Chinese police have extradited a 53-year-old woman suspected of financial crimes from South Korea, as part of the government's intensifying crackdown against "economic fugitives" who have fled abroad, a local media report said Friday.    The Chinese suspect, only identified by her surname Li, was reportedly involved in an investment scam worth one million yuan (US$160,919) and had been hiding in South Korea since 2007. She was arrested on July 1, the Beijing News reported, citing Chinese authori

International July 10, 2015

South Korea will offer US$5 million in additional assistance to help deal with the aftermath of the devastating Ebola outbreak, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.   The government plans to send a delegation to the International Ebola Recovery Conference in New York that will be hosted by U.N.Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week. The team will be led by Shin Dong-ik, deputy minister for multilateral and global affairs.   In a speech at the two-day session to run through Friday (local time), Shi

Foreign Affairs July 10, 2015

South Korea plans to sell 4 trillion won (US$3.5 billion) worth of Treasury bills in four separate auctions in July, the finance ministry said Friday.   "The funds generated will be used to cover temporary shortfalls in the money supply and allow the government to push forward various spending projects," the ministry said. "The cash generated can further help stabilize the management of state-controlled funds."   The amount to be issued is smaller than the 4.5 trillion won worth of bills sold th

July 10, 2015

The Navy on Friday granted a posthumous promotion to a soldier who was killed in a deadly maritime skirmish with North Korea, as a new film rekindled public commemoration of the inter-Korean clash.   The Navy decided to promote Chief Petty Officer Han Sang-kook to the rank of senior chief petty officer at a promotion evaluation committee meeting held earlier in the day, it said in a press release.   The belated decision came after the Navy revised the date of his death from June 29, 2002 to Aug.

Defense July 10, 2015

President Park Geun-hye's job approval rating has inched down after the floor leader of her party resigned, a poll showed Friday.   The poll released by polling agency Gallup Korea put Park's approval rating at 32 percent, down from the 34 percent a week earlier.   The poll showed that 59 percent said Park is doing her job poorly while 8 percent withheld evaluation.    Gallup attributed the fall to the recent political feud between Park and Saenuri floor leader Yoo Seong-min, who stepped down fr

Politics July 10, 2015

N. Korea's severe drought seen as having eased: SeoulThe Unification Ministry said Friday that a severe drought that hit North Korea appears to have considerably eased since June as rainfall has almost reached last year's level in many areas.   North Korea has been grappling with what it called the worst drought in 100 years, sparking concerns about food shortages. South Korea earlier predicted that the North's crop production could fall by as much as 20 percent if the lack of rain continues int

North Korea July 10, 2015

South Korea won the team gold medal in the men's 10-meter air pistol event at the Summer Universiade in Gwangju on Friday.   Park Dae-hun, Jang Ha-lim and Seo Jin-sung earned a combined 1,722 points at the final held at the Naju Jeollanamdo Shooting Range, near the main host city Gwangju.   Mongolia finished second with 1,714 points, and Russia came next with 1,711 points.   With this, Park became South Korea's third triple gold medalist after archers Lee Seung-yun and Kim Jong-ho at the ongoing

More Sports July 10, 2015

Prices for smartphone applications sold in South Korea through Google and Apple platforms rose 10 percent starting this month, industry sources said Friday, as the government started imposing taxes on overseas-based open markets.   According to the sources, U.S. tech giants Google Inc. and Apple Inc. rolled out new price policies earlier this month and notified application developers of such changes.   Google's price hike came into effect on July 1, while Apple increased prices on Thursday.   Th

Industry July 10, 2015

South Korean cosmetic maker Tonymoly made a strong debut on the Seoul bourse Friday as it seeks to tap deeper into China for new growth beyond the saturated domestic beauty market.    Its shares opened at 64,000 won (US$56.57), double the initial public offering (IPO) price of 32,000 won, on the main KOSPI market. They were trading at 67,900 won as of 9:15 a.m., up 6.09 percent from the opening price.     Buoyed by a strong rally of cosmetic shares earlier this year, its listing has drawn keen a

Industry July 10, 2015

An experts panel of the International Labor Organization called Japan's conscription of Korean and other workers during World War II a violation of a convention banning forced labor, a report published in 1993 and obtained by Yonhap News Agency on Friday showed.   On Sunday, Japan inscribed a set of early industrial facilities on the UNESCO World Heritage list after accepting South Korea's demand that it acknowledge the forced labor of some 57,000 Korean workers at seven of the sites during the

International July 10, 2015

South Korean shares started slightly higher as Greece offered a new bailout proposal and China's stock market rebounded, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained1.19 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,029 in the first 15 minutes of trading.   The Greece government has submitted a plan for pension reform and tax hikes in return for additional bailout programs, while Chinese financial authorities have released a set of market-stabilizing measures to end the rout o

July 10, 2015

The number of people diagnosed with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea remained unchanged at 186 as the country saw no new cases of the potentially deadly disease over the past five days, the government said Friday.   The country's MERS death toll also has remained unchanged since Wednesday at 35, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.   Ministry officials said the country may be able to declare an end to the MERS outbreak if it continues to see no new infection cas

Social Affairs July 10, 2015

Import prices in South Korea declined in June, extending their on-year fall to 34 straight months, due mainly to weaker global oil prices, data showed Friday.   In local currency terms, import prices dropped 14 percent in June from the previous year, slightly slowing from a 14.6 percent on-year drop in May, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.   The data showed that import prices of coal and oil products plunged 33.4 percent on-year in June, compared with a 31.7 percent fall

July 10, 2015

Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. saw their combined sales in China plunge in June amid intensifying competition and a lack of new models, industry data showed Friday.   Hyundai Motor, South Korea's largest carmaker, sold around 60,000 cars in China last month, down 30.8 percent from a year earlier. Kia Motors saw its China sales in June drop 26.5 percent on-year to some 38,000 units, according to the data.   This comes in stark contrast with others, including Japanese

Industry July 10, 2015

The nominee to be the next chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday North Korea's ballistic missile capability makes the communist nation one of the greatest threats to the United States.   Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford made the remark during his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing, putting Pyongyang into the category of the four biggest threats to the U.S., along with Russia, China and the militant group Islamic State.   "Clearly, North Korea with ballistic missile

International July 10, 2015