The Korea Herald

'FTA with Korea gives reciprocal benefit to US'

The free trade deal between Seoul and Washington has contributed to increasing job opportunities in the United States by enhancing bilateral trade and investment, South Korea's vice finance minister said Tuesday."South Korea and the U.S have expanded economic cooperation that mutually benefited each other, and the Korea-US free trade agreement is an example," Vice Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said in a Seoul seminar co-hosted by the Korea Economic Institute of America, a Washington-based nonpr

Nov. 15, 2016

'FTA with Korea gives reciprocal benefit to US'

Park appoints attorney ahead of prosecutorial probe expected this week

President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday appointed an attorney as prosecutors are preparing to directly question the embattled head of state this week over her alleged link to a corruption and influence peddling scandal involving her close confidante.Park tapped Yoo Yeong-ha, a former member of the standing committee of the National Human Rights Commission as her legal representative, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.Prosecutors have told the presidential office that it hopes to question Par

Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2016

Park appoints attorney ahead of prosecutorial probe expected this week

Scientist Hwang's stem cell line to be registered

A stem cell line developed by South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk will be formally registered, local health authorities said Tuesday, a move expected to restart stem cell research here that has been in a deep freeze.The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said it has concluded that the human embryonic stem cell line, called NT-1, was developed by a process of parthenogenesis, also known as the "virgin birth." This is when an egg develops on its own without fertilization.The f

Technology Nov. 15, 2016

Scientist Hwang's stem cell line to be registered

Korea posts 57th consecutive trade surplus in Oct.

South Korea logged a trade surplus for 57 straight months in October as imports fell at a faster pace than exports, customs data showed Tuesday.The country's trade surplus came to $6.97 billion last month, up 5.7 percent from $6.59 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.For the January-October period, the surplus edged up 2.2 percent on-year to $74.7 billion from $73.1 billion.The on-year gain in trade surplus was led by a steep decline in imports th

Nov. 15, 2016

Korea posts 57th consecutive trade surplus in Oct.

Google products found with most cybersecurity vulnerabilities: report

Google Inc.'s products were found to have the highest number of Internet security vulnerabilities, accounting for 22 percent of risks found in the third quarter, a report out Tuesday said.According to the Korea Internet & Security Agency, 155 of 694 reported common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVE) were discovered in Google devices. Adobe came next at 107 (15 percent), followed by Oracle's 71 (10 percent), Microsoft's 65 (10 percent) and Apple's 54 (8 percent).The report was drawn among high-s

Technology Nov. 15, 2016

Google products found with most cybersecurity vulnerabilities: report

British investor interested in taking over STX Shipbuilding, its French unit

A British investment fund has submitted a letter of intent to a local court to buy cash-strapped STX Shipbuilding Co. and its French unit up for sale, industry sources said Tuesday.The investment fund has offered to buy STX Shipbuilding and a 66.7 percent stake in its French unit, a deal valued at 1 trillion won ($852 million) in total, while French shipyard DCNS and two other foreign shipyards submitted initial bids for STX Shipbuilding only, which could fetch 100 billion won, the sources said.

Industry Nov. 15, 2016

British investor interested in taking over STX Shipbuilding, its French unit

US welcomes Korea-Japan intel sharing deal

The US Defense Department on Monday welcomed the provisional signing of a military intelligence sharing agreement between South Korea and Japan."We noted the recent media reports that the Governments of the Republic of Korea and Japan reached a provisional agreement on a bilateral General Security of Military Information Agreement," Cmdr. Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, told Yonhap News Agency. "A potential ROK-Japan GSOMIA could strengthen cooperation between our two closest allies in Northeas

Defense Nov. 15, 2016

Foreign residents account for 3.4% of total population in 2015

More than 1.71 million foreigners resided in South Korea in 2015, accounting for 3.4 percent of the country's total population, government data showed Monday. According to data from the Interior Ministry and Statistics Korea, the number of foreign residents reached 1,711,013 as of Nov. 1 last year, a more than threefold increase from 536,627 in 2006, when the country began to compile such numbers. The ratio of foreign residents to the total population also rose to 3.4 percent last year from 1.1

Social Affairs Nov. 14, 2016

Gov't presses Daewoo shipyard's labor union over rescue plan

The South Korean government on Monday ratcheted up pressure on unionized workers at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) to support a creditor-led restructuring drive."(You) need to face reality," Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said at a meeting on the nation's corporate restructuring campaign. Yim, named the new finance minister, stressed that both the management and labor of the troubled shipbuilder should make "thorough self-rescue efforts" under

Industry Nov. 14, 2016

Gov't presses Daewoo shipyard's labor union over rescue plan

Korea to keep sanctions-oriented NK policy after Trump takes office

South Korea's unification ministry said Monday that it will maintain its current North Korea policy focused on pressure and sanctions even after the Donald Trump administration takes office next year.In a report submitted to lawmakers, the ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs added that it will work hard to build strong and close cooperative ties with the next US government and maintain policy "continuity" in dealing with the North."We will focus our efforts on establishing a frame for clo

North Korea Nov. 14, 2016

Navy chief inspects drills, calls for readiness against NK missiles

South Korea's Navy chief on Monday inspected a military exercise in the East Sea designed to enhance its capabilities to counter North Korea's submarine-launched ballistic missiles.Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Um Hyun-seong called for full readiness and a swift reaction if provoked during the inspection aboard a P-3 maritime patrol aircraft, widely known as a "submarine killer." The exercise began Thursday with the aim to assess and improve South Korea's capabilities to strike North Korean sub

Defense Nov. 14, 2016

Korean cars to be sold on TV home shopping channels

South Korean automobiles will go on sale via TV home shopping networks starting in 2018 under a revised regulation, the government announced Monday.The nation's four major home shopping channels -- CJ, Hyundai, GS and Woori -- will be allowed to deal in not just foreign and used cars but also newly made domestic ones, according to the Financial Services Commission.Currently, they are prohibited from selling new South Korean cars, as they are registered with the authorities as being engaged in th

Mobility Nov. 14, 2016

Trump names Priebus, Bannon to senior White House roles

President-elect Donald Trump made his first two key personnel appointments on Sunday, one an overture to Republican circles by naming GOP chief Reince Priebus as his White House chief of staff, the other a shot across the bow of the Washington establishment by tabbing Breitbart news executive Stephan Bannon as chief strategist and senior counselor.The two men had made up the president-elect’s chief of staff shortlist, and while Priebus received that job, Bannon’s post also is expected to wield s

World News Nov. 14, 2016

Powerful earthquake strikes New Zealand, killing 2 people

A powerful earthquake that rocked New Zealand on Monday triggered landslides and a small tsunami, cracked apart roads and homes and left two people dead, but largely spared the country the devastation it saw five years ago when a deadly earthquake struck the same region. Strong aftershocks continued to shake the country on Monday, rattling the nerves of exhausted residents, many of whom had spent a sleepless night huddled outside after fleeing for higher ground to avoid the tsunami waves. The ma

World News Nov. 14, 2016

NK collects foil from residents to make camouflage nets

North Korean authorities are collecting foil from residents to use them to make camouflage nets for anti-aircraft batteries, a US broadcaster, monitored in Seoul, reported Monday. "The North Korean authorities are urging residents to offer foil as a material to support the army, while insisting that (American) satellites cannot take pictures of their anti-aircraft batteries if they are covered with camouflage nets made of foil,"the Radio Free Asia said, citing a source in the North's North Hamky

North Korea Nov. 14, 2016

NK collects foil from residents to make camouflage nets

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