Alcohol consumption impairs vision and makes faces appear less clear, South Korean researchers studying sexual attraction have determined. Researchers at Kyungwoon University asked 10 adults with an average age of 22.4 years and healthy vision to each drink a 12-ounce bottle of soju, a Korean drink with an alcohol content of 19.7 percent, The Chosun Ilbo reported Friday. An hour later, the average blood-alcohol content was at its highest at 0.32 percent and the participants' vision, on average, had dropped 0.32 diopters, said Cho Hyun-gug, a professor of visual optics who led the research. Three hours later, the average blood-alcohol level was 0.17 percent with vision, on average, down 0.27 diopters.

The South Korean population will begin falling in 2019, the National Statistical Office predicted Friday. Demographers said that the number of households would increase through 2030, with the average size falling to 2.4 people from 2.6 in 2008, The Chosun Ilbo reported.

South Korean researchers say they've discovered a planetary system that has two suns. Lee Jae-woo and Kim Seung-ri of the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and Kim Chun-hwui of Chungbuk National University said the planetary system, which they've named HW Vir has had the two suns since its

NORTH Korea marked the 60th anniversary of its founding today amid international doubts over its commitment to de-nuclearisation, speculation about the health of its leader and a worsening food crisis.

Text of report in English by South Korean newspaper Chungang Ilbo website on 6 July As of 12 o'clock this morning [6 July], the nation's three major newspapers stopped supplying news content to No 2 web portal Daum, as the conservative dailies decided not to renew their contracts with the site.