South Korea's top central banker said Monday that the country may strengthen measures to smooth out cross-border capital movements if needed, but potential steps would not take on features of capital control.South Korea has undergone excessive capital outflows whenever a financial crisis has cropped up. Since 2010, Korea has implemented a set of the so-called macro-prudential measures to ease volatile cross-border capital flows including bank levies and tighter regulations on banks' FX derivativ

Nov. 12, 2012

Renewable energy is set to rival coal as the main generator of the world's electricity by 2035 as the costs of technology fall and subsidies rise, the International Energy Agency said.Wind farms, solar parks and hydroelectric dams are forecast to become the second biggest power generator in 2015 and rise to almost a third of all generation in 2035, a level approaching that of coal, the Paris-based agency that advises 28 nations on energy policy said today in its annual outlook."A steady increase

World Business Nov. 12, 2012

THABEIKKYIN, Myanmar (AFP) -- Myanmar rescuers struggled Monday to help villagers hit by an earthquake that aid agencies said killed at least 13, injured dozens and caused a bridge and mine to collapse.A series of powerful aftershocks rattled nerves after Sunday's 6.8-magnitude quake, which sent terrified people running from homes and hotels in the country's second-biggest city of Mandalay and surrounding villages.Authorities said they were providing help to victims, including those without shel

World News Nov. 12, 2012

The U.S. will surpass Saudi Arabia in oil production in the next decade, making the world's biggest consumer almost self-reliant in energy, the International Energy Agency said.Growing supply of crude extracted from "tight" underground rock formations will transform the U.S. into the world's largest oil producer by about 2020, lasting until the middle of that decade, the Paris-based adviser said today in its annual World Energy Outlook, which projects energy trends through 2035. New domestic sou

World Business Nov. 12, 2012

BEIJING (AP) -- Tears welled in Li Jian's eyes whenever President Hu Jintao mentioned the environment in his speech to Communist Party delegates gathered in the Great Hall of the People during China's most important political event of the decade.Hu's exhortation last week to create a "beautiful China" and to "cherish and love nature" spoke to the 55-year-old bioengineer's dearest concerns. Hours later, still brimming with emotion, she stood up during a staid discussion among fellow delegates, to

World News Nov. 12, 2012

ROME (AP) -- North Korea increased its staple foods production for the second year in a row but its citizens are still suffering from a serious lack of key proteins and fats in their diets, a U.N. report said Monday.A U.N. team visited all nine agricultural provinces of the communist state in September and October during the main cereal harvest and estimated that even with the increase _ a 10 percent improvement over last year _ North Korea will need to import 507,000 metric tons of cereals to m

North Korea Nov. 12, 2012

The Samsung Lions' closer Oh Seung-hwan decided on Monday to stay with his South Korean club for 2013 and put his dreams of playing overseas on hold, team officials said Monday.Song Sam-bong, general manager of the Korea Baseball Organization club, said Oh, the league's all-time saves leader, told him in their meeting he would pitch one more season for the Daegu-based team before testing the free agent market.The Lions have won the past two KBO championships. Song said he told Oh the Lions would

Baseball Nov. 12, 2012

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's English-language directorial debut film is likely to be released in North America and other English-speaking countries.The Weinstein Company, a major U.S. distributor, recently picked up the English-language rights to "Snow Piercer" from South Korea's CJ Entertainment, an investor, distributor and production company, CJ said in a release Monday.Under the deal reached at this year's American Film Market, the American company will distribute the thriller in Nor

Culture Nov. 12, 2012

Five military intelligence officers were referred to the military prosecution for punishment on charges of paid sex, embezzlement and other wrongdoings that have been covered up for up to more than two years, the defense ministry said Tuesday.The Defense Security Command officers got away with internal disciplinary measures, such as transfers to field units, without facing formal charges as their agency did not refer the cases for investigation over concern its image could be tarnished.Four seni

Defense Oct. 30, 2012

Special prosecutors said Tuesday they have delayed this week's questioning of President Lee Myung-bak's eldest brother over his role in the president's now-scrapped retirement home project by one day at his request.Lee Sang-eun, the 79-year-old chairman of automotive seat maker DAS, is suspected of having played a role in the alleged irregularities by loaning some 600 million won ($542,000) in cash to his nephew and President Lee's only son, Si-hyung, for the land deal in which critics argue tax

Politics Oct. 30, 2012

A 37-year-old man, who apparently displays signs of acute social withdrawal, has been arrested for allegedly collecting personal data of 8.84 million people using Google's search engine and leaking some of the information, police said Tuesday.The man, who is only identified by his surname Kim, allegedly didn't hack any Web sites to retrieve the personal information, including names, resident registration numbers and addresses, which are all available on sites routinely indexed by Google's search

National Oct. 30, 2012

China's economy will probably rebound in the fourth quarter, Jia Kang, a Ministry of Finance researcher, said at a conference reviewing China's economic performance in Beijing today.China will achieve its full-year growth target of 7.5 percent and "the rebound in the fourth quarter is likely to extend into next year," Jia said at the quarterly conference at the China Center for Economic Research, Peking University.The median forecast in a Bloomberg news survey of 30 economists, which was publish

World Business Oct. 27, 2012

BEIJING (AP) -- Thousands of people in an eastern Chinese city clashed with police while protesting the proposed expansion of a chemical factory that they say would spew pollution and damage public health, townspeople said Saturday.Pollution has become a major source of unrest in China, as members of the rising middle class become more outspoken against environmentally risky projects in their backyards.The Zhenhai district government in Zhejiang province's Ningbo city said in a statement Saturda

World News Oct. 27, 2012

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Hopes for a halt to violence in Syria over a Muslim holiday lay in tatters Saturday as fighting raged, war planes targeted  Aleppo and some 146 people were reported killed on the first day of Eid al-Adha.The ceasefire conditionally agreed by President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the main rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) on Thursday had raised the prospect of the first real halt to the fighting after 19 months of conflict.But the first day Friday  of Eid -- one of the most sacred ho

World News Oct. 27, 2012

The Australian unit of South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO is still in talks to buy Australian miner and steelmaker Arrium Ltd., which recently rejected a takeover offer, its head said.In early October, Arrium rebuffed a takeover bid by a consortium including POSCO Australia Pty and Noble Group Ltd. valued at A$1.01 billion ($1.04 billion)."The consortium continues to have talks with Arrium," Shin Soo-cheol, managing-director of POSCO Australia, told reporters on Friday."We are discussing the iss

Industry Oct. 27, 2012