The South Korean Cabinet approved a motion Tuesday calling for the dispatch of some 500 troops to the Philippines to help with relief efforts in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.Last week, Seoul announced plans to send troops comprised of doctors, engineers and other supporting forces to Tacloban, the city hit hardest by the typhoon.Under the motion, the troops will be tasked with carrying out relief missions and providing humanitarian support in the affected areas.Up to 540 troops will operate i

Social Affairs Nov. 26, 2013

South Korea is pushing to ban the use of cash in buying lotteries and instead introduce electronic cards to prevent excessive purchases and addiction, the finance ministry said Tuesday.According to the ministry, the government has begun working to make it mandatory for people to use electronic cards to purchase lotteries and asked outside experts to carry out related research. An electronic card carries personal information of its holders and places a cap on the amount of money that a user can s

Industry Nov. 26, 2013

The delayed passage of South Korea's budget for next year by a protracted parliamentary stalemate is raising concerns that the government might have to prepare a provisional budget for the first time in history, which could eventually severely hurt its spending capacity intended to help boost the economy, experts and government sources said Tuesday.In September, the government drew up a 357.7 trillion won ($337.6 billion) budget proposal for 2014, which is larger than the 342 trillion won budget

Nov. 26, 2013

South Korean consumer sentiment rose to the highest level in 33 months in November as the local economy has been showing signs of improvement, the central bank said Tuesday.The consumer sentiment index (CSI) came in at 107 for November, up from 106 tallied in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index is a gauge of consumers' overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending.The November data marked the highest level since the index hit 109 in February 2011

Nov. 26, 2013

The delinquency ratio of loans extended by South Korean insurers fell slightly in September from a month earlier due mainly to a decrease in overdue debts from both corporate and household lending, the financial regulator said Tuesday. The average bad debt ratio of local life and non-life insurers came to 0.69 percent at the end of September, down 0.06 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the figure declined

Nov. 26, 2013

The financial regulator has demanded KB Financial Group Inc. put off any bonuses for former and incumbent executives, citing the ongoing probe into suspected corruption at its flagship unit Kookmin Bank, regulatory officials said Tuesday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has apparently decided that KB Financial's bonus payouts to its executives would be inappropriate given the current circumstances in which Kookmin Bank has been scrutinized by the financial authorities on corruption alleg

Nov. 26, 2013

Uraine's jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko declared a hunger strike Monday to push the government to sign a landmark integration deal with the European Union. Thousands rallied in the Ukrainian capital against the government's decision to freeze the agreement. The previous day saw a demonstration of about 50,000, the largest since the Orange Revolution in 2004. Here's what got Ukrainian protesters so angry:KEY DEAL WITH THE EUAfter years of preparations for a landmark deal with the E

World News Nov. 26, 2013

South Korean stocks began lower Tuesday, led by a bearish steelmaker and banking firms, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 15,78 points, or 0.78 percent to 2,000.20 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Leading steelmaker POSCO slid 1.7 percent, with No. 2 lender KB Financial Group dipping 2.7 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,059.95 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 1.95 won from Monday's close. (Yonhap News)

Nov. 26, 2013

The two top presidential candidates continued to claim victory Monday in a hotly contested presidential race, as Hondurans awaited final results and only small protest crowds gathered in the streets.With about 60 percent of the vote tallied, Juan Orlando Hernandez of the governing National Party had just over 34 percent of the votes, giving him the edge over Xiomara Castro, who had almost 29 percent. Castro's husband Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a 2009 coup that has left the country politically u

World News Nov. 26, 2013

Afghanistan's president and the U.S. delivered blunt messages to each other Monday that gave no indication of a resolution of their disagreements over a pact that governs the future of the American troop presence in the country.  Hamid Karzai said he won't back down from his refusal to sign during the rest of his term in office, with National Security Adviser Susan Rice responding that this would mean the U.S. would then start planning to pull out all its forces after 2014. Their meeting in Kabu

World News Nov. 26, 2013

The United States on Monday joined ally Japan in vowing not to recognize China's declaration of an air defense zone over much of the East China Sea, a move that has sharply escalated tensions.China and Japan each summoned the other's ambassador after Beijing said Saturday it had established an Air Defense Identification Zone -- which would require aircraft to obey its orders -- over an area that includes islands administered by Japan.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has vowed no compromis

World News Nov. 26, 2013