A key member of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party embroiled in the ongoing internal feud has made clear he has no intention of giving up his parliamentary seat, sources said Saturday.   Talks to convince Lee Seok-gi to step down have made littleheadway, according to Lee Jeong-mi, a spokeswoman for the party'semergency committee set up to deal with allegations of widespreadirregulariti

The 1980 Gwangju uprising played a significant role in helping move forward the democratization process in South Korea, a poll conducted by a memorial foundation showed Saturday.   The May 18 Memorial Foundation said the nationwide survey of725 people showed 65.8 percent of the respondents saying thepopular revolts and the subsequent bloody military crackdown in andaround the city of Gwangju helpe

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed the 2013 national defense authorization bill that recommends the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.   The non-binding amendment approved by the House reflects theRepublican Party's push to get the incumbent Obama administrationto take a firmer stance against North Korea's nuclear weapons threat.   The Republicans who

Facebook stumbled on its first trading day Friday as shares ended barely above the starting price after a glitch-plagued market debut on the Nasdaq that failed to live up to its enormous hype.   The stock, priced at $38 on Thursday in the largest-ever initial public offering for a technology firm, eked out a gain of just 0.61 percent to end at $38.23, amid record volume of more than 575 million sh

 A Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 on a demonstration flight with 46 people on board went missing south of the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Wednesday, a search and rescue official said.   "The plane disappeared from the radar around the Bogor area. We are still looking for it and we are uncertain whether it crashed," said Gagah Prakoso, spokesman for the national search and rescue agency.   The plane

Apple Inc. filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronic Co. Friday, accusing the South Koran company of infringing its patented technologies used in making its iconic smartphone, the iPhone.   In a complaint filed with the Seoul Central District Court, Apple requested that Samsung Electronics be stopped from selling a line of its touch screen smartphones and a tablet PC that hit the local and global

South Korean figure skating star Kim Yu-na said Friday she will participate in the world championships rescheduled and relocated from quake-stricken Japan to take place in Russia late next month.   In a statement released by her Seoul-based agency, All That Sports, Kim said she is looking forward to training for the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships, which will be held in Moscow from April 2

South Korean activists on Thursday called off their plan to fly leaflets denouncing North Korea this weekend, citing personal matters for a key activist involved in the activity.   "A family member of a senior official of an activist group has passed away, and we've decided to suspend our plan temporarily," said Choi Sung-yong, head of a group of South Koreans whose family members have been abduct

 LONDON (AFP) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden to face rape and sexual assault claims, a British judge ruled Thursday after throwing out arguments that he would face an unfair trial.   Lawyers for Assange immediately said they would appeal, setting up a legal battle through Britain's appeal courts that could postpone the 39-year-old Australian's ultimate fate for mont

“Hamheung: the Hometown of Joseon Royal Family”: Hamheung, the central city in the northeast of Hamgyeong Province, used to be regarded as “an uncultivated place far from the capital” before the mid-17th century. However, it steadily developed until it was later recognized as the hometown of the Joseon Royal Family as it is where Yi Seonggye, the founder of the Joseon dynasty, spent his youth. Aro