External trade since the outset of this year recorded $1 trillion on a customs-clearance basis around 3:30 p.m. on Monday ― no small achievement for Korea, which was the first former colony to reach the milestone. Moreover, no more than eight countries had broken through the $1 trillion mark ― the United States, Germany, Japan, China, France, Britain, the Netherlands and Italy.It is expanding trade, or more accurately growth in exports, that has made it possible for Korea to write a rags-to-rich

KABUL (AP) ― In Afghanistan’s first major sectarian assault since the fall of the Taliban regime a decade ago, a suicide bomber slaughtered 56 Shiite worshippers and wounded more than 160 others Tuesday outside a Shiite shrine in the capital.The body of a woman, clutching a dead child in each arm, was sprawled along a dirt road littered with shoes, bloodstained clothing, hats and body parts after the blast, which took place as a bombing killed four Shiites in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

BEIJING (AFP) ― Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday urged the navy to prepare for military combat, amid growing regional tensions over maritime disputes and a U.S. campaign to assert itself as a Pacific power.The navy should “accelerate its transformation and modernization in a sturdy way, and make extended preparations for military combat in order to make greater contributions to safeguard national security,” he said.Addressing the powerful Central Military Commission, Hu said: “Our work mus

DURBAN (AP) ― An all-encompassing climate deal “may be beyond our reach for now,” the U.N. chief said as China and India delivered a setback to European plans to negotiate a new treaty that would bind all parties to their pledges on greenhouse gas emissions.The European “road map” toward a new accord that would take effect after 2020 is a centerpiece of negotiations among 194 countries at a U.N. climate conference in the South African coastal city of Durban. It has been presented as a condition

MOSCOW (AP) ― The election official had a problem. Workers at his polling station had been stuffing ballot boxes with votes for Vladimir Putin’s party all day, he says, but when the votes were counted United Russia still didn’t have enough.So he huddled with the election commission he chaired at the Moscow precinct. The decision: Putin’s party would get the desired 65 percent. One member objected, but relented when the others tossed his Communist Party a few dozen votes.The commission chairman s

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Korea Foundation is holding a special winter concert titled “Friends of Korea Foundation.”The concert, to be held at Seoul Arts Center’s concert hall on Dec. 12, will feature some of the nation’s top classical musicians, including pianist Shin Soo-jung, cellist Yang Sung-won, ensemble MIK and violinist Kwon Hyuk-joo. The Korean Chamber Orchestra, which received long-time support from the foundation, will perform Mendelssohn’s Symphony for Strings N

NEW YORK (AP) _ The publisher of a novel about Edgar Allan Poe’s child bride defended the book against allegations that its author, Lenore Hart, lifted material from another work about Poe‘s young wife.St. Martin’s Press released a brief statement Tuesday saying it had compared Hart‘s ``The Raven’s Bride‘’ to Cothburn O‘Neal’s ``The Very Young Mrs. Poe‘’ and found any similarities limited to the inevitable overlap of two novels covering the same subject: Virginia Clemm, who married Poe when she

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Universal Studios will spend several hundred million dollars to build a Harry Potter attraction inside its existing Hollywood theme park in hopes of mimicking the success of a similar park in Orlando, Florida.Executives announced the project Tuesday with much fanfare, spraying confetti and hoisting mugs of the wizardly brew butterbeer.The attraction, based on the Warner Bros. movies about the boy wizard in J.K. Rowling’s novels, will create more than 1,000 jobs at Universal an

Police are looking into a sex video and photos which allegedly show a former Miss Korea with her ex-boyfriend. The alleged victim, who now works as a TV presenter, filed a claim against a blogger Tuesday for uploading the video online, the police said.The three-minute video shows a woman, who appears to be the presenter, in a sexual act with a man whose face is not shown.The video and other photos, including a passport photo of her, quickly spread online after appearing on the blog Sunday.The pe

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Lady Gaga visited the White House on Tuesday to discuss bullying prevention.The pop singer met with Obama administration staffers on the issue and afterward, Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett praised the star as “a source of strength for many young people who feel isolated and scared at their schools.’’“Lady Gaga has described this cause as a personal one ― she has said that as a child, she was often picked on for being different,’’ Jarrett wrote in a blog post on the White