The retrieved Sewol ferry will depart from the wreckage site Thursday and arrive at a port in Mokpo the following day, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Wednesday. “Engineers are wrapping up operations to securely fix the ferry onto the semisubmersible transport ship and remove the two remaining buoyancy tanks before heading for Mokpo Port, a process which we expect to complete by Thursday,” said Lee Cheol-jo, a ministry official in charge of the salvage operation.(Yonhap)The ferry is es

Preparations have been completed for the retrieved Sewol ferry to be delivered to a port in Mokpo, where its insides will be searched for the nine passengers still missing, authorities said Sunday.“It looks like there will be no significant risk in transporting the ferry to shore from now on, since it is safely placed on the balanced deck of the semisubmersible vessel,” Yoon Hak-bae, the Oceans and Fisheries vice minister, told reporters Sunday.The Sewol ferry sits on a semisubmersible vessel in

Part of the sunken Sewol ferry has surfaced above water, with two salvage barges lifting the vessel Thursday, almost three years after it sank in waters off Jindo, South Jeolla Province.While some of the bereaved families watched from boats near the site, salvage operators worked overnight to lift the 145-meter long, 6,825-ton ferry which had been lying at a depth of 44 meters after it sank on April 16, 2014. Among its 476 passengers, 304, mostly high school students, lost their lives. Nine are

Earth Hour, a worldwide grassroots movement to raise awareness of climate change, will return for its 10th edition Saturday, encouraging people to show their commitment to saving the planet by turning off the lights. The event, organized by World Wide Fund for Nature, will see individuals, communities, households and businesses switch off nonessential lights for an hour from 8:30 p.m. Saturday.  Namsan Tower in Seoul (123rf)In 2007, Earth Hour was launched in Sydney, Australia, to send a message

JINDO, South Jeolla Province -- The closest port to the site of the Sewol disaster is Paengmok Port, about 25 kilometers from where the ferry sank in waters off Jindo on April 16, 2014.On the day of the ferry sinking, the small provincial port was a madhouse.Beloved children's dead bodies were dragged out of the sea. Mothers cried and fainted in front of them. Reporters rushed after grieving families. Rescue officials shook their heads with no sign of additional rescue.Three years on, the madnes

JINDO, South Jeolla Province -- After nearly three years lying on the sea bed, the Sewol ferry is finally ready to come out of the water. And the day when the ill-fated passenger ship is brought on land would, for the victims’ families and many ordinary citizens, mark the start of a long-awaited end to bitter disputes and acrimonies over why this country that prides itself in technological prowess failed to rescue over 300 passengers from a slowly sinking ship in broad daylight. On Friday, when

Police said Saturday that a fire that gutted some 220 street stalls of a traditional fish market in the western port city of Incheon started from a stall in a vinyl-wrapped makeshift building.(Yonhap)The fire broke out at 1:36 a.m. and was put out two and a half hours later. Some 140 firefighters, 53 fire engines and 40 police officers were mobilized, police said.No injuries or fatalities have been reported yet. Police put property damage at around 650 million won ($574,712).Investigators found

North Korea's only international airport in Pyongyang has been named one of the world's worst airports in a British customer satisfaction survey released this week. (Yonhap)In Skytrax's review of over 500 airports around the world, Sunan International Airport failed to make it into the 2017 World Airport Awards list in any category including cleanness, staff service, or dining and shopping facilities.It received the lowest level of two points in a scale of 10 in customer assessment.Sunan, which

Creditors of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. are set to announce a set of new rescue schemes next week for the cash-strapped shipbuilder, with many expecting the shipbuilder to be put under a debt workout in the worst case scenario, industry sources said Saturday.According to the sources, the creditors, led by the state-run Korea Development Bank, will map out up to 3 trillion won ($2.6billion) worth of assistance measures for the shipbuilder to help the company overcome a deepening

South Korean Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho gave a detailed briefing on the country's foreign exchange policy when he met with IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Friday amid concern the United States could designate Seoul as a currency manipulator.Yoo met with IMF Managing Director Lagarde on the sidelines of the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held in Baden-Baden, Germany, in an effort to promote IMF's understanding that South Korea's policy does not constitute currency manipu