Female workers at South Korea's major brokerage firms got paid nearly half the salaries of their male colleagues in the first half of 2016, official data showed Friday.The average pay of workers at the 20 largest brokerages by asset stood at 48 million won ($43,000) during the six months, according to the regulatory filing system of the Financial Services Commission.By gender, male workers earned an average of 61 million won, while female ones earned 35 million won.It means men made more than 4

A Britain-based senior North Korean diplomat directly flew to South Korea after expressing his wish to defect to the Seoul government, a source said Friday.Thae Yong-ho, who served as a minister at North Korea's embassy in London, and his family arrived in South Korea late last month without going through a third country, according to the source familiar with the matter.The 55-year-old Thae, known as the No. 2 man at the North's embassy, has become one of the highest-level North Korean diplomats

An online pop-up store featuring leading South Korean fashion brands has been opened on the largest online fashion-focused portal in Southeast Asia to help Korean design houses enter the Southeast Asian market, industry officials said Friday.The "Premium Korean Fashion" pop-up shop was launched in Singapore the previous day and will be open till October in Zalora sites in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan, according to the officials at the Korea Trade-Investme

Powered by better-than-expected market responses for the new Galaxy Note phablet, expectations for a continued recovery of earnings have propelled shares of Samsung Electronics Co. to an all-time high, after surging more than 30 percent this year. Shares of Samsung, the world's largest maker of smartphones, jumped 4.7 percent on Thursday to close at 1,640,000 won ($1,480), a record closing high, and traded at a new intraday record of 1,643,000 won per share in early Friday trade. The stock rally

태아 소두증을 유발하는 것으로 알려진 지카 바이러스가 성인에게도 뇌 손상을 일으킬 수 있다는 연구 결과가 나왔다. 18일(현지시간) 워싱턴포스트(WP)에 따르면 미국 연구진은 쥐를 대상으로 한 실 험을 통해 지카 바이러스가 학습과 기억에 중요한 뇌세포에 악영향을 줄 수 있다는 증거를 발견했다.  (123RF)그동안 지카는 주로 태아의 뇌세포에 치명적인 영향을 줘 소두증 태아 출산을 유발하는 것으로 알려졌다.태아 단계에서 뇌를 만드는 줄기세포 형태의 신경계 전구세포가 지카의 공격을 받으면 뇌의 정상적인 성장이 이뤄지지 않는 것이다.성인들의 신경세포는 지카에 저항력이 있는 것으로 알려졌지만 일부 신경계 전구세포는 성인의 뇌에도 여전히 남아 치명적인 영향을 미칠 수 있는 것으로 확인됐다.연구진은 지카에 감염된 쥐들의 뇌에서 세포들이 죽어 나가고 학습과 기억을 관장하는 새로운 신경세포들의 증식이 감소하는 현상을 찾아냈다. 공동연구에 참여한 미 록펠러대학의 조지프 글리슨 교수는 "우리는 (성

박근혜 대통령을 풍자하는 전단을 살포한 혐의로 기소된 팝아티스트 이하(48·본명 이병하)씨가 벌금형을 선고 받았다.서울중앙지법 형사17단독 박사랑 판사는 19일 경범죄처벌법 위반 등의 혐의로 기소된 이씨에게 벌금 200만원을, 함께 기소된 연극배우 한모(38)씨에게 벌금 20만원을 각각 선고했다.  문제의 풍자 전단 (온라인 커뮤니티)박 판사는 "피고인들은 현 정부 정책에 대한 정치적 의사 표현이라며 정당행위라고 주장하지만 전단 수량이나 살포 방법, 장소 등에 비춰보면 정당행위로 보이지 않는다"고 유죄를 인정했다.박 판사는 "전단 살포 방법 외에 피고인들이 예술적, 정치적 표현의 자유를 실현할 다른 수단과 방법이 없었다고 보기도 어렵다"고 지적했다.이씨 등은 자신들이 뿌린 전단이나 벽보는 옥외광고물 관리법의 적용 대상이 아니라고도 주장했지만 박 판사는 "비영리 목적으로 예술적, 정치적 의견을 표현한 것 이라 해도 광고물에 해당한다"고 판단했다.박 판사는 이씨가 2014년 10월 서울

자메이카 선수 우사인 볼트가 19일(한국시간) 남자 200m 결승에서 19초78을 기록, 3연패를 이루었다.　　야심차게 노렸던 18초대는 아쉽게도 달성하지 못했다. 현재 세계 최단 기록은 19초19이다.　 (우사인볼트 인스타그램)　볼트의 뒤를 이어 캐나다의 앙드레 드 그라세가 2위, 프랑스의 크리스토프 르메이트르가 3위를 기록했다. 　　이번 200m 결승엔 우사인 볼트(자메이카), 라숀 메릿(미국), 앙드레 드 그라세(캐나다), 크리스토프 르메이트르(프랑스), 아담 게밀리(영국), 라밀 굴리예프(터키) 총 여섯 선수가 겨루었다. 　　(khnews@heraldcorp.com)　

Samsung Heavy Industries Co., a major South Korean shipyard, is seeking to raise much needed funds for its ongoing restructuring efforts by issuing additional shares, amending its own rules to allow new offerings, company officials said Friday.At a meeting held earlier Friday, the company's shareholders agreed to revise the company's article of association and raise the number of shares allowed to be issued to 500 million from the current 300 million.The move came as the company has already issu

South Korea's Lee Dae-hoon won a bronze medal in men's taekwondo at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Thursday.Lee defeated Jaouad Achab of Belgium 11-7 in the men's -68kg bronze medal match at Carioca Arena 3.Earlier in the day, Lee lost in the quarterfinals to Ahmad Abughaush of Jordan 11-8. The South Korean moved into the repechage stage when Abughaush reached the final. (Yonhap)Lee, who won the 2012 silver in the -58kg, needed to win two matches to claim one of the two bronze medals at stake. H

The Seoul city government filed a petition with the nation's top court Friday to foil the central government's move to halt the city's program of providing cash allowances to thousands of young jobseekers.Earlier this month, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said it had selected a total of 3,000 applicants and would provide them with 500,000 won ($448) per month, for up to six months, to help them maintain basic living standards, while they find work.stock iamge(123rf)The next day, however, the

A group of local consumers was to file a 2.8 billion won ($2.53 million) class action suit Friday against Coway, South Korea's leading water purifier maker, over its water purifier models coated with nickel that they claim taints the water and poses a health hazard.Nickel from the inner coating was found in dispensed water from three ice maker-water models installed from April 2014 to December 2015 by Coway, with the number of users involved estimated at about 87,000. Coway has vowed to take res

South Korean exports of instant noodles jumped more than 18 percent in the first half of 2016 from a year ago, data showed Friday, due apparently to the popularity of Korean pop music and dramas overseas.Overseas shipments of instant noodles, called ramyeon here, came to $123 million in the January-June period, up 18.3 percent from $104 million a year earlier, according to the data by the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp.By volume, exports stood at up to 33,300 tons in the six-mo