South Korea's oldest nuclear reactor is safe to operate, as a detailed inspection showed no problems with the unit that went into emergency shutdown last month due to an electrical glitch, the government said Friday.   The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced after a meeting of the Nuclear Safety Commission said it has approved the restart of the 33-year-old reactor northeast

Partial reshuffle signals beginning of ruling bloc’s post-election overhaulPresident Lee Myung-bak is expected to name five or six new Cabinet minister designates Friday, about a week after the ruling party’s by-election defeat and just before taking off for a weeklong trip to Europe. Outgoing ministers this time will include those who have been in the Cabinet for more than two years, have offered

President Lee Myung-bak will fly to Berlin on Sunday, the first destination of his weeklong European tour aimed mostly at strengthening economic cooperation.The businessman-turned-president plans to discuss how to promote bilateral trade and investment as well as cooperation for green growth with the leaders of Germany, Denmark and France, Cheong Wa Dae said.Korea’s free trade agreement with the E

Left wing criticizes DP leadership for deal with ruling partyOpposition parties face rough sailing to solidarity due to the conflict over the passage of the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement bill Wednesday night.The National Assembly began a belated plenary session at 10:03 p.m., in which lawmakers of the Grand National Party approved the disputed bill, after opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote.Ea

   South Korea is redrawing the country's senior citizen welfare plan to better cope with the steady aging of the population, the government said Thursday.   The move comes as more and more people are expected to live longer in the coming years due to advances in medicine. The sharp drop in the country's birthrate is another source of worry since there will be fewer economically active young peopl

Parties once again faced turmoil over the controversial Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement bill, as the Democratic Party, despite its previous agreement, resolved not to pass the bill Wednesday.In an hours-long party meeting held before the parliamentary regular session in the afternoon, a majority of the main opposition party lawmakers voted against passing the bill, according to party officials.DP fl

The Foreign Ministry has begun studying whether the April 12 cyber attack by North Korea violated the international law as part of efforts to ward off additional attacks, an official said Wednesday.“The exercise of their right in a way that inflicts damage on other countries is illegal under the international law,” the official said on condition of anonymity.Prosecutors on Tuesday concluded that t

President Lee Myung-bak on Wednesday chided the nation’s top financial watchdog for its failure to reform itself despite the 1997-98 financial crisis and to properly supervise mutual savings banks, eight of which had their operation suspended so far this year.Having championed efforts to seek a “fair society” through the second half of his term, Lee slammed the Financial Supervisory Service for no

Parties are embroiled in a heated debate over a revision bill submitted by Busan lawmakers to offer full compensation to depositors of suspended savings banks. Many say the bill is legally inappropriate, saying that full compensation may cause moral hazard.A dozen Busan lawmakers have submitted the revision bill which will obligate the government to fully compensate for deposits and subordinate bo

Parties will hold a provisional session where the disputed Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement is expected to pass, despite their failure to reach a consensus during the April plenary session.The ruling Grand National Party and the main opposition Democratic Party, together with government officials, met in a post-deadline debate on Monday and decided to pass the delayed bill during the special parliame

President says conglomerates need to seek mutual growth with small firmsPresident Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday urged leaders of large business conglomerates to “open-mindedly discuss” with smaller companies how to seek mutual growth, a key policy goal of the Lee administration.Lee asked Huh Chang-soo, new president of the Federation of Korean Industries, the nation’s most powerful business lobby, to v