South Korea's economy will grow 3.7 percent in 2014, the government predicted Thursday, revising down its previous estimate as it worried that anemic consumption and slowing exports growth could hurt its overall economic recovery.The latest estimate is lower than the 3.9 percent gain the government expected earlier this year, later hiked to 4.1 percent to reflect amended statistics standards, according to the finance ministry. The government also projected the economy will grow 4 percent in 2015

July 24, 2014

The following are key measures from the government's economy management plan to be carried out by newly inaugurated Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan. The plan mostly focuses on boosting domestic demand, stabilizing people's livelihoods and reforming the country's economic structure. Expansionary macroeconomic policy   - Injects 40.7 trillion won in fiscal and financial support to boost economic recovery    - Strengthens fiscal support by 11.7 trillion won during the second half    - Expands poli

July 24, 2014

South Korea plans to implement a macroeconomic policy package worth about 40.7 trillion won (US$39.7 billion) to kick-start an economic recovery beset by anemic domestic demand, slowing exports growth and deepening uncertainties at home and abroad, the finance ministry said Thursday.The government will also execute its macroeconomic policy in an "expansionary" manner until its intended impact materializes, the ministry added. The stance will be maintained when drawing up a budget for next year a

July 24, 2014

South Korea confirmed an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) Thursday for the first time in over three years.The confirmation came one day after a suspected case was reported at a pig farm in Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs."A close examination confirmed an outbreak of FMD at the Uiseong farm," the ministry said in a short statement.The test also confirmed the latest outbreak was caused by type O strain of the animal disea

Social Affairs July 24, 2014

A senior prosecutor in charge of investigating April's ferry sinking offered to resign Thursday, holding himself accountable for failing to catch the fugitive shipping tycoon allegedly responsible for one of the country's worst peacetime disasters.    Choi Jae-kyung, 51, chief of the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office probing the case, offered his resignation to the top prosecution office, prosecutors said. The move comes after the badly decomposed body of Yoo Byung-eun, a 73-year-old billiona

Social Affairs July 24, 2014

Two cherished fashion items donated by Kim Soo-hyun and Jun Ji-hyun, co-stars of the mega-hit TV series "My Love from the Star," have been sold in an auction, the event's organizers said Wednesday.The auction was held on Sunday at Seoul's Dongdaemun Design Plaza, where a special exhibition on the drama is under way. Some 200 overseas fans of the drama and journalists from Chinese news media attended the auction, they said.Kim's knit and Jun's handbag were sold for 2.4 million won (US$2,346) and

July 23, 2014

Six South Korean activists have filed a lawsuit against Google Inc., demanding that the global tech giant disclose whether it shared their personal information with a third party, a civic group said Wednesday.Google is suspected of passing on private information of its users, including those that live outside the U.S., to an American government intelligence program known as PRISM, the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) said.PRISM, which made global headlines after former U.S. intell

Social Affairs July 23, 2014

A train carrying the remains of 280 people killed in the Malaysian plane disaster was finally allowed to leave a rebel-held region in eastern Ukraine as the militants declared a truce Tuesday around the crash site.Five days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was allegedly shot out of the sky, pro-Russian separatists conceded to a furious international clamour for the bodies and the plane's black boxes to be handed over to investigators.The devices, which record cockpit activity and flight data,

World July 23, 2014

The state forensic laboratory will likely release the results of a toxicology test on the ferry Sewol owner and the cause of his death later this week, police said Wednesday.The National Forensic Service is conducting the toxicology test to determine the exact cause of the death of Yoo Byung-eun, whose body was recovered last month, they said. The service may announce the outcome later Thursday at the earliest or Friday morning at the latest, police said.Police said Tuesday that a body discovere

Social Affairs July 23, 2014

French director Luc Besson, best known for "Leon" (1994), will visit South Korea next month to promote his latest film "Lucy," its local importer and distributor said Wednesday."Besson will visit South Korea around the end of August before the film's release," the Seoul office of the Universal Pictures International said. "Lucy" tells the story of a woman named Lucy who happens to gain supernatural powers after being kidnapped by Mr. Jang, the absolute evil.Scarlett Johansson and South Korean ac

Film July 23, 2014

자면서 살 빼는 것은 불가능하다? 그렇지 않다. 시원한 곳에서 잠을 자면 체중 감량에 도움이 된다는 연구 결과가 나왔다. 미국 국립 건강 센터 연구진에 의하면, 서늘한 곳에서 자면 몸의 신진대사가 활발해져 체중 감소에 도움을 준다고 밝혔다. 이는 몸이 체온을 높이려는 반응하는 것이다. 연구진은 남성 실험자들을 대상으로 온도가 체중에 어떤 영향을 미치는 지 알아보았다. 4개월간의 실험 기간 동안 모든 실험자는 같은 양의 식사를 하도록 해 동일한 칼로리를 섭취하도록 했다. 침대커버, 이불, 그리고 잠옷까지도 동일하게 적용시켜 실험 환경을 엄격히 통제했다. 대신, 첫 한 달은 실내 온도를 18도, 그 다음 두 달은 23도, 마지막 달은 27도에 맞춰 잠을 자도록 했다. 그 결과, 가장 낮은 온도에서 생활한 실험자의 체중이 감소했음을 확인할 수 있었다. 칼로리를 태워 열을 생성시키는 “갈색 지방”의 양이 가장 낮은 온도에서 생활하는 동안 두 배 증가한 것을 확인 할 수 있었다고 연구진은 말

한국어판 July 23, 2014

South Korea's science ministry said Wednesday it has opened an information technology research center with its Romanian counterpart to conduct a handful of IT projects in the Eastern European country over the next three years.Under the deal signed between South Korea's Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and Romania's Ministry of Communications and Information Society, the Bucharest-based center will map out pilot projects regarding the IT industry and push ahead with them. The two have

Foreign Affairs July 23, 2014