The Korea Herald

China rabbit-crazy for Lunar New Year

InternationalJan 31, 2011

BEIJING (AFP) ― In stews, as pets or adorning shop windows, rabbits are ubiquitous as millions of Chinese mark the Lunar New Year, hoping for a more tranquil time ahead as the old Year of the Tiger roars its last.The nation’s 1.3 billion inhabitants will welcome the Year of the Rabbit on the night of Feb. 2-3 in a hugely important family event marked by feasts and a blaze of fireworks.Occupying th
Tunisians greet Islamist leader’s return

InternationalJan 31, 2011

Ghannouchi fled nation in 1987 after Ben Ali came to power in coupTUNIS (AFP) ― Thousands turned out Sunday to welcome Tunisian Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi’s return after more than 20 years in exile, as political Islam prepares a comeback following the fall of Tunisia’s regime.“God is great!” Ghannouchi cried out, raising his arms in triumph as he walked into the arrivals hall of Tunis airpo
Brain scan can tell if a smoker will quit

InternationalJan 31, 2011

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― US researchers have found a way to predict how successful a smoker will be at quitting by using an MRI scan to look for activity in a region of the brain associated with behavior change.The scans were performed on 28 heavy smokers who had joined an anti-smoking program, according to the study published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Health Psychology.Participants were asked
Lee talk show to cover N. Korea, economic policies

PoliticsJan 31, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak is to give his views on inter-Korean relations, diplomatic issues and the government’s economic policy plans for this year in a televised talk show Tuesday morning.In the 90-minute show titled “Dialogue with the President: the Republic of Korea in 2011,” Lee will discuss foreign affairs, security and economy with Hallym University of Graduate Studies professor Chung Kwan-yo
Lee may reshuffle aides, ministers

PoliticsJan 31, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak is reportedly considering replacing some of his aides and Cabinet members in February as he completes his third year in office.Lee, first of all, has to name a new senior presidential secretary for economic affairs to replace Choi Joong-kyung, who was appointed as the minister of knowledge economy last week.“As for the vacancies in Cheong Wa Dae, nominations can take place
Seoul rejects N.K. offer of earlier talks

PoliticsJan 31, 2011

Defense Ministry says it wants enough time to make preparationsSeoul’s Defense Ministry on Monday rejected North Korea’s proposal to hold working-level military talks at an earlier date, repeating that it wants to hold the meeting Feb. 11 as it originally suggested.In a faxed message sent to the ministry last Saturday, the North suggested holding the preliminary talks Tuesday without elaborating o
Civic groups to push for vote to rescind free school meals

Social affairsJan 31, 2011

An association of 150 conservative civic groups Monday filed a petition with the Seoul Metropolitan Government to collect signatures from citizens to hold a plebiscite vote on the controversial free school meal ordinance passed by the city council twice last year. “Free school meals and other splurging welfare policies are just tools of populism by populists. If the system goes around for more tha
Watchdog probes cases of abuse in riot police

Social affairsJan 31, 2011

A state-run human rights watchdog has decided to investigate recent abuse cases among police troops, officials said Monday. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said it will look into three separate cases, involving two deaths, to see if the policemen suffered physical assault or other forms of bullying in their barracks. A 21-year-old policeman at a combat unit in South Chungcheong Provi
Yongsan to grant scholarships to students from Vietnam

Social affairsJan 31, 2011

The Yongsan-gu office will be connecting students from its sister city in Vietnam with top universities within its district to help promote Korea’s image, officials said Monday.Starting this year, the central Seoul district will nominate an exemplary student each year from Qui Nhon City for a full scholarship at Sookmyung Women’s University and Dankook University.The city on Vietnam’s central sout
Hallyu stars fuel Seoul City’s website boom

Social affairsJan 31, 2011

More than 50 million people worldwide visited Seoul City’s international promotion websites last year, with hallyu entertainers the major reason for the boom. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the number of visitors to nine of its websites run in Japanese, English and Chinese marked 5,057,465 last year, about 15 times that of its official Korean site (www.seoul.go.kr). The lion’s sha
Thai coalition ready for election: P.M.

InternationalJan 31, 2011

Thailand’s ruling coalition is leading in opinion surveys and ready for an election that will bring stability and redress complaints that spawned violent protests since 2008, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said. “Looking at the polls, the government is slightly ahead,” Abhisit told Bloomberg Television in Davos at the World Economic Forum, without naming the polls and adding that a win can’t be
Gov't seeks to increase flights departing Cairo amid Egypt protests

PoliticsJan 31, 2011

South Korea's foreign ministry said Monday it is working on increasing the number of flights from Cairo to Seoul to transport South Korean nationals back home amid raging anti-government protests there. "As the situation gets worse, there aren't enough flights compared to the number of our people who would like to leave Egypt," said a ministry official. "We are in talks with Korean Air to inc
Serial killer theory returns to beach corpses case

InternationalJan 31, 2011

YAPHANK, New York (AP) _ The four women whose bodies were dumped along a desolate beachfront strip on Long Island were all prostitutes who booked their clients online and were probably slain by a serial killer, authorities said Monday.This combination of photos provided by the Suffolk County Police Department shows, from left, Melissa Barthelemy, of New York's Erie County; Maureen Brainard-Barne
S. Korea seeking early purchase of stealth jets: sources

Social affairsJan 31, 2011

South Korea is moving to introduce the fifth generation of stealth fighter jets at an early date to replace its aging Air Force fighters and to secure capabilities to counter North Korea's increasing provocations, government sources said Sunday.The move comes after the parliament cut the defense ministry's request for some 15.7 billion won (US$14 million) to launch a new fighter jet procurement pr
S. Korean investors in Egypt begin exodus amid protests

InternationalJan 31, 2011

South Korean businesses and investors in Egypt are facing inevitable damage to their operations due to increasingly violent protests there, with many of them forced to stay indoors or have their family members leave the country in a hurry, a local trade body said Monday.Many companies, including Samsung, LG and Hyundai Motor, have decided to immediately bring home the families of their workers in