More than 10,000 Marines from South Korea and the United States will kick off their largest-ever joint amphibious landing training late this month, the Pentagon said Monday.This year's Ssang Yong (double dragon) exercise will be held from March 27 to April 7 on the Korean Peninsula, involving about 7,500 U.S. Marines, 2,000 U.S. Navy personnel as well as 3,500 South Korean Marines and 1,000 South Korea Navy sailors, according to Lt. Col. Jeff Pool, a Department of Defense spokesman.The U.S. Mari

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was elected to a new rubber-stamp legislature, the country's state media reported Monday, a day after elections that could provide a rare glimpse of a power shift under Kim's leadership.All the voters of Kim's constituency voted for Kim, the Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch, citing election results of the Central Election Committee.The dispatch said Kim's election demonstrated soldiers and people's "absolute support and profound trust" in their young

Britain's fashion house Burberry said Monday it filed a patent violation suit against SBW, a South Korean underwear maker, with a Seoul court for using its trademark check pattern.Company officials said they concluded SBW's TRY underwear products were in violation of Burberry's trademark."On Jan. 9, the disputed TRY brand underwear products were found on various online shopping malls. We asked SBW to stop selling them via certified mail and phone calls several times, but the company took no meas

South Korean figure skating icon Kim Yu-na will hold farewell ice shows in Seoul this spring, her agency announced Monday.All That Sports said Kim will take the center stage at her corporate-sponsored ice shows from May 4 to 6 in the nation's capital.The 23-year-old star retired from competition after the Sochi Winter Olympics last month. She picked up the silver medal behind Adelina Sotnikova of Russia, after winning the gold at the previous Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010.The agency said

South Korea's telecom watchdog is expected to slap mobile carriers with another business suspension in May, industry sources said Monday, as part of the government's drive to eradicate the custom of using subsidies to increase clients.The Korea Communications Commission, Seoul's top telecom watchdog, is expected to announce its disciplinary measures against the mobile carriers on Thursday, the sources said. The measures are to follow last week's 45-day business suspension handed down by the Mini

Doctors pushed ahead with a one-day strike Monday in protest of the government's medical policy, including one allowing telemedicine and profit-oriented hospitals.The massive walkout by doctors, the first of its kind in 14 years, involves medical clinics and interns and resident physicians working in hospitals. The exact number of participating medical clinics was yet unknown."We oppose the government's plan to allow remote medical examinations and treatment, as well as for-profit hospitals, and

Financial firms will be slapped with fines amounting to 3 percent of their annual sales when responsible for a massive leak of personal data, and clients will be given an option to revoke their consent to providing their private information, the country's financial regulator said Monday.Also, financial firms will be required to delete clients' data upon termination of financial transactions during a given grace period and barred from sharing the data with their affiliates beyond a set limit, acc

South Korea's telecom ministry said Friday it will launch an investigation into the latest hacking incident at KT Corp. that led to millions of customers' personal data being leaked.The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency said on Thursday it arrested three suspects for allegedly hacking into the company's website and stealing data of some 12 million clients of the mobile carrier.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said it will establish a team of government officials and online secur

China's commerce minister said Friday he is "fully" confident of meeting a 7.5 percent growth target in trade this year, citing what he calls an "improving environment" in the global economy."Given our comprehensive analysis of the international market, we are fully confident of achieving our target of 7.5 percent growth in foreign trade in 2014," Commerce Minister Gao Hucheong told reporters.Gao made the remarks at a press briefing on the sidelines of China's annual legislative policy-setting s

President Park Geun-hye named a former vice chief of the home affairs ministry as its new minister on Friday, her spokesman said.Kang Byung-kyu, who served as the second vice minister from 2009-2010 before leaving the ministry, has been nominated to succeed Yoo Jeong-bok as minister for security and public administration, presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said.Yoo quit earlier this week to run for mayor of Incheon in June's local elections.The nomination is subject to a parliamentary confirm

The United States on Thursday imposed visa bans and set the stage for wider sanctions against Russia, warning any move to split the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine would break international law.President Barack Obama spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin to explain the measures, which he said were in response to Russia's "violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity."Obama further stiffened the US response to Russia's incursion into Ukraine as his Secretary of State John Kerry