The prosecution chief embroiled in a lovechild scandal sued the Chosun Ilbo on Tuesday, demanding the conservative daily correct recent reports of him concealing a son born out of wedlock. Breaking two weeks of silence, Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook requested Seoul Central District Court to order the Chosun to publish a retraction on its front page, saying the story of him having a son through an affair was “100 percent incorrect” and “groundless.”The prosecution chief said he would take eve

Embattled Tong Yang Group, the country's 38th-largest conglomerate, would need 800 billion won (US$745 million) to tide over the current cash shortage and normalize its business, a local credit appraiser said Tuesday.The outlook came as the group has been suffering from cash shortages due to a slowdown in its building and service businesses, and it needs to cover debts worth 1.1 trillion won due to mature within this year."Tong Yang Group needs at least 700 to 800 billion won to deal with the cr

BlackBerry's largest shareholder has reached a tentative agreement to pay $4.7 billion for the troubled smartphone maker, even as many investors fret about its potential demise.BlackBerry Ltd. said Monday that Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. has signed a letter of intent that ``contemplates'' buying the company for $9 per share in cash in a deal that would take the company private. The tentative deal comes just days after the Canadian company announced plans to lay off 40 percent of its global w

A federal judge Monday pointedly questioned attorneys for the Authors Guild in a long-running case on whether Google's book-scanning project violates copyright law.The two sides presented oral arguments in a hearing on whether the case should be dismissed, or whether the authors can maintain their challenge to the massive digitization project.US District Judge Denny Chin said a core question in determining the case is whether there is "benefit to society" in helping users find information from b

Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked terrorists in an upscale mall for a third day Monday in what they said was a final push to rescue the last few hostages in a siege that has left at least 62 people dead.While the government announced Sunday that ``most'' hostages had been released, a security expert with contacts inside the mall said at least 10 were still being held by a band of attackers described as ``a multinational collection from all over the world.''The expert, who insisted o

South Korea plans to launch a 150 billion won (US$139.8 million) private equity fund in order to strengthen support for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the country's top economic policymaker said Tuesday.The government will also provide diverse support measures for SMEs in the form of risk management, marketing and help in making inroads in foreign countries, Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said during a meeting with other policymakers."We will launch a 150 billion won private equity f

After months of a peace offensive, North Korea may be gearing up for another missile launch, U.S. experts said Monday.They note the return of Pak To-chun, a top North Korean official in charge of missile and nuclear development, to a public scene.Pak, communist party secretary overseeing the munitions industry, had been unusually absent from major reported events since May. His disappearance raised speculation that he might have been purged or demoted due to possible technical glitches in the na

지난 23일 오후 대구 남구 대명동 폭발사고  현장에서 숨진 대구 남부경찰서 남대명파출소 경찰관 2명은 묵묵히 업무만 수행하던 모범 경찰관이었던 것으로 알려져 안타까움을 더하고 있다. 24일 대구 남부경찰서에 따르면 이번 사고로 숨진 남호선(51) 경위와 전현호(39) 경사는 경찰로 재직하면서 대통령 표창과 경찰청장 표창을 각각 20여차례나 받은 모범 경찰관이었다. 남 경위는 1989년 경찰에 투신해 20년 넘게 성실하게 경찰 업무를 맡았고  대통령 표창을 비롯해 경찰청장 표창을 2차례 받는 등 모두 29차례나 각종 상이나  표창을 받았다. 남 경위가 받은 상훈은 외근 성적 우수와 관련한 사항뿐 아니라 중요범인 검거기여 부분, APEC이나 G20, 2012서울핵안보회의 경호 등 다양한 분야에 걸쳐져 있는 것으로 확인됐다. 그는 80살이 넘은 노모를 모시고 아내와 25살 난 딸, 23살 아들 등과 함께 가정을 이뤘다. 또 1998년 경찰이 된 전 경사는 지난

A former FBI agent is pleading guilty to charges he leaked secrets to journalists about a failed Al-Qaeda plot in a case marked by the controversial seizure of reporters' phone records, US prosecutors said Monday.The ex-agent, Donald Sachtleben, "willfully disclosed ... national defense information to a person not authorized to receive it, namely a reporter with a national news organization," the Justice Department said in a statement.Sachtleben, 55, also planned to plead guilty to separate char

In a stunning diplomatic breakthrough, the foreign ministers of arch rivals, the United States and Iran, will hold their first talks on Tehran's contested nuclear drive at a landmark meeting on Thursday.Secretary of State John Kerry and new Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will join counterparts from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia at the meeting at the United Nations headquarters, US officials said Monday.High-level contacts between Iranian and US officials have been rar

우리나라 고등학생들이 국제지구과학 올림피아드(Internatioanl Earth Science Olympiad)에서 3년 연속 1위를 차지했다고 미래창조과학부가 23일 발표했다. 11부터 9일간 인도 마이소르에서 열린 국제지구과학 올림피아드에 한국 대표로 참가한 학생들은 금메달 3개와 은메달 1개를 획득해 종합 1위를 이끌었다. 올해 한국을 대표한 네 명의 학생들은 부산일과학고의 김희준, 한성과학고의 이주호, 인천과학고의 한상우, 경남과학고의 이민엽 학생인 것으로 알려졌다. 이번 대회는 27개국에서 온 101명의 학생들이 참여해 기후변화, 자연재해, 천연자원 개발, 대기와 해수의 오염 등 지구과학 분야에 관한 주제를 다루었다. 대회는 지구에서 일어나는 순환과 변화에 대한 종합적인 이해 능력을 평가하는 이론 및 실기 시험으로 진행된다. IESO는 2007년 한국에서 처음 개최되어 올해 7회째를 맞이했으며, 내년 미국에서 열릴 예정이다. (임우정 인턴

South Korean high school students swept the top awards at the annual international science competition, claiming the overall crown for the third year in a row, the Science Ministry announced Monday. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said the country’s national team grabbed the championship at the International Earth Science Olympiad by winning three gold medals and one silver medal. The competition was held in Mysore, India, from Sept. 11 to 19. Korea shared the top spot with Taiw

In the midst of a prosecution probe into his huge slush funds last month, disgraced former President Chun Doo-hwan returned medals he awarded himself during his term but were later canceled, the home affairs ministry said Monday.In August, Chun turned in the nine medals that he gave himself while in office in the 1980s at the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, some seven years after the government canceled them as part of efforts to correct distorted history.The former military dict

South Korean stocks traded 0.37 percent higher late Monday morning following the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to keep its current bond-purchasing program in place, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 7.45 points to 2,013.03 as of 11:20 a.m.Shipbuilders traded higher, with Hyundai Heavy Industries rising 2.5 percent and Samsung Heavy Industries moving up 2.47 percent. Top auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis gained 1.71 percent.Builders also traded bullish, w