Two South Korean volunteer workers were killed and three others injured in a lightning accident in Sri Lanka, a state aid agency said Sunday. The two -- a 22-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman -- were killed by lightning on Saturday evening in the mountainous Haputale region in the central part of Sri Lanka, according to Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), a state-funded agency in ch

(Yonhap) -- Dozens of villagers evacuated to a temporary shelter Saturday as officials tried to assess the extent of damage from a poisonous gas leak that devastated a large farmland.   About 70 elderly residents left their village, Bongsan-ri, in the southeastern city of Gumi to a public facility considered safer from the aftermath of the Sept. 27 leak of about eight tons of hydrofluoric acid.  

The U.S. Congress is expected to approve the proposed sale to South Korea of Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles, and the two sides are in talks on price, a government official said Friday.South Korea hopes to purchase the advanced spy aircraft to bolster its surveillance capabilities over North Korea as the country prepares to retake wartime operational control of its troops from the United States in 2015.Congress has the final say in the sale of Global Hawks to foreign countries.“We expect th

A local court on Friday ruled it is not illegal for a state power monopoly to set its electricity rates below cost, a verdict expected to deter the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. from implementing power rate hikes.The Seoul Central District Court dismissed two separate suits filed by minor shareholders of KEPCO, who accused the government and a former KEPCO chief executive of keeping electricity rates intentionally low to the detriment of company shareholders.One group consisting of 28 sma

The government is wasting a huge amount of taxpayer money each year to make sure a group of private investors in an airport highway makes an adequate return on their investment, data showed Friday.According to the data from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, the government paid a cumulative 790.9 billion won ($711.9 million) in subsidies between 2002-2011 to New Airport Hiway Co., a private owner and operator of a highway connecting Seoul to its main gateway Incheon Internatio

South Korea will establish a long-term plan to attain the world’s highest credit ratings levels based on the momentum it received from the recent rating upgrades by major appraisers, the Finance Ministry said Friday.Moody’s, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s, the world’s three major appraisers, recently hiked their ratings on South Korea by a notch, citing the country’s improved fiscal soundness. The rating on Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, however, still remains three or four steps bel

South Korean shares inched up 0.12 percent Friday on hopes of good corporate earnings, though investors took a wait-and-see stance on lingering European concerns, analysts said. The local currency climbed against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 2.49 points to 1,995.17. Trading volume was heavy at 672.4 million shares worth 4.4 trillion won ($3.96 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 462 to 351.Market analysts said that investors pay more heed to the E

Hana-SK Card had the highest rate of consumer complaints of any Korean credit card company in the first half of this year, according to a news report Friday.Shinhan Card, the nation’s No. 1 card issuer, had the largest total number of complaints. The Yonhap News report was based on data from the Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Consumer Agency and card companies. According to the report, Hana-SK received 9.2 complaints per 100,000 consumers during the period, followed by Hyundai Card wit

A survey agency said Friday that the proportion of Korean consumers, willing to purchase import cars, had reached an all-time high of 15.5 percent this year.Based on its recent poll on 95,012 consumers nationwide, Marketing Insight released the yearly figure that shows drivers’ preference since 2001.The figure, which could be a barometer for growth potential of the import vehicle industry, has continued to climb since the 2008 global financial crisis ― 10.8 percent in 2009, 11.6 percent in 2010

Australia’s Arrium might be steel firm’s preferred target, analysts sayPOSCO, the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker, is heating up the outbound M&A market as the company has reportedly entered the race to acquire Steel Americas of German steel giant ThyssenKrupp. According to an article Thursday from The Bell, a local M&A news provider, POSCO hired Credit Suisse Group as an M&A adviser and has recently sent a letter of intent to buy Steel Americas. A POSCO spokesperson declined to comment on whe

A young woman with terminal cancer has asked a New York judge to allow her to be removed from life support, a move her parents oppose. Grace Sung Eun Lee's parents testified Wednesday they still hope God will save their daughter's life, the New York Daily News reported. Her father, the Rev. Manho Lee, is the minister of Antioch Missionary Church in the borough of Queens, and the parents also said