonhap) -- The upper house in the Japanese Diet on Friday ratified an agreement on the return of ancient Korean texts to Seoul, completing a legal process for the transfer considered key to improving bilateral relations.   The House of Councillors in Tokyo approved the ratification bill on a 145-86 vote, about a month after the House of Representatives, the lower house, passed th

SAN FRANCISCO, (AFP) - Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly taken to eating only meat from animals he has killed in order to appreciate that a creature died so that he could live.The 27-year-old billionaire took on the dietary regimen as the latest in a series of "personal challenges" that he pursues in what little time he spends not working on Facebook, a Fortune magazine story expl

The number of South Korean travelers going overseas rose 4.7 percent in the first four months of the year from a year earlier despite a recent earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, the top destination for outbound tourists, data showed Friday.According to the data released by the Justice Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of South Koreans going overseas came to 4.09 million i

A Seoul court on Thursday issued a warrant for the arrest of the chairman of Orion Group on charges of ordering executives of the confectionery and media group to create slush funds and pocketing the money.Tam Cheol-gon, a son-in-law of the late Orion founder Lee Yang-gu, is accused of creating a total of some 16 billion won ($13.3 million) in slush funds and exploiting the money for personal purp

  South Korea's current account surplus rose to the highest level in four months in April as robust exports overshadowed an increase in dividend payouts by local firms to foreign investors, the central bank said Friday.   The current account surplus reached US$1.88 billion in April, up from a revised $1.33 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the

A British broker was involved in two separate negotiations to release South Korean ships hijacked by Somali pirates, South Korean prosecutors said Thursday, an indication that the British negotiator was working for the pirates."We have confirmed that the pirates have employed professional brokers, given that the same British arbitrator, who brokered the Samho Dream deal, approached the shipping co

The Fair Trade Commission said Thursday that it imposed 434.8 billion won ($402.5 million) in fines on four major oil refineries for anticompetitive practices and referred three of them ― SK Energy, Hyundai Oilbank, and GS Caltex ― to prosecutors for investigation. The corporate watchdog said it found evidence of the four colluding to prevent oil supplies to gas stations held by their competitors,

Korean football is sliding into crisis as an unprecedented match-rigging scandal involving at least 10 players from the country’s top division league continues to snowball. The Changwon District Prosecutors Office announced on Thursday that former national team striker Kim Dong-hyun, who plays with Sangju Sangmu, was summoned on suspicion of fixing matches and receiving money from a bookmaker. The

Experts say Beijing may have pressured North Korean leader on nuke talksNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-il is likely to have pleaded for steady financial support from China, his impoverished state’s last-remaining benefactor, during his purported talks with President Hu Jintao, officials and analysts here said Thursday. The reclusive leader of Pyongyang arrived in Beijing the previous day for an appa

A three-day international forum to seek solutions to a wide range of global issues will begin on Jeju on Friday, organizers said Thursday.Themed “New Asia for Peace and Prosperity,” the 6th Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity will run through Sunday at Haevichi Hotel & Resort.About 1,200 people will attend the now annual forum, which had so far been held biennially since its inception in 2001. Amo

Seoul and Tokyo are discussing whether President Lee Myung-bak should accept his Japanese counterpart’s invitation for a state visit this fall, Lee’s spokesperson said Thursday.Prime Minister Nato Kan extended the invitation during his summit talks with Lee held Sunday in Tokyo on the sidelines of the annual Korea-Japan-China summit.“President Lee said Seoul’s foreign ministry will hold working-le