Ruling Saenuri Party officials visited the southeastern town of Seongju on Tuesday, in a bid to find solutions to the on-going protests by residents who have opposed the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system there."Saenuri aims to facilitate dialogue between the government and the residents to persuade the residents of Seongju," said Chung Jin-suk, the party's floor leader.Rep. Chung Jin-suk, the floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, visits Seongju, located 296 kilometers sou

The number of South Koreans changing their residences dropped nearly 13 percent on-year in June as the housing market showed signs of slowing, the state statistics agency said Tuesday.A total of 567,000 South Koreans changed their residences in June, down 83,000, or 12.8 percent, from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea.Among them, 67.6 percent moved their homes within their cities or provinces, while 32.4 percent switched to other areas.The population mobility rate --

North Korea's national carrier Air Koryo appears to have opened a regular flight service between Pyongyang and China's eastern city of Jinan for what seemed to be the transport of Chinese tourists, a Washington-based news media report said Tuesday.According to Voice of America, the North Korean flag carrier recently launched regular flights between the two cities twice a week, raising speculations the North Korean jet may be transporting Chinese tourists to the reclusive country.VOA said that Ai

Foreign sailors seeking to work for South Korean ships may be required to submit their criminal records while their South Korean captains and colleagues will be required to undergo anti-racism education, the government said Tuesday.The measures are largely aimed at preventing on-board crimes.They follow the recent alleged homicide of a South Korean captain and an engineer aboard a South Korean fishing boat by two Vietnamese fishermen.Under the government measures, approved at a Cabinet meeting o

South Korean food companies are set to begin official sales of the traditional chicken soup to China as the first shipments to the mainland have recently cleared customs, industry officials said Tuesday. Samgyetang is a traditional chicken soup made with a whole young chicken stuffed with ginseng, sticky rice and garlic. It is widely recognized in the country as an energy-boosting meal during the summer months.The first shipments of 20 tons of precooked and frozen soup by five Korean companies h