The number of people diagnosed with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea remained unchanged at 186 as the country saw no new cases of the potentially deadly disease over the past five days, the government said Friday.   The country's MERS death toll also has remained unchanged since Wednesday at 35, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.   Ministry officials said the country may be able to declare an end to the MERS outbreak if it continues to see no new infection cas

Import prices in South Korea declined in June, extending their on-year fall to 34 straight months, due mainly to weaker global oil prices, data showed Friday.   In local currency terms, import prices dropped 14 percent in June from the previous year, slightly slowing from a 14.6 percent on-year drop in May, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.   The data showed that import prices of coal and oil products plunged 33.4 percent on-year in June, compared with a 31.7 percent fall

Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. saw their combined sales in China plunge in June amid intensifying competition and a lack of new models, industry data showed Friday.   Hyundai Motor, South Korea's largest carmaker, sold around 60,000 cars in China last month, down 30.8 percent from a year earlier. Kia Motors saw its China sales in June drop 26.5 percent on-year to some 38,000 units, according to the data.   This comes in stark contrast with others, including Japanese

The nominee to be the next chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday North Korea's ballistic missile capability makes the communist nation one of the greatest threats to the United States.   Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford made the remark during his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing, putting Pyongyang into the category of the four biggest threats to the U.S., along with Russia, China and the militant group Islamic State.   "Clearly, North Korea with ballistic missile

The wife of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will visit South Korea next week for meetings on women's education and economic empowerment issues, the White House announced Thursday.   Jill Biden will be accompanied by Catherine Russell, ambassador-at-large for global women's issues, on the trip to Korea, Vietnam and Laos July 16-22, the top office said in a statement.   She will "engage government and civil society partners" on issues related to economic empowerment and educational opportunity for w

A bio-pesticides research center that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited last month is believed to be capable of producing military-sized batches of biological weapons, including anthrax, a U.S. expert said Thursday.   Melissa Hanham, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), said she reached the conclusion after analyzing photos the North's state media released of Kim's June 6 visit to the Pyongyang Bio-technical Institute.   Hanham also sai

결혼했더니 살이 쪘다고 말하는 사람들이 많다. 과연 이 말은 어느 정도 신빙성이 있을까?　최근 연구결과에 따르면 결혼한 커플이 미혼보다 체질량지수 (BMI)가 높다고 연구결과가 나왔다. 　스위스 바젤대학교와 맥스플랑크 인간발달 연구소의 연구 결과에 따르면 결혼한 커플들이 미혼자보다 음식을 더 많이 먹고, 운동도 적게 하는 것으로 알려졌다. 　연구팀은 유럽의 9개국의 기혼자와 미혼자 1만 226명을 대상으로 생활 습관과 BMI를 연구한 결과, 기혼자는 평균적으로 결혼 후 2킬로그램이 증가하는 것으로 전해졌다. 　결혼을 한 커플들은 가공되지 않고, 몸에 더 좋은 음식을 사먹지만, 그에 비해 운동량이 적기 때문에 전체적으로 체중이 증가한다고 설명했다. 　연구결과에 따르면 평균 기혼 남성의 BMI는 26.3이고 미혼 남성의 BMI는 25.7로 조사됐다. 평균 기혼 여성은 25.6이고, 미혼 여성은 25.1인 것으로 알려졌다. 　　(khnews@heraldcorp.com)