South Korean footballer Ki Sung-yueng, hoping to represent the country at the World Cup this summer, has asked his English club to allow him to return home before the end of the current season to recover from a knee injury, his father said Thursday.Ki Young-ok, father of the Sunderland midfielder, said the 25-year-old is waiting for the English Premier League club's final decision."Ki Sung-yueng has asked the team to let him leave early," said the senior Ki, who is president of the municipal foo

A South Korean baseball umpire was assaulted on the field in midgame by an inebriated fan on Wednesday night, an unsavory incident adding a new twist to an ongoing controversy surrounding questionable officiating in the nation's top competition.During a Korea Baseball Organization game between the Kia Tigers and the SK  Wyverns at the Tigers' home in Gwangju, about 330 kilometers south of Seoul, a male fan ran onto the field and jumped the first base umpire Park Keun-young from behind. The incid

Rival political parties wrangled Wednesday over whether President Park Geun-hye's apology over the Sewol ferry disaster was sincere enough after families of victims dismissed the remarks as "informal."Park apologized during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, saying the government failed to prevent the disaster and bungled its response to the sinking. She also said she was "sorry to the people and heavy hearted that many precious lives were lost."The apology came 13 days after the 6,825-ton Sewol sank

The aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has appeared in a rerun of a documentary film, a move that could confuse outside analysts on whether she was ousted from power.The North's state television aired the documentary on Tuesday that showed Kim Kyong-hui visiting a soccer stadium along with her nephew Kim Jong-un.The documentary was first aired on Feb. 11, and North Korea did not edit out scenes of Kim Kyong-hui on Tuesday when it aired a rerun of the film.On April 20, the North's television

The state auditor has launched a preliminary probe into government agencies related to the deadly sinking of the ferry Sewol over their safety management and disaster responses, its officials said Wednesday.The Board of Audit and Inspection on Tuesday began looking into whether the four government agencies -- the ministries of maritime affairs and public safety as well as the Coast Guard and the Korea Maritime and Port Administration – were appropriate in overseeing safety practices and in their

South Korea's industrial output grew slightly on-month in March, rebounding from a drop in the previous month, helped by increased production by manufacturers, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries gained 0.9 percent last month from February. This marked a turnaround from the previous year when the output shrank 1.9 percent. Production in the service sector also inched up 0.1 perce

South Korea's top fixed-line operator, KT Corp., said Wednesday it remained in net loss in the first quarter from a heightened battle among mobile carriers and stronger monitoring by telecom authorities.Net loss came to 40.9 billion won ($39.2 million) in the January-March period, improving from a net loss of 542.5 billion won in the previous quarter, the country's No. 2 mobile carrier said in a regulatory filing. It posted a net profit of 212.6 billion won in the first quarter of 2013.Revenue e

South Korea will help improve food security in Southeast Asian countries, using its advanced technology to provide detailed information on regional and global food conditions, the government said Wednesday.The project will begin in Laos where the country will help set up a real-time agricultural information system, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.An agreement to that effect was to be signed in Vientiane later in the day.Under the agreement, South Korea will build

A senior U.S. government official said Tuesday North Korea is still obliged to follow rules under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty despite its withdrawal from the treaty in 2003.Thomas Countryman, assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, said NPT members will discuss the North Korea problem during the Preparatory Committee meeting for the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferations Treaty Review Conference underway in New York."The NPT requirements remain binding upo

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top maker of smartphones, said Tuesday its first-quarter net profit advanced 5.8 percent from a year earlier, led mainly by its handset division.Net income came to 7.57 trillion won ($7.31 billion) in the January-March period, compared with 7.15 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales edged up 1.53 percent on-year to 53.68 trillion won in the first quarter, the company said. Its operating profit came to 8.49 trillion won, do