Seoul stocks extend gains, won advances late Thursday morning

Seoul stocks extended gains late Thursday morning although investors remain wary over the worsening US-China trade war and Japan's export curbs. The won gained against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 20.57 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,930.28 as of 11:20 a.m. The main index shed 6.3 percent in the past six sessions. Japan's trade ministry on Wednesday officially announced the exclusion of South Korea from its "whitelist" of trusted trading partners tha

MarketAug. 8, 2019

Moon says Japan in 'no-winner' game against S. Korea

President Moon Jae-in continued his criticism Thursday of Japan's "no-winner game" against South Korea, especially taking issue with its contradictory attitude toward trade.He was speaking at the outset of a Cheong Wa Dae meeting of the presidential National Economic Advisory Council, its first session in eight months. Moon had two previous council meetings in late 2017 and 2018.But he convened a summertime session to pool wisdom on ways to cope with Tokyo's Seoul-bound export control.

PoliticsAug. 8, 2019

S. Korean Ji So-yun signs extension with Chelsea FC Women

South Korean international stalwart Ji So-yun has agreed to an extension with Chelsea FC Women, committing to stay with the English club until 2022.Chelsea announced on its website on Wednesday (local time) that Ji, who joined the Blues in 2014, will be around for three more seasons.The 28-year-old midfielder has netted 56 goals in 136 appearances for Chelsea FC Women. Ji helped the club to the FA Women's Super League and FA Women's Cup titles in both 2015 and 2018.Last season, Ji scored nine ti

SoccerAug. 8, 2019

US approves $800 m in helicopters for S. Korea

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The US government has approved the sale of $800 million worth of helicopters to South Korea, the Pentagon announced Wednesday, hours after President Donald Trump said Seoul had agreed to pay more for the US military presence in the country.The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the State Department had approved the sale of 12 MH-60R Multi-Mission Seahawk Helicopters and extensive associated radar, communications and weaponry equipment.The helicopters bolster

DefenseAug. 8, 2019

Moon to hold meeting with economy advisory group over Japan's export curbs

President Moon Jae-in will hold a meeting of the presidential advisory group Thursday to discuss the government's response to Japan's export restrictions, Cheong Wa Dae said.It will be the first time for Moon to host a meeting of the National Economic Advisory Council since Dec. last year. The session is aimed at pooling wisdom on ways to cope with Japan's retaliatory trade restrictions against Seoul.Economy-related ministers and key presidential aides, including Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and

PoliticsAug. 8, 2019

Korean climber falls to death from Matterhorn

A Korean climber died Tuesday on the Matterhorn in Switzerland, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.The unidentified climber fell to his or her death from a height of about 3,700 meters while returning to the base, according to the report. Other Korean climbers in the same hiking group were rescued by helicopter.This marks the seventh death this year of a climber on the mountain, the peak of which is 4,478 meters above sea level. On July 15, another Korean climber died on the Alpine mountain

World NewsAug. 8, 2019

Taiwan rattled by 6.0 magnitude quake, no immediate reports of damage

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Taiwan's northeastern coastal city of Yilan on Thursday, the island's weather bureau said, with no immediate reports of damage.A Reuters witness said the quake shook buildings in the capital, Taipei. The quake had a depth of 22 km (13 miles). No other details were immediately available. Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China considers its own, lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes. More than 100 people were killed in

World NewsAug. 8, 2019

Samsung unveils largest-ever Note 10 with most compact version

Samsung Electronics unveiled two models of the 10th anniversary edition of its flagship premium Galaxy Note smartphone Wednesday, featuring a magic stick-like S Pen that is much more detachable from the main device. Along with the enhanced S Pen with remote control technology, the South Korean tech giant for the first time, offered two size choices for the smartphone model during its Unpacked event at Barclays Center in New York, the US, which was attended by around 4,000 media and industry offi

TechnologyAug. 8, 2019

Moody's puts SK Innovation on negative outlook

  Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday changed SK Innovation Co.'s rating outlook to negative from stable due to the firm's large leveraged spending and dividends.   Moody's holds a Baa1 rating for SK Innovation, South Korea's biggest refiner by sales.    "The change in SK Innovation's outlook to negative reflects our expectation that the company's financial metrics will deteriorate significantly over the next 1-2 years, mainly because of large debt-funded ca

IndustryAug. 7, 2019

Trump says US-S. Korea talks on defense payment begin

US President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that talks to get South Korea to increase its contribution to the upkeep of US forces in the country have begun. "South Korea is a very wealthy nation that now feels an obligation to contribute to the military defense provided by the United States of America. The relationship between the two countries is a very good one!" Trump wrote in a tweet.He added, "South Korea has agreed to pay substantially more money to the United States in orde

DefenseAug. 7, 2019

[Graphic News] 34% of Korean adolescents have thought about suicide: poll

　Nearly 34 percent of South Korean adolescents have thought about killing themselves because of academic pressure, a recent survey showed. 　The grim finding came in the National Youth Policy Institute’s survey of 9,060 elementary, middle and high school students conducted from June-August last year. 　According to the results, 33.8 percent of students polled said they had considered taking their own lives over the previous year. 　The biggest reason was pressure they felt over academic achie

Social AffairsAug. 7, 2019

Japan’s new whitelist rules exclude additional ‘strictly controlled’ export items for now

Japan on Wednesday officially declared a revised bill that excludes South Korea from its list of trusted trading partners. However, the proclamation didn’t stipulate any additional items that Japan will slap restrictions on, aside from the three chip and display materials, offering momentary relief for Korean businesses amid intensifying tension between the two nations. The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and industry announced on its homepage it would put the bill into effect starting

EconomyAug. 7, 2019

More Koreans visit Dokdo as summer getaway amid boycott of Japan travel

The Dokdo islets are drawing more attention as a summer getaway for South Koreans, while diplomatic and economic conflicts between Korea and Japan show no signs of abating. The number of visitors to Dokdo is on the rise, while the number of outbound travelers to Japan is plummeting since the Abe administration slapped retaliatory measures against Korea.  A total of 172,516 people have made the trip to Dokdo this year, up 29.7 percent from the same period last year, according to data from Ul

TravelAug. 7, 2019

79-year-old with artificial heart reaches 1,000-day milestone

A woman, 79, who received a partial artificial heart transplant has lived for over 1,000 days since surgery, Samsung Medical Center said Wednesday.The patient was fitted with the then-latest third-generation left ventricular assist device in September 2016. This is the longest a patient has lived with a third-generation heart assist device in South Korea, according to the hospital.The hospital’s heart failure/transplantation team, which performed the surgery, said the patient was healthy a

TechnologyAug. 7, 2019

Some air purifiers fall short of claimed performance: ministry

Some air purifiers sold here, both foreign and local brands, fall short of the output promised by manufacturers, the government said Wednesday.   A total of 35 models of air purifiers and 50 models of anti-particulate pollution facial masks met the criteria for safety, according to an inspection jointly conducted by the Ministry of Environment and relevant agencies. 　Five purifier models, however, fell short of results the manufacturers promised, such as on their capabilities to remove

Social AffairsAug. 7, 2019

China bans movies, actors from prominent Taiwan film awards

BEIJING (AP) -- China said Wednesday that it was banning Chinese movies and actors from participating in Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, one of the Asian film industry's most prestigious honors, as Beijing ramps up economic and political pressure on the island it claims as its own territory. The one-sentence announcement on the microblog of China Film News, a newspaper affiliated with the government film regulator, gave no reason for the suspension, but it comes amid rising tensions over Taiwan's

World NewsAug. 7, 2019

Top diplomats from South Korea, China, Japan to gather in Beijing to discuss N. Korean missile tests

Discussions are underway for a foreign ministers’ meeting later this month in Beijing, where South Korea, China and Japan can discuss issues concerning Northeast Asia ahead of a trilateral summit expected to take place before the end of the year. “The three countries are in talks (for) a foreign ministers’ meeting,” Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, adding that details, including the date of the meeting, have not been confirmed. Earlier in the day, Japan

Foreign AffairsAug. 7, 2019

Prosecution to issue warrants in foreign languages

The prosecution will use warrants translated into foreign languages when apprehending or arresting foreign suspects as part of efforts to better protect their human rights in investigations and court proceedings, it said Wednesday.  The apprehension, arrest and search warrants, as well as some 60 major criminal charges, will be translated into 15 languages and distributed to prosecutors’ offices across the country, according to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.The translated vers

Social AffairsAug. 7, 2019

Seoul stocks dip for 6th straight session, Korean won slightly up amid US-China trade war woes

South Korean shares fell for the sixth consecutive session on Wednesday as market sentiment still remained fragile over escalating trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, despite some signs of calm after China moved to stabilize its currency. The Korean won held steady against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index declined 7.79 points, or 0.41 percent, to 1,909.71, marking the lowest level since Feb. 18, 2016, when the index stood at 1,908.84.It was the first time

MarketAug. 7, 2019

[Tyler Cowen] In defense of the German saver

If there is one thing the world should have learned over the last decade, it is that politics is usually more symbolic than pragmatic. A good policy attached to the wrong symbols can fail, while impractical or even irresponsible leaders can succeed by promoting popular symbols.And yet this is a lesson we are still learning. Take, for example, the policy of the European Central Bank to charge negative interest rates, currently at minus 0.4 percent. Practically speaking, this does not bring big ma

ViewpointsAug. 7, 2019