The Constitutional Court reviewing the legality of President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment Monday urged President Park to decide by Wednesday whether she will appear at court for closing arguments.It also rejected the request by Park’s lawyers for more hearings to review evidence and cancelled the questioning of absent witnesses in a display of strong determination to conclude the historic trial before mid-March. (Yonhap)“Please confirm whether she will appear or not before the next hearing. We ha

Samsung heir apparent Lee Jae-yong’s life has been turned upside down since he was taken into custody on allegations of bribery Friday.For the second consecutive day on Sunday, Lee stood handcuffed and bound with white ropes in front of special prosecutors, his prisoner identification number marked on his navy suit.He is the first head of Samsung to be locked behind bars in the conglomerate’s history. At the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province just outside Seoul, he is being kept

South Korea has nearly the worst air quality among advanced economies, with its level of fine dust soaring over the past 25 years, a report revealed Thursday. According to the “State of Global Air 2017,” a report by nonprofit environmental group Health Effects Institute in the United States, the nation’s average population-weighted concentration level of PM2.5 -- which refers to ultrafine particles or particle matter with a diameter of at least 2.5 micrometers -- was 29 micrograms per cubic mete

In May 2001, a man was rounded up after trying to smuggle himself into Narita International Airport in Tokyo, alongside his son and two women, using fake Dominican Republic passports. The incident introduced Kim Jong-nam, the slain older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, to the outside world. But his yearning 16 years ago to visit Tokyo Disneyland blew his chances to succeed in the reclusive dynasty, incurring the wrath of his father and longtime strongman Kim Jong-il.Shown is a f

North Korea said it “successfully” test-fired a new strategic weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead on Sunday.Officials and experts in South Korea confirmed the latest launch to involve a new type of missile and concluded that progress has been made in the communist state’s missile technologies and delivery methods for nuclear weapons. Below, The Korea Herald explains the North’s weapons of mass destruction program, its latest missile tested and why it matters to S. Korea, the US and othe

Billed as Germany's “anti-Trump,” former foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was elected Sunday as the new head of state, vowing to stand up to simplistic populist rhetoric.　The 61-year-old, who regularly polls as Germany’s most popular politician, will represent the EU's top economy abroad in the largely ceremonial post and act as a kind of moral arbiter for the nation.　His Social Democrats (SPD) hope the appointment will boost their fortunes just as their candidate Martin Schulz, the form

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- After his travel ban suffered two defeats in the US court system, President Donald Trump has vowed to continue his judicial fight -- but with the controversial measure now on shaky ground, it is likely to be an uphill battle.　Trump's executive order -- issued on Jan. 27 with no prior warning -- suffered two blows over the course of two weeks in western US courts.　Since then the president has proffered a variety of solutions, from taking the matter to the Supreme Court to simp

SK hynix CEO Park Sung-wook has vowed to boost the company’s three-dimensional NAND flash memory business this year, a remark that is interpreted by market watchers as a strong determination to acquire Toshiba’s NAND unit. On Feb.3, SK hynix submitted a non-binding proposal to purchase a 20 percent stake in its Japanese rival Toshiba’s NAND chip business for about 3 trillion won ($2.62 billion). (Yonhap)SK hynix’s offer nearly doubles the current market value of the Toshiba unit that is around $

Kakao, operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, has formed a new subsidiary dedicated to developing artificial intelligence technologies in a move to ramp up its capabilities in future technologies.The Korean mobile giant said Wednesday that it officially founded a new subsidiary focusing on AI technology research and development, named “Kakao Brain,” on Feb. 1. Kakao founder and chairman Kim Beom-suKakao Brain will be directed by Kakao founder and chairman Kim Beom-su, who will

Government has no guidelines on toxins in question, leaving consumers to decide safety for themselves

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen vowed Sunday she would be a president who puts France first as she formally launched a campaign echoing many of the themes that propelled Donald Trump to the White House.　With polls showing her now leading the first round of the election race, the head of the National Front (FN) attacked “mass immigration.” globalization and “Islamic fundamentalism” and said she wanted a country “which owes nothing to anyone.”　In a speech in the central city of Lyon less than three

Less than a month since Hyosung Group Chairman Cho hyun-joon officially took the baton from his father S.R. Cho to lead the Korea’s textile giant, the company said Friday its annual operating profit exceeded 1 trillion won ($870 million) for the first time.Improved earnings are expected to strengthen the hand of the junior Cho, who vowed to nurture Hyosung into a global power when taking office in early January. The nation’s largest synthetic fiber maker said its annual sales inched down 4.2 per

For former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the three turbulent weeks following his return home was enough to decide not to enter the upcoming presidential race, in which he was once considered a leading contender.Some speculated that he may have made his surprise decision because he had stalled in the polls, while others pointed out to the massive cost of running as an independent figure with no party affiliation.But the main reasons the former top diplomat gave were emotional -- disappointmen

Neil Gorsuch, named Tuesday as President Donald Trump's nominee to the US Supreme Court, has a solidly conservative pedigree that has earned him comparison to the combative justice he would replace, Antonin Scalia. 　Gorsuch clerked for two Supreme Court justices and worked in President George W. Bush’s Justice Department before being appointed to the federal bench and authoring a series of sharply written, conservative opinions. His mother, Anne, ran President Ronald Reagan's Environmental Prote

Park Han-chul, chief justice of the Constitutional Court, reiterated his calls for a speedy ruling in the impeachment trial of President Park Geun-hye at his retirement ceremony Tuesday. “The public are united in the view that a conclusion (on the impeachment) should be made as soon as possible, given the gravity of the situation in which the president has been suspended from duty for nearly two months,” the justice said, ending his six-year term as a member of the nine-judge court. Park’s farew