South Korea's two biggest mobile carriers -- SK Telecom Co. and KT Corp. -- said Friday they plan to release the long-awaited iPhone 5 in the local market next week. SK Telecom and KT tweeted they plan to start receiving pre-orders for the Apple device starting at 10 p.m. and officially launch the phone on Dec. 7.The move comes nearly three months after the U.S. smartphone maker, which is facing off against Samsung Electronics Co. in a global patent war, unveiled its first smartphone that runs o

The United Nations voted overwhelmingly Thursday to recognize a Palestinian state, a long-sought victory for the Palestinians and an embarrassing diplomatic defeat for the United States. The resolution upgrading the Palestinians' status to a nonmember observer state at the U.N. was approved by a vote of 138-9, with 41 abstentions, in the 193-member world body.    A Palestinian flag was quickly unfurled on the floor of the General Assembly, behind the Palestinian delegation. In the West Bank city

South Korea's top nuclear envoy left for China Thursday to discuss the recent situation in North Korea, with satellite images suggesting that the North could launch a long-range missile in coming weeks. Lim Sung-nam, Seoul's chief negotiator to six-party talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear ambitions, will meet with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei and other Beijing officials during his two-day trip. It is also Lim's first visit to Beijing since Xi Jinping was officially confirmed as the ne

China's new leader Xi Jinping sent a message to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak saying he hopes to work together with Seoul to further deepen relations between the two countries and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, the presidential office said Wednesday.The message came after Lee offered congratulations on Xi's election earlier this month."China and South Korea are friendly neighboring countries and have seen a marked development in bilateral relations over the past 20 years since est

South Korea said Tuesday it will lower the ceiling of foreign exchange forward positions held by local and foreign banks by 25 percent in a bid to curb the volatility of cross-border capital flows.The move will restrict local branches of foreign banks from holding currency forward deals to 150 percent of their equity capital from the current 200 percent. The ceiling for domestic banks will be lowered to 30 percent from 40 percent, the government said. The move will fully take effect starting on

자신이 임신했다는 사실조차 모르고 있었던 여성이 임신 사실을 안지 6시간 만에 출산하는 황당한 사건이 발생했다.영국 데일리 메일이 최근 보도한 바에 따르면 카운티 더험 출신의 간호사 케이레이 렌윅 (24)씨은 지난 5월, 등의 통증을 치료하기 위해 병원에 찾았다가 자신이 임신 중이라는 사실을 처음 알았다고 한다.그녀는 자신의 연인 대니얼 매지 씨와 첫째 딸 그레이스를 데리고 공원을 찾았다가 극심한 통증을 느끼고 가까운 의료센터를 찾았다. 그곳에서 의사들은 이 통증이 그녀의 임신으로 인한 것임을 알려주었다.렌윅 씨는 확진을 위해 노스 더험 대학 병원을 찾았고 그곳에서 자신이 임신 중일 뿐만 아니라 출산 직전임을 알았다고 한다.그녀는 6시간 후 3.4킬로가 나가는 둘째 딸 루시를 낳았다. 렌윅은 자신이 병원을 찾기 전까지 임신 사실을 전혀 몰랐다고 설명했다. 그녀는 데일리 메일과의 인터뷰에서 출산 3개월 전인 2월에 임신 여부를 알아보는 검사를 했으나 음성으로 나왔고 몸무게가 늘기는커녕

CAIRO (AFP) -- Defiant Egyptian judges hit back at President Mohamed Morsi on Saturday, demanding he reverse a decree giving himself sweeping powers that put him beyond judicial oversight and calling for a nationwide strike.Egypt's Judges Club, a body that represents judges throughout the country, called for "the suspension of work in all courts and prosecution administrations," after several hours of emergency talks in response to what they called Morsi's "ferocious attack on Egyptian justice."

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan on Thursday warned Japan against "shifting to the right," saying Seoul will maintain its vigilance on any attempts by Tokyo to act more confrontationally in territorial and other issues. "Japan has taken an extremely conservative and offensive approach over territorial and other matters and there are concerns that Japan is shifting to the right," Kim told a forum hosted by the Korea Employers Federation. "Overall, the political situation in Japan is sh

A Seoul civic group representing Korean women forced by Japan into sexual slavery during World War II said Wednesday it has developed guides for teachers to use for educating elementary school students on the subject of the wartime victims.According to the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery, copies of the teaching manuals along with DVDs will be distributed free of charge to those willing to use them to teach third to sixth graders about victims of the Japanese sexu

South Korea's growth potential has been almost cut in half since the economy survived the Asian financial crisis, data showed Tuesday, sparking concerns over the lack of drivers for future growth.The potential growth rate of Asia's fourth-largest economy is estimated at an annual 3.7 percent as of this year, compared with 6.1 percent tallied just before the outbreak of the financial turmoil, according to data by the Bank of Korea, Statistics Korea and the Financial Supervisory Service. The figur

최강희 감독이 이끄는 한국 축구대표팀이 올해 마지막 A매치에서 '강호' 호주에 역전패를 당했다.대표팀은 14일 화성종합경기타운 주경기장에서 열린 호주와의 하나은행 초청 축구국가대표팀 친선경기에서 전반 11분 이동국이 선제골을 터뜨렸지만 전반 43분 니키타 루카비치야에게 동점골을 내준 뒤 후반 42분 로버트 콘스와이트에게 역전골을 내줘 1-2로 졌다.이날 패배로 한국은 호주를 상대로 거둔 무패행진을 4경기(3승1무)에서 마감하면서 역대 전적에서도 6승9무8패로 끌려갔다.올해 A매치 일정을 모두 끝낸 한국은 내년 3월26일 카타르와의 2014 브라질 월드컵 최종예선 5차전 홈경기를 시작으로 월드컵 본선 진출에 도전한다.초반 분위기는 한국이 주도했다.첫 골은 '골잡이' 이동국의 발끝에서 터져 나왔다.하지만 한국의 상승세는 전반 21분 이근호가 상대 선수의 태클에 오른쪽 발목을 채여 타박상을 당하면서 꺾이기 시작했다.집중력이 떨어진 한국은 전반 43분 페널티지역 오른쪽을 쇄도한 루카비치야를