South Korean stocks started higher on Tuesday as retail and institutional investors picked up shares of shipyards, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 4.13 points, or 0.21 percent, to 1,984.4 in the first 15 minutes of trading.   The world's largest shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries rose about 1.5 percent, helping the key index bounce back from a sharp

March 8, 2011

South Korea appeared wary Monday of the resignation of Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, an official who had taken a firm position against North Korea and sought strong cooperation with Seoul in dealing with the North’s nuclear ambitions. Maehara resigned late Sunday as the result of a growing political scandal over his acceptance of political donations from a Korean resident in Japan. Japa

Foreign Affairs March 7, 2011

Pyongyang proposes Red Cross talks over repatriationSouth Korea on Monday rejected North Korea’s demand to meet with the four boat passengers wishing to defect, escalating tensions as the communist state appears determined to have all 31 on board repatriated.In a message to the South, the North Korean Red Cross proposed that working-level officials meet Wednesday at their border village to determi

North Korea March 7, 2011

Four North Koreans who have expressed their wish to stay here after their boat accidentally drifted into South Korean waters are becoming the latest source of tension between the two Koreas. North Korea repeated over the weekend its demand for the return of all 31 nationals who strayed into South Korea on Feb. 5, refusing to accept Seoul’s decision to let four of them stay. While Seoul claims the

Foreign Affairs March 6, 2011

Prosecutors on Thursday raided the house of a disgraced former tax chief and a painting gallery in Seoul, as part of their investigation into allegations against him of bribery, lobbying and peddling influence in a tax probe, officials said.　Prosecutors earlier this week questioned Han Sang-ryule, who led the National Tax Service from November 2007 to January 2009. Han returned home on  Feb. 24, 

Latest News March 3, 2011

South Korean officials who had been involved in the inter-Korean defense talks last month were recently investigated for allegedly leaking too much information to the media and thereby offending the North Korean delegation, a source here said Tuesday. The government investigation into about 30 officials belonging to the defense and unification ministries here appears to have been conducted to prev

Defense March 1, 2011

The ruling party’s leader has proposed setting up a private foundation to retrieve Korea’s hundreds of thousands of cultural items on a nongovernmental level. Korea is believed to have more than 117,000 ancient books, documents and other cultural assets scattered across about 20 different countries around the world as a result of national tragedies such as the 1950-53 Korean War and Japan’s 1910-4

Politics March 1, 2011

The U.S. is expected to replace its ambassador to Seoul, considering deputy assistant secretary of state Joseph Donovan as a strong candidate to take the position, reports have said. The reports come as President Barack Obama is conducting an extensive reshuffle of his White House staff in the third year of his presidency. According to the reports, Donovan will be taking over from incumbent Ambass

Foreign Affairs Feb. 25, 2011

South Korea has no intention to achieve unification by absorbing the North and is keeping up efforts to resume inter-Korean dialogue, Seoul’s prime minister said Friday, as tensions linger after the breakdown of inter-Korean dialogue earlier this month. “The (South Korean) government does not regard North Korea as a target of absorption,” Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said during the parliament’s q

Politics Feb. 25, 2011

South Korea and the U.S. are “on the best of terms” regarding a shared belief to remain firm against North Korea’s nuclear activities and activate their free trade deal at the earliest possible date, Seoul’s ambassador to Washington said Thursday.“We have been together on maintaining international sanctions against North Korea, while also keeping open chances of dialogue,” Amb. Han Duck-soo said d

Foreign Affairs Feb. 24, 2011

The Foreign Ministry issued an alert against traveling to all regions of Libya on Tuesday, strengthening its previous warning as anti-government protests have been spreading across the northern African state and rioters breaking into Korean construction sites. Under the second-highest travel alert, all South Korean nationals are advised to leave the state or defer nonessential trips, the ministry

Foreign Affairs Feb. 22, 2011