The main opposition Democratic Unified Party resolved to launch a special committee to investigate allegations that one of the candidates for the upcoming leadership election offered cash to party members for votes.The decision was made quickly as the allegations came amid the ruling Grand National Party’s bribery scandal, directly involving one of its former leaders.“The Supreme Council shall immediately establish an investigation committee and inquire into the given allegations,” said a party

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The United States will respond if Iran tries to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Sunday, saying such a move would cross a “red line.”“We made very clear that the United States will not tolerate the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz,” Panetta told CBS television. “That’s another red line for us and that we will respond to them.”Panetta was seconded by Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chief

TOKYO (Yonhap News) ― Cooperation between South Korea and Japan will be important in dealing with uncertainties arising from North Korea’s leadership change, Seoul’s top envoy to Tokyo said Monday, as Kim Jong-un consolidates power in the communist regime.South Korea and Japan share common interests in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, leading to mutual exchanges of information regarding the North and joint responses to related issues, Ambassador Shin Kak-soo said in an in

North Korea’s economic conditions have worsened over recent years partly due to strained inter-Korean relations that resulted in less trade and aid from the South, a report showed Monday.When the North’s economic conditions are scaled against a benchmark 100 in 1995, they worsened to 86.5 in 2009, according to the report by the Sejong Institute, a private think tank. The report was commissioned by Statistics Korea, the South’s statistics agency. The index is based on 10 major economic factors in

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The U.S. Department of Defense assured Sunday that it will maintain “operationally resilient and politically sustainable” troops in South Korea under a new long-term defense strategy.“We will continue to maintain a force posture that is geographically distributed, operationally resilient and politically sustainable,” a department official said in a reply to Yonhap News Agency’s inquiry over the possibility of a troop level cut.The U.S. has around 28,000 soldiers in Sou

The government has set in motion three large defense contract projects with a combined value of more than 10.6 trillion won ($9.1 billion). On Friday the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, or DAPA announced the acquisition plans for the AH-X project and the maritime operations helicopter project.In addition, the DAPA plans to make the announcement for the third part of the F-X project late next week.The deadline for the bids for the two helicopter projects are May 10. All three projects

The government on Monday announced plans to earmark 2.05 trillion won ($1.76 billion) from the budget on research and development, including setting aside 111 billion won for its space program, which seeks to build an indigenous satellite by 2017 and a space rocket by 2021.The total amount marks a 5.17 percent increase from last year’s 1.95 trillion won, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.The largest share of the R&D fund, or 975 billion won, will go to research in fu

The Community Chest of Korea is racing toward its goal this year, as the nation’s only charity established by statute shows signs of recovery from its earlier scandals.The CCK said it has already reached 91.3 percent of its two-month goal with more than three weeks left to go, an unexpected boost after it was marred in corruption scandals in 2010 　The nationwide charity network said the “Hope 2012 Sharing Campaign” has already hit 199 billion won ($170.9 million) since December, leaving it only

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-largest handset maker, swept the Russian mobile phone market, ranking first in four categories in November last year, a research firm said Monday.Samsung Electronics took first place in the Russian mobile phone market in terms of units sold and their value in November, while its smartphones were named best products for both sales volume and revenue, according to global market researcher GfK Group.It was the first time that the Samsung Electronics toppe

South Korea’s textile industry seeks to increase its exports to a 12-year high this year amid hopes of growing shipments to the United States following the soon expected implementation of a free trade agreement , a local industry group said Monday.The Korea Federation of Textile Industries said the country’s total exports this year will likely reach $17 billion, up 6.4 percent from $16 billion last year.“Economic conditions are still not very good due to the financial crisis in Europe, but the f

LONDON (AFP) ― British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday he would block any attempt to introduce an EU-wide financial transaction tax because he fears it will harm jobs and prosperity in Europe.Cameron said countries such as France pushing for the introduction of such a levy were welcome to go ahead and introduce it within their own borders.But implementing a tax in the European Union when countries in the rest of the world were not bound by it would have a negative effect on jobs and pro