The government will provide free respite care service to the aged and ailing veterans and patriots under a bill that the Cabinet approved Tuesday to improve the welfare of those people, officials said. Under the program, caregivers will visit homes of veterans and patriots who are aged 65 or older, living alone or suffering from senile diseases to help them eat meals and do house chores and othe...

The military has saved costs and improved its productivity in equipment maintenance by hiring civilian workers, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The ministry said that as part of the military’s plan to increase efficiency in defense management, the Army hired 37 civilian technicians to handle maintenance of 27 armored vehicles this year. The ministry said the military could save up to 11.7 bi...

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― South Korean officials are reviewing “realistic options” in case they face pressure to impose fresh sanctions on Iran, diplomatic sources here said Monday, as the U.N. nuclear watchdog is preparing to release a major report on Iran’s uranium enrichment program. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to link Iran’s UEP with weapons development in the ...

Investigators seek to stamp out corruption to protect small-sum depositors Prosecutors are investigating possible corruption at regional agricultural cooperatives, turning their focus away from local savings banks amid concerns that co-op irregularities could impact the livelihoods of citizens. Investigators recently discovered that a cooperative in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province raked in tidy sum...

A civic group on Tuesday alleged that 18 people have died from a mysterious f pulmonary disease caused by a humidifier sterilizer, a death toll far higher than the government estimated. The activists disclosed 50 additional reports and urged the administration to ban the sales of the sterilizers. According to the Asian Citizens’ Center for Environment and Health, a total of 18 people, one of wh...

A cow at a farm in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, was confirmed negative for foot-and-mouth-disease, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Tuesday. Authorities lifted the precautionary measures around the area including a ban on the movement of cows, vehicles and people. The Pohang municipal government received a report on Monday about one of the 14 cows raised in ...

S. Korean leader to speak on cooperation at St. Petersburg State University President Lee Myung-bak arrived in St. Petersburg on Tuesday for summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during which the two are expected to discuss a natural gas pipeline project and North Korea. Lee has since September expressed a strong intent to bring about a preliminary deal signed between the Korea Ga...

South Korean stocks finished marginally higher Tuesday as foreign investors snapped up blue-chip tech and auto exporters, outweighing losses in banks and steelmakers, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. After bobbing in and out of negative territory, the benchmark KOSPI edged up 0.6 points, or 0.03 percent, to 1,909.63. Trading volume was moderate at 348 million share...

Multiple Korean cities were internationally recognized for their management of the local environment at the closing ceremony of the International Awards for Livable Communities held in Seoul on Monday. Tongyeong City, South Gyeongsang Province, received first prize as the most “livable” city with a population of 75,001-150,000, in recognition of its efforts in developing a sustainable island res...

Borrowing conditions in the dollar bond market improved after Korea secured expanded currency swaps with Japan and China in October, local banks said Tuesday. Commercial banks said Korea’s $300 billion-plus foreign exchange reserves and the expanded currency liquidity through currency swaps are lowering funding costs for them. “We saw an immediate bounce of interest in the secondary buying of d...