Winter is usually a time of rest for the country’s football league, but for the national team this winter is crucial. With New Year’s celebrations at an end, the Korean national team and U23 team are gearing up for crucial matches next month: manager Choi Kwang-hee’s national team face Kuwait on Feb. 29 in a 2014 World Cup qualifier and Hong Myung-bo’s U23 team play Saudi Arabia on Feb. 5, followed by Oman on Feb. 22 in a London Olympics qualifier.“This year is an important year for Korean footb

DOHA (AP) ― Tiger Woods has rediscovered more than just the ability to win again.Having ended 2011 with his first victory in two years, Woods said the joy of being able to play golf with a healthy body has returned as well.He told the Associated Press by email that he has fully recovered from the leg injuries that ruined much of last season. He also hopes his recent victory at the Chevron World Challenge in California is the “start of another great run.”“The lowest moments (last year) came from

Police agency sends out guidelines limiting prosecutors’ influenceThe controversial presidential decree on the enforcement of the Criminal Procedure Act hit a roadblock on Monday, only two days after its implementation. On Monday, Suseong Police Station in Daegu refused to carry out directives from the city’s prosecutors’ office to conduct an internal investigation, becoming the first police station to do so.“With the decree going into effect, the prosecutors can direct investigations, but an in

GS Engineering & Construction Corp. aims to more than triple its sales and operating profit by 2020 and secure 35 trillion won ($30.4 billion) in overseas orders as part of its long-term roadmap to become a global player.Korea’s third-largest builder on Monday unveiled ambitious goals of making 27 trillion won in sales and 2 trillion won in operating profit by 2020, both up more than 330 percent from 2010. Its orders totaled 14 trillion won in 2010. The company said it will also boost internatio

The number of students dropping out of primary and secondary education is on the rise, in turn highlighting the lack of alternative schools and facilities for troubled youths.According to the Seoul Development Institute and the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Tuesday, 6,885 students dropped out of elementary, middle, and high school in 2010. The research found only some 660 students are in alternative schools, shelters, and facilities, highlighting that the remaining 90 percent are left without

Large number of non-party voters makes leadership race unpredictableThe newly integrated Democratic Unified Party is expected to attract the largest ever voting pool for its leadership vote thanks to young voters.’As of Monday morning, a total of 230,000 non-party members registered themselves as eligible voters for the DUP’s national convention slated for Jan. 15.Among them, more than 150,000 come from Seoul and Gyeonggi areas, officials said.Party officials predicted that the figure may approa

The number of primary and secondary education teachers looking to retire early this year in Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province has skyrocketed from last year, education officials said Tuesday.According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, 920 teachers from elementary, middle and high schools have applied for early retirement this February, up 188 from February 2011.Of those, the greatest increase came from public school teachers as 691 applied for early retirement in February, com

LONDON (AP) ― Olympic fencer and movie sword master Bob Anderson appeared in some of film’s most famous dueling scenes ― though few viewers knew it. Anderson, who has died at age 89, donned Darth Vader’s black helmet and fought light saber battles in two of the three original “Star Wars” films, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” Anderson, who worked with actors from Errol Flynn to Antonio Banderas during five decades as a sword master, fight director and stunt performer, died ea