A leading US law firm has been allowed to offer legal consultancy services in South Korea, the Ministry of Justice said Sunday.Latham & Watkins was permitted on Thursday to open the branch in Seoul to provide international law-related consultancy services and other services with local law firms, it said.  (Screen capture of the homepage)Latham & Watkins, founded in 1934, is the world's highest-grossing law firm, with US$2.65 billion in annual revenue.The firm is considered one of the most presti

ISTANBUL - Suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Turkish city of Gaziantep near the Syrian border on Sunday, causing an unknown number of casualties, after police raided their sleeper cell, state media reported.The bombers detonated their explosives when they saw they were likely to be captured during an operation by Turkish security forces in the southeastern city, Anadolu news agency reported.  (AFP)Media reports spoke of casualties without providing precise numbers.Witnesses told the priv

Golfer Carlota Ciganda of Spain earned her first LPGA Tour win in South Korea on Sunday in a playoff.Ciganda defeated Alison Lee of the United States with a birdie on the first playoff hole to take the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship at Sky 72 Golf & Resort's Ocean Course, just next to Incheon International Airport. The two players ended the regulation tied at 10-under 278 on the rainy day, and Ciganda, who rallied from a five-shot deficit but also wasted a five-stroke lead on the back nine, nee

Shares held by foreign investors at South Korea's top30 listed firm have exceeded 315 trillion won (US$278 billion), data showed Sunday.According to the Financial Supervisory Service data submitted to the National Assembly, shares held by foreign investors were 67 percent of the total share ownership as of September. Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. showed the highest ratio of foreign ownership at 36 percent, the data showed.Shares held by foreign investors exceeded 10 trillion at SK hynix, th

The LG Twins defeated the Nexen Heroes 4-1 Sunday to move within one win of reaching the next playoff round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).Catcher Yoo Kang-nam hammered a two-run shot for his first postseason home run, and starter David Huff tossed seven strong innings in steady drizzle, as the Twins took a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-five first round action at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul.Game 4 is back at Jamsil at 6:30 p.m. Monday.Both starters, LG's Huff and Nexen's Shin Jae-young, w

The country‘s Maritime Minister Kim Young-suk said Wednesday the government will form a tripartite team along with labor and management to maintain employment of workers at cash-strapped Hanjin Shipping Co. amid a cargo chaos.　The remark was made during a meeting with Lee Yo-han, the labor union chief of the ailing shipper, and Yeom Kyung-doo, chief of the Federation of Korean Seafarers’ Unions, at the regional office of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in the southeastern port city of Busan

STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for developing the world‘s smallest machines, work that could revolutionize computer technology and lead to a new type of battery.　Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage, British-born Fraser Stoddart and Dutch scientist Bernard ``Ben’‘ Feringa share the 8 million kronor ($930,000) prize for the ``design and synthesis of molecular machines,’‘ the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.　 　Machines at the molecular level are 1,

RECALL BEGINS -- A customer visits a SK Telecom retailer in Seoul to exchange his Galaxy Note 7 smartphone on Monday. Samsung Electronics initiated its replacement program for Galaxy Note 7 large-sized smartphones in Korea with local mobile carriers as part of its global recall of the new smartphones Monday. (Yonhap)

The British-American TV series “The Night Manager” on Thursday triumphed and megahit South Korean military romance “Descendants of the Sun” captured three prizes in the local drama category at this year‘s Seoul International Drama Awards.　Producers of the series received the Grand Prize at the 11th Seoul International Drama Awards during the ceremony at the KBS Hall in Seoul’s Yeouido. 　“The Night Manager” is based on the 1993 novel of the same name by John le Carre about a former British soldie

South Korea said Thursday it has no plan to ban the use of Samsung Electronics Co.‘s Galaxy Note 7 on planes following the company’s global recall of the smartphones for battery problems.　The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said that it has been reviewing whether to prevent people from carrying the devices onto planes over concerns they could pose a risk to the operation of flights. Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (Samsung Electronics)　“We have not seen the need to ban the use of the smartp

North Korea’s No. 2 man arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday to attend the Summer Olympics opening ceremony.　Choe Ryong-hae, vice chairman of North Korea‘s State Affairs Commission, landed at Galeao International Airport Thursday morning. He’d flown through China and Cuba and arrived in Sao Paulo before taking a short flight to Rio. (Yonhap)　The 31st Summer Games will open Friday. Choe is expected to stay here for about a week.　North Korea will be represented by 31 athletes in nine sports in Ri

South Korea‘s top general said Thursday North Korea will face strong retaliation that could severely undermine its regime if it stages another provocation.South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin made the remarks during his visit to a marine unit and naval patrol boat detachment in Yeonpyeong Island and other front-line islands. The four-star general checked the units' preparedness to counter military provocations along the Northern Limit Line (NLL), an official statem

South Korea said Friday it has suspended customs clearance for some genetically altered wheat from the United States due to safety concerns.The measure came as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture informed Seoul that an unapproved strain of genetically modified wheat was found in the western state of Washington, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.It said the distribution and sales of wheat already imported from the state will