Luxembourg’s embattled prime minister would likely not appreciate the comparison, but Jean-Claude Juncker shares something in common with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a man derided in the West as “Europe’s last dictator.” It might be unfair to describe the enduring Luxembourger as authoritarian, but now he certainly vies with the Belarusian strongman for Europe’s longest-lasting leader in power today. Though the party of Luxembourg’s prime minister emerged somewhat diminished from

Yoon Seok-yeol, a senior prosecutor who was leading an investigation into the spy agency’s alleged election interference last year, is in the political limelight after being ousted from the special probe team last week.His dismissal has sparked a backlash from the main opposition Democratic Party, which claims the government attempted to meddle in the high-profile probe.The probe team has looked into the allegations that former National Intelligence Service chief Won Sei-hoon directed his operat

Daesung Group chairman Younghoon David Kim, 61, made an international debut as leader of the World Energy Council, the world’s largest independent network of global energy leaders and practitioners.Kim was chosen as a co-chair of the WEC last December and took office on the last day of the World Energy Congress in Daegu that closed Thursday.It is the first time for a Korean to take the top post of a global energy body. The London-based WEC, formed in 1923, is one of the most influential independ

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers threw seven shutout innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, becoming the first South Korean to pick up a starting win in the Major League Baseball postseason. At Dodger Stadium on Monday night, he allowed just three singles and struck out four batters in seven innings, leading his team to a 3-0 win over the Cardinals.It was the second career postseason start for the 26-year-old left-hander, who signed with the Dodgers last December after seven s

Wolsung Nuclear Power PlantsThe nation will most likely freeze the portion of nuclear power in its total energy generation at between 22 to 29 percent by 2035, based on recent recommendations from a joint working group on the second phase of the national energy framework on Monday. Although not a binding directive, the group is considered to have sway in energy policy. Monday’s recommendations mark a sharp turn around from the previous Lee Myung-bak government in 2008 when another working group

The winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize is a body that has spent years trying to rid the world of chemical weapons in relative obscurity and was recently thrust into the limelight by the Syrian crisis.From Russia to the U.S., Iraq and Libya, inspectors from the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, have been slowly but surely destroying the world’s most dangerous chemical stockpiles.Syria last month signed up to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which the

The White House has nominated Janet Yellen as the first woman to head the United States Federal Reserve, arguably the most important job in global finance. But the decision will likely face stiff opposition by extreme conservatives in the U.S. Senate.If she is confirmed by the Senate, President Barack Obama will make history by tapping the first woman to head the American central bank in its 100-year history. That will surely make Senate Republicans even angrier.Current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke

CJ Korea Express vice chairman Lee Chae-wook has been appointed chief executive of CJ Corp., the de facto holding firm of the embattled CJ Group.The conglomerate’s Oct. 8 personnel overhaul is drawing wide interest as the 67-year-old businessman joined CJ Group only six months ago when CJ LNS merged with Korea Express.According to market insiders, the appointment comes as an emergency measure after group chairman Lee Jay-hyun was arrested in July on charges of amassing slush funds and evading ta

A handful of elite high schools here produced more than 10 percent of the country’s judges, a new report showed Monday. Of 1,959 judges appointed from 2003-2013, about 11 percent or 227 judges were educated from five foreign language high schools in Seoul, according to Supreme Court data released by Rep. Kim Jin-tae of the Saenuri Party.Daewon Foreign Language High School in Gwangjin-gu produced by far the largest number of judges, with 97 graduates currently authorized for the court.Hanyoung Fo

For the beleaguered Democratic Party, its senior adviser Sohn Hak-kyu has become one of only a handful of members that hold the key for its political countermove against its rivals.Since losing last year’s presidential election, the DP has concentrated much of its resources on gaining leverage on the ruling party.However, despite numerous opportunities, the DP has so far managed only to paint itself into increasingly tighter corners.The issues surrounding the 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript

Internal conflict within the ruling Saenuri Party is escalating over its choice for a candidate in the upcoming parliamentary by-election. On Thursday evening, Saenuri picked Suh Chung-won, its former chairman and President Park Geun-hye’s longtime confidant, as the party’s candidate for the Oct. 30 election.The announcement came a day after the 70-year-old politician declared his candidacy bid “for the success of the Park Geun-hye government.”The return of the former six-term lawmaker, however,

Park Moon-il, the dean of Hanyang University’s College of Medicine, is to be removed from office for allegedly committing academic fraud to aid his son in entering the institution’s graduate school of medicine.According to the findings of Hanyang University’s audit board, Park listed his son as the lead author of an academic paper while removing the name of an obstetrician who took part in the research. Park is also an author for the paper in question. Park’s son, who was a student of mechanical

The competition for jobs at Samsung companies in the second half of this year is expected to be the fiercest ever.The number of job seekers who applied for Samsung Group and its subsidiaries reached an all-time high during the regular recruiting session in the second half of this year, company officials said Tuesday. “We have some 100,000 applicants for 5,500 job vacancies although the exact number has not yet been calculated. (Because of the record-high number) we are having hard time securing

Financial investor and shaman Kim Won-hong is adding a new twist to the convoluted SK Group embezzlement case. Kim, a former financial aide of SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and adviser for SK Shipping Co., was arrested on Sunday for his alleged involvement in Chey’s misappropriation scheme. Chey and his younger brother Chey Jae-won are alleged to have embezzled 45 billion won ($42 million) from SK Group subsidiaries in 2008 as the companies were making a 100 billion won investment in Benex Inve

When Chin Young, one of the closest allies of President Park Geun-hye and a passionate advocate of broader welfare, was appointed to head the Ministry of Health and Welfare in March, it was considered an indication of her government’s greater commitment to caring for the poor and underprivileged. Six months later the minister is seeking to step down in what is seen as a symbol of the Park administration’s retreat in welfare and return to a growth agenda amid budget woes and a lackluster economy.