North Korea is believed to have carried out yet another engine test of its new intercontinental ballistic missile, the KN-08, a U.S. think tank said Wednesday, citing recent satellite imagery.   The test of the missile's first-stage engine took place in mid-August at the Sohae launch site in the North's northwest, adding to a series of engine tests Pyongyang has carried out since late 2013, said Joel Wit, a security expert who now serves as editor of the 38 North website at Johns Hopkins Univers

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has received a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Ban's office said, without disclosing details on what it contained.   The letter was delivered on Saturday through North Korea's foreign minister, Ri Su-yong, who met Ban on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, according to the office.   Ban thanked Ri, the first North Korean foreign minister to attend the U.N. meeting in 15 years, for the letter and for his attendance, the office sa

South Korean companies and individuals invested nearly $23 billion in 50 tax havens over the past seven years, data showed Sunday.    According to the data by the National Tax Service and the Export-Import Bank of Korea, South Korean individuals and companies invested $22.77 billion in the tax havens from 2007 through 2013.    The amount represents about 12 percent of overall overseas investments made by South Korea worth 197.88 trillion won ($189.4 billion) during the period.    Of the tax have

Park Gyeol of South Korea on Sunday captured the individual gold medal in women's golf at the ongoing Asian Games.   Park shot a four-round total of 19-under 269 at the par-72 Dream Park Country Club in Incheon, becoming the third straight South Korean champion of the event.   The 18-year-old beat Budsabakon Sukapan of Thailand by two strokes. Another Thai, Supamas Sangchan earned the bronze at 14-under.   South Korea conceded the women's team gold medal to Thailand as its Asiad winning streak w

North Korean gold-medal winning weightlifter Kim Un-ju said Sunday that she felt the warm-heartedness of South Koreans who encouraged Kim during her record-breaking quest at the Incheon Asian Games.   In the women's under-75㎏ weightlifting on Thursday, Kim lifted 128㎏ in the snatch and then hoisted a world record of 164㎏ in the clean and jerk for a total of 292㎏ -- a new Asian Games record.   She is one of the four North Korean gold medal winners in weightlifting at this year's Asiad and also be

South Korea captured the gold and the bronze in the women's trios bowling event at the Asian Games on Sunday, bringing home the country's second gold from the sport.    The squad of Lee Na-young, Jung Da-wun and Son Yun-hee combined for 3,896 points to defeat the Singaporean team of Cherie Tan, New Hui Fen and Jazreel Tan by a margin of 143 points at Anyang Hogye Gymnasium in the city of Anyang, just south of the South Korean capital of Seoul.   Another South Korean team of Lee Yeong-seung, Jeon

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Sunday that it has fined three major local builders a combined 25 billion won ($23.9 million) for colluding to fix bidding prices in a public project to build tidal outlets.    Samsung C&T, GS Engineering and Construction and Hyundai Engineering and Construction fixed their bidding prices for the project initiated in July 2009 by the state-run Korea Water Resources Corp., according to the Fair Trade Commission. The 221.7 billion won project is for building t

Despite lower profits than their overseas peers, South Korea's leading banking groups are paying their CEOs a much better salary, data showed Sunday.   The average annual pay last year for the country's top three banking groups reached an estimated 2.7 billion won ($2.6 million), according to data compiled from multiple financial institutions at home and abroad. By comparison, three top Japanese banking groups paid their CEOs an average 1.25 billion won, based on won-yen exchange rate at the end

South Korea picked up a gold medal and a bronze medal in team recurve archery at the Asian Games on Sunday.   In the women's recurve final, Jung Dasomi, Chang Hye-jin and Lee Tuk-young cruised to a comfortable 6-0 win over China in the set score to add another gold to the country's already extensive medal collection in the sport. The Chinese archers were Cheng Ming, Xu Jing and Zhu Jueman.   From the get go, China put up a feeble defense against the stalwart South Koreans, shooting a 7 and an 8

South Korea is falling further behind in its chip design industry compared to China, whose market growth is getting stronger, a report said Sunday.   China's fabless industry grew 28.1 percent last year from the previous year, marking sales of $5.76 billion, according to the report from the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade. The increase raised the country's global market share from 6 percent to 7 percent.   South Korea recorded $1.74 billion in sales, an increase of 2.6 percent

Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney and Lebanese-British lawyer Amal Alamuddin married in Venice on Saturday before partying the night away with their A-list friends in one of the most high-profile celebrity weddings in years.   "George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin were married today (September 27) in a private ceremony in Venice, Italy," Clooney spokesman Stan Rosenfield said.   The announcement came as a surprise as the pair were not expected to officially tie the knot until Monday, though they

South Korea is closely monitoring the won-yen exchange rate that financial authorities say has reached a worrisome range and is encouraging exporters to take some hedging measures, officials said Sunday."The low-yen trend has entered its third year, but it is showing signs of accelerating recently," an official staying close to exchange issues said. "Any lopsidedness in exchange rates can negatively impact the local economy. We are watching the situation very closely."The Korean won traded at 95

A British minister announced his unexpected resignation as a Sunday newspaper reported he had sent an explicit photo of himself online, in the latest setback to David Cameron's Conservative-led government.   "I have decided to resign as minister for civil society having been notified of a story to be published in a Sunday newspaper," said Brooks Newmark, a Conservative member of parliament since 2005.   "I would like to appeal for the privacy of my family to be respected at this time. I remain a