In a much anticipated face-to-face meeting with President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday, Moon Jae-in of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy wasted no time blasting her “botched” economic policies. It was two years after Moon took a back seat in his party after he was defeated in the presidential election in 2012. Moon told Park that her entire economic policies had left the economy in great danger and failed to improve the quality of people’s lives, which were her major campaign pledges.  Park’s

NEW ORLEANS ― Robert Durst couldn’t explain away the similarities between his handwriting and a letter he said “only the killer could have written” that alerted police to his friend’s shooting 15 years ago.Confronted with new evidence by the makers of a documentary about his life, the troubled millionaire blinked, burped oddly, pulled his ear and briefly put his head in his hands before denying he was the killer.Then he stepped away from the tense interview and went to the bathroom, still wearin

SAO PAULO ― Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff faced the biggest challenge yet of her young and turbulent second term, as hundreds of thousands of protesters took to streets in more than 150 cities to demand her impeachment and an end to corruption.The Sunday protests, organized by right-leaning groups on social media and held across the continent-sized nation, had none of the violence seen in massive antigovernment demonstrations that hit the country in 2013 and lingered into the following year

South Korea was found to have one of the least generous pension systems in the developed world, while suffering its highest rate of senior poverty, a report showed Sunday. According to the Korea Labor Institute, the net replacement rate of the Korean elderly reached 45.2 percent as of 2011, about 10 percent lower than the average rate of countries in the Organization for Economic Corporation and Development. The net replacement rate is to the level of the post-retirement pension income compared

LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo has renewed his commitment to elevating the group’s research and development prowess, pledging huge new investment and more support for researchers.“In an era of technological convergence across industries, the importance of R&D is getting bigger and bigger,” he told employees at the group’s R&D performance evaluation event in Seoul on Thursday. “Devote yourself to developing fundamental technologies that will change the world.”The annual event honors key R&D achiev

NEW YORK ― Presumed 2016 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton stormed back onto America’s political stage Tuesday, seeking to quell concerns she used private email while secretary of state but acknowledging it was not the “smarter” option.In her first public comments since the controversy erupted last week, Clinton said she exclusively used a personal email account as a “matter of convenience,” and insisted that the private server she used suffered no security breaches.She also said “no classifi

SAN FRANCISCO ― Apple launched an assault on the fledgling wearable tech market Monday, unveiling a high-end smartwatch that offers new ways to stay connected and to track health and fitness.The Apple Watch will be available in several major markets around the world from April 24, at a starting price of $349.“Apple Watch begins a new chapter in the way we relate to technology,” said chief executive Tim Cook, who spoke at a San Francisco media event.Cook said “the most personal device we have eve

Japan will honor its dead this week from the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the coastline north of Tokyo on March 11 four years ago.For those who have spent those years helping survivors in the northeast region known as Tohoku, the experience has thrown up the challenge of how to knit back together communities built over centuries, then shattered in the space of minutes on that Friday afternoon in 2011.Doctors and others say the work in Tohoku has also offered a fast-forward glimpse into

A documentary film investigating China’s poor air quality was pulled from major Chinese online video sites on Friday by order of the government after it drew millions of views, the Wall Street Journal reported. “Under the Dome” was withdrawn from Internet services including Youku Tudou Inc. and Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s v.qq.com, the Journal said, citing unidentified people familiar with the government directive. Former China Central Television reporter Chai Jing released the film online on Feb. 2

When U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert began his term here last October, local reports expressed hope that Lippert’s friendship with U.S. President Barack Obama would help strengthen the alliance between the two nations.Lippert, the youngest-ever Washington ambassador to Seoul at 42, lived up to the expectations of boosting ties, not through his relationship with Obama, but through what appeared to be his genuine urge to get to know the everyday people on the streets here.Lippert has b

RALEIGH, North Carolina ― Former CIA Director David Petraeus, whose once-bright political future was all but destroyed over an affair with his biographer, has agreed to plead guilty to charges he shared classified material with her for her book. The plea agreement ― which carries a possible sentence of up to a year in prison ― represents another blow to the reputation of the retired four-star Army general who led American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and was perhaps the most admired military l

SEOUL/BARCELONA, Spain ― Samsung Electronics has fired its greatest shot against archrival Apple, with its new flagship smartphone the Galaxy S6 and its Edge variant being touted as the “most beautiful Samsung phone ever” during the unveiling event in Barcelona. The new phones use metal instead of plastic, are equipped with wireless charging and advanced camera technology, and feature Samsung’s new mobile payments system. The luxurious makeover is being led by the company’s co-CEO and mobile div

WASHINGTON ― Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ramps up his mission to foil an emerging White House-backed nuclear deal with Iran with a speech on Monday to the powerful pro-Israel AIPAC lobby.Netanyahu has infuriated the White House and Democratic lawmakers by accepting an invitation by President Barack Obama’s Republican foes to speak on Capitol Hill Tuesday.Also addressing the 16,000 AIPAC delegates are Washington’s United Nations envoy Samantha Power and National Security Adviser Sus

Park Geun-hye on Sunday embarked on her strategic trip to four wealthy Muslim countries in a bid to attract “oil money” in her efforts to reinvigorate the economy, in particular the construction sector, which has been in the doldrums since the 2008-09 global financial crisis.Right before her departure for the Middle East, she replaced her chief of staff. The administration is seeking a turnaround in both political and economic credibility. Lee Byung-kee, who was named chief of staff Friday, is n

The reclaimed region of Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province, is in the limelight after the government announced plans to create a Korea-China free trade agreement industrial complex in the area.The government announced the plan to attract investments from the world’s second-largest economy, following the preliminary signing of the Korea-China FTA on Wednesday. An aerial view of Saemangeum in North Jeolla Province. (Yonhap)“The Korea-China FTA Industrial Complex will be built in Saemangeum Free Eco