Samsung, Korea’s largest conglomerate, is the first thing that comes to mind for many Europeans when they think of South Korea, according to the state-run Korea Investment Promotion Agency on Wednesday.In a KOTRA survey of some 480 Europeans in seven countries, including Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, Samsung topped the list as the most recognized item associated with Asia’s fourth largest economy.KOTRA surveyed 249 ordinary European citizens and 232 professionals, including journalists,

Nearly two out of five South Korean companies listed on the main bourse are expected to see their earnings fall on-year in 2013, data showed Wednesday, due to losses in shipbuilders and steelmakers.According to the data by market researcher FnGuide, 92 out of 231 listed firms for which three or more brokerage houses have offered earnings forecasts for 2013 are anticipated to suffer a decline in their operating profits.Market watchers said the stagnant earnings outlook came as the prolonged globa

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited an Army unit and urged the military to maintain high combat readiness, its state media reported Wednesday, amid heightened tension on the peninsula following the shocking execution of the leader's uncle. Kim visited the Command of Large Combined Unit 526 near the western port city of Nampo on Christmas Eve, the day when his late father Kim Jong-il was appointed as supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. "H

Through financial turmoil, court battles and humbling setbacks in recent years, Liverpool has risen to the top this season and reached a noteworthy milestone in England.Ahead of Arsenal on goal difference, the Reds lead the Premier League heading into the traditional Boxing Day games on Thursday.“It is a nostalgic time and people always want to know where the team is at around Christmas Day,” Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said Tuesday.  “It is brilliant for supporters. I am not going to deny

U.N. investigators discovered a mass grave in a rebel-held city in South Sudan, the United Nations said Tuesday, as a possible opening occurred for negotiations to avert civil war in the world’s newest country where ethnic violence has erupted.In New York, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to beef up its peacekeeping force in South Sudan. It condemned targeted violence against civilians and ethnic communities and called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities and the immediate openi

Pope Francis lauded Jesus’ humble beginning as a poor and vulnerable baby as he celebrated his first Christmas Eve Mass as pontiff Tuesday in St. Peter’s Basilica.“You are immense, and you made yourself small; you are rich, and you made yourself poor; you are all-powerful and you made yourself vulnerable,” Francis said of Jesus as he delivered his homily in the basilica, packed with faithful.Francis has dedicated much of his nine-month-old papacy to drawing attention to the plight of the poor, o

The U.S. government on Tuesday noted South Korea's role in global efforts to counter piracy in waters off Somalia.South Korea is among more than 80 member states of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, a voluntary ad hoc forum created in 2009 under a U.N. Security Council resolution.The Contact Group has five working groups aimed at drawing on a wide range of international expertise and taking a problem-solving approach to piracy in cooperation with Somali officials.South Korea

Virginia's state legislators next month will begin discussing bills on naming the waters between South Korea and Japan, which are at loggerheads over their shared history.There are three pending bills which require public schools in the state, just south of Washington D.C., to use textbooks identifying the East Asian body of water as the East Sea, as well as the Sea of Japan. Shortly after convening next year's session on Jan. 8, Virginia's legislature is expected to start discussing the bills,

Hyundai Motor, which together with its affiliate Kia Motors ranks fifth in global vehicle sales, has set a new milestone in the all-important Chinese market, with its car sales surpassing the 1 million mark for the first time this year. Its Chinese joint venture Beijing Hyundai said Wednesday that they are on track to sell more than 1 million vehicles in China this year, possibly up to 1.03 million by the end of this month. Hyundai, which entered the market back in 2002, has become the second gl

Andres Iniesta signed a three-year contract extension Monday that will keep him at Barcelona at least through the end of the 2017-18 season.The contract includes a clause that from 2018 the midfielder will automatically extend his contract on a yearly basis if he plays in a non-disclosed number of games per season.The 29-year-old Iniesta has helped Barcelona win 21 trophies, including three Champions League titles and six Spanish league titles. He has scored 48 goals for Barcelona.Iniesta has al

Two jailed members of the Russian punk bank Pussy Riot were released Monday following an amnesty law that both described as a Kremlin public relations stunt ahead of the Winter Olympics. Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were granted amnesty last week in a move largely viewed as the Kremlin's attempt to soothe criticism of Russia's human rights record ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February. The third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was released on a suspended sentence months a

Opposition lawmakers accused the military Monday of trying to cover up more pervasive election meddling in last year's presidential poll by purposely carrying out a shoddy investigation into an alleged online smear campaign by the cyber warfare command.The defense ministry last week announced that military prosecutors will indict the director of the psychological warfare unit and 10 other cyber warfare officials for posting political writings in connection with last year's presidential election.

Senior diplomats and defense officials of South Korea and China on Monday exchanged views on recent developments in North Korea after the stunning execution of leader Kim Jong-un's uncle, in their first high-level security talks, a Seoul diplomat said. The so-called "two-plus-two" talks in Beijing had been planned for months, but the North's internal situation following the Dec. 12 execution of Kim's uncle, Jang Song-thaek, topped the agenda, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity