The United States will not agree to South Korea's reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel for commercial purposes due partly to proliferation concerns, a former U.S. State Department adviser on arms control said Friday. Seoul and Washington are in negotiations to renew their bilateral pact, dubbed the 123 agreement, with the latest and eighth round of negotiations held in Washington earlier this week.The agreement, last revised in 1974, was to expire in 2014, but the two countries agreed earlier this

The number of medical doctors arrested for sexual crimes has jumped almost two-fold over the last four years, data showed Friday.A total of 83 medical doctors were apprehended on charges of rape and sexual assaults last year, almost two times higher than 43 in 2008, according to the data compiled by the National Police Agency (NPA).The NPA data submitted to Rep. Kang Ki-youn of the ruling Saenuri Party indicated 39 doctors were arrested for the same charge in the first half of this year."Doctors

Seoul National University jumped from 59th to 44th in the Times Higher Education’s 2013 world university ranking, joining the top 50 for the first time.Four South Korean universities were among the 200 best institutes according to the annual report released on Tuesday. They were KAIST, which climbed 13 places to 56th, POSTECH at 60th, and Yonsei University at 190th.The California Institute of Technology retained its top position for the third consecutive year. Harvard University remained in seco

A Seoul district has partially lifted its ban on a local gay group’s advertisement banner following the state human rights body’s recommendation. The Mapo District office recently notified Mapo Rainbow Residents’ Solidarity that it would allow its ad campaign, but only if it removed a statement deemed to be an exaggeration. The local office and the activist group have been in discord since last year when the office did not permit the group’s gay rights street banners. The office said that the ph

Seoul City said Wednesday it will raise basic taxi fare by one-fourth to 3,000 won ($2.79) starting Oct. 12 and will take measures to improve drivers’ services and working conditions. After holding public hearings and reviews by the price policy committee, the city made a final decision out of three options, which differed in basic fares and surcharges for nighttime and inter-city operations. In addition to the hike, the city government decided to reintroduce the 25 percent surcharge for passeng

The number of South Korean studying in China has increased fourfold in 11 years mainly due to rising demand for Chinese language education, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by the education ministry, there were 62,855 South Korean students in China last year, up 283.9 percent from 16,372 in 2001.The increase made China the second-most popular destination for South Koreans going abroad to study, after the United States with 73,351 students last year. Canada placed a di

South Korea’s drug watchdog said Wednesday that it has suspended the sales of Pfizer’s antibiotic azithromycin, sold as Zithromax, for three months due to inaccurate dosage information on its local product labels. The latest move by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is in addition to its earlier recall order on Pfizer Pharmaceutical Korea, the local unit of Pfizer Inc., for its Zithromax 900-milligram dry syrup sold here.According to the ministry, the prescription drug should be administered

A pop artist identified only by his surname Lee on Wednesday was cleared from charges over drawing satirical posters of Park Geun-hye and former candidates of opposing parties ahead of the 2012 presidential election.　Lee produced 200 posters for display in downtown Busan, illustrating former president Park Chung-hee as Snow White with President Park holding an apple in her hand. He also made a poster featuring a face that was half Moon Jae-in, half Ahn Cheol-soo, spreading it in Gwangju in Novem

South Korea may be hit by a typhoon Sunday, the state-run weather agency said Wednesday. It is extremely rare for a typhoon to strike the country this late in the year.According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, Typhoon Fitow is making its way toward the Korean Peninsula from waters just east of the Philippines. It is projected to reach within 410 kilometers of the Japanese island of Okinawa on Friday, and South Korea’s southernmost island of Jeju is expected to feel Fitow’s presence a

South Korea has been named a council member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for the fifth consecutive term, the government said Wednesday.The country garnered 156 votes from 176 member countries taking part in the ICAO assembly held in Montreal, Canada, coming in second among 14 countries competing in the election, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport."The country's fifth consecutive election to the ICAO council shows that the country has clearl

The prosecution detained Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairman Kim Myung-soo and raided his office and house on Monday for allegedly taking bribes from a renovation company, sources said. Kim is suspected of receiving more than 100 million won ($93,109) from Dawon Group president surnamed Lee in return for giving favors in the apartment renovation business in the Seocho district of Seoul. Kim from the Democratic Party has been chairing the council since June last year. (rene@heraldcorp.com)