Leading conservative figure and three-time presidential candidate Rep. Lee Hoi-chang of the minority conservative Liberty Forward Party announced he will not contest the next election.“I am fully responsible for failing to provide protective measures for our local industries,” said Lee in a press conference on Monday.“In order to take responsibility and display my sincerity to the agricultural and stockbreeding societies, as well as small-sized industries, I shall not enter candidacy in the 19th

South Korean defense companies on Monday denied recent rumors that they’re under investigation by U.S. intelligence officials for allegedly stealing key U.S. weapons technologies.The companies, including shipbuilders like Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, told the Defense Acquisition Program Administration that they have never attempted to copy or steal U.S. technologies, DAPA officials told reporters.“We’ve checked with each and every related defense compa

On trade unions ...Korea’s constitution in Article 7, section 1, states that workers have the right to organize, bargain collectively and collective action for their working conditions.That is, three powers of labor workers can enjoy basically.Before trade unions, the owner of the company determined all things such as promotion, wage, retirement and so on.Under these conditions, the workers had no option and worked as the owner ordered. If a worker got hurt while working, medical expenses were p

Pfizer Inc. will pay at least $60 million to settle allegations by the U.S. government that the drugmaker paid bribes to win overseas business, according to The Wall Street Journal.The paper, citing “people familiar with the matter,” said in an article published to its website Sunday that settlements are expected to be made public by the end of the year.In April, health care giant Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $70 million to settle civil and criminal charges of bribing doctors in Europe and pa

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG secured a 15 percent stake in SGL Carbon SE, adding to a 29 percent holding controlled by BMW heiress Susanne Klatten, in a move that keeps rival Volkswagen AG at bay. BMW bought 5.2 percent of the shares directly and controls an additional 10 percent of SGL through financial derivatives, the Wiesbaden, Germany-based maker of carbon and graphite products said today. SGL, which will supply carbon fiber for BMW’s upcoming line of city cars, surged as much as 7.8 percent

BRUSSELS (AFP) ― The EU will this week urge eurozone states caught in the debt crisis turmoil to club together to guarantee each other’s debts, vowing to police national budgets ruthlessly by way of a safeguard.The European Commission will on Wednesday publish legislative proposals to implement common eurozone bonds that could start with a club-within-a-club and only partial debt-pooling.That amounts to a direct challenge to the EU’s most powerful economy Germany to open the door to radical cros

ZINTAN, Libya (AP) ― Libya’s new leaders said Sunday they will try Moammar Gadhafi’s son at home and not hand him over to the International Criminal Court where he’s charged with crimes against humanity. The government also announced the capture of the toppled regime’s intelligence minister, who is also wanted by the court.In one of several emerging complications, however, the former rebel faction that captured Seif al-Islam Gadhafi a day earlier is refusing to deliver him to national authoritie

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The “time has come” to deal with Iran, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday, refusing to rule out military action to curb the Islamic republic’s nuclear ambitions.Barak, speaking on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS program, indicated that Israel’s patience was wearing thin ― and provided an ominous response when asked about the growing speculation of an Israeli military strike.“I don’t think that that is a subject for public discussion,” he said. “But I can tell you that th

MOSCOW (AP) ― Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was greeted by catcalls when he stepped into the ring after a mixed martial arts fight at a Moscow arena on Sunday night.The whistles and shouts, heard clearly on the live television broadcast, were an unprecedented rebuke as Putin prepares to return to the presidency next year. A judo enthusiast, Putin has long been an admirer of Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist Fedor Emelianenko and came to see him take on American Jeff Monson.After E

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― A California university placed two of its police officers on administrative leave Sunday because of their involvement in the pepper spraying of passively sitting protesters, while the school’s chancellor accelerated a task force’s investigation into the incident amid calls for her resignation.The president of the 10-campus University of California system also weighed in on the growing fallout from Friday’s incident at UC Davis, saying that he is “appalled” at images of stude

NEW YORK (AP) ― An “al-Qaida sympathizer” accused of plotting to bomb police and post offices in New York City as well as U.S. troops returning home has been arrested on numerous terrorism-related charges.Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced at a news conference Sunday the arrest of Jose Pimentel of Manhattan, “a 27-year-old al-Qaida sympathizer” who the mayor said was motivated by terrorist propaganda and resentment of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said poli