The government and the national skiing federation said Friday they will strengthen their efforts to raise South Korea's competitiveness in Olympic snow events at home.Kim Jong-deok, minister of culture, sports and tourism, and Shin Dong-bin, president of the Korea Ski Association, discussed ways to improve the country's chances of winning its first Olympic medal on snow at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, officials said.Kim and Shin both attended the opening ceremony for the Jeongseon Alpine C

Oil prices leaped from 12-year lows Thursday, lifted by a swing to optimism on equity markets after steep losses since the beginning of the year.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for March jumped $1.18 (4.2 percent) to $29.53 a barrel on the contract's first day of trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March, the European benchmark, finished at $29.25 a barrel in London, a gain of $1.37 (4.9 percent) from Wednesday's settlement.On Wednesday, both cont

The largest exchange-traded fund tracking Russian equities has made the worst start to a year on record with over 50 percent of the stocks the ETF holds losing more than 10 percent so far in 2016.The Market Vectors Russia ETF advanced 1.9 percent to $12.42 on Thursday, narrowing its loss this year to 15 percent. The ETF’s price swings, with daily losses reaching as much as 7 percent, have pushed its historical volatility to levels unseen since the global equity rout in late August.“Selloffs are

The chief nuclear envoys of Japan and China held talks in Beijing this week during which they discussed North Korea's nuclear issue, China's foreign ministry said Friday. Kimihiro Ishikane, director-general of the Japanese foreign ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, met his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, on Thursday, the Chinese ministry said in a brief statement. The two sides "exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue," the statement said, without elaborating further.The

President Park Geun-hye proposed Friday that South Korea hold talks with the United States, China and other regional partners to discuss ways to denuclearize North Korea."We should find various and creative approaches, including attempting to hold five-way talks excluding North Korea," Park said in a meeting with officials on how to deal with North Korea.The comments represent growing doubts about the effectiveness of the nuclear talks, which showed no signs of resumption.North Korea quit the di

The South Korean forces dispatched to the United Arab Emirates have conducted around 30 combined exercises with the local troops since the unit was first stationed in the Arab country five years ago as part of bilateral military exchanges, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday.South Korea sent the 150-strong "Ahk" unit to the UAE in January 2011 to train special forces and conduct joint military drills there. The 10th rotating troops are currently in service in the UAE. Since the deployment, the

The severe cold weather prevailed in most parts of the country Friday for the fifth consecutive day, with the weather agency issuing a dry weather advisory for fires in the eastern region.The very cold, high pressure system from northern China has caused temperatures to drop sharply on the Korean Peninsula since early this week, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. The current cold spell is expected to culminate on Sunday and Monday, when the mercury is expected to drop below mi

South Koreans feel they are suffering from bad health despite having one of the longest life expectancies in the world, a report by a state-run think tank showed Friday.According to the report by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 35.1 percent of South Koreans over 15 said they are in good health. This is well below the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average of 69.2 percent, and significantly lower than the 80-90 percent levels found in the United States, C

South Korea said Friday it will put a priority on resolving North Korea's nuclear issue this year by joining the international community's move to impose stronger sanctions against Pyongyang over the North's latest nuke test.Seoul will sternly respond to additional North Korean provocations while it will also push for its inter-Korean policy aimed at building mutual trust to pave the way for reunification, according to the government.The Foreign Ministry, the Unification Ministry, and the Defens

South Korea plans to set up a new military network to share text and image information on North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missiles with the United States and Japan this year, the Defense Ministry said Friday.The military plans to install a Link16 data link connecting its interface control cell with that of the United States Forces Korea both in Osan, south of Seoul, according to the ministry's 2016 policy plan reported to President Park Geun-hye earlier in the day.The military tactical data