Korean Air said Thursday it plans to check its fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbo jets for cracks on parts inside the wings as ordered by Europe’s air safety authority.The European Aviation Safety Agency on Wednesday ordered checks on the entire global fleet of A380 jets, extending a previous order for nearly a third of the planes to be inspected.“Korean Air plans to conduct close examinations on all of our A380 aircraft before the deadline in cooperation with Airbus for safe operations,” a Korean

The Bank of Korea kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.25 percent, as widely expected, for the eight straight month as uncertainties continue to hover over inflation and growth outlooks.The decision came as the country continues to face slowing exports and greater external risks such as the protracted eurozone debt crisis. The bank’s monetary policy committee said that economic indicators in the U.S. such as employment have shown improvement, but economic activity in the eurozone cont

RIYADH (Yonhap News) ― South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud agreed Wednesday to expand cooperation to health care, defense, Internet technology and all other areas beyond the traditional sector of construction, officials said.“It is necessary to expand cooperation in various sectors between South Korea and Saudi Arabia. In particular, I hope more attention will be paid on projects for the Saudi people,” Lee said during the summit, according to the p

Parliamentary Speaker Park Hee-tae resigned Thursday amid an ongoing investigation into claims he bribed fellow lawmakers in the 2008 ruling party leadership election.It is the first time a legislative chief has stepped down over an investigation by prosecutors into bribery.His resignation, however, is not an admission of guilt, officials said.“I apologize to the people. I decided to resign from my speaker post, feeling a great responsibility for the recent events which involved my name,” said h

The country’s largest teachers’ group on Thursday visited the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to denounce the escalating investigation of teachers over allegedly lax management of student violence on campus. The visit by the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Association is expected to deepen conflict between the two parties over whether teachers bear sole responsibility for school violence that has been blamed for student suicides.According to the conservative teachers’ group, its president Ahn Ya

Partisan politics hamper legislation process at National AssemblyHamstrung by political maneuvering, military reform plans appear increasingly unlikely to be realized within President Lee Myung-bak’s term.On Tuesday, the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee failed to agree to put the plans up for deliberation despite the majority of the committee members supporting the plans. According to a recent survey of the National Defense Committee members conducted by a local daily, 11 lawmakers