U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Chinese President Xi Jinping Friday as part of President Barack Obama's efforts to prod Beijing to do more to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.The U.S. is also encouraging China to peacefully settle its territorial rows with Japan and a number of Southeast Asian nations.Beginning the meeting with Xi at the Great Hall of the People, Kerry conveyed "good greetings" from President Barack Obama, according to an initial pool report for a smal

A former U.S. ambassador to South Korea said Friday he expressed "regret" to North Korea over its cancellation of a U.S. envoy's visit regarding jailed American Kenneth Bae and urged the North to release Bae "soon.""When we heard that he was not going to be released, I expressed regret and said that I hope he would be released soon," Donald Gregg told reporters upon his arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport after wrapping up a five-day visit to North Korea.Gregg, who heads a U.S. civi

South Korea's public sector debt amounted to more than 820 trillion won ($768.9 billion) in 2012, government data showed Friday, renewing worries over the financial health of public organizations. According to the data provided by the finance ministry, the public sector debt owed by central and provincial governments and non-financial state-run enterprises came to 821.1 trillion won as of end-2012. The amount represents 64.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product.No comparison figures w

Ssangyong Engineering and Construction Co., which was placed under court protection early this year, has effectively secured three public work projects worth 107 billion won ($100.8 million), industry sources said Friday.The sources, who declined to be identified, said the orders issued by the state-run Korea Expressway Corp., and Pohang Regional Maritime Affairs and Port Administration are expected to be finalized next week.The construction projects include two sections of a highway connecting

President Park Geun-hye expressed shock Friday after two handicapped people were rescued last week from a salt farm after years of slavery-like labor, saying she can't believe such an incident happened in the 21st century.The two in their 40s, one of them mentally handicapped and the other visually handicapped, were coaxed with job promises into the salt farm on an island off the southwest coast in 2008 and 2012, respectively, and were forced to work like slaves with little sleep and no pay. Att

Dozens of local cartoons that portray Korean women forced to serve as sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II will be displayed in South Korea following a successful exhibition in France, organizers said Friday.The exhibition will be held at the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency in Bucheon, just southwest of Seoul, on Feb. 18-March 1, featuring more than 20 cartoons, illustrations and videos telling the tragic stories of former sex slaves, a municipal cultural agency said.The agency

South Korea's financial regulator said Friday that three card firms will have their businesses suspended for three months starting next week as punishment for a recent massive data breach.Last month, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) revealed that some 20 million clients' personal data, including bank account numbers, addresses and credit ratings, had been leaked from three credit card firms -- KB Kookmin, NH Nonghyup and Lotte. There was also a breach at a bank that shared its customer da

South Korea will use Friday's high-level talks with North Korea to make sure that the planned reunions for families separated since the Korean War will take place next week as scheduled regardless of military exercises with the United States, a government official said.The two Koreas plan to hold family reunions from Feb. 20-25.But the plan was thrown into doubt this week as North Korea said in the first high-level talks with the South in seven years that the reunions cannot take place while U.S

Daum Communications Corp., the operator of South Korea's second-most visited portal, said Friday its fourth-quarter net income fell 59.8 percent on-year.Net profit came to 5.5 billion won ($5.24 million) in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to the 13.8 billion won posted a year earlier, Daum said in a regulatory filing.Revenue gained 22.6 percent on-year to 143.7 billion won in the October-December period, while operating profit sank 31.4 percent to 15 billion won over the cited period.For al

South Korean short tracker Park Seung-hi advanced to the semifinals in the women's 500 meters on Thursday at the Sochi Winter Olympics, while her two male teammates moved on in the 1,000m.Park was the only one among three South Koreans to survive the quarterfinals at Iceberg Skating Palace. Her teammates, Shim Suk-hee and Kim A-lang, came up short.In the quarters, 16 skaters were paired into four groups of four, with the top two from each group advancing to the next stage.Park finished atop the

박근혜 대통령은 13일 러시아에 귀화해 이번 소 치 동계올림픽에 출전한 쇼트트랙 안현수 선수와 관련, "안 선수의 문제가 파벌주의 , 줄세우기, 심판부정 등 체육계 저변에 깔린 부조리와 구조적 난맥상에 의한 것은 아닌지 되돌아봐야 한다"고 말했다. 박 대통령은 이날 경기도 안산의 서울예술대학교에서 열린  교육부·문화체육관 광부 신년 업무보고 자리에서 모두발언을 통해 안 선수는 쇼트트랙 선수로서 최고의 실력을 가지고 있지만 우리나라에서는 자신의 꿈을 펼치지 못하고 다른 나라에서 선 수 활동을 하고 있다. 그 이유가 무엇인가"라며 이같이 지적했다. 박 대통령은 "지금 우리는 각 분야의 재능있는 선수들을 발굴하고, 그 꿈을  실 현할 수 있도록 최선을 다해 돕는 사심 없는 지도자와 가르침이 필요하다"며  "선수 를 발굴함에 있어 차별하는 지도자는 훌륭한 인재들의 역량을 사장시키고 우리의 체 육경쟁력을 스스로 깎아내리고 있는 것"이라고 강조했다. 박 대통령은 그러면서 "문체부에서는 선수들이

중국 베이징의 심각한 공기 오염이 이미  '사람이 살기에 부적합한 수준'에 근접했다고 중국 정부 연구기관이 지적했다.13일 홍콩 성도일보(星都日報) 등에 따르면 상하이(上海) 사회과학원은 전날 발 표한 '국제도시 청서: 국제도시 발전보고서'에서 전 세계 40개 대도시 가운데  베이 징의 생태 지수가 러시아 모스크바에 이어 두 번째로 가장 낮은 것으로 나타났다며 이같이 밝혔다.생태 지수는 환경 지수, 거주 지수, 오염 지수 등 3개 세부 지수를 종합해 평가 한 지표다. 베이징은 거주 지수가 평균 수준에 크게 못 미쳐 '거주에 부적합한 도시'로  분 류됐으며, 환경 지수도 평균 수준의 절반 정도에 그쳐 역시 기준치에 미달한 것으로 나타났다.보고서는 모스크바는 긴 겨울과 심한 추위 같은 가혹한 자연환경 때문에 생태 지수가 낮게 나타난 것이라고 설명했다. 이번 조사에서 가장 생태 환경이 좋은 곳은 스웨덴의 스톡홀름으로 나타났다.이 보고서는 경제·사회·문화·생태적 요소 등을 종합한 결과 '세