South Korea will introduce its traditional food to Indonesians this week in a fair designed to promote its charm and taste worldwide, a government ministry said Wednesday.The four-day event, titled "2016 Indonesia Jakarta K-food Fair," is to open on Thursday at a local hotel, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.Indonesia, with close to 90 percent of its population Muslim, is expected to emerge as an advance base for South Korea's efforts to tap deeper into the global

Industry Oct. 5, 2016

South Korea's finance ministry on Wednesday remained cautious about whether Asia's fourth-largest economy has gotten on a clear recovery track, as economic indicators have been fluctuating in recent months amid rising uncertainties at home and abroad.In its reports submitted to the National Assembly for an annual parliamentary audit, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said the country's economy is facing flaccid recovery momentum with the local financial market staying unpredictable.South Kore

Oct. 5, 2016

South Korea's central bank said its governor left for the United States on Wednesday for talks with his counterparts from the world's major economies on pending economic issues and ways to stabilize global financial markets. Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol is scheduled to attend the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings in Washington on Thursday, according to the central bank.Lee also plans to attend annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Gro

Oct. 5, 2016

Police raided the headquarters of CJ Hellovision Co., the country's top cable channel operator, on Wednesday over an allegation of fabricated tax statements.Investigators said the company is suspected of fabricating tax statements worth 23 billion won ($20.6 million) to exaggerate its sales.CJ Hellovision may have overstated its sales by overcharging regional offices for commodities. Police currently suspect the firm's headquarters was directly involved in the fabrication."The investigation aims

Industry Oct. 5, 2016

A large number of South Korean parents have given assets to their children over the past five years due mainly to the country's low effective gift tax rate, an opposition lawmaker said Wednesday.In a report based on data by the National Tax Service, Rep. Park Kwang-on of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea said 26,227 South Korean minors under 19 years of age received a combined 3.05 trillion won ($2.75 billion) in donated fortunes from their parents between 2011-15.That translates to an a

Industry Oct. 5, 2016

Owners of South Korea's major business groups have been reluctant to give their assets to their children over the past few years due to the large burden of gift taxes, a market tracker said Wednesday.According to CEO Score, the "asset succession rate" for the country's top 50 family-controlled conglomerates, known here as chaebol, stood at 32.7 percent this year, up a mere 4.1 percentage points from 2011.The figure refers to the portion of assets held by offspring compared to the owner families'

Industry Oct. 5, 2016

The South Korean government and the ruling Saenuri Party have agreed to consider purchasing surplus rice produced in the country in bulk to ensure price stability amid concerns of falling prices caused by a better-than-expected harvest."We urged the government to purchase the surplus production in bulk within this year to separate them from the market," said Rep.Kim Gwang-lim, the policy official of Saenuri, after the meeting, adding the government also said it will make efforts to reflect such

Oct. 5, 2016

The number of cruise passengers visiting South Korea surpassed 1.48 million in the first nine months of this year and is expected to break 2 million in 2016, the maritime ministry said Wednesday. The Port of Jeju on the southern resort island welcomed the record number of 920,000 passengers as of September, and the southeastern port of Busan and the western port of Incheon had430,000 and 120,000 passengers, respectively, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said.The latest figure was up 130 perc

Industry Oct. 5, 2016

Hong Kong student pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong's political party says he has been detained by Thai officials after arriving here to give a talk at a university. Demosisto said in a Facebook post that the party was unable to contact Wong after he arrived at Bangkok's main airport on Wednesday evening. The group said it got word early Thursday from a Thai student activist who was expected to meet Wong that he had been detained at Suvarnabhumi Airport after Thai authorities received a letter

World News Oct. 5, 2016

South Korean banks' net income from their branches abroad fell more than 17 percent in the first half of this year on increased provisions for bad loans, government data showed Wednesday.Local banks had a total of 173 branches in 39 foreign countries as of end-June, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. Most of the overseas operations were concentrated in Asia, accounting for 66.5 percent of the total, followed by 12.7 percent in Europe and North America, respectively.Their combined as

Oct. 5, 2016

South Korea's consumer prices rose at the fastest clip in seven months in September amid growing concerns over possible deflation, a government report showed Wednesday.The country's consumer price index rose 1.2 percent last month from a year earlier, marking the highest monthly gain in seven months, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.The figure had stayed below the 1 percent level four straight months since May.From a month earlier, the index edged down 0.6 percent in September.

Oct. 5, 2016