Lawmakers of rival parties are working in unison for legislation to help each other avoid charges related to political funds, drawing criticism from the public, prosecution and presidential office.An aide to President Lee Myung-bak said Lee may veto the revised bill that practically legalizes political donations for legislative lobbying purposes. “It would be an ex post facto legislation to offer

South Korea’s weapons procurement agency plans to resume deploying a new airburst assault rifle in November after fixing technical problems with its fire control system and laser range-finder, officials said Monday.The K-11 dual-caliber rifle has been issued to the Army since June last year, making it the world’s first military to use an airburst rifle as a standard issue. However, problems with t

Output of five automakers in Korea rose 6.4 percent on-year in February with strong demand at home and abroad also keeping their sales humming, an industry group said Monday.Led by industry leader Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp., the automakers produced 297,350 vehicles last month, compared with 279,368 units a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Asso

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Artist Jason Polan won’t be running out of live models any time soon ― in trying to draw every person in New York, he’s got at least eight million more to go.The plan may sound crazy, but Polan, 28, is serious.Every day he’s out there with ink pen and sketch pad, posting the results on www.everypersoninnewyork.blogspot.com. Three years into the project, he’s up to about 14,000.“I

WASHINGTON (AP) ― America’s national and local public broadcast stations are hiring more journalists and pumping millions of dollars into investigative news to make up for what they see as a lack of deep-digging coverage by their for-profit counterparts.Public radio and TV stations, funded by audience contributions, foundations, and some tax funds, have seen the need for reporting that holds gover

BANGKOK (AFP) ― Its past may be a steamy affair, but Playboy’s Rabbit logo, stamped on anything from necklaces to notebooks, is ensuring the firm’s image in Asia is more about trend than titillation.With little exposure to the men’s magazines and the raunchy outfits of founder Hugh Hefner’s famous bunny girls, many Asian consumers are snapping up the company’s products without focusing on the sexu

With five more days and nights ― at least ― to reach an agreement, the NFL and the players’ union might find money off the top is not the bottom line.The owners’ request that about $2 billion of total revenues be deducted before they split the rest with the players has been a sticking point ever since 2008. That’s when the owners opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement, which woul

South Korea appeared wary Monday of the resignation of Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, an official who had taken a firm position against North Korea and sought strong cooperation with Seoul in dealing with the North’s nuclear ambitions. Maehara resigned late Sunday as the result of a growing political scandal over his acceptance of political donations from a Korean resident in Japan. Japa

China hacked South Korea’s secret military information on plans to introduce a U.S-made high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle, last June, an opposition lawmaker claimed Monday.Observers say Beijing may be unnerved by Seoul and Tokyo’s pursuit to secure unmanned reconnaissance aircraft as their bolstered intelligence capabilities could help the U.S. glean more intelligence on China.“After we talked

Pyongyang proposes Red Cross talks over repatriationSouth Korea on Monday rejected North Korea’s demand to meet with the four boat passengers wishing to defect, escalating tensions as the communist state appears determined to have all 31 on board repatriated.In a message to the South, the North Korean Red Cross proposed that working-level officials meet Wednesday at their border village to determi