The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday confirmed its plan to revamp the top military command structure for the first time in some 20 years in efforts to enhance interoperability among all military branches.It has also confirmed a series of measures to counter North Korea’s possible provocations and its asymmetrical military threats, streamline the military structure and deal with other types

New USFK commander visits SeoulSEOUL/WASHINGTON ― Senior U.S. officials will travel to South Korea later this week to discuss North Korea, bilateral ties and other issues of bilateral and regional concern, the State Department said Monday.Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, “arrives in Seoul on March 12, and he will meet with senior officials,” Philip Cro

Nuclear envoys of South Korea and Japan discussed how to deal with North Korea’s renewed uranium enrichment activities and the terms of resuming multinational talks on Pyongyang’s denuclearization in Seoul on Tuesday. The meeting comes as tensions on the Korean Peninsula continue to run high over the communist North’s ongoing nuclear ambitions as well as the issue of repatriating dozens of North K

Seoul plans to expand the scope of its cyber security efforts and recruit more security staff following recent denial-of-service attacks on government and financial institutions.The Seoul Metropolitan Government’s u-Total Security Center will grow to include its data center in an effort to stay ahead of increasingly professional and intelligent cyber threats, officials said Tuesday.The data center

South Korea will expand the use of an automated immigration system at international airports and seaports nationwide in the first half of this year in a bid to make traveling more convenient for foreign tourists, the Ministry of Justice said Tuesday.Justice Minister Lee Kwi-nam unveiled the plan while meeting with chiefs of the culture ministry, state tourism agencies and Incheon International Air

The delinquency rate of Korean financial companies‘ household loans gained in 2010 from a year earlier, a report showed Tuesday, adding concerns over worsening loan repayment ability.The default rate stood at 1.09 percent of their total lending as of the end of 2010, up 0.06 percentage point from end-2009, the Financial Supervisory Service said in the report to the National Assembly.Out of the tot

Korea’s exports of used vehicles dropped in 2010 from a year earlier, a local trade body said Tuesday, despite a large boost in overseas sales of new Korean cars last year.The country shipped 239,556 pre-owned vehicles to overseas countries last year, down 9.4 percent from 264,742 units a year earlier, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).Revenue from overseas sales of

MANILA (AFP) ― Philippine blogger Bryan Yambao went from reading his mother’s magazines to the front rows of the world’s top catwalks at warp speed, as the Internet demolishes the exclusive barriers of high fashion.Supermodel-thin and fond of wearing colorful hats, fur-collared cardigans and handbags, the 24-year-old is now an industry heavyweight who hangs out with the likes of supermodel Naomi Campbell and designer Marc Jacobs.“If you ask me, all of my dreams have already come true. What else