U.S.-based tech giant Apple on Monday revealed its much-anticipated new mobile operating system, hinting that its innovative prowess had not died with its cofounder Steve Jobs.“IOS 7 is the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of iPhone,” the company’s CEO Tim Cook said at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.Throughout the presentation, Cook repeatedly stressed the word “innovation,” as if to state that his company is still capable of producing groundbreaking produ

The United Nations will undergo large-scale restructuring amid international pressure to cut its spending, according to U.N. sources. The unprecedented move is widely interpreted as a sign of problems with its reforms.South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, citing unnamed sources, reported Monday that the organization will eliminate at least 260 jobs. The initial job cut plans only target some 6,600 employees working at the U.N. headquarters in New York. The plan is expected to include the suspension

Gymnast Son Yeon-jae won three gold medals at the Asian Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, becoming the first South Korean to win gold at an international rhythmic gymnastic event.The 19-year-old began her winning streak by clinching the individual all-round final on Friday with 72.066 points in the multi-sport competition combining hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon. She outperfomed Rakhmatova Djamila of Uzbekistan with 70.599 points and Deng Senyue of China with 70.250, who t

United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, who became a target of Republican vitriol over U.S. President Barack Obama’s handling of an attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, is moving into the post of White House National Security Adviser.President Obama announced a major reshuffling of his national security team on Wednesday, ushering out Tom Donilon, a cautious Washington insider, and elevating Rice, a longtime proponent for expanding the U.S. role in protecting human rights and pr

At the heart of the nuclear reactors’ shutdown and subsequent electricity shortage was a quality inspection company that neglected its role for the sake of its own interests.Earlier in the week, the prosecution summoned the head of Saehan TEP for allegedly forging the quality certificate papers on substandard signal cables used in the recently suspended nuclear reactors.A senior employee of JS Cable, too, was questioned on charges of supplying faulty parts and exerting pressure on Saehan TEP to

It was like deja vu on Monday when President Park Geun-hye turned to her long-time troubleshooter Lee Jung-hyun to fix the public relations mess at Cheong Wa Dae. Lee, 56, chief presidential political secretary, was named as her top public affairs aide, replacing Lee Nam-ki, who resigned last month to take responsibility for the sexual assault case involving then-spokesman Yoon Chang-jung.The move was to contain criticism toward the presidential office’s communications team, particularly over th

Won Sei-hoon, a former spy chief and long-time aide to former President Lee Myung-bak, is likely to face charges for personal corruption as well as his role in intelligence agents’ illegal intervention in politics. Prosecutors are investigating allegations that he received bribes from a private construction firm while he served as chief of the National Intelligence Service. During a raid of the agency, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office seized documents reportedly containing a list o

Republican Rep. Ed Royce, the head of the U.S. congressional panel on foreign affairs, lodged last week a strong protest against China for its recent repatriation of nine North Korean defectors.The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee sent a letter to China’s President Xi Jinping expressing his concern over recent reports of the forced repatriation of North Koreans, some as young as 15, who now face extreme punishment in North Korea, his office said Friday.The North Koreans fled North

The Korea Center for Investigative Journalism, or Newstapa, is making waves with its revelations of high-profile Koreans who use tax havens to store their wealth.Founded in 2012 by a group of journalists, the KCIJ is an independent online media outlet that states its purpose as “delivering the truth to the public, and not using press releases distributed by those with power and money.”  Saying that they have judged that the revealed related information “serves the public’s right to know and the

South Gyeongsang Province on Wednesday closed its main public medical center plagued by snowballing losses, bellicose unionists and heated political disputes. Governor Hong Joon-pyo pushed ahead with the plan to shut down Jinju Medical Center despite fierce opposition from the union, opposition parties and the central government.The former ruling party leader sparked a nationwide controversy when he warned that the government will shut down the country’s second-oldest public hospital unless its

The controversy over work on high-voltage transmission towers in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, continues with potential solutions running into further problems.Last week, Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Han Jin-hyun said that the government and the ruling Saenuri Party will ensure that compensation promised by the Korea Electric Power Corporation is paid.The Ministry of Strategy and Finance, however, has taken the position that the compensation should be funded by KEPCO, as tho

Korean director Moon Byoung-gon on Sunday won the Short Film Palme d’Or at Cannes International Film Festival, which ran May 15-26, for his film “Safe.” Moon is the first Korean to win the honor.“I am bewildered and didn’t know if I would win a prize,” the 30-year-old director was quoted as saying after the awards ceremony in France. “I am all the more happy to receive this award because I had no expectation that I’d win.”The 13-minute short is described as a grim portrait of a man addicted to g

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, once seen as the potential prime minister of Japan, has become a lightning rod for international criticism with his remorseless remarks about the victims of wartime sexual slavery.The 43-year-old, who co-chairs the nationalist Japan Restoration Party, earlier said frontline military brothels during World War II were necessary to give troops relief and maintain their discipline. He also suggested U.S. troops in Okinawa use adult establishments to help curb sex crimes.T

The new leadership of Woori Financial Group, which is expected to take the initiative in privatizing the state-funded firm, will take over in the coming weeks.The group’s personnel affairs committee said Thursday that it nominated incumbent bank unit CEO Lee Soon-woo as the new chairman.At a news briefing, nominee Lee clarified that he would not always adhere to the past sale project of a block deal for the taxpayers’ money-injected financial group.He clarified that the group ― in coordination w

CJ Group chairman Lee Jay-hyun and his siblings are at the heart of the prosecution’s ongoing investigation into slush fund allegations against the food and entertainment conglomerate.The nation’s 14th-largest business group is suspected of amassing tens of billions of won in offshore slush funds by evading taxes through transactions with overseas affiliates, adding to a series of similar allegations raised over the past few years. The prosecution on Tuesday searched CJ offices and the residence