Commander says Seoul paid millions to release hostages
Newsweek Feb 7, 08 9:40 AM CST
(Newser)
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The Taliban released 21 South Korean hostages five months ago only after Seoul paid at least $4 million in ransom, a senior insurgent commander now claims. Contrary to South Korea's official denial to Newsweek that money changed hands, the commander said freeing the missionaries without recompense "would not have been worth it."
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Prez urges quick action on international deals, offers help to affected workers
Wall Street Journal Jan 31, 08 11:21 AM CST
(Newser)
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Saying "free trade means good-paying jobs for Americans," President Bush yesterday urged Congress to approve proposed deals with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, the core of a trade agenda he feels can revitalize a shaky US economy. Bush also offered to help lawmakers reshape benefits for workers who lose jobs to foreign competition, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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Move could aid development of new stem-cell lines
San Diego Union-Tribune Jan 17, 08 4:38 PM CST
(Newser)
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A California lab has cloned a human embryo, a science first; the researchers stopped short, however, of creating stem cells. Using a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer, the scientists fused DNA from a man’s skin cells with donated egg cells—and created an embryo with cells specific to the man. Scientists hope stem cells could replace damaged cells with reduced risk of rejection.
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Girls find new favor
as sex imbalance begins to reverse
New York Times Dec 23, 07 10:10 AM CST
(Newser)
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Shedding an age-old preference for sons, South Korea has in the last two decades become the first Asian country to reverse a large sex imbalance at birth. A radical shift in Koreans' attitude toward female babies—and toward working women—has brought down the rate of sex-selection abortion, the New York Times reports.
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Lee Myung-bak promises harder line with North
Reuters Dec 19, 07 5:39 AM CST
(Newser)
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Opposition leader Lee Myung-bak, nicknamed "The Bulldozer," has been elected president of South Korea by the largest margin in the country's democratic history. Lee, a former CEO at Hyundai and once mayor of Seoul, won 50.3% of the vote, trouncing his nearest rival, who captured just 26%, reports Reuters. Lee ran on a right-wing platform emphasizing improvements to the economy and a harder line with North Korea.
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Long a holdout, Seoul legalizes commercials within programs
Wall Street Journal Dec 13, 07 10:55 AM CST
(Newser)
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South Koreans long accustomed to watching uninterrupted boob tube are about to get a jolt of commercial reality—the Korean broadcasting agency has bowed to years of pressure and will at last legalize ads during TV shows. Laws had forbidden even private channels from commercial interruptions, and ads were screened in blocks after shows, which most viewers switched off, writes the Wall Street Journal .
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Freight service aims to narrow economic gap between countries
Bloomberg Dec 11, 07 3:25 AM CST
(Newser)
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The historic first of what will be a regular schedule of freight trains crossed the border from South Korea to North Korea today, marking a major leap forward in the countries' reunification process and a step toward what could be a hugely profitable railway system. The link is part of a plan to narrow the gap between the economies of the prosperous South and impoverished North.
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Government declares state of disaster
New York Times Dec 9, 07 5:00 PM CST
(Newser)
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A crew of 7,000 struggled to contain the worst oil spill in South Korean history today, the New York Times reports. The government declared a state of disaster as volunteers hauled buckets of oil from a 12-mile shore, fighting headaches and nausea from the stench. The coast guard set up floating oil fences, but high waves washed over them. “I think we are finished,” one resident aid.
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Worst spill in country's history threatens scenic coastline, maritime park
BBC Dec 8, 07 5:42 AM CST
(Newser)
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Emergency workers in South Korea are struggling to contain a 12-mile-long oil slick that has reached an ecologically sensitive shoreline on the Korean west coast. The oil spilled when a barge broke loose from the tug that was pulling it, and slammed into a Hong Kong-registered supertanker. The spill threatens a national maritime park and a stopover for migrating birds; four miles of beach have already been affected, BBC reports.
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Spill occurred near ecologically
sensitive coastline
Associated Press Dec 7, 07 11:35 AM CST
(Newser)
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South Korea has sent out a fleet of ships to try to prevent 2.7 million gallons of oil that leaked from a supertanker from reaching an ecologically sensitive shoreline, the AP reports. A crane-carrying barge collided with the tanker 93 miles southwest of Seoul, causing the spill. Authorities are setting up fences to try to contain the nearly 5-mile-long slick, the largest spill in South Korean history.
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US families adopt fewer kids abroad due to
strict new policies
Associated Press Dec 2, 07 5:11 AM CST
(Newser)
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US adoptions from abroad have sunk for the third straight year, mostly because China and Russia have tougher policies, AP reports. A drop in adoptions from Haiti and South Korea have also added to the 15% decline since 2004. But a spike in adoptions from Guatemala, Ethiopia, and Vietnam have partly balanced the scales, experts say.
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Co-worker admits to backing over victim by accident with excavator
Korea Times Nov 29, 07 7:00 PM CST
(Newser)
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A South Korean man thought to have been killed by an exploding cell phone was actually accidentally run over by a coworker. The quarry worker, found dead yesterday morning with a melted cell phone in his pocket, was not in fact slain by his mobile. "I lied that the battery exploded and killed Seo," says the culprit, who backed his excavator into the victim.
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S. Korean victim had melted battery, soot stain in device's shape
BBC Nov 28, 07 6:13 PM CST
(Newser)
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In what could be the second instance of an exploding cell phone killing its owner, a South Korean man was found dead with a melted battery in his pocket today. His heart and lungs were punctured, a doctor said, due to “high pressure from an explosion.” Phone maker LG insisted the device in question, sold only in Korea, had been thoroughly tested, BBC reports.
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Day 2 of defense summit founders on maritime borders
Reuters Nov 28, 07 7:17 AM CST
(Newser)
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The second day of talks between North and South Korean defense ministers hit a snag today, writes Reuters, as efforts to find a compromise on the disputed maritime border fell short. The two ministers had also sought to begin steps towards a formal peace treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War, but the North is unwilling to do so before a new border is established and the US pledges not to attack the North.
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Ministers first aim to settle sea dispute
CNN Nov 27, 07 5:19 AM CST
(Newser)
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South Korea's defense minister is negotiating today with his North Korean counterpart in a bid to settle the nations' disputed sea border. The first talks between defense ministers in seven years aims to deepen the agreements from last month's landmark summit calling for greater peace via economic collaboration.
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