WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― President Barack Obama has appointed Kathleen Stephens, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, as acting undersecretary of state in charge of Washington’s public diplomacy, the department said Monday.“President Obama has designated Ambassador Kathleen Stephens as acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs,”department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said at a press briefing.Stephens started her new work, helping lead America’s engagement with the people o

Professor Kim Seong-kon of Seoul National University has been appointed the new director of Korean Literature Translation Institute, the Culture Ministry announced on Tuesday.Kim, who has been teaching the University’s English literature program since 1984, also served as the director of Seoul National University Press, Seoul International Forum for Literature, and International Association for Contemporary Korea Studies. He also served as the president of the Korean Association of Modern Fictio

Canada Ball hockey league is seeking out new talent for its 2012 spring season.Having started in 2008, the league will begin its eighth season on Feb. 26. The league is open to all players, and it does not require a lot of experience or equipment, just a modest level of fitness.“We don’t care if players don’t have much hockey experience or haven’t played in a while but there is a lot of running so they should be in half-decent shape,” said Rob Gibson, who has been in the league since it started.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Men who smoke experience greater mental declines over time than men who never smoked, but the same link does not appear among women, said a British study published in the United States on Monday.The research suggested that the effects of long-term cigarette smoking show up terms o

An Iranian government-affiliated agency has banned dolls of the Simpsons cartoon characters, who join Barbie and others on a toy blacklist, an independent newspaper reported on Monday.The report said that the Simpsons were banned to avoid the promotion of Western culture. But Superman and Spiderman

Song Yong-dok, former head of Lotte Russe, was appointed on Friday the new CEO of Lotte Hotel and head of Busan Lotte Hotel. Lotte Russe is the local corporation of Lotte Hotel Moscow in Russia. Lotte Group announced on Sunday that Song was appointed for both posts in recognition of his achievements in getting Lotte Hotel Moscow in a stable position within a year and a half of opening.Song joined Lotte Hotel in 1979 and served at Lotte Hotel World and Lotte Hotel Jeju before taking charge of lau

Former Sports Minister Kim Jip, who successfully led the 1988 Seoul Olympics, died in Daegu on Saturday. He was 86.Born in Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province, in 1926, Kim was a medical doctor who later served as a board director and vice chairman of the Korean Olympic Committee in the early 1980s.  Kim was at the center of the country’s sports scene two decades ago as he led Korean delegates in two historic events ― the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Right after the Olympics

Commemorating the fourth anniversary of the Namdaemun gate arson, the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea this week is holding two events examining better ways to protect cultural properties from natural and man-made disasters.On Thursday, the administration is holding a special session titled “International Symposium 2012 on Disaster Risk Management for Cultural Heritage: Cultural Heritage and Climate Change,” where local and foreign pundits will gather at the National Palace Museum of Ko

A 69-year-old woman claims President John F. Kennedy took her virginity in the White House 50 years ago when she was an intern, the New York Post reports.Mimi Alford, a retired New York City church administrator, writes in her book, "Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and I

With similar traditional cultures, two countries look forward to a new chapter in bilateral tiesSince being appointed as the South Korean Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I’ve come to realize that many Saudis are still very fond of Korea and its people. Yet in their minds, the images of Korean laborers working in Saudi construction sites during the ‘70s and ‘80s are embedded very firmly ― and thus, it was quite sad that even though they use Korean-made cars, televisions and cellphones,

More English literature and language programs in local universities should offer English-immersion courses, and collaboration among scholars with different interests would strengthen the local English-language studies, said the newly appointed president of English Language & Literature Association of Korea. “Our academia is divided into English literature, English language, English education, and English-Korean interpretation and translation,” professor Kim Young-min told The Korea Herald on Thu

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The National Archives unveiled its 715-year-old copy of Magna Carta on Thursday after a conservation effort removed old patches and repaired weak spots in the English declaration of human rights that inspired the United States’ founding documents.A $13.5 million gift from philanthropist David Rubenstein funded conservation and a new case for the only original Magna Carta in the United States. Rubenstein bought the historic document at auction in 2007 for $21.3 million and sent