South Korean stocks began nearly 1 percent lower Thursday, as the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest minutes showed little change of mind about tightening its monetary policy, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 17.81 points, or 0.95 percent, to 1,849.65 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Most large-cap shares drove down the main index, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 0.5 percent and the world's No. 1 shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries losing 1

The Federal Reserve appears on track to slow its bond purchases by the end of this year if the economy continues to improve. But it remains divided over the exact timing of the move.That's the message from the minutes of the Fed's July 30-31 meeting released Wednesday.A few policymakers said they wanted to assess more economic data before deciding when to scale back the central bank's $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage bond purchases. These policymakers “emphasized the importance of be

The U.N. Security Council called Wednesday for “a thorough, impartial and prompt investigation” of the latest allegation of chemical weapons use in Syria.The council backed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's determination to ensure a “thorough investigation” of the alleged attack on the eastern suburbs of Damascus that killed at least 100 people.U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said earlier that the secretary-general was “shocked” at Wednesday's alleged use of chemical weapons and wants all r

U.S. soldier Bradley Manning was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in prison for giving hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, the largest such leak in American history.The military judge didn't offer any explanation for the sentence. Manning stood at attention and appeared not to react.The closely watched case has seen the 25-year-old called both a whistleblower and a traitor, and it opened a fierce debate on national security an

Egypt's prime minister ordered Wednesday that deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak be placed under house arrest after he's released from prison following more than two years in detention. The announcement came hours after a court ordered Mubarak be released for the first time since he was first detained in April 2011, a move threatening to further stoke tension in a deeply divided Egypt. Many feared Mubarak's release would amplify Islamist allegations that last month's military coup was a step toward

Four iconic female members of Congress will travel to South Korea early next month during a summer recess, congressional sources said Wednesday.They are Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Reps. Grace Meng (D-NY), and Terri Sewell (D-AL)."All of them are symbolic figures in the 113th Congress in terms of representing minority groups," a source said. "Also, they have a good understanding on Korea."Gillibrand is said to have potential to become a political star like Hil

FC Seoul played to a 1-1 draw on the road Wednesday against Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia in the first leg of their quarterfinals at the AFC Champions League.Striker Dejan Damjanovic gave the reigning K League Classic champion the lead after 10 minutes at King Abdulaziz Sport City Stadium, but Sultan Al-Sawadi tied the score in the 80th minute to salvage a draw for the Saudi Professional League club.The two teams will play their second leg at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sept. 18. The aggregate score wi

Nearly eight years have passed since South Korea began developing its latest multipurpose satellite, but the fate of the much anticipated project will be determined in just 15 minutes after liftoff, launch organizers said Thursday.The Arirang 5 satellite was set to be launched at 8:39 p.m. (11:39 p.m. KST) from Russia’s Yasny launch site, some 1,800 kilometers southeast of Moscow, using a Dnepr three-stage rocket converted from Russia‘s conventional intercontinental ballistic missile.In 9.2 seco

박지성 MOM 선정 소식이 전해졌다. 8년 만에 PSV 에인트호벤 복귀전을 치른 박지성이 외신으로부터 ‘경기 최고의 선수(MOM, Man of the Match)’에 오른 것. 박지성은 21일(이하 한국시각) 네덜란드 에인트호벤 홈구장 필립스 스타디움에서 열린 AC밀란과의 유럽축구연맹(UEFA) 챔피언스리그 예선 플레이오프 1차전에 선발 출전, 68분 동안 맹활약하며 팀의 1대1 무승부에 큰 역할을 했다.네덜란드 에인트호번소재 필립스 스타디움의 유럽축구연맹(UEFA) 챔피언스리그 플레이오프 1차전 AC밀란(이탈리아)과의 홈경기에서 박지성(왼쪽)이 상대 필립 멕세스와 공을 다투고 있다. (AP-연합뉴스) 이날 박지성은 오른쪽 측면 공격수로 나서서 공격과 수비를 오가며 녹슬지 않은 기량을 과시했다. 과거 맨체스터 유나이티드 전성기를 떠올리게 하는 모습이었다. 박지성이 68분 뛴 거리는 8820m로, 풀타임을 뛰었다면 12km에 달하는 활동량이다. 골닷컴 영국판은 박지성에서 “박지성이 P

Japan's nuclear regulator upgraded a radioactive water leak at the crippled Fukushima plant to a level three "serious incident" Wednesday, its highest warning in two years, as the operator scrambled to contain the impact on the environment.The re-evaluation came a day after operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said some 300 tons of radioactive water was believed to have leaked from a tank at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. It is the worst such leak since the crisis began in M

South Korea ranked 21st among global peers in terms of the percentage of population with Internet access last year, a United Nations agency for information and communication technologies said Wednesday.According to a report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 84.1 percent of South Koreans had access to the Internet in 2012, edging up from 83.8 percent tallied a year earlier. The research was conducted on 211 countries.Although South Korea ranked 5th in 2004 at 72.7 percent, its r

South Korea has the second-highest level of social friction in major economies and its economic costs are estimated at up to 246 trillion won ($220 billion), a research fellow said Wednesday.South Korea's social friction index stood at 0.72 as of 2010, the highest level only behind Turkey whose index stood at 1.27, said Park Jun, a research fellow for the Samsung Economic Research Institute, a private think tank of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group.Park made the comment in a public sy

South Korean stocks opened marginally higher Wednesday amid uncertainties on the U.S. monetary policy that continues to keep investors directionless following a steep fall in the previous session, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 1.65 points, or 0.09 percent, to 1,889.50 in the first 15 minutes of trading. During that period of time, the main index bobbed in and out of positive territory, with foreigners and institutions dumping stocks while retail inv

The Hanbit Nuclear Reactor 6, located in Younggwang, South Jeolla Province, suddenly halted operations on Wednesday afternoon due to mechanical failure, adding up to the concerns on electricity shortage.“The reactor suddenly went out of order and had to be suspended at 2:44 p.m.,” said an official of the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corporation.As a result, the nation’s backup power level dropped from 4.5 million kilowatt level to 3.7 million kilowatts as of 3 p.m., which triggered the phase 3 al