The Korea Herald

Int'l military report considers Korean Peninsula most 'dangerous' since Korean War

DefenseMar 9, 2011

The Korean Peninsula is experiencing its most "dangerous" period since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War in light of North Korean provocations last year, an international military report showed Wednesday. The 2011 edition of the annual Military Balance, published bythe London-based think tank International Institute for StrategicStudies (IISS), said international tensions rose across the worldin
Elderly suicides on rise in S. Korea: study

Social affairsMar 9, 2011

South Korea has seen a dramatic rise in suicides of economically strapped elderly people over the last two decades, a study revealed Wednesday, calling public attention to the dark aspects of the nation's rapidly aging society. The suicide ratio for those aged over 65 jumped to 77 per100,000 population in 2009, an over five-fold surge from 14recorded in 1990, according to Hallym University's Ins
Finance minister sees inflation as economic drag

Mar 9, 2011

Growing inflationary pressure is adding uncertainties to South Korea's economic recovery, the nation's top economic policymaker said Wednesday, calling for the government to crank up efforts to keep prices under control. "Inflation partly stems from supply-side shocks, such as higheroil prices and supply shortages of agricultural products caused byunseasonal cold spells and the foot-and-mouth di
Students support physical punishment: report

Social affairsMar 9, 2011

While most students as well as human rights activists support the abolition of corporal punishment, some want to keep the tradition, believing it to be effective. Students at St Augustine High School, in New Orleans, Louisiana, rallied in support of physical punishment at school, according to Fox news.Director's assistant Tommy Curtain conducts practice of the St. Augustine High School marching ba
Team duplicates flying house feat from ‘Up’

Mar 9, 2011

In the Pixar movie “Up,” 78-year-old Carl Frederickson lifts his house in the air by attaching hundreds of balloons and taking off on a journey to realize his life-long promise to his wife -- traveling around the world.(Pixar)He does this all by himself, but in reality, it took a team of scientists, engineers, two balloon pilots and dozens of volunteers to set up a small house attached to 300 heli
Obama lauds S. Korea's education system

PoliticsMar 9, 2011

U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday called on the U.S. to benchmark South Korea in rebuilding the country through educational reform. "In South Korea, teachers are known as 'nation builders,'" Obama said during a classroom visit at Tech Boston Academy in Massachusetts' capital city. "That's how they're described. Here in America, it's time we treated the people who educate our children with the
Gadhafi is ‘great psychologist,’ says Ukrainian nurse

Foreign affairsMar 9, 2011

A Ukrainian nurse who worked for Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi told a TVI reporter that he is in good health and a “great psychologist,” according to the Telegraph. The most well-known of Gaddafi's nurses was Galyna Kolotnytska. US diplomats believe she may have been the Libyan dictator's lover as well as his nurse. (AP)In the interview aired last Saturday, Gadhafi’s nurse -- only identified by he
Campus cleaners strike over pay

Social affairsMar 9, 2011

Cleaners at three major private universities in Seoul went on strike Tuesday, calling for wage raise.About 860 cleaners and janitors of Korea University, Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University started the sit-in at 6 a.m.More than 86 percent of the unionized workers at the schools agreed to strike in a recent vote. A labor group representing the cleaners, under the hardline umbrella union th
Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street rallies

Mar 9, 2011

South Korean stocks started higher on Wednesday as overnight gains on Wall Street lifted investor sentiment, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 0.28 percent, or 5.56 points, to 2,001.88 in the first 15 minutes of trading. A retreat in oil prices bolstered U.S. stocks on Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average rallied 1.03 percent and the tech-foc
Banks' capital adequacy ratio inches down in Q4

Mar 9, 2011

The capital adequacy ratio of South Korean banks edged down in the fourth quarter of 2010 from three months earlier due to their payouts of year-end stock dividends, the financial regulator said Wednesday. The average capital adequacy ratio of 18 local lenders, including top lender Kookmin Bank and Woori Bank, reached 14.6 percent as of the end of December, down 0.02 percentage point from end-Se
What can we do for misaligned eyes?

HealthMar 9, 2011

Strabismus is a visual defect in which the eyes are misaligned and point in different directions. One eye may look straight ahead, while the other eye turns inward, outward, upward or downward. You may always notice the misalignment, or it may come and go. The turned eye may straighten at times and the straight eye may turn.Strabismus is one of the most common pediatric eye problems ― approximatel
Hyun Bin and Song Hye-kyo confirm break-up

TelevisionMar 8, 2011

Korean star actors Hyun Bin and Song Hye-kyo ended their relationship earlier this year, it was revealed Tuesday. Hyun Bin’s entertainment agency, AM Entertainment released an official statement confirming the rumored breakup. (Yonhap News)The breakup announcement came one day after Hyun joined the Marines on Monday. The relationship between the two actors began to form in 2008 when they starred t
Foreign Ministry under fire for FTA translation errors

IndustryMar 8, 2011

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade came under fire for mistranslation of the free trade agreement with the European Union which was signed on Oct. 6, 2010.On Monday the ministry announced that it has agreed with the EU to correct yet more errors found in the Korean version of the agreement, less than two weeks after other mistakes were corrected.On Feb. 25, the ministry announced that mista
Lee urges Samsung to ensure products are competitive

IndustryMar 8, 2011

Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., said Tuesday that the electronics giant should produce more competitive products in order to dominate the global markets. Samsung Electronics is the world’s top maker of computer memory chips, liquid-crystal display panels and flat-screen TVs. It is also the runner-up in the semiconductor market after Intel Corp. and is the No. 2 mobile brand after
No student athlete left behind

PeopleMar 8, 2011

English instructor uses sports to motivate and encourage learningAthletic performance and academic motivation for Korean student athletes are often thought to be in inverse proportion to one another. But Hwang Sung-ah, an English instructor at a middle school attached to Dongguk University, has proven that perception wrong by getting the school soccer team eager to learn the language. In Korean sc