Most Popular
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Ex-presidential official’s leaked phone call rattles conservative bloc
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Pay debate plagues foreign nanny pilot
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35% of S. Koreans view unification 'unnecessary'
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Slew of top K-pop stars ready to return from military
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S. Korea, US clinch 2026-30 defense cost-sharing deal in pre-election push
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[Reporter’s Notebook] Was Netflix film opening BIFF really a bad thing?
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N. Korean leader's sister derides Seoul's Hyunmoo-5 missile as 'useless'
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Controversial cult leader’s sentence reduced to 17 years
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Concerns raised over chronic labor shortage at state-run center for digital sex crime victims
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[KH Explains] Is private equity giant MBK a risk-taker or renegade?
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Fewer business tycoons likely to be granted pardons: official
President Park Geun-hye may reduce the number of convicted business tycoons to be granted special pardons this week, a senior presidential official said Tuesday. Park plans to grant amnesty to a selected group of convicts on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Korea's independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule. Liberation Day, which falls on Aug. 15, is one of the major holidays in South Korea. In South Korea, presidents usually grant special pardons in commemoration of major nationa
PoliticsAug. 11, 2015
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Lotte chief apologizes for family feud, vows governance reform
Shin Dong-bin, the head of the country's No. 5 conglomerate, apologized Tuesday over the group's much-criticized succession feud and pledged to make the retail giant's murky governance structure more transparent. Lotte is embroiled in a bitter family fight over control of the sprawling business empire, which has reignited sentiment against family-controlled conglomerates, known as chaebol here, and prompted an all-out government probe into the group. "This crisis happened as we failed to put
IndustryAug. 11, 2015
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Ex-President Chun's son sued for damages
The eldest son of ex-President Chun Doo-hwan has been sued by his former agent, who was in charge of the son's art collection, for allegedly forcing him to stay abroad during a prosecution investigation in 2013, sources said Tuesday. The agent, identified only by his surname Chun, is seeking 100 million won ($86,000) in damages against Chun Jae-kook in a suit filed with the Seoul Central District Court in February. The plaintiff said he was forced to stay in the United States in July 2013, wh
Social AffairsAug. 11, 2015
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S. Korea, Britain eye closer ties in defense industry
South Korea and Britain have agreed that they have great potential for partnerships in weapons development and trade, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. In their talks here this week, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his British counterpart Philip Hammond noted that two-way trade reached US$13.2 billion last year. "They shared the opinion that bilateral economic cooperation is diversifying and potential is great for defense industry cooperation," the ministry said. It did not elaborate on pla
DefenseAug. 11, 2015
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Cabinet approves faster tax refund decree for foreign tourists
The government Tuesday approved a decree that would allow foreign tourists to claim a tax refund up to 50,000 won ($43) without visiting customs offices. Currently, foreigners must present products and receipts at the customs service when the refunded value added tax is more than 10,000 won. The decree approved at a Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn would enhance the convenience of foreign tourists and help them save time at airports. The ordinance is subject to a
IndustryAug. 11, 2015
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N. Korea to hold annual trade fair in Rason trade zone
North Korea will hold an annual trade fair next week in its Rason trade zone, which borders Russia and China, a Chinese state-run newspaper reported Tuesday. About 100 companies from Russia, China and Thailand are expected to take part in the Fifth Rason International Trade Exhibition, set for Aug. 20-23, the Yanbian Daily reported. The newspaper is published by the Communist Party of the Yanbian prefecture, which sits on the border with North Korea. Ethnic Koreans account for about 30 perce
North KoreaAug. 11, 2015
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S. Korea's ICT sector has highest value added among OECD nations: report
South Korea's information and communications technology sector has the largest portion of the value added against other segments among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members, thanks to its strength in electronics and optical productions, a report showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy came first with the value added in its ICT industry standing at 10.7 percent of the country's total as of end-2013, according to the 2015 OECD Digital Economy Outlook, based on a
IndustryAug. 11, 2015
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N. Korea's trade with China tumbles this year: KDI
North Korea's trade with China plunged more than 10 percent in the first five months of 2015 due mainly to a drop in raw material prices, a report showed Tuesday. North Korea's outbound shipments to its neighbor sank 10.3 percent on-year to $954 million in the January-May period, while imports plunged 14.3 percent to $1.09 billion, according to the report by the Korea Development Institute."Bilateral trade was down 12.5 percent compared to the year before with exports of anthracite coal and iro
North KoreaAug. 11, 2015
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Savings banks swing to net profit in fiscal 2014
South Korea's savings banks turned to the black for the first time in seven years in fiscal 2014 from a year earlier as they set aside less bad loan reserves, the financial watchdog said Tuesday. The combined net profit of 79 savings banks came to 500.8 billion won ($432.6 million) from July last year to June this year, a turnaround from a net loss of 508.9 billion won in the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The banks close their books in June. It is the first bla
IndustryAug. 11, 2015
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Korea should target U.S., Europe to boost exports: report
Shin Dong-bin, the head of the country's No. 5 conglomerate, apologized Tuesday over the group's much-criticized succession feud and pledged to make the retail giant's murky governance structure more transparent. Lotte is embroiled in a bitter family fight over control of the sprawling business empire, which has reignited sentiment against family-controlled conglomerates, known as chaebol here, and prompted an all-out government probe into the group."This crisis happened as we failed to put in
IndustryAug. 11, 2015
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S. Korea issues full alert for western border area
The South Korean military issued a full alert for the western border area to better react to potential military provocations by North Korea, a government official said Tuesday. As part of retaliation for the North's bloody mine detonation on South Korean soldiers, the South Korean Defense Ministry resumed its anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasting in the western front-line area a day earlier. Two South Korean staff sergeants were severely injured when landmines exploded in the South Korean si
North KoreaAug. 11, 2015
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Top NK general may be blamed for landmine blast
A top North Korean military official, thought to be behind the North's deadly attacks on South Korea in 2010, has been promoted to a general again after being demoted in April, South Korean military sources said Tuesday. Gen. Kim Yong-chol, who has been leading the North's reconnaissance bureau, is found to have been recently re-promoted to a four-star general after serving as a lieutenant general for about four months, according to the sources. His promotion largely coincides with the explosi
North KoreaAug. 11, 2015
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Service-sector recovery still weak despite waning MERS fallout
The recovery pace of the local service industry remains slack though the fallout of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak has waned, with the economy facing external risks such as a possible U.S. rate hike, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The viral disease, first confirmed on May 20, has claimed 36 lives and infected 186 people, although no new cases have been reported since July 4. In its latest economic report called the Green Book, the ministry said the MERS outbreak is offsettin
Aug. 11, 2015
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Policy lenders struggle with mounting bad loans
South Korea's two policy lenders have shouldered massive bad loans, estimated at 5.5 trillion won ($4.75 billion), over the past five years, due to a series of collapses of big name companies during the economic slump, a report said Tuesday. The Korea Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea have extended loans to 333 companies that have been under court receivership over the last five years, according to the report submitted by the banks to the parliament. In general, a bank can c
Aug. 11, 2015
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U.N. chief urges N. Korea to stop provocation
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced concern about North Korea's landmine attack on South Korean soldiers, according to his office Tuesday. Ban called on the North to stop provocation and resume dialogue to ease tensions on the peninsula, it added. Two South Korean soldiers based near the Demilitarized Zone were seriously wounded in the blasts last week. They stepped on landmines while paroling the South Korean side of the DMZ. The South's military said the North was behind
North KoreaAug. 11, 2015
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Tensions flare again between two Koreas
Inter-Korean relations are deteriorating with a recent series of setbacks including last week’s land mine incident that injured two South Korean soldiers and Pyongyang’s repeated rejection of Seoul’s overtures for dialogue.The South Korea-U.S. military exercise, slated for next week, is likely to further strain cross-border relations and dampen reconciliatory mood, which was expected to emerge as the two Koreas mark the 70th anniversary this Saturday of their liberation from Japan’s colonial rul
North KoreaAug. 11, 2015
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Lotte owner family holds 5.6 tln-won assets in S. Korea
The owner family of Lotte Group, currently under fire for its sibling rivalry over control of the conglomerate, holds assets of over 5 trillion won ($4.31 billion) in South Korea, data showed Tuesday. The combined assets owned by Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho, his third wife and his four children, amount to 5.63 trillion won, according to the data compiled by corporate tracker Chaebul.com. The assets include both listed and unlisted stocks, as well as real estate in South Korea. The second el
IndustryAug. 11, 2015
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Relics of Korean independence movement in Beijing vanish in rapid development
The sign outside a rundown gate on an old-fashioned street in central Beijing gives few clues about its history and the surrounding buildings lie in rubble. Long-time Chinese residents claim that the gate is a part of the Shideng small temple where Shin Chae-ho, a revered Korean independence activist, once lived in the 1920s during his exile in China. As an independence activist, a historian and a journalist, Shin was credited with setting up a nationalist historiography of modern Korea. He w
InternationalAug. 11, 2015
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S. Korea urges N. Korea to apologize for land mine attack
South Korea urged North Korea Tuesday to offer an apology over the deadly landmine attack as Seoul's defense chief vowed to seize initiative along the heavily fortified border. South Korea accused North Korea of intentionally burying three wooden-box land mines on the southern side of the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas. Two South Korean staff sergeants were severely injured during a patrol mission on Aug. 4 when the land mines exploded. Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook
North KoreaAug. 11, 2015
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Lawmakers seek to grill chaebols
Lawmakers are gearing up for a spotlight-filled audit session next month by calling in a number of high-flying figures to the stand, including the beleaguered Lotte Group leadership on the retail giant’s mysterious management structure. Bipartisan panel members from the National Assembly’s National Policy Committee said Monday they would seek to subpoena the nation’s fifth-largest conglomerate’s founder Shin Kyuk-ho and his two sons ― Shin Dong-joo and Shin Dong-bin ― during the annual audit ses
PoliticsAug. 10, 2015