South Korea's government said Thursday it has confirmed 35 additional victims of toxic humidifier disinfectants, including 17 deaths, as a series of trials is under way against the manufacturers of the product and company executives.Following the Ministry of Environment's announcement, the total number of victims confirmed by the government rose to 256.The ministry has been reviewing the cases after receiving 752 applications last year. It was the third time for the ministry to go through the vi

A local court on Thursday acquitted a former Navy chief who was indicted on charges of unlawfully granting favors to a local firm in the process of supplying parts to the country's indigenous salvage ship, citing a lack of evidence. The Seoul Central District Court found the former Navy chief Jung Ok-keun, not guilty of allegations that he pressured his subordinates to forge a document to help the firm win the contract.Jung held the top naval post from 2008 to 2010, The 3,500-ton Tongyeong was f

Lotte Cinema, one of the biggest multi-screen cinema chains in South Korea, opened a theater on Thursday that exclusively screens old and new Chinese films.The chain will use one of the 12 screens in the World Tower venue in Songpa, southeastern Seoul, to show Chinese flicks for the next year. In June, Lotte Cinema signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea China Culture Center for the project.The Silk Road Theater will mainly show Chinese film classics starting with "King Of The Childr

South Korea is in discussions with its allies on how to counteract North Korea's claimed resumption of weapons-grade plutonium production, a government official said Thursday.On Wednesday, Japan's Kyodo News reported North Korea had restarted its plutonium production for nuclear weapons use, citing its interview with Pyongyang's Atomic Energy Institute. The North Korean institute said producing highly enriched uranium is necessary for nuclear weapons and power, highlighting that it has no plans

South Korean stocks extended gains late Thursday morning helped by eased worries about a possible US rate hike and rebound in the shares of Samsung Electronics Co. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 4.01 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,047.76 as of 11:20 a.m.The rise followed overnight gains on Wall Street.The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.12 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbing 0.03 percent.Large-cap stocks were mixed across the board. Market be