The Korea Herald

Ill penguin stranded in NZ is offered a lift home

World NewsJun 26, 2011

A emperor penguin stands nearby a truck that will transfer it to Wellington Zoo, on Kapiti Coast, some 60 km north of Wellington, New Zealand, on Saturday. (Xinhua-Yonhap News) WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) _ A young emperor penguin stranded in New Zealand has survived two medical procedures and now has an offer of a lift home. Yet the aquatic bird that many are calling Happy Feet _ after the l
Sung Kim, Obama's choice for stable management of NK, public diplomacy

Foreign affairsJun 26, 2011

WASHINGTON -- With the pick of Sung Kim, a Korea-born career diplomat, as his new ambassador to Seoul, U.S.President Barack Obama aims to handle the North Korean nuclear issue in a more professional way and step up public diplomacy with South Koreans, officials and experts here said. Kim, 51, is on a path to become the first person of Korean origin to serve as U.S. ambassador to Seoul, a his
Lee visits Africa next week for PyeongChang bid, energy ties

PoliticsJun 26, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak (Yonhap News)　　President Lee Myung-bak on Saturday will fly to South Africa for a weeklong tour of three African countries, Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday. The trip is part of last-minute efforts to promote Korea’s PyeongChang as the host of the 2018 Winter Olympics and to strengthen economic ties.　The president will arrive in Durban, South Africa, on Saturday evening, four days
Typhoon kills two, knocks out power, suspends domestic flights

ScienceJun 26, 2011

Typhoon Meari brought heavy downpours and gusts across South Korea Sunday to kill two people and knock out power and suspend domestic flights. A rescue official in South Korea's eastern province of Gangwon was killed during a search-and-rescue operation for a missing toddler, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said. A student presumed to be 15 years old was found dead after bei
Labor union of SC First Bank goes on indefinite strike

Jun 26, 2011

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Unionized workers of SC First Bank, the South Korean unit of Standard Chartered Plc, launched an indefinite strike Monday in protest against the management's move to introduce a performance-based pay system."The labor union has kicked off an indefinite labor strike, and we will not budge until the management withdraws its move and the two sides reach a collective bargaining agree
High college tuition fee drives student thefts

Social affairsJun 26, 2011

A college student on a leave of absence to raise college funds worked a part-time job by day and allegedly committed thefts by night has been arrested, according to Yonhap News.The student, surnamed Lee, 22, faces charges of breaking into shopping malls and offices to rob them late at night. Lee allegedly stole fourteen times recently, by sneaking into offices and arcades around Jinyeong, Gimhae c
Can penny slot machine take edge off gambling addiction?

Jun 26, 2011

Kangwon Land, Korea’s only legal casino for domestic citizens, announced a plan to adopt lower stakes games to deal with gambling addiction.Just this year, the Korean Casino lowered the bottom limit of gaming on some of its machines from 500 won (about 50 cents) to 100 won.As Kangwon Land continues to reduce the stakes, 88 percent of their machines allow gamers to play with just 10 won.An official
Man makes $1 heist to get prison health care

Jun 26, 2011

A former Coca-Cola truck driver committed a $1 bank robbery to get free health care while in prison, The Telegraph reported. James Richard Vernone, who has never been in trouble with law, decided to rob a RBC bank in North Carolina.Mr. Vernone, 59, has been unemployed and suffering from several health problems. He walked into the bank with a note saying “This is a bank robbery. Please give me $1.”
How woman died of heart attack at her own funeral

World NewsJun 26, 2011

Woman dies of heart attack -- at her funeralA Russian woman who was wrongly declared dead by doctors died of heart attack at her own funeral.Fagilyu Mukhametzyanov, 49, started screaming upon finding out that she was in a coffin while the bereaved prepared burial. She had collapsed after suffering a heart attack at home earlier.“Her eyes fluttered and we immediately rushed her back to the hospital
Activists send anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets

NationalJun 25, 2011

South Korean activists sent five anti-North Korean propaganda balloons across the inter-Korean border on Saturday from a western border resort in commemoration of the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War, their representatives said.About 10 activists, mostly North Korean defectors, released the propaganda balloons in Paju, north of Seoul, Saturday morning. The balloons carried about 100,000 leaflets
Obama names Sung Kim as top envoy to Korea

WorldJun 25, 2011

U.S. President Barack Obama has formally nominated Sung Kim, a career diplomat with expertise in Korean affairs, as his new ambassador to Seoul, the White House announced Friday.If his nomination is confirmed by the Senate, Kim, 51, will replace Kathleen Stephens and become the first person of Korean origin to serve as U.S. ambassador to Seoul. Kim immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s and obtained
G20 reach key accord on food speculation

World BusinessJun 24, 2011

PARIS (AFP) ― Farm ministers from the world’s top economies agreed on action on Thursday to tame the speculative trading blamed for the food price spikes that have hit consumers’ pockets and sparked unrest.“Today is a great day. We have reached an historic accord,” France’s minister for agriculture Bruno Le Maire declared after the Paris meeting, organized as part of the French presidency of the G
U.S. and others plan to tap oil reserves

World BusinessJun 24, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― The United States and other nations that depend on oil imports will release and sell 60 million barrels of crude from emergency stocks in an effort to ease the strain of high oil prices on the global economy.The release by the International Energy Agency, a group of more than two dozen countries, covers only what the world uses roughly every 16 hours. But it was enough to send oil
Apple files lawsuit against Samsung's patent infringement

TechnologyJun 24, 2011

Apple Inc. filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronic Co. Friday, accusing the South Koran company of infringing its patented technologies used in making its iconic smartphone, the iPhone. In a complaint filed with the Seoul Central District Court, Apple requested that Samsung Electronics be stopped from selling a line of its touch screen smartphones and a tablet PC that hit the local and global
U.S. hits Iran Air, other firms with sanctions

World NewsJun 24, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The United States hit two pillars of the Iranian economy with sanctions Thursday, targeting the Islamic republic’s national airline carrier and a major port company on charges that they facilitate illegal weapons trade and help the mighty Revolutionary Guard corps in destabilizing activity in Iran and nearby countries.The Treasury Department’s action blocks any assets in the Unit