Hunger situation in North Korea this year worsened from the 1990s despite considerable amount of international aid to the communist nation, a Washington-based food institute showed Saturday.The 2012 Global Hunger Index (GHI) published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said hunger remains a serious problem worldwide, with alarming levels in some countries.North Korea's hun

TOKYO -- South Korea's top central banker said Saturday that emerging countries must beef up their domestic consumption via free trade agreements to maintain stable growth and help spur the global economy."Following the global financial crisis, the rapid growth rate in Asian and Latin American countries has played an important role in the recovery of the global economy," Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. K

The three leading presidential candidates gathered in a marathon event on Saturday, the first time for the contenders to appear together for a photo session with the showdown only two months away.Rep. Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party, Rep. Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party and Ahn Cheol-soo, an independent candidate, showed up at the marathon event held at World C

Mark Webber of Red Bull claimed the pole position at the Formula One (F1) Korean Grand Prix on Saturday.The Australian had the fastest qualifying lap time of one minute 37.242 seconds on the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, about 400 kilometers south of Seoul. Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, the defending Korean Grand Prix champ, was second at 1:37.316, followed by Lewis Hamilton of McL

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. budget deficit has topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year, but a modest improvement in economic growth helped narrow the gap by $207 billion compared with last year.The Treasury Department said Friday the deficit for the 2012 budget year totaled $1.1 trillion. Tax revenue rose 6.4 percent from last year to more than $2.4 trillion, helping contain the deficit.The gover

Hong Sa-duk, a close aide to ruling party presidential candidate Park Geun-hye, confessed that he received illegal political funds from a businessman, during a recent questioning, prosecution sources said Saturday. Hong, a former co-chairman of Park's primary campaign team and former six-term lawmaker, was summoned by prosecutors on Friday on suspicion of receiving kickbacks from the businessman,

Senior officials and business leaders of major African countries will gather in South Korea next week to discuss cooperation and joint business opportunities, the foreign ministry said Saturday. South Korea and the African Union (AU) will jointly hold the Korea Africa Economic Cooperation Conference (KOAFEC) in Seoul from Oct. 15-18, bringing 150 ministers and heads of 18 African nations and inter

WASHINGTON -- Chun Jae-su, the South Korean-born head coach of the U.S. short track skating team, has resigned, bowing to weeks of pressure amid ugly accusations of stake tampering and physical abuse, a news report said Friday.Chun's top assistant from South Korea, Yeo Jun-hyung, also stepped down, according to the Washington Post.hey have been accused of physically and emotionally abusing players

A detention warrant for the elder brother of South Korea's renowned conductor Chung Myung-whun was sought by prosecutors on suspicion of embezzlement on Sunday.  Prosecutors at Incheon District Prosecutors' Office said the 70-year-old brother is suspected of pocketing billions of won from 14 billion won in subsidies for a joint project with the Incheon metropolitan government called "Incheon & Art

Kim Young-nam, the ceremonial leader of the North, touted the regime's move to "build up the self-defensive war deterrent" at a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Iran, North Korea's state news media said Friday."The situation of the peninsula tells us that we were absolutely right to have chosen the path of Songun politics and built up the self-defensive war deterrent," Kim Young-nam, the presi

South Korean rapper-singer Psy's hit-single "Gangnam Style" on Friday rose to the top of a major chart of the U.S. music publication Billboard boosted by the viral popularity of the song's music video on the Internet."Gangnam Style" sits on top of Billboard's "Social 50" chart, beating famous North American pop stars such as Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber as well as British idol group One Directio

DUBAI -- U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon met with North Korea's ceremonial head of state in Tehran and expressed hope for improved relations between the two Koreas, his spokesman said Friday. Ban's meeting with Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's ceremonial head of state and chief of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, took place Thursday on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement summit hosted by Iran

Japan strongly protested against South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's surprise visit to Dokdo.Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda expressed regrets and said the visit is unacceptable.Tokyo's Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba recalled the country's ambassador to Seoul, Masatoshi Muto, filed official complaints with South Korean Ambassador to Japan Shin Kak-soo and made a protest call to South Korean Fore

The ruling Saenuri Party on Friday vowed to get to the bottom of allegations that one of its lawmakers bribed her way into parliament as it scrambled to contain the fallout ahead of December's presidential election.The scandal centers on suspicions that Rep. Hyun Young-hee secured a proportional representative seat in April's general elections after paying 300 million won ($265,960) to Hyun Ki-hwa