The Korea Herald

27 N. Koreans fail to return home via border village

North KoreaMar 5, 2011

North Korea refused to receive its 27 nationals South Korea planned to return on Friday after they strayed into southern waters on a fishing boat, the South's unification ministry said.The North Koreans, part of the boat's 31-member crew, waited for hours near the border village of Panmunjom for an approval from their government to go home."A North Korean liaison officer at Panmunjom called at abo
S. Korean man confirmed dead in New Zealand quake

Social affairsMar 4, 2011

The body of a South Korean man missing in a powerful earthquake in New Zealand has been found, Seoul's ambassador to the country said Friday.The New Zealand police notified South Korea that Yoo Gil-hwan, 24, who went missing along with his sister after their language learning center building collapsed in the 6.3-magnitude quake in Christchurch on Feb. 22, was confirmed dead, according to Amb. Noh
Body believed to be that of S. Korean missing in NZ quake found

Social affairsMar 4, 2011

A body believed to be that of a South Korean man missing in a powerful earthquake in New Zealand has been found, a government official said Friday. The New Zealand government notified South Korea that the body appears to be that of the 24-year-old man, identified only as Yoo, who went missing after his language learning center building collapsed in the 6.3-magnitude quake in Christchurch on Fe
40 websites bombarded by cyber attacks

Mar 4, 2011

Cheong Wa Dae, USFK sites hit but no damage reportedWebsites of about 40 key South Korean institutions, including the presidential office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, came under cyber attack on Friday.Although there was no serious damage caused by the attack, the websites were hit bydistributed denial-of-service attacks around 10 a.m.The attacked websites included a number of gov
Used book bliss in Seoul

BooksMar 4, 2011

Cheap prices, personal service and the smell of musty pages draw in lovers of literatureThough not fresh and new, used books have their own charm. It could be their faded pages, old fashioned covers, or maybe it’s their price.While it’s now easy to spot English-language books ― both used and new ― in Seoul’s big chain bookstores, some smaller stores like to keep doing things the old way. The Korea
Four North Koreans’ decision to live in South may add chill to bilateral relations

North KoreaMar 4, 2011

North Korea did not respond on Friday to the proposal to send back 27 of the 31 North Koreans whose fishing boat strayed across the western inter-Korean sea border on Feb. 5.Despite Pyongyang’s repeated calls to send all of its nationals back, Seoul has decided to return only 27. The South says that it cannot repatriate the four who wish to stay here, based on “international humanitarian principle
BOK under growing pressure to hike rate

Mar 4, 2011

The Bank of Korea is under intense pressure to raise the benchmark interest rate for March after keeping the rate unchanged last month despite spiraling consumer prices.Analysts have widely criticized the Monetary Policy Committee of the central bank, accusing it of missing the opportunity to make timely increases in the interest rate since the latter half of 2010.Woori Futures research analyst Ch
Box Office

FilmMar 4, 2011

Hanji (Korea)Opening March 17Drama. Directed by Im Kwon-taek. Documentary producer Ji-won (Kang Soo-yeon) is making a non-fiction film about hanji, Korea’s traditional handmade paper. While traveling across the country to film the paper of many different kinds, she runs into Pil-yong, (Park Joong-hoon) a low-grade public officer. Pil-yong is married to Hyo-gyeong (Ye Ji-won), who has been sufferin
Ferrum Tower, a foodie mecca

Food&BeverageMar 4, 2011

Four premium restaurants drawing gourmands, more outlets comingWhen Ferrum Tower opened last summer it looked every inch the slick office building. Slicing the firmament, this Dongkuk Steel-owned 28-story high skyscraper shouted corporate cool. Located flush up against shopping-and-tourist hotspot Myeongdong, the new addition soon started attracting rave reviews from bloggers. No, it wasn’t becaus
How director Gore Verbinski wrangled ‘Rango’

FilmMar 4, 2011

“Animation isn’t a genre” like Westerns, film noir, romance or horror, Gore Verbinski was saying. “It’s just a technique for telling a story.”So when the man behind the hugely popular “Pirates of the Caribbean” series decided to make his first animated feature, his biggest concern wasn’t about the process of animation but about the process of storytelling.Verbinski, 46, could have stuck with the “
K-League rivals meet in season opener

More sportsMar 4, 2011

Now that the winter is over and spring is setting in, the football season is back. This season a new team in Gwangju brings the K-League line-up to 16 teams. After a three-month break, the 29-year-old league resumes this weekend with four matches slated for Saturday and Sunday. The excitement has already begun as the league’s two arch rivals FC Seoul and Suwon Samsung meet in Seoul on Sunday.With
Coast guard fires on Chinese fishing boat

Social affairsMar 4, 2011

Officers of the Korea Coast Guard on Thursday fired at a Chinese vessel suspected of illegal fishing in South Korean waters, leaving one fisherman injured, the police said Friday. It was the first time for the Korean authorities to open fire against Chinese fishermen despite growing tensions between the two countries over Chinese boats’ frequent trespassing into Korea’s exclusive economic zone. Ac
Obama ups pressure, Libya rebels reject talks

World NewsMar 4, 2011

BREGA, Libya (AFP) ― U.S. President Barack Obama said all options were on the table for driving Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi out of power as rebels angrily ruled out talking to a dictator with “blood” on his hands.Despite grave reservations expressed by the U.S. military command, Obama said a no-fly zone was among the “full range” of options as he demanded that Gadhafi “step down from power and leave.”
‘N.K. tightens info control amid Mideast unrest’

PoliticsMar 4, 2011

South Korea’s intelligence chief said Friday that North Korea was tightening control of information to keep its people from being influenced by the pro-democracy protests in the Middle East. “North Korea is strengthening its ideological training through media statements, fearing domestic spread of the news” that uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia overthrew dictatorships and spread to Libya, Won Sei-ho
Ambatel leaves guest data exposed

Social affairsMar 4, 2011

Ambassador Group, Google blame each other for leak of personal dataAmbassador Group, operator of the Grand Ambassador Hotel in Seoul and several others nationwide, is under fire for leaking its guests’ personal information on Google. While Google claims the hotels’ slack management of online firewalls is to blame, the hotel franchise is blaming Google’s reckless indexing of online data, including