Ahn Cheol-soo plans to depart for the United States on Sunday to meet Microsoft founder Bill Gates to receive advice on charitable foundations and discuss the latest trends in information technology, his close aides said Thursday,Ahn, who currently teaches at the Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, will embark on his trip with fellow professors on Sunday to visit prestigious universities in Silicon Valley in search of new staff for his graduate scho

Shopping festival for foreign visitors from Jan. 9While K-pop and TV dramas may be the first two things that pop into one’s head at the word “Korea,” a real fan of the country knows that Korea is also a top shopping destination.From Jan. 9 through Feb. 29, Korea is offering a massive shopping festival for overseas visitors looking for a chance to open up their wallets on reasonably priced products, nice food and memorable events. Organized by the Visit Korea Committee, the “2012 Korea Grand Sale

MADRID (AFP) ― Spanish retailers are offering deep discounts in their post-Christmas sales to try to get cash-strapped shoppers to open their wallets as a sharp economic downturn drags painfully on.Shoppers packed into an outlet of Spanish clothing store Blanco in central Madrid on Monday, the first day of the official sales period, drawn by a 50 percent discount on all items in its winter collection.“It is hard to resist, you can buy much more clothes for the same amount of money if you wait un

The brightly colored box dropped with a thud out of the mailbag. “Kiwi Crate,” read the label. We peeked inside, intrigued. Tucked beneath layers of tissue paper was a bevy of treasures sure to spark a little someone’s imagination. There were the makings of pinwheels and stained-glass windows. Even a canvas tote, ready for tie-dye. Along with this came not an instruction sheet, but rather something called an “inspiration sheet.”“We don’t want it to be too prescriptive. We give handrails in case

NEW YORK (AP) ― When iPods hit the scene 10 years ago, the small, white ear buds that came with the devices became the symbol for listening to music on the go.Today, that’s changing.More and more people are expressing themselves with pricey headphones, with some fashion-forward music lovers rocking updated versions of the oversized headsets popular in earlier eras.Bose has been known for its larger headphones in recent years, and now celebrities have taken note and aided in the resurgence of the

‘Green Zone’ by Park Kyung-ni explores ‘Korean Beat Generation’ in the ’60sLate prominent writer Park Kyung-ni is largely remembered for her famous historical sagas, including her 16-volume novel “Toji (The Land)” and “The Daughters of Pharmacist Kim.” She created her masterpieces mostly by exploring the turbulent history of Korea during the 20th century, from the Japanese colonial period to the Korean War.Yet readers will discover the late author’s relatively unknown flair for contemporary fict

People who eat too much of a high-calorie, low-protein diet tend to gain more body fat than people who overeat high amounts of protein, US researchers said Tuesday.A study published in the January 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association included 25 people in Louisiana who agreed t

NEW YORK (AP) _ Look who's got a big smile behind his mask on Broadway _ none other than the once-mocked Spider-Man.The Broadway League reported Tuesday that ``Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'' took in a whopping $2,941,790 over nine performances last week, which is the highest single-week gross of an

PARIS (AFP) ― The Louvre cemented its position as the world’s most-visited museum with a record 8.8 million visitors last year to the Paris home of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and other masterpieces.The Louvre saw a five percent increase in visitors in 2011, after three years in a row in which about 8.5 million people had visited the museum, it said in a statement.The museum said it enjoyed “a strong return of American visits and a more and more marked presence of visitors from emerging countr