Korea's e-book market has been growing while the wider book industry is shrinking, a recent report from a government agency showed Monday.The report by the Publication Industry Agency of Korea about the general condition of the country's publishing industry showed the industry's total sales amounted to 7.58 trillion won ($6.67 billion) in 2015, down by 3.8 percent from a year ago.  The file photo shows Kyobo Bookstore in downtown Seoul. (Yonhap)Sales of publishing companies and distributors came

Technology April 17, 2017

With his US visa status in limbo following a drunk driving conviction, Pittsburgh Pirates' infielder Kang Jung-ho continues to train on his own in South Korea while biding his time for legal proceedings to resume, sources said Monday.One source told Yonhap News Agency that Kang is trying to keep a low profile but has been "working hard" to stay in shape. The source said in addition to indoor training, Kang has also been doing batting and field practice.In this file photo taken on March 3, 2017,

Baseball April 17, 2017

BEIJING -- China's foreign ministry on Monday called on North Korea and other neighbors to refrain from inflammatory behaviors following Pyongyang's failed missile test-launch over the weekend."As declared repeatedly, the current state of the Korean Peninsula is highly complicated and highly dangerous," Lu Kang, spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry, said in a briefing, responding to a query on North Korea's missile firing on Sunday. "The point we have consistently made is that each country

Foreign Affairs April 17, 2017

Senior defense officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan will have face-to-face talks on North Korea's saber-rattling later this week, a Seoul ministry announced Monday.The regional powers plan to hold the Defense Trilateral Talks in Tokyo on Wednesday, the ninth session of the forum launched in 2008, according to the Ministry of National Defense.An image of three-way defense cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan against North Korea in this file photo provided by Yonhap N

Foreign Affairs April 17, 2017

The South Korea women's national football team plans to play a friendly against the United States in October, their head coach said Monday.Yoon Duk-yeo said South Korea, ranked No. 17 in the latest FIFA rankings, will play two friendly matches against No. 2 US in October away from home, although the exact dates and locations have yet to be determined.In this file photo taken on April 2, 2017, South Korean women's national football team head coach Yoon Duk-yeo (left) and players pose for a photo

Soccer April 17, 2017

PYONGYANG -- The clouds of war, it might seem, are gathering around the Korean Peninsula.The North Korean government flaunts an increasingly sophisticated arsenal of intercontinental missiles and launches a midrange version, which apparently fails seconds after takeoff. The US moves an immense warship to the waters off the peninsula in a display of military might. President Donald Trump warns he's ready to "solve North Korea," while North Korea's deputy foreign minister says his country will con

North Korea April 17, 2017

Microsoft Korea, the local unit of US software giant Microsoft Corp. said Monday that it has added an artificial intelligence  function to its cloud-computing service, Office 365.The company said Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel will be backed up by various cloud-powered AI capabilities through data centers in South Korea by employing machine learning capabilities. (Yonhap)Earlier, Microsoft opened two data center regions in Seoul and the southern port city of Busan for its open cloud computi

Technology April 17, 2017

French carmaker Renault SA is planning to launch the supermini Clio hatchback in South Korea in August to absorb "pent-up" demand here for small and fuel-efficient vehicles, a company official said Monday. "South Korean customers appear to be fed up with similar designs and lack of features in the existing subcompact vehicles. Renault's Clio hatchback (Yonhap)As we have judged, there is demand for a small but powerful and premium hatchback, we will place the Europe-made Clio in the Korean market

Mobility April 17, 2017

South Korea's defense ministry said Monday it plans to create a cybersecurity technology team and a multilateral security department in an organizational change.It would instead abolish a culture policy department tasked with improving life in the barracks amid continued reports of bullying cases in the nation's 625,000-strong military.In an advance notice of a related bill on the scheme, the first in a decade to redraw the organizational chart of its headquarters, the ministry said its existing

Defense April 17, 2017

Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo gave up his parliamentary seat Monday to follow through on his promise to give his all to win the upcoming election, an official said.Ahn, a co-founder and former leader of the center-left People's Party, submitted his resignation form to the National Assembly earlier in the day as the official campaign for the May 9 election kicked off.Ahn Cheol-soo, presidential nominee of the People's Party, raises both arms while greeting citizens in central Seoul on the

Politics April 17, 2017

South Korea plans to gradually increase women's representation in senior positions in government and public institutions, officials said Monday.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said that the government will raise the ratio of female civil servants ranked at grade 4 or higher to 15 percent by the end of this year. (Yonhap)The share of women in senior government posts above grade 4 had risen from 9.3 percent in 2012 to 13.5 percent last year. The nation's civil service system is comprise

Social Affairs April 17, 2017

TOKYO -- Japan on Monday urged the next South Korean government implement a landmark 2015 deal to resolve the long-running rift over Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women as the official campaign period for South Korea's upcoming presidential election began the same day."The two countries promised to implement the December 2015 agreement that was highly esteemed in the international community regardless of the internal affairs (in South Korea)," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshi

Foreign Affairs April 17, 2017

KCON, a global Korean pop music and culture convention, will be held in Japan next month, showcasing 60 fast-rising K-pop idol artists, according to its organizer Monday. (Yonhap)The three-day event at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, east of Tokyo, from May 19 will feature Apink, CNBLUE, Cosmic Girl, GFriend, Lovelyz, Seventeen and more of the hottest K-pop names, the organizer of the annual event said.CJ E&M's cable TV subsidiary Mnet will broadcast its music chart show MCountdow

April 17, 2017

The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Monday that it will sell a local tiremaker to a Chinese firm unless the chief of Kumho Asiana Group exercises his right to buy back the logistics conglomerate's tiremaking affiliate currently under creditors' control.Park Sam-koo, chairman of Kumho Asiana Group, has urged the KDB, the main creditor of Kumho Tire Co., to allow him to form a consortium for the potential takeover.(Yonhap)But the KDB said Park is required to show his intention by Wedne

Industry April 17, 2017

항공사 "승객의 무리한 좌석승급 요구·권고거부가 원인" (사진=연합뉴스)좌석 초과예약을 이유로 베트남계 미국인 승객을 강제로 내쫓아 공분을 샀던 미국 유나이티드항공이 또다시 도마 위에 올랐다.이번에는 결혼식을 올리려고 휴스턴에서 코스타리카로 가려던 예비  신랑·신부를 내쫓았다는 구설에 휘말렸다.16일(현지시간) 휴스턴 지역방송 KHOU에 따르면 마이클 홀과 앰버 맥스웰은  전날 휴스턴 공항에서 코스타리카로 가기 위해 유나이티드항공에 탑승했다.코스타리카에서 결혼식을 올리려던 두 사람은 자신의 지정석에 한 남성이 누워 잠들어 있는 것을 발견했다. 이들은 그를 깨우는 대신 다른 줄에 가서 앉았다. 홀은 "1등석으로 간 것도 아니어서 대수롭지 않은 일로 생각했다"면서 "우리는 이코노미 구간에서 자리를 옮겼을 뿐"이라고 말했다. 하지만 승무원은 그들에게  지정된 좌석으로 옮겨 달라고 요구했다. 이에 두 예비 신혼부부는 좌석 승급을 요구했고, 승무원은 좌석이 없다며  거절 했다. 결국 이들은

한국어판 April 17, 2017