ROME -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye met Pope Francis in the Vatican on Friday as she arrived in Rome to reciprocate his visit to South Korea in August. She thanked the pope for his dedication to promoting world peace, and asked for his prayers for peace on the Korean Peninsula, which has been divided for more than 60 years.She was set to meet Italian leaders later in the afternoon to strengthen diplomatic ties and seek broader partnership for the future.Rome was the final destination of

South Korean President Park Geun-hye attended the U.N. Climate Summit held in New York on Tuesday to discuss ways to combat climate change with top global leaders and to reaffirm the nation’s commitment to the global initiative. The climate summit was held to take joint action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a major cause of global warming. South Korea has vowed to take efforts to cut the level of carbon dioxide gas emissions by 30 percent from business-as-usual levels by 2020.Park arrived

Two American aid workers infected with Ebola are getting an experimental drug so novel it has never been tested for safety in humans and was only identified as a potential treatment earlier this year, thanks to a research program by the U.S. government and the military.The workers, Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly, are improving, although it's impossible to know whether the treatment is the reason or they are recovering on their own, as others who have survived Ebola have done. Brantly is bei

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, two of the world’s biggest smartphone makers, are gearing up for the next big battle with Apple as they are likely to unveil new smartphones before the much-anticipated release of the California-based firm’s iPhone 6 in September.Rumor has it that Samsung Electronics plans to roll out a new smartphone — reportedly named Galaxy S5 F or Galaxy S5 Alpha — sporting a premium metal body, Samsung’s Exynos 5 Octa chipset, a 6-mm thick frame and a 4.7-inch Super A

Chinese visitors pose at Shinsegae Centum City in Busan. (Shinsegae Group)Armed with the world’s largest department store, Busan has been drawing Chinese big spenders as one of the most favored shopping destinations in Korea.“A growing number of Chinese visitors are boosting sales of imported luxury goods, made-in-Korea electronics devices and local beauty products,” said an official from the Busan branch of Shinsegae department store. Shinsegae Group, a leading retail giant in Korea, opened Shi

 

The hallways of Seoul Gyeongun School, a polling station in central Seoul, was packed with voters Wednesday afternoon. The majority were senior citizens in their 60s and 70s, some in wheelchairs, as well as young women in their 20s.Among the voters were mothers with their young children, young couples holding hands and a restaurant worker wearing an apron, having just left work. Benches were provided for voters to sit on while waiting. Many fanned themselves with papers, trying to keep cool in t

Early results indicated Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon would score a resounding win against his conservative rival Chung Mong-joon as the ruling Saenuri Party and main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy battled it out in the local elections with seven of the 17 major mayoral and gubernatorial races being contested tightly.Buoyed by the highest-ever early voting rate, this year’s local elections are to see the highest voter participation since the first local elections were held in 1995. A

EXO-M leader Kris (S.M.Entertainment)While the whereabouts of K-pop boy band EXO-M’s Kris remains unknown, some music watchers reportedly claimed that the idol star had attempted to signal his intention to leave the group before he sued his agency, SM Entertainment.“Kris has broken away from the team before, so the agency‘s staff and fellow members found it difficult to bear,” one source told a local media outlet. The Chinese-born-Canadian allegedly stayed abroad without joining the team for pra