Significant progress made in Seoul-ASEAN FTA talks SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) — South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have made substantial progress in their negotiations on a free trade agreement, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday. During Sept. 6-9 talks here, the two sides reached agreements on a number of issues, including [...]

S. Korean farmers to send protesters to WTO meeting in Hong Kong SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) — A South Korean farmers’ group said Sunday it will send as many as 1,300 protesters to Hong Kong later this year to oppose a ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization to be held there. The Korea Peasants [...]

S. Korea considers halving contingent in Iraq By Kim Hyung-jin SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) — Withdrawing half of South Korea’s 3,200 troops in Iraq early next year is among the policy options being considered by the Defense Ministry, an official said Monday. “That is one of several ideas the Defense Ministry has prepared to answer [...]

S. Korean August jobless rate estimated at 3.64 pct SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s unemployment rate probably edged up in August from the previous month because of weak business activity, a poll showed Monday. According to the survey of 15 domestic and foreign financial institutions and think tanks, the median forecast for the [...]

Hospital employees go on strike, pilots’ walkout goes on SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) — Heating up South Korea’s summer of labor unrest, unionized employees at major hospitals nationwide walked off their jobs Wednesday morning. The strike by nurses, administrative staff and other non-doctor personnel at more than 20 major hospitals put a further damper on [...]

(LEAD) Hospital employees go on strike; pilots’ walkout goes on By Lee Chi-dong SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) — Heating up South Korea’s summer of labor unrest, unionized employees at major hospitals nationwide walked off their jobs Wednesday morning. The strike by nurses, administrative staff and other non-doctor personnel at more than 20 major hospitals put [...]

(2nd LD) Hospital employees go on strike; pilots’ walkout continues By Lee Chi-dong SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) — Heating up South Korea’s summer of labor unrest, thousands of unionized employees at major hospitals nationwide walked off their jobs Wednesday morning. The strike by nurses, administrative staff and other non-doctor personnel at more than 20 major [...]

S. Korea’s child traffic mortality highest among OECD nations SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) — South Korea has the highest traffic mortality rate involving children among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a private think tank said Thursday. According to the Samsung Traffic Safety Research Institute, the country averaged 4.1 traffic accident [...]