The Korean Red Cross on Wednesday elected Sungjoo Group chairwoman Kim Sung-joo as its next president, triggering criticism that the election of a confidante of President Park Geun-hye’s is yet another parachute appointment.The organization, which mainly deals with inter-Korean humanitarian issues, held a session of its decision-making Central Committee to select its 28th president for a three-year term to begin from Oct. 8. After Park’s approval, Kim will take office as the youngest Korean Red

MOSCOW  ― For a project whose end goal might be the removal from power of President Vladimir Putin, it had a very inauspicious start. During a low-key ceremony broadcast online from Paris, exiled ex-billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky announced on Saturday he was re-launching his Open Russia charity to promote civil society in Russia.Few had expected any political statements, and there was little interest in the event from Russian media and the general public. But then things got interesting. Khodo

Song’s suspicious exit reignites controversy over Cheong Wa Dae’s personnel choices

SHANGHAI ― Alibaba has become by far the dominant e-commerce company in China, a country with the world’s greatest number of Internet users, in only 15 years.The Hangzhou-based company is largely unknown outside Greater China, but a historic listing on the New York Stock Exchange Friday and its recently-launched U.S. shopping website, 11 Main, are expanding its global stature.By raising $25.02 billion, Chinese online giant Alibaba has broken the record for the largest initial public offering in

Kakao Corp., South Korea’s biggest mobile messenger service provider, said Thursday it plans to start its own local news services later this year, issuing a challenge to Naver Corp., which dominates online media content.To that end, Kakao has been expanding ties with news providers to distribute their content through its new platform, and will kick off a test-run version of the application next week, the company said. It aims to start a full-fledged service by the end of the year.“The app will b

KB Financial Group chairman Lim Young-rok has become known for two things: being the first financial group chairman to be slapped with a severe penalty and the first to defy the authorities’ sanction. Late Tuesday night, Lim filed an administrative suit against the Financial Services Commission to have the watchdog withdraw its three-month suspension order.“Through the legal procedure, I look forward to revealing the distorted truth (surrounding the banking unit’s computing system change) and th

With polls showing Scotland's upcoming independence referendum too close to call, the rest of the United Kingdom is starting to consider seriously the implications of a "Yes" victory.A pro-independence vote would be a global sensation but would change little in the immediate term, except perhaps boost calls for British Prime Minister David Cameron to resign.But the vote would sound the starting gun for complex talks between the British and Scottish governments on separating two deeply interlinke

STOCKHOLM (AFP) ― Sweden’s likely new prime minister, Social Democrat leader Stefan Loefven, may have little experience of national politics but this consensus-seeking trade unionist has overcome bigger obstacles before.Put into an orphanage by his mother as an infant, he has had his critics in his short time as opposition leader. Yet others see the former welder as a man more in touch with “the real Sweden.”“I have other relevant experience from working in industry and from leading a large trad

NEW YORK (AP) ― Apple wants the plastic credit card to become as rare as the paper check. On Tuesday, the company announced Apple Pay, a digital payment system that lets people pay for retail store purchases using their phones rather than cash or credit cards. The service, which will work both with iPhones and Apple’s new Watch, is backed by a host of big retailers, along with most major banks and credit card issuers, including Visa, MasterCard and American Express. So-called contactless payment

LONDON (AFP) ― The love-hate relationship between England and Scotland has been marked by bloodthirsty mediaeval battles, royal marriages and executions, followed by centuries of political and social unity.While Scots prepare to vote on the 300-year-old merger with England, the history binding their fortunes goes back way before they even existed as recognizable nations.Much of Scotland’s national story has been defined by its relationship with its bigger neighbor.And whatever happens in next we

SAN FRANCISCO ― Apple moved to recapture its role as a tech trend setter on Tuesday with its highly anticipated first smartwatch and two large-screen versions of the iPhone.With the debuts of Apple Watch and iPhone 6 models stretched to fit a hot “phablet” trend, the California company delivered what rumors had predicted leading up to the event.The Apple Watch, a sleek wrist device that links to the iPhone, “will redefine what people expect from this category,” chief executive Tim Cook said at a

The Galaxy Note 4, Samsung Electronics’ all-new smartphone-tablet hybrid unveiled at the 2014 IFA in Berlin, has better display with a faster processing speed than its predecessor.It is thin and light. It has an S-pen. What else?The phablet looks much like the Note 3, except that it has a metal frame without the stitches on the back cover. The Note 3’s stitch design received poor reviews last year when it hit the market.The Note 4 seemingly turned out to be much ado about nothing.Lee Don-joo, Sa

TOKYO -- Japan's prime minister picked five women for his Cabinet on Wednesday, matching the past record and sending the strongest message yet about his determination to revive the economy by getting women on board as workers and leaders.Japan has a vast pool of talented, well educated women, but they are far under-represented in positions of power in government and corporations. Women make up 10 percent of parliament and just 3.9 percent of board members of listed Japanese companies, versus 12

Kang Sok-ju, a seasoned North Korean diplomat, is likely to make a rare trip to Europe this week, officials at Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, in a move seen as in line with the North’s efforts to break from its international isolation.Kang, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, is expected to make a tour of Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy, starting later this week for about 10 days, to meet political figures in those countries, they added.Given his st

The contentious omission of a renowned female independence activist in high school textbooks has sparked further altercations within education circles, which are already divided on the possible revival of state-authorized history textbooks. During last week’s debate on how to improve Korean history textbooks, it was revealed that four of the eight state-certified textbooks excluded descriptions of Ryu Gwan-sun, one of the organizers of the March 1 Independence Movement against Japan’s colonial r