North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met with the head of an Egyptian company that provides mobile phone service in the isolated communist nation, state media reported Monday.   Naguib Sawiris, chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom Holding, has been in North Korea for a visit since Friday. The Cairo-based firm has been providing mobile phone service in the North jointly with a local company since late 20

South Korean banks saw their loan default rates fall to the lowest level in 12 months in December following their enhanced efforts to clear soured loans ahead of year-end book closings, the financial regulator said Monday.   Loans overdue by one day or more reached 0.91 percent, or 9 trillion won ($8 billion), of the total lending held by 18 local banks as of the end of December, sharply down from

Russia's chief negotiator for the long-stalled talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program will visit South Korea this week, Seoul's foreign ministry said Sunday, the latest in a flurry of diplomacy aimed at seeking ways to resume the six-party negotiations.Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin will arrive in Seoul on Friday and hold talks with his South Korean counterpart Wi Sung-l

Samsung Heavy Industries announced Sunday that it has developed a high-tech anti-pirate system providing enhanced security for ships sailing through danger zones.The system includes remotely controlled water cannons, night vision and an advanced radar system.The shipbuilder said the system will be fitted as standard equipment in all ships built at its yard in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province.The n

A former pastor has been sentenced to nine years in prison for having sex with underage members of his congregation, the Seoul High Court said Sunday. The 65-year-old man, surnamed Kang, had been indicted on charges of having sex with his victims, including a then 11-year-old girl, and sexually molesting three others at his church in 2006.He was also found to have taken photos of them in sexual po

The new secretary general of the Community Chest of Korea said Sunday that he will donate 1 million won ($890) from his salary every month. The announcement came after the nation’s only legal charity was dealt a serious blow in an internal corruption scandal at the end of last year. “There were some criticisms that the salary of our executives is too high. As I’m working for a charitable organizat

ISTANBUL (AFP) ― World powers Saturday failed to persuade Iran to take steps to ease suspicions over its nuclear program as the defiant Islamic republic insisted on uranium enrichment.The two-day talks in Istanbul between Iran and the six world powers ended without progress and no new meeting was scheduled to tackle concerns that Tehran is secretly developing an atomic bomb.“We had hoped to embark

Posing in front of one of his anti-North Korea paintings ― this one depicting Dear Leader Kim Jong-il’s head atop the provocative body of Marilyn Monroe ― North Korean defector Song Byeok believes he is finally free from the communist brainwashing that has eaten into his soul.Song, 42, who escaped North Korea in 2002, had moments ago waved his hand and slipped away in refusal when he was asked to

North Korea’s state-run news agency Saturday belatedly reported the U.S.-China summit held in Washington last week but stopped short of commenting on the results of the discussions.The North’s Korean Central News Agency said Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. President Barack Obama exchanged views on international and regional issues, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.“The China-U.

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The U.S. said Friday that the rescue earlier that day of a South Korean freighter hijacked by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea is an example of international cooperation against pirates.“There’s a great deal of cooperation among countries,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in a daily news briefing when asked about the operation by South Korean Navy command

The prosecution said Sunday that they will increase the number of cyber crime investigators in an effort to fight varied types of rapidly evolving crimes on the Internet.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said they will assign an additional 25 investigators to its cyber crime investigation center, which is currently manned by only eight officials.The center is in charge of tracking dow