South Korea may soon declare an end to the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), although a more official declaration will come later, government officials said Friday.The country has reported no additional infections over the past 19 days with the death toll also remaining flat at 36 for the past two weeks.So far, 186 people have been diagnosed with the potentially fatal disease while 138 of them have been discharged from hospitals following complete recoveries.The remaining 12 a

Police said Friday they arrested a man for allegedly posting a letter on the White House homepage threatening to kill the top U.S. envoy in Seoul.The 33-year-old, identified only by his surname Lee, is suspected of writing the letter threatening to kill U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert earlier this month, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said in a press release. After receiving a request for an investigation from the White House, police arrested the man at his home in Seoul

South Korea will thoroughly investigate the mistaken shipment of a live anthrax sample from the United States to an American military base in South Korea to prevent a similar incident in the future, the Defense Ministry said Friday.Releasing the outcome of its probe into the shipments of live anthrax samples to laboratories inside and outside of the U.S. disclosed in May, the Pentagon said earlier in the day that 86 laboratories in America and seven foreign countries, including South Korea, Japa

Rival parties agreed Friday to reduce the supplementary budget to 11.5 trillion won ($10 billion) and pass it through the parliament later in the day.The government initially submitted an 11.8 trillion won budget plan to the National Assembly for approval on July 6 to boost the troubled economy, with policymakers initially expressing hope it would be passed by July 20. After failing to see eye to eye on the budget's size for nearly three weeks, the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Ne

South Korea's trade volume is forecast to hit a five-year low this year as a stronger local currency and low oil prices weigh heavily on Asia's fourth-largest economy, data showed Friday.The country's exports reached $268.7 billion in the first six months of the year, down 5.1 percent from a year earlier, while imports fell 15.6 percent on-year to $222.4 billion, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service.As a result, South Korea posted a 10.1 percent drop in total trade volume

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's No. 2 carmaker, said Friday its second-quarter earnings plunged more than 27 percent from a year earlier on weak sales at home and abroad.Net income came to 746.5 billion won ($642.92 million) in the April-June period, down 27.1 percent from a year earlier, the company said in its regulatory filing.Operating profit also sank 15.5 percent on-year to 650.7 billion won, but sales edged up 3.2 percent to 12.44 trillion won.Kia Motors, the smaller affiliate of industry

South Korea replaced two injured players on its Women's East Asian Cup football squad Friday. The Korea Football Association (KFA) said forward Yoo Young-a will miss the regional tournament with a sprained left knee, while defender Kim Hye-yeong will be sidelined with a torn right quadriceps.The KFA named midfielder Lee Min-a and forward Lee Hyun-young as replacements.Both Yoo and Kim were members of the national team that reached the round of 16 at the FIFA Women's World Cup last month in Canad

The heiress of Korean Air Lines Co. has been sued in a New York court by an employee involved in last year's "nut rage" incident, industry sources said Friday, marking the second case of legal action taken against her in the United States. In the lawsuit filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New York on Thursday, Korean Air purser Park Chang-jin sought compensation for emotional and physical damages against former vice president Cho Hyun-ah for last year's in-flight commotion widely known

자동차 3대 정도를 주차할 수 있는 주차구역이 슈퍼카의 대명사 페라리의 가격을 훌쩍 뛰어넘는 가격에 시장에 나와 화제다. 외신에 따르면 런던 중심부 사우스 켄싱턴 (South Kensington)에 있는 한 지하주차장은 전용 주차구역 한 곳을 시장에 내놨다. 런던은 극심한 주차난과 부지런한 주차단속요원으로 유명한 도시로 도심 한가운데에 마음 놓고 주차하기란 하늘의 별 따기. 하지만, 이 주차구역은 39만 파운드, 한화로 약 7억 원에 가격이 책정돼 화제를 모으고 있다.외신은 이 정도 가격이라면 웬만한 슈퍼카 한 대 값이라고 전했다. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)　　

지금부터 15년 후인 2030년에 소형 빙하기가 올 수도 있다는 관측이 나와 화제다 .영국 노썸브리아대학교의 발렌티나 자코바 박사는 최근 영국에서 열린 학술대회에서 태양이 15년후에는 활동이 매우 적어지는 주기에 접어 들것이라도 주장했다. 박사는 태양의 흑점의 움직임을 1976년부터 2008년까지 정확도 97퍼센트로 분석했다고 주장하며, 이러한 정확도가 유지된다면 2030년대에는 소규모 빙하기가 올 것이라고 주장했다. 박사는 이 빙하기의 규모가 1645년부터 1715년까지 발행했던 소규모 빙하기와 비슷할 것이라고 예측했다. 당시 북반구에서는 매우 추운 겨울이 계속되었고, 런던의 템즈강이 7주간 사람이 걸어서 건널 수 있을 정도로 얼어붙는 해도 있었다고 전해진다. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)