The South Korean economy continued to grow at the fastest pace in more than two years in the third quarter on improving domestic demand and a pickup in facility investment, the central bank said Friday.Korea's gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic performance, grew 1.1 percent in the July-September period from three months earlier, after expanding at an identical pace of 1.1 percent in the second quarter, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).It marked the fastest quarter

Oct. 25, 2013

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday as investors continued to take a wait-and-see approach on the Chinese economy, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 9.55 points, or 0.47 percent, to 2,037.14 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Mobile carriers traded lower, with No. 1 player SK Telecom falling 1.48 percent and KT losing 0.98 percent. LG Uplus, the smallest player, shed 2.38 percent.Carmakers also declined, with No. 1 Hyundai Motor falling 0.39 per

Oct. 25, 2013

North Korea asked Beijing in 1965 to send troops in preparation for another war on the Korean Peninsula, a Chinese scholar said Thursday, citing declassified diplomatic documents.Cheng Xiaohe, a professor of international studies at Renmin University, said in a paper released at an academic seminar hosted by the Institute for Peace Affairs in Seoul, that North Korean leader Kim Il-sung told China‘s envoy to Pyongyang that he wanted to start a second Korean War and that a conflict with South Kore

North Korea Oct. 24, 2013

The Justice Ministry’s nomination committee on Thursday drew up a short list of four candidates to head the prosecution, which is currently embroiled in heavy political wrangling.Committee members narrowed a list of 12 candidates recommended for the chief prosecutor post down to four after reviewing their qualifications. The final candidates were Kim Jin-tae, former deputy prosecutor general; Kil Tae-ki, acting prosecutor general; So Byung-chul, head of the Institute of Justice; and Han Myong-kw

Politics Oct. 24, 2013

Tens of thousands of teachers in Korea are expected to be affected as the government on Thursday moved to deregister the country’s largest teachers’ union for infringement of the labor law.Employment and Labor Minister Phang Ha-nam and Education Minister Seo Nam-soo announced in a joint news conference that they had officially notified the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union that it would “no longer be recognized” as a legal union.The Ministry of Labor and Employment gave the progressiv

Social Affairs Oct. 24, 2013

South Korean consumer electronics giant LG Electronics Inc. said Thursday its third-quarter earnings declined 34 percent from a year earlier largely due to increased marketing costs and growing competition.Net profit reached 109 billion won ($103 million) in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 165 billion won a year earlier, LG Electronics said in a regulatory filing.Revenue jumped 4.6 percent on-year to 13.9 trillion won over the cited period, and operating profit surged 27 per

Industry Oct. 24, 2013

The 94th National Sports Festival drew to a conclusion in Incheon on Thursday as the Olympic swimming hero Park Tae-hwan was voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP).Incheon, a metropolitan city located just west of Seoul, played host to the nation's largest multisport competition for the first time in 14 years. Some 22,000 athletes and 8,000 officials descended on the third most-populated city in the country for seven days of action in 46 sports.The national competition came about a year ahead of t

More Sports Oct. 24, 2013

A map published by Japan in the 19th century marked the name of the water between South Korea and Japan as "the Joseon Sea," citing the name of the Korean Dynasty, the national archives said Thursday, presenting another example that its current naming is an imperialistic legacy.South Korea has locked horns with Japan for decades over the name of the body of water, with Seoul calling it the "East Sea" while Tokyo calls it the "Sea of Japan."Korean historians and experts believe that the original

Social Affairs Oct. 24, 2013

Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn apologized Thursday over a recent conflict between senior prosecutors in charge of investigating a high-profile election meddling scandal involving the state spy agency.The apology came after a senior prosecutor, who had headed a prosecution team probing the scandal before being dismissed, quarreled with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office chief, Cho Young-kon, during a nationally televised parliamentary meeting, by accusing his boss of impeding the inve

Politics Oct. 24, 2013

South Korean stocks traded almost flat late Thursday morning as investors continued to take a wait-and-see approach on the Chinese economy, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged up 2.74 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,038.49 as of 11:20 a.m.Builders traded bullish, with Hyundai Engineering & Construction adding 0.66 percent and Daewoo Engineering & Construction advancing 0.81 percent. GS Engineering & Construction climbed 0.93 percent.Tech shares lost ground,

Oct. 24, 2013

Efforts to foster an environment where creative ideas and innovative technologies lead to new jobs and markets are expected to show results starting this year, the country's minister in charge of science and IT affairs said.The so-called "creative economy," though it has many meanings and applications, is a method through which President Park Geun-hye said she can realize many of her economic development campaign pledges."The creative economy has just taken shape, and would show visible results

Oct. 24, 2013

Satellite imagery shows North Korea has made new tunnel entrances at its nuclear test site in a sign it is preparing to conduct more underground explosions there in the future, a U.S. research institute said Wednesday.That's the latest indication that Pyongyang is pressing on with its nuclear weapons program, although the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies says there's no sign another test explosion is coming soon.In February, North Korea conducted its

North Korea Oct. 24, 2013