Aided by world record-breaking performances by its weightlifters, North Korea made a comeback to the top 10 in the Asiad medal tally for the first time in 12 years at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.   The communist country also drew spotlight for its proactive sports diplomacy by unprecedentedly sending high-ranking party officials as well as those from the sports circle to the South, boosting expectations that the continental event would serve as a breakthrough for icy inter-Korean ties.   With 1

The 17th Asian Games may have had many golden moments --  439 total to be exact -- but it also had its share of lows that suggested the largest sporting event on the continent is never an easy one to organize.   For starters, the symbolic Asian Games cauldron, lit at the Sept. 19 opening ceremony, went out for 10 minutes the next day due to difficulties maintaining the complicated, fountain-shaped flame.The cauldron had already drawn plenty of criticisms, having been lit by a local celebrity wit

South Korea, despite accomplishing its initial goal of clinching second place in the medal standings at the Incheon Asian Games, wrapped up aquatics and athletics events on home soil without any gold.   With a total of 100 gold medals up for grabs in swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, and track and field events, the host country's biggest-ever delegation of 831 athletes failed to grab any Asiad gold, marking its first such drought since the 1978 Bangkok Asian Games.   No South

South Korean bowler Lee Na-young clinched the gold in the women's masters discipline at the Incheon Asian Games on Thursday, becoming the country's first quadruple-gold winner at the ongoing Asiad.   The 28-year-old scored a total of 477 points in the final gold-medal decider stepladder round against Chinese-Taipei player Wang Ya Ting's 437 points to grab her fourth golden victory during the competitions in Anyang, east of the Asiad host city. Son Yun-hee, another South Korean bowler, secured th

A Korean-American cardiologist arrived in North Korea last month to treat the aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a source familiar with affairs inside the communist state said Thursday, prompting speculation about the state of her health.   Kim Kyong-hui, the current leader's aunt and younger sister of late former leader Kim Jong-il, has been known to have a heart disease, but the doctor's alleged visit could be an indication that she has fallen into critical condition.   "An American card

North Korea slammed South Korean President Park Geun-hye again Thursday, calling her a "maniac" and a "mad dog" for her recent call for the communist country to improve its abysmal human rights conditions.   Repeating her call on the North to enhance human rights, made during her address to the United Nations General Assembly earlier last month, Park told a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that the North Korean rights issue is Seoul's top priority in dealing with the communist country.   North Korea has

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. will spend $1.4 billion to build a consumer electronics production plant in Vietnam to meet global demand for home appliances, the company said Thursday.The tech giant confirmed its investment in the complex would cover production of TVs, air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators and other home electronics as well as working capital.Formal written approval for the plant from the Vietnamese government, delivered to company vice chairman Lee

South Korea's economy is recovering steadily, but the pace still remains weak with business sentiment sharply deteriorating, the top economic policymaker said Thursday.   "We are making a steady recovery, but its speed and strength remains weak," Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said at a meeting with a journalists' group in Seoul.    "In particular, business sales are declining and profitability is getting worse, a sign that corporate sentiment is sharply shrinking."   Choi gave a bleak assessm

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. will build a US$560 million industrial complex in Vietnam to produce consumer electronics (CE) to meet growing global demand for home appliances, the company said Thursday.   The complex will be built in the southern Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh on a plot of 700,000 square meters. The scheduled completion date of the plant was not specified.   Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, delivered a formal written approv

Li Bun-hee, a former North Korean table tennis star, has been seriously injured in a car accident in Pyongyang, a U.S. news report said Thursday,.   If true, she is unlikely to attend the upcoming Incheon Asian Para Games to the disappointment of many South Koreans.   Li, currently chief of North Korea's disabled athletes association, is popular not only in the communist nation but also in South Korea. Li played on a unified Korea team in the 1991 table tennis championships. She played with Hyun

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, said Thursday that it has started near field communication payment service for its device users in China.   The company said it formed a partnership with UnionPay, China's sole bank credit card organization, for the service that is the first by a smartphone company in the world's second-largest economy.    The tieup with UnionPay, which controls 80 percent of China's offline payment market, is expected to give Samsung a head