Singer Kim Jang-hoon and Sungshin Women’s University professor Seo Kyoung-duk used ad space in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, requesting compensation or a public apology from the Japanese government on former sex slaves. Headlined “Do You Hear?” the ad shows a photo of Korean elderly women who were “comfort women” forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II and explains that they have been holding weekly meetings outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul since 1992.

Hankook Tire Co., the world’s eighth-largest tire maker by sales, hired its first female vice president to head the public relations team, the company said Thursday.The new PR chief is Kim Hyun-kyung, a marketing expert with 18 years of experience looking after Samsung Group’s international PR and sports marketing.“Kim is the first female to hold the title since the company was founded in 1941. We will strengthen promotional work abroad to boost global sales,” an official at the company said.  K

As fans of the late Christopher Hitchens cycle through the five stages of grief, it’s interesting to see which of his opinions can still inspire the kind of anger that is unlikely to ever fade into acceptance. There are, of course, the obvious candidates: his characterization of Bill Clinton as “a rapist” or his vilification of Mother Teresa as “a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud.” There is also his oh so chivalrous shout-out to the Dixie Chicks, whom he called “fat slugs” (or “slags” or “

MOSCOW (AP) ― Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday rejected calls to hold talks with opposition leaders who have brought tens of thousands of Russians into the streets to demand an end to his 12-year rule, saying he doesn’t know what the demonstrators want or who he would talk to.Putin has belittled the opposition even as his government has rolled out a set of proposed reforms in response to outrage over the Dec. 4 election for parliament, in which only Kremlin-approved parties were allowe

TEHRAN (AP) ― The U.S. strongly warned Iran on Wednesday against closing a vital Persian Gulf waterway that carries one-sixth of the world’s oil supply, after Iran threatened to choke off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz if Washington imposes sanctions targeting the country’s crude exports.The increasingly heated exchange raises new tensions in a standoff that has the potential to spark military reprisals and spike oil prices to levels that could batter an already fragile global economy.Iran

Artifacts from Japan’s Lake Biwa District on display at national museum in SeoulLocated in Japan’s Shiga Prefecture bordering the ancient capital city of Kyoto, Lake Biwako is the largest freshwater lake in the archipelago.The region surrounding the lake was introduced to Buddhism by Korea’s Baekje Kingdom (B.C. 18―A.D. 660) before anywhere else in Japan. With this and its proximity to Kyoto, the area developed its own cultural and spiritual flair, blending its local tastes with the mainstream c