As a Russian Mars probe that stalled in orbit may fall to the Earth sometime next week, the government announced Tuesday that it would broadcast its location real time on the websites of related agencies and via Twitter until its crash.The 13.2-ton probe named Phobos-Grunt, launched last November, was scheduled to explore the Martian moon Phobos, but became stuck in orbit when its rocket boosters failed, and computer malfunctioned, according to the Russian space agency Roscosmos. It is expected

Seoul City is teaming up with women’s counseling groups in an effort to stop sexual harassment in the workplace, officials said Tuesday.The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it is joining hands with the Korea Women’s Hotline so that female government employees may feel safe in receiving counseling after an incident. The hotline will offer women from all branches of the city government a chance to report incidents anonymously, in order to prevent repercussions.The center will then investigate th

Prosecutors may question Lee’s son if suspicions over retirement house not settledA presidential office worker was summoned to Seoul Central Prosecutors’ office on Tuesday, to be questioned over allegations that Cheong Wa Dae paid for property President Lee Myung-bak purchased under his son’s name earlier last year.If their suspicions remain, investigators are expected to question Lee Si-hyong, the President’s son, as well. According to local broadcasting network MBC, Cheong Wa Dae is suspected

The prosecution has launched an investigation into the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, or Nonghyup, for manipulation of net interest spread at some of its branches, raking in 2 billion won ($1.7 m) through the method.According to the Central Investigation Division at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday, about 30 provincial branches of Nonghyup were accused of making 10 billion won ($8.54 m) in profit by raising the net interest spread without notifying customers. Net interes

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it will step up testing for a fungicide that has been found in low levels in orange juice.FDA officials said they are not concerned about the safety of the juice but will increase testing to make sure the contamination is not a problem. I

Becoming a teacher or a civil servant is the most favored career path for South Korean high school students and their parents, a survey showed Tuesday, reflecting their desire for job security.In a survey of 2,165 high school students across the country conducted by the education ministry, 11 percen

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it will provide an additional 40 billion won ($34 million) in loans for inter-Korean business operators which were hit by soured relations with North Korea.Last year, 169 companies doing business in the North received 33.6 billion won support from the government. The move came as Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik met with nine CEOs of companies doing business in North Korea, including Gwak Su-hwan, CEO of Taerim Industrial, other than those operating at the M

The government on Monday announced plans to earmark 2.05 trillion won ($1.76 billion) from the budget on research and development, including setting aside 111 billion won for its space program, which seeks to build an indigenous satellite by 2017 and a space rocket by 2021.The total amount marks a 5.17 percent increase from last year’s 1.95 trillion won, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.The largest share of the R&D fund, or 975 billion won, will go to research in fu

The Community Chest of Korea is racing toward its goal this year, as the nation’s only charity established by statute shows signs of recovery from its earlier scandals.The CCK said it has already reached 91.3 percent of its two-month goal with more than three weeks left to go, an unexpected boost after it was marred in corruption scandals in 2010 　The nationwide charity network said the “Hope 2012 Sharing Campaign” has already hit 199 billion won ($170.9 million) since December, leaving it only

Likely to have a hard time mixing with peers due to language, appearanceStudents from multicultural families are at a higher risk of being bullied at school as they are likely to have a hard time mingling with their peers due to language problems and racial discrimination. Four out of five foreign teenagers in Seoul are out of school largely because of discrimination and bullying, coupled with study problems, according to a recent city survey. It hasn’t been long since the government started to

Police said Monday they have requested an arrest warrant for a middle school student on charges of habitually assaulting a classmate and extorting money from him, some two weeks after the victim committed suicide.On Dec. 29, the 14-year-old was found hanged in an apartment building in Gwangju, some

The Community Chest of Korea is racing toward its goal this year, as the nation’s only charity established by statute shows signs of recovery from its earlier scandals.According to the CCK, it has already reached 91.3 percent of its two-month goal with more than three weeks left to go.The nationwide charity network said the “Hope 2012 Sharing Campaign” has already hit 199 billion won ($170.9 million) since December, leaving it only some 19 billion won from its goal.The charity, better known as S

The United Nations will open a regional center here Tuesday for one of its legal bodies that oversees international trade.The U.N. Commission on International Trade Law will hold the opening of its Regional Center for Asia and the Pacific, which will focus on the Middle East, Australia and Japan and other countries in the region.The center is expected to promote trade and development in the region by backing international commercial transactions and settling disputes when necessary.The opening c