The Korea Herald

2 state power firms face audit over massive blackouts

PoliticsSept 18, 2011

The government has launched an audit into the state power monopoly and distributor to find out the exact cause of this week's massive blackouts that left millions of homes without electricity for hours, officials said Saturday.Massive blackouts occurred on Thursday as unseasonal heat waves raised el
N. Korea willing to hold talks with S. Korea over mountain resort: report

North KoreaSept 17, 2011

North Korea has expressed its willingness to hold talks with South Korea to resolve a dispute over assets at a scenic mountain resort in the North, a pro-North Korean newspaper said.Kim Kwang-yun, director of the North's Mount Kumgang International Tourism Leadership Bureau, said the talks could be
N. Korean chief nuclear envoy arrives in China

North KoreaSept 17, 2011

North Korea's chief nuclear envoy arrived in China on Saturday for talks with his South Korean and Chinese counterparts on how to restart long-stalled negotiations on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs.Vice Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho headed to Beijing's downtown area without making any com
Somali pirates case to go to Supreme Court

Social affairsSept 17, 2011

The case against five Somali pirates involved in the hijacking of a South Korean freighter earlier this year will go to the South Korean Supreme Court for a final ruling, officials said Saturday.The move came as Mahomed Arai, 23, and four other pirates as well as local prosecutors appealed the recen
More than 75 injured in air race crash

InternationalSept 17, 2011

RENO, Nevada (AP)- A plane plunged into the stands Friday at an air race event in Reno in what an official described as a ``mass casualty situation.''It wasn't immediately known how many people were killed, but a medical official said more than 75 people were injured.Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman f
Presidential aide faces charges in bribery scandal

Social affairsSept 16, 2011

Prosecutors plan to summon for questioning next week Kim Doo-woo, a senior presidential aide, on suspicion that he had shady ties with an arrested lobbyist hired by a corruption-ridden mutual savings bank. “He is likely to be questioned next week,” an official at the Central Investigation Unit at th
Koreas’ nuclear envoys to meet in China next week

Foreign affairsSept 16, 2011

Two sides to discuss restarting six-party talks on N.K. nukesThe chief nuclear envoys of the two Koreas will meet in Beijing next week, likely on Wednesday, in the second such meeting this year aimed at bridging differences on how to resume the stalled regional nuclear disarmament talks. Wi Sung-lac
Second lawyer activist emerges ...in mayoral race

PoliticsSept 16, 2011

Lee hopes to stand for conservative bloc, including ruling partyThe race for Seoul mayor by-election got a jolt as Lee Seog-yeon, a former minister of government legislation with long experience of civic activities, indicated his intention to run as a unified conservative candidate.If he takes on Pa
NIS detains N. Korean defector for assassination plot

North KoreaSept 16, 2011

South Korea’s spy agency has detained a North Korean defector for an alleged assassination attempt against a fellow defector acting as an anti-North Korean activist, an intelligence official said Friday.The suspect, identified by his last name Ahn in his 40s, was taken into custody for plotting to k
Civic group sues tax authorities for information leak

Social affairsSept 16, 2011

A group of civic activists filed a complaint against the National Tax Service for defaming celebrities by leaking its tax audit results, which resulted in the much publicized retirement of Kang Ho-dong.The Korea Tax Payer’s Federation said Thursday that the filing had been completed with the Seoul C
GNP refers U.S. FTA bill despite opposition

PoliticsSept 16, 2011

The ruling Grand National Party referred the long-pending Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ratification bill to the parliamentary panel, despite resistance from opposition parties.“I hereby submit the free trade bill to the foreign affairs committee,” Rep. Nam Kyung-pil, GNP lawmaker and committee ch
Japan rejects Seoul’s proposal on sex slaves

Foreign affairsSept 16, 2011

Tokyo hints at review of the issue as non-legal individual compensation casesJapan has virtually turned down South Korea’s proposal for talks over its sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II, with a senior Tokyo official claiming the issue has already been settled via a 1965 deal, Jap
Free trade pact with U.S. introduced in parliamentary committee

PoliticsSept 16, 2011

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) - South Korea's ruling Grand National Party (GNP) presented a long-pending free trade agreement with the U.S. to a parliamentary committee Friday in the first step toward its ratification despite objections from opposition parties.The trade pact, signed in 2007 and supplemen
Nuclear envoys of two Koreas to hold talks in Beijing next week

North KoreaSept 16, 2011

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- The chief nuclear negotiators of South and North Korea will meet in Beijing next week, a senior Seoul diplomat said Friday, in the second high-level, inter-Korean contact in nearly two months amid cautious hopes that they were inching toward resuming the broader talks on
Smokers don't make better lovers: study

ScienceSept 16, 2011