As bizarre as the President Park Geun-hye scandal seems, it would not have been possible if Cheong Wa Dae’s internal system had worked as designed, or if Woo Byung-woo had cared.  Yet, Park’s former senior secretary for civil affairs, who was until October in charge of monitoring corruption and irregularities in the civil service, including presidential staff and the president’s inner circle, is apparently without any regrets or remorse. “I did my job. I did my best,” Woo said during a nationall

Flagship carrier bogged down by inability to control violent incident, pilot strike

South Korean carmaker says it is ready to make autonomous cars commercially affordableHyundai Motor may not sound as adventurous as Elon Musk’s Tesla. But when it comes to the issue of making self-driving cars commercially affordable, the South Korean carmaker appears to have some strong points. Hyundai Motor demonstrated its technological developments in autonomous driving in Las Vegas last week, testing its strength in the mass market of future mobility. Instead of using 360-degree light detec

South Korean carmaker says it is ready to make autonomous cars commercially affordable

UN Secretary-General Ban ratchets up criticism against President Park

Zimbabwe‘s veteran leader Robert Mugabe once quipped that he’d rule his country until he turned 100.On Saturday, his ruling ZANU-PF party endorsed the 92-year-old leader as its candidate for the 2018 presidential election, bringing him closer to achieving his wish.From crushing political dissent to ushering in disastrous land reforms that saw the economy crumble, many accuse Mugabe of turning the regional breadbasket into a food importer.The leader who is currently Africa’s oldest president, hav

Younghoon David Kim, chairman of Daesung Group, a South Korean conglomerate specializing in the energy business, has a unique and grand mission in mind: finding individuals like Michael Faraday.Stressing that the world is on the verge of an energy transition, Kim believes the time is ripe for entrepreneurs like him to find the brightest minds to bring about a paradigm shift from a fossil fuel-based economy to one based on new sources of energy. To open a new chapter in human history, the world n

Retail giant Amazon.com has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer, dropping off one of its Fire TV streaming devices and a bag of popcorn to a house in the English countryside 13 minutes after receiving an online order.The delivery occurred Dec. 7 near Cambridge in a zone that UK aviation authorities have authorized for drone test flights, according to a tweet Wednesday by company CEO Jeff Bezos and a video documenting the flight. “First-ever #AmazonPrimeAir customer delivery is in

Hanjin Shipping, once the world’s seventh-largest shipping company, is on the verge of collapse and fading into history, despite its strenuous efforts to revive itself while under court receivership. According to the Seoul Central District Court in charge of the court receivership, accounting firm Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers has concluded that liquidation of the cash-strapped shipper is “more economical” rather than continuing with rehabilitation. The accounting firm estimated the liquidation v

Antonio Guterres was sworn in Monday as the ninth secretary-general of the United Nations, saying the world body must change to better confront global crises such as the war in Syria.During a solemn ceremony at the General Assembly, the former prime minister of Portugal placed a hand on the UN charter and took the oath of office administered by the president of the General Assembly, Peter Thomson.The first former head of government at the UN helm, Guterres takes over from Ban Ki-moon on Jan. 1 a

Independent counsel Park Young-soo faces the daunting task of proving exactly how deep the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye runs. South Korea’s prosecutors Sunday effectively wrapped up their two-month investigation, handing over the baton to the special counsel. They managed to link criminal activities committed by Park’s former aides An Chong-bum and Jeong Ho-seong to her through notes and recorded phone conversations which showed the two were acting under the president’s o

Public sentiment, imminent end of two judges’ term expected to affect trial

From the first child of a slain dictator to the nation’s first female president and now the epicenter of the country’s worst political fiasco, the life of Park Geun-hye has had many turns. Park taking on her first public role in South Korea happened as dramatically and abrupt as ever; with the assassination of her mother Yuk Young-soo, wife of former president Park Chung-hee.The death of Yuk to a bullet meant for her husband and president called for then-22-year-old Park to take on the role as t

Throughout his four-year career in the Park Geun-hye administration, new acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn has been a perennial source of contention. His two confirmation hearings, first in 2013 as a justice minister nominee and then for the premiership two years later, were strewn with allegations of wrongdoing. He was accused of dodging income and gift taxes, real estate speculation and military service evasion, among other allegations, while sparking public furor over his lopsided historical, po

Friday’s parliamentary vote on whether or not to impeach President Park Geun-hye is unlikely to involve a filibuster or physical brawls among rivalling lawmakers. According to the National Assembly on Thursday, no lawmakers have requested time to address the floor ahead of the ballot during a plenary session slated for 3:00 p.m. Friday. “Traditionally, the motion related to the seat of public officials does not require additional debate among those that approve and those that disapprove,” an off