South Korean banks saw their loan default rates fall to the lowest level in 12 months in December following their enhanced efforts to clear soured loans ahead of year-end book closings, the financial regulator said Monday.   Loans overdue by one day or more reached 0.91 percent, or 9 trillion won ($8 billion), of the total lending held by 18 local banks as of the end of December, sharply down from

Jan. 24, 2011

South Korea is expected to become the world's seventh-largest economy in 2032 if it continues to propel its growth engines, the country's top financial regulator has said.   "In 2020, South Korea is likely to become the world's 10th-largest economy. In 2032, it is projected to surpass Germany to join the ranks of the world's seven largest economies," Kim Seok-dong, the head of the Financial Servic

Jan. 23, 2011

Automobile recalls in South Korea spiked in 2010 because of tighter safety-related regulatory control and monitoring, a government report showed Monday.   According to the report by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, 270,000 vehicles of 87 locally made and imported models were recalled last year, up 110,000 units from a year earlier.   The total number of vehicle models recalled

Mobility Jan. 17, 2011

   WASHINGTON -- Chinese President Hu Jintao Sunday called for early resumption of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear dismantlement deadlocked for years over the North's provocations and ensuing international sanctions.   "China actively advocates and promotes the six-party talks process," Hu said in a written interview with The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. "We hope that

Politics Jan. 17, 2011

  South Korea has blocked its people in the South from accessing Web sites using North Korea's national Web domain name, saying the sites contain "illegal information" under the nation's anti-communism and security laws, officials said Thursday.    The blockage by the South's state-run Communications Standards Commission came less than a day after an expert said North Korea had renewed the use of

North Korea Jan. 13, 2011

ULLEUNG ISLAND/SEOUL -- South Korean and Japanese maritime police were jointly investigating whether a South Korean fishing boat violated Japanese waters near the South Korean islets of Dokdo, officials said Thursday.    The two sides began the joint probe around 2 p.m. in waters about 69 kilometers southwest of Dokdo in the East Sea off the Korean Peninsula after the 29-ton South Korean fishing b

Politics Jan. 13, 2011

Four workers were trapped five meters underground after scaffolding collapsed at a reservoir construction site in eastern South Korea, police officials said Thursday.   Police and firefighters are trying to find the best approach to rescue them, but rescue efforts were complicated by huge amounts of debris, officials said. Two other construction workers near the site of the collapse were injured a

Social Affairs Jan. 13, 2011

Heads of South Korea's largest conglomerates on Thursday vowed efforts to outperform expectations for the country's economy this year and urged an early implementation of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States to help achieve their goal.   The ambitious plan came from the executive council of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the largest industry lobby in South Korea with a m

Jan. 13, 2011

   ULLEUNG ISLAND -- A South Korean coast guard ship is in confrontation with a Japanese patrol ship in waters near the South Korean islets of Dokdo over an issue of violating an exclusive economic zone, an official said Thursday.(Yonhap News)

Politics Jan. 13, 2011