The government will place at least one ambulance with advanced equipment at each fire station in the country to provide quicker treatment for emergency patients, officials said Tuesday. The Ministry of Public Safety and Security said it would provide special ambulances that are equipped with 12 emergency medical devices to 205 fire stations. In these ambulances, medical staff will be able to conduct emergency treatments, such as intubation or heart-stimulating drug injections, which are difficul

Social Affairs Jan. 5, 2016

Dozens of young South Koreans took to the streets Saturday to protest a recent agreement between South Korea and Japan to resolve the issue of Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II.The agreement, reached on Dec. 28, has sparked a wave of public protests among victims and their supporters, who claim Japan got the better side of the deal by obtaining Seoul's promise to settle the issue once and for all if Tokyo fulfills its commitments.Under the deal, Ja

Social Affairs Jan. 2, 2016

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the opening ceremony of a science technology complex on the first day of the new year, the North's state media said Saturday.The "Sci-Tech Complex" opened Friday to help spread the latest science and technology developed by the North's ruling Workers' Party, according to the Korean Central News Agency."Going round the interior of the complex, (Kim) said this is a great center for all-people study and one for disseminating latest science and technology in

North Korea Jan. 2, 2016

A major overhaul of China's armed forces appears to have affected one of seven regionalized commands in charge of the Korean Peninsula, according to Chinese and Hong Kong media reports on Saturday. The Chinese Shenyang Military Area Command, which is close to North Korea, is one of the seven battle-zone commands and believed to be tasked with coping with contingency plans on the Korean Peninsula. Citing a "source familiar with the matter," Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Thu

World News Jan. 2, 2016

South Korean stocks may remain subdued next week, weighed down by slumping global commodity prices and risks stemming from emerging economies, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,961.31 on Thursday, the last trading day of this year, down 1.47 percent from a week earlier. The market got off to a weak start this week as Samsung Group affiliates lost ground after the country's regulator ordered them to resolve the complicated cross-shareholding struct

Jan. 2, 2016

Shortly after a 2012 nuclear deal with Pyongyang, the United States had asked North Korea's chief nuclear envoy to meet bilaterally with his South Korean counterpart, according to a newly released email of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.Clifford Hart, then U.S. special envoy for six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, made the request during a phone call with North Korea's deputy U.N. ambassador Han Song-ryol, days after the two sides reached a food aid-for-denuclearization

North Korea Jan. 2, 2016

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday South Korea's President Park Geun-hye had made a "courageous decision" to reach a landmark agreement with Japan on resolving the issue of Japan's wartime sexual slavery."History will laud President Park Geun-hye's courageous decision based on her vision," Ban said during his phone call with Park.Ban also said it is a relief that the two countries reached the agreement before the end of 2015, as it marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of

Politics Jan. 2, 2016

The head of China Telecom, one of the nation's big three telecoms firms, is under investigation for "severe disciplinary violations", the government said Sunday, the latest high-profile target in a corruption crackdown.News of the probe into Chang Xiaobing, 58, was given in a statement on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the watchdog of the ruling Communist Party.The term is normally a euphemism for graft.Chang had been "taken away", according to an article in the

World News Dec. 27, 2015

The central government will simplify the system for controlling pollution-generating facilities starting from 2017 as part of its efforts to reduce unnecessary procedural issues and lessen the burdens of businesses, officials said Tuesday. For this, the Environment Ministry said it would integrate polution permit systems. Currently, up to 10 types of separate permissions are required to run one pollution-generating facility. The permissions range from air pollution to water quality.The new syste

Social Affairs Dec. 22, 2015

Seoul police dispatched a group of investigators to the Philippines to join a probe into the murder of a Korean for the first time amid growing security concerns for Korean citizens in the country, officials said Monday. A 57-year-old man surnamed Cho was shot dead by four strangers who broke into his house early Sunday in Malvar, Batangas. The suspects ran away after stealing money and valuables, Manila authorities said. The Korean National Police Agency said it sent three police officers and o

Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2015

Korean and Vietnamese police authorities have launched special teams to ensure the safety of their respective citizens in each other’s countries, as they seek to enhance bilateral cooperation.Korean police launched the “Vietnamese Desk” to better support Vietnamese residents in Korea while the Vietnamese authorities installed the “Korean Desk” to better serve Korean residents in the Southeast Asian nation.These moves came after the police chiefs of the two nations signed a memorandum of understa

National Dec. 18, 2015