Decrease in short-term debt overshadowed by rising capital outflow

The Bank of Korea last week released data that might be viewed as showing improved external soundness in the country’s economy.Korea’s net international investment position -- the value of overseas assets minus external liabilities -- surged to a record high of $323.2 billion at the end of last year, up $64 billion from a year earlier.In what could be seen as a more specific signal, the country’s short-term foreign debt was reduced in 2015 as local banks cut back on their borrowing abroad.Korea’

Feb. 29, 2016

London Developers Finding Costliest Apartments Harder to Sell

Derwent London Plc has shelved plans to turn an office building on Savile Row in London’s Mayfair district into 29 luxury apartments after demand was damped when the government raised the sales tax on the most expensive properties.Soaring prices for luxury homes encouraged developers to seek to turn office space into 16,600 new homes in greater London in the two years through May 2015. The higher sales tax has made it more difficult for developers to sell the costliest apartments and is causing

World BusinessFeb. 29, 2016

Chris Rock confronts race row head-on at Oscars

Oscars host Chris Rock hit early and hard Sunday on a race row overshadowing Hollywood's biggest night, mercilessly ribbing both the movie industry and its critics.The comedian wasted no time raising the controversy over the 88th Academy Awards' lack of African American acting nominees, addressing the issue from his first words and discussing virtually nothing else in his monologue."Hey! Well, I'm here at the Academy Awards -- otherwise known as the white People's Choice awards," he said, after

FilmFeb. 29, 2016

Helping ‘creatives’ think entrepreneurially

Physically, the Corzo Center for the Creative Economy at University of the Arts is little more than a tiny lounge, seeming far too small to contain the force in perpetual motion that is Neil Kleinman.　Not that it matters. Kleinman's mission as the center’s director encompasses the whole city, and he seems to be exploring every pocket of Philadelphia for partners willing to support it.　One day, he's at the Free Library; another, at Drexel University or the People’s Emergency Center in West Philad

CultureFeb. 29, 2016

North Korea calls for economic self-reliance in the face of U.N. sanctions

North Korea on Monday called for strengthening its economic self-sufficiency as the United Nations Security Council is poised to slap tougher sanctions on the country for its nuclear and missile programs."Imperialists stick to the scheme to choke liberal countries' economies and coerce them into submission by pushing for sanctions and containment," said the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's main newspaper.The U.N. Security Council looks set to adopt a fresh resolution for what's called "the strongest

North KoreaFeb. 29, 2016

Former Olympic champ wants South Korean marathoners to run with 'desperation'

Former Olympic-winning marathoner Hwang Young-cho is still excited when he talks about his gold medal run at the 1992 Summer Olympics Games in Barcelona, Spain.Hwang's victory washed out South Koreans' painful memory that dates back to 1936. At the Berlin Olympics, the late Sohn Kee-chung took gold in marathon but couldn't celebrate his victory because he had to wear the Japanese flag as Korea was under Japan's colonization."Sohn had said he wanted to see a Korean runner celebrating with the Oly

SportsFeb. 29, 2016

New subway train with wider seats to be introduced

The Seoul metropolitan government said Monday it will introduce new subway trains with wider seats beginning late next year. To be first introduced on Seoul subway's No. 2 line, each seat will be widened so that six people can sit in a row instead of the current seven.According to the Seoul city administration and Seoul Metro, each seat will be widened to 480 millimeters from present 450 and made of non-combustible materials.The exterior of the train will feature a white design, according to the

Social AffairsFeb. 29, 2016

College graduates outside labor force double over 15 years

The number of college graduates outside the labor force has more than doubled over the past 15 years due to a rise in those who gave up looking for jobs amid a prolonged economic slump, government data showed Monday.South Korean college graduates who are neither employed nor unemployed reached 3.35 million in 2015, compared with 1.59 million in 2000, according to the data by Statistic Korea.From a year earlier, the number rose 4.7 percent."Companies recruit fewer workers due to lower global dema

Social AffairsFeb. 29, 2016

Film on 'comfort women' tops 1 million views in 5 days

A local movie about the abhorrent suffering of the Korean women who were forced into sexual enslavement by imperialist Japan during World War II topped weekend ticket sales, data showed Monday."Spirits' Homecoming" attracted 767,071 moviegoers from Feb.26-28, the first weekend after its cinema launch on Wednesday, according to cinema ticketing services. During the same period, the film was put on the silver screen 8,956 times nationwide and accounted for 30.4 percent of all weekend ticket sales.

FilmFeb. 29, 2016

China likely to tighten enforcement of U.N. sanctions on N. Korea:scholar

China is likely to tighten its enforcement of U.N. sanctions against North Korea as the North's nuclear test and rocket launch this year appear to change a calculus of the Chinese Communist Party on how to solve the North Korean problem, according to a Chinese scholar on Monday. Last week's agreement by the United States and China on a draft U.N. resolution, which includes a ban on the supply of aviation fuel to North Korea, was evidence of the shift in Beijing's stance towards its only treaty a

North KoreaFeb. 29, 2016

Park congratulates athletes for winning medals in IBSF world championships

President Park Geun-hye congratulated three South Korean athletes for winning medals at the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation World Cup, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.The bobsleigh team of Won Yun-jong and Seo Young-woo captured their second career gold medal, while skeleton slider Yun Sung-bin won silver at the eighth and final International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation World Cup in Konigssee, Germany, on Saturday.Park said in a message to the three athletes that she hopes that they

SportsFeb. 29, 2016

Clinton called North Korea's disclosure of uranium enrichment plant 'very disturbing'

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed serious concern while in office in 2010 after learning that North Korea showed an American nuclear scientist a uranium enrichment plant in operation, according to newly released Clinton emails.Clinton called the development "very disturbing," according to a Nov. 13, 2010, email sent to her deputy chief of staff after he forwarded to her a report that Stanford University professor Siegfried Hecker wrote about his trip to the North that incl

North KoreaFeb. 29, 2016