Suzanne Scholte, a well-known North Korea human rights activist here, said Thursday the South Korea government was very helpful in recent partially successful rescue efforts for more than a dozen North Korean defectors, mostly in their teens.She said, however, the U.S. government needs to do more to lower the bar for the asylum of North Korean refugees seeking to resettle in the country.Nearly two years ago, Scholte, the head of the Defense Forum Foundation and the North Korea Freedom Coalition,

South Korea's fiscal deficit widened during the first quarter of this year amid the prolonged economic slowdown, the finance ministry said Friday.The consolidated fiscal account, which reflects the central government's total income and expenditure, posted 14.8 trillion won ($13.1 billion) in deficit during the January-March period, widening by 3.5 trillion won from a year earlier, the ministry said.The growing deficit stems in part from decreased tax revenues affected by the slowing growth. The

Syrian soldiers have killed three Westerners, including an American woman and a British man, both Muslims, in northwest Idlib province near the Turkish border, a monitoring group reported late Thursday."They were shot dead during an ambush in the Idlib region and the army found them with maps of military positions," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.The three had apparently been taking photos of military positions on the road between Harim, near the bord

The commanding general of South Korea's elite military academy has offered to retire to take responsibility for a recent sexual assault case on campus, Army officials said Thursday.Army Lt. Gen. Park Nam-soo, head of the Korea Military Academy located in Seoul, said he will leave the military to hold himself accountable for the sexual assault allegation surrounding a senior male cadet, Army officials said. The military police have arrested the cadet, who is being accused of sexually assaulting a

행복의 감정을 느끼게 해주는 것으로 알려진 화학물질인 ‘세로토닌’의 분비를 막은 쥐의 성적 기호가 바뀌는 것으로 관찰되어 눈길을 끌고 있다.북경 대학교 연구진이 암컷 쥐를 유전적으로 조작해 세로토닌을 생성하거나 이에 반응하지 못하도록 하는 실험을 했다. 그 결과 변형된 쥐는 암컷의 생식기 냄새에 반응을 했으며, 짝짓기 상대로 수컷보다는 암컷을 선호하는 것으로 나타났다.연구진은 “우리는 성호르몬에 손을 대지 않고도 유전적인 조작을 통해 성적 기호를 바꿀 수 있다는 것을 보여주었다. 이 결과는 세로토닌이 성적 기호와 관련이 있다는 것을 보여준다”고 분석했다.스탠포드 대학의 신경학자 사이몬 르베이는 이 결과를 보고 세로토닌 역시 성적 기호를 결정하는 메커니즘에 영향을 주는 여러 화학 신호 중 하나일 수 있다고 밝혔다. 이 연구는 미국 국립과학원 회보(Proceedings of National Academy of Science)에 실렸다. <관련 영문 기사>‘Happy chemical’ m

South Korea has asked U.N. human rights agencies to help ensure the safety of nine North Korean defectors who were repatriated to the North from China after being caught in Laos, a senior Seoul official said Thursday. The North Koreans, aged between 15 and 23, fled their country to Laos via China last month. They were forced to return home on Tuesday, a day after they were deported to China from Laos after being rounded up by the Lao authorities on May 10.South Korea had appealed to both Laos an

Three foreign activists disrobed in front of the Justice Ministry on Wednesday to protest against the jailing of a Tunisian member of Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN, quickly attracting a crowd of offended Tunisians before the three women were hustled away by police.The trio, one German and two French, approached the entrance to the ministry wearing coats which they took off, revealing naked torsos scrawled with “Breasts Feed Revolution.” Wearing just jean shorts, the women chanted in English “Fr

President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to adopt a joint declaration that includes the "denuclearization" of North Korea, after their summit talks set for late next month, a diplomatic source in Seoul said Thursday. South Korea and China have been in the midst of fine-tuning the language to be used in the joint declaration, the source said on the condition of anonymity. Park is scheduled to visit China late next month for her first summit with Xi since taking office i

이재용 삼성전자 부회장이 아들의 영훈 국제중 입학과 관련해 물의를 빚어 죄송하다고 30일 밝혔다.이 부회장은 사과문에서 "제 아들의 학교 문제로 물의를 빚어 죄송하다"면서 "이 문제로 논란이 일면서 제 아이가 학교를 그만두는 것이  옳다고 생각했다"고 밝혔다. 영훈국제중 입학과 관련해 특혜논란 및 부정 입학 의혹에 휩싸인 이 부회장의 아들은 결국 자퇴를 한 것으로 알려졌다.지난 1월, 영훈초등학교를 졸업한 이 부회장의 아들이 한부모가정 자녀 자격으로 사회적 배려자 전형에 합격한 것이 알려지자 이를 두고 논란이 일었다. 일각에서는 “이 부회장의 가정 역시 한부모 가정이기 때문에 정당한 합격”이라고 주장한 반면 다른 한쪽에서는 “삼성 그룹의 후계자로 꼽히는 이 부회장의 자녀가 사회적으로 혜택받지 못한 가정이라고 보는 것은 무리”라고 주장했다.이를 계기로 서울시교육청이 영훈국제중의 입시 비리 의혹을 감사한 뒤 고발하면서 검찰 수사도 시작됐다.한편 이 부회장의 아들의 입학을 두고 부정입학이

Samsung Electronic Co. vice chairman Lee Jay-yong publicly apologized on Thursday for a controversy involving his son’s admission to the Younghoon International Middle School.“I am sorry for causing public concern involving my son’s school admission,” said Lee, heir-apparent to Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung Group. “I think it is right for my son to leave the school.Lee’s 13-year-old son did not show up at Younghoon on Wednesday. Disputes arose in January over his admission to the elite in

South Korean display maker Samsung Display Co. kept its dominant position in the market for liquid crystal display (LCD) panels that are 9.1 inches or smaller in the first quarter, data showed Thursday.Sales of smaller display panels by Samsung Display reached $2.24 billion in the January-March period, accounting for 23.5 percent of the global market, according to the data by market researcher DisplaySearch. The first-quarter figure is up 28.5 percent from $1.75 billion in sales a year earlier,

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Thursday, led by gains in auto-related shares, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 3.1 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,004.30 in the first 15 minutes of trading. No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor gained nearly 1 percent, with its smaller affiliate Kia Motors jumping nearly 2.4 percent. Its auto-parts maker Hyundai Mobis also advanced 1.2 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,127.85 won against the U.S. dollar a

Britain said Thursday it has sent a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with new information on three further incidents of alleged chemical weapons use by the Syrian government.Britain's U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said his government has continued to provide new information to the secretary-general and the head of the U.N. team Ban appointed to investigate alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria.The Syrian government asked Ban to investigate an alleged chemical weapons attack by rebe