The government is considering establishing Korean language institutes in foreign countries that send workers to Korea through the employment permit system.The institutes would introduce Korean culture and language to permit workers, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Tuesday. Further details have yet to be drawn up but the administration is reportedly looking to set up the language institut

China ups pressure over 6-party talksSecretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit South Korea later this week to coordinate the allies’ position on the resumption of peace talks with North Korea, according to the U.S. State Department. Clinton’s two-day trip to Seoul, which will begin Saturday, comes as regional powers have been increasing diplomatic efforts to restart the stalled denuclearizatio

South Korea’s military will complete building its own missile defense system by 2015 that is designed to intercept ballistic missiles from North Korea, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday, amid high tensions following the North’s two deadly attacks last year. South Korea, which has ruled out joining the U.S.-led global missile defense system, has gradually built the independent, low-tier missile def

Seoul took a step closer to exporting T-50 trainer jets to Indonesia as the Southeast Asian nation selected South Korea’s state-run aircraft maker as the de facto preferred bidder of its trainer jet project, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.“The Indonesian defense ministry informed Korea Aerospace Industries that it will be treated as the preferred bidder of the trainer jet project,” presidential spokes

The prosecution Tuesday raided Kumho Petrochemical headquarters and offices of its business partners to look for proof of alleged embezzlement to create slush funds. Investigators from the Seoul Southern Prosecutors’ Office seized hard disks containing accounting information. “We have found circumstantial evidence that Kumho Petrochemical misappropriated company money to amass slush funds, but it

South Korea’s military plans to create a new top commander to coordinate operations of its armed forces as part of its efforts to enhance the interoperability among the Army, Navy and Air Force, the defense minister said Tuesday.A four-star general will be appointed as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a group of military leaders from each branch of the armed services. The vice JCS chair

Listed firms of certain size obligated to hire legal professionalsListed companies of a certain size will be required by law from next year to hire lawyers or law professors to monitor potential legal problems in addition to the counsels they already have to deal with legal disputes post factum.The Cabinet approved a revised commercial bill that includes the article on legal compliance in a weekly

The Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office is investigating allegations that Gloworks chief executive Park Sung-hoon may have compromised the health of his firm with inappropriate corporate activities, police sources said on Monday.Park is best known as the chief executive of online music provider Bugsmusic, which was transformed into a company developing natural resources called Gloworks.Some of the c

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- Myanmar has not yet developed the technology for nuclear weapons, but has a chance of succeeding with help from North Korea, a scholar said Monday.Speaking to a seminar at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Robert Kelly, a nuclear engineer, said Myanmar has several factories capable of enriching uranium that were built with German technol

A South Korean citizen has been confirmed dead in the powerful earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Japan’s northeastern coastal region last Friday, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. It is the first confirmed South Korean fatality.The 40-year-old construction worker, only identified by his surname Lee, fell to the ground last Friday at a site in the Japanese prefecture of Ibaraki where a thermal po

Han Seung-soo criticizes those who link Ban to Korea’s presidential election in 2012U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should be “freed from domestic politics,” former Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said, referring to recent opinion polls that included Ban as one of the country’s presidential hopefuls.“It is our duty to free Secretary General Ban from domestic politics so he can serve the world,” Ha