The Korea Times

Navy launches new frigate Gwangju, 6th in next-generation fleet project

 The Navy said Tuesday it has launched a new guided missile frigate named Gwangju as it continues to churn out next-generation warships to retire older vessels.The new frigate is the sixth addition to the fleet as part of the Navy's project to build 20 next-generation vessels by 2020.The new series will replace the Navy's aging frigates and patrol combat corvettes, the Navy said in a statement.Once deployed, it will be tasked with patrolling and defending South Korea's sea territory and contribute as deterrence against North Korea's aggression, the statement said.The 2,300-ton new frigate is fit to accommodate about 120 crewmen and able to sail at a maximum speed of 30 knots or 55.5 kilometers per hour.The vessel is equipped with three-dimension scanning radar, a sonar torpedo detecting system as well as antiaircraft and antiship missiles to be able to engage in antiaircraft, antisubmarine and antiship operations.The frigate Gwangju will undergo test navigation and examinations before being handed over to the Navy for deployment by the end of 2016. (Yonhap)  

Aug 11, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Navy launches new frigate Gwangju, 6th in next-generation fleet project

South Korea

South demands North's apology, punishment over mines blast

South Korea has demanded North Korea apologize and punish those responsible for planting land mines inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that seriously wounded two soldiers last week.“This case is a clear provocation where North Korean forces illegally intruded onto the military demarcation line to intentionally bury mines,” presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said Tuesday.He reiterated the position that the North’s action was a violation of the Armistice and the treaty of non-aggression signed by the two Koreas.Seoul on Monday resumed loudspeaker propaganda against the North for the first time in 11 years in retaliation for the blasts. The explosions happened on Aug. 4 inside the DMZ near Paju, Gyeonggi Province.  

Aug 11, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Tension builds along border

South Korea

Precise number of Tripitaka Koreana blocks uncovered

There are nearly a hundred more wooden blocks in the collection of Tripitaka Koreana than previously thought, South Korea's cultural heritage administration said Monday.Tripitaka Koreana, or "Palmandaejanggyeong" in Korean, is a collection of 13th-century Buddhist scriptures carved on more than 80,000 wooden printing blocks. It is considered the most comprehensive set of Buddhist scriptures found to date. The Haein Temple, in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province, 354 kilometers south of Seoul, where the texts are kept, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.The number of these wooden blocks has been a source of contention since no comprehensive research has been done on the matter, even after it was designated a national treasure in 1962.But after 10 years of counting and confirming, the Cultural Heritage Administration said it has determined that there are 81,352 blocks of the text, which is 94 more than what was recorded in 1915 when Korea was a colony of Japan.The agency has also discovered that 36 of them were manufactured during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule.Yun Sun-ho, head of the

Aug 10, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Shows & Dramas

Park Hae-jin, Seo Kang-joon also to star in 'Cheese'

Actor Seo Kang-joonHallyu actors Seo Kang-joon and Park Hae-jin will star in an upcoming cable drama “Cheese in the Trap,” reports said. Female lead Kim Go-eun has already been announced.The drama will be based on a popular webtoon of the same name, and will be aired on the cable channel tvN. It is produced by a popular producer Lee Yun-jeong, who was behind the 2007 MBC drama “Coffee Prince.”Seo will play a former piano prodigy-turned-loser Baek In-ho in the drama. Park Hae-jin will star as the “perfect man” Yu Jung opposite female star Kim, who will play Hong Seol, in the drama mainly centered around the three characters on campus. Actor Park Hae-jin

Aug 10, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Park Hae-jin, Seo Kang-joon also to star in 'Cheese'

North Korea

Pyongyang, 'more free than expected'

Former first lady Lee Hee-ho and her entourage did not meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their four-day visit to North Korea.But Lee and the entourage that returned Saturday released pictures and impressions of a Pyongyang livelier and freer than expected, in particular because the young leader has been eliminating his possible rivals or opponents. An official with the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center was reported as telling Yonhap there were more cars on the streets of Pyongyang than five years ago and more people using cell phones, referencing those who had been to the North before during the historic 2000 summit and the 2011 funeral of Kim Jong-il. Those who took photos said that there was were no restrictions in taking them.Lee visited on the invitation of Kim Jong-un, whom she briefly met in 2011 at the funeral of the leader’s late father, Kim Jong-il.  

Aug 9, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

South Korea

Alcohol blamed for domestic and sexual violence

/ Korea Times fileSeven out of 10 domestic and sexual violence offenders were drunk when they committed their crimes, Uijeongbu police in Gyeonggi Province disclosed Sunday.The findings were in a report by Lee Won-jeong, a director of a criminal division at Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, who studied 3,747 cases of violence-related crimes in Uijeongbu last year. It showed a total of 4,851 people were arrested for violent crimes in the area and 61.5 percent, or 2,983, of them were drunk.For sexual and domestic violence offenders, seven out of 10 were drunk at the time of their crimes. And for those who obstructed police, the figure was nine out of 10.

Aug 9, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Alcohol blamed for domestic and sexual violence

Shows & Dramas

Sulli no longer f(x) member

Sulli, a former f(x) memberSulli, a former member of girl band f(x), will focus on her acting career, reports say.Sulli, who has been on leave since July last year, has left SM Entertainment’s band. The management agency said f(x) will now be a four-member group, comprising Victoria, Luna, Amber and Krystal. There were rumors Sulli would leave the band, but nothing was concrete until last week.Sulli is dating Choi Ja from Korean rap band Dynamic Duo.  

Aug 9, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Shows & Dramas

Girls' Generation, Teen Top wow K-pop fans in New Jersey

K-pop boy band Super Junior performs on Aug. 1 in Los Angeles as part of the KCON 2015 festival. / YonhapPopular K-pop groups such as Girls’ Generation, Teen Top, VIXX and AOA performed to Korean pop fans at the Prudential Center in New York Saturday, as part of 2015 KCON. The now eight-member girl group Girls’ Generation sang its latest song “Party” as well as their other hits including “Genie.”Photos of Girls’ Generation attending the 2015 KCON in New York Saturday was featured on Splash News.The largest hallyu or Korean wave festival in North America was held for three days starting from July 31 through Aug. 2 in Los Angeles, and then moved to New York to the Saturday concert.Top K-pop boy and girl bands including Super Junior, Sistar and Block B and R&B singer Crush took part in the Los Angeles concert. 

Aug 9, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Girls' Generation, Teen Top wow K-pop fans in New Jersey

South Korea

'라이언킹의 비극'…세실 새끼, 다른 사자 공격에 죽음

'트로피 헌터'에게 사냥당한 아프리카 짐바브웨의 '국민 사자' 세실의 새끼 한 마리가 아빠를 잃은 뒤 다른 사자로부터 공격당해 죽었다고 영국 선데이미러가 8일(현지시간) 보도했다.    짐바브웨 국립공원의 한 소식통에 따르면 세실의 새끼 사자 8마리 중 1마리가 최근 엄마 사자를 차지하려던 다른 수사자로부터 죽임을 당한 것으로 전해졌다.    이 소식통은 "(세실이 도륙된 후 남겨진) 암사자를 차지하려는 수사자들이 새끼들을 더 죽일 수 있다"며 "사자사회에는 원래 '영아 살해'의 풍습이 남아있다"고 설명했다.    이어 세실의 암사자들이 새끼 사자를 보호하려 하겠지만 그런 노력이 오래가지는 못할 것이라고 분석했다.    야생동물 전문가들은 암사자와 새끼들만 남은 사자무리가 살아남을 확률은 5％에 불과하다고 밝혔다.    그동안 삼촌격인 사자 제리코가 세실의 새끼 사자들을 보호했지만, 지금은 이들을 떠나 다른 암사자들을 거느리면서 새로운 사자 무리를 이끌고 있다고 공원 관계자는 전했다.    이 관계자는 "제리코가 세실의 새끼 사자를 죽이지는 않을 것"이라며 "제리코는 세실의 새끼 사자들 중 일부가 자신의 혈육이라고 생각한다"고 말했다.    그렇지만 다른 수사자가 세실의 남은 새끼들을 죽이려 할 때 제리코가 새끼들을 도와줄지는 알 수 없다고 덧붙였다.    짐바브웨의 명물 사자인 세실은 지난달 미국인 치과의사 월터 파머에 의해 보호구역인 황게국립공원 밖으로 유인당해 화살과 총탄에 맞아 도륙당한 뒤 머리가 참수되고 가죽이 벗겨진 채 발견돼 전 세계에서 공분을 불러일으켰다. (연합뉴스) 

Aug 9, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

South Korea

N. Korea threatens 'tough military counteraction' against S. Korea-US joint drill

North Korea on Saturday threatened "tough military counteraction" against Seoul and Washington ahead of their upcoming joint military exercises scheduled for later this month."Ulchi Freedom Guardian will entail tough military counteraction of the army of the DPRK to firmly defend the dignity of the nation and sovereignty of the country," the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a statement. DPRK is the acronym for the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.The North said that the two allies' "efforts" to call the drills "transparent and defensive," and "regular and open," cannot "conceal the aggressive and reactionary nature of the drills as typical saber-rattling for making a pre-emptive nuclear strike at the DPRK."The statement comes as ties between the two Koreas remain frigid amid Pyongyang's heightened criticism of Seoul and their plan to hold a joint celebration of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule virtually fell through.Seoul-Pyongyang ties have been further strained in recent years following the North's torpedoing of a Sou

Aug 8, 2015By Kim Ji-soo

Kim Ji-soo

Read more

Navy launches new frigate Gwangju, 6th in next-generation fleet project

South demands North's apology, punishment over mines blast

Precise number of Tripitaka Koreana blocks uncovered

Park Hae-jin, Seo Kang-joon also to star in 'Cheese'

Pyongyang, 'more free than expected'

Alcohol blamed for domestic and sexual violence

Sulli no longer f(x) member

Girls' Generation, Teen Top wow K-pop fans in New Jersey

'라이언킹의 비극'…세실 새끼, 다른 사자 공격에 죽음

N. Korea threatens 'tough military counteraction' against S. Korea-US joint drill

Top 5 stories