Excess funds held by South Korean households fell sharply in the second quarter due to increased spending and debt repayment, while local companies saw their shortage of funds dwindle, central bank data showed Wednesday.Excess funds held by local households, including nonprofit organizations, came to 13.7 trillion won ($12.4 billion) as of end-June, compared with 24.3 trillion won from three months earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.Nonprofit organizations include inst

Sept. 28, 2016

Nearly 30 billion won ($27 million) in revenue was generated from an online platform to commercialize creative ideas in the past three years, the science ministry said Wednesday.In September 2013, the government launched the website, "creative economy town," that invites anyone to post and market creative ideas. The goal of the website was to boost the local economy by turning innovative ideas into businesses through science and technology, while generating business opportunities by converging d

Sept. 28, 2016

Shinsegae Group and a joint venture between Shilla Hotel and Hyundai Development said Wednesday that they will apply for a new duty-free license to open new stores in Gangnam, the most affluent district in the capital city.HDC Shilla Duty Free said it has picked iPark Tower in Gangnam, one of the most expensive apartment complexes in Seoul, as the site to open its second duty-free shop, following the first in Yongsan. "We will make the second duty-free store a tourism attraction that presents Ko

Industry Sept. 28, 2016

South Korea's Navy said Wednesday it has recovered the bodies of all three crew members who were aboard a chopper that crashed into the sea off the country's east coast earlier this week.The Navy found one body at 12:21 a.m. and another at 4:28 a.m. Wednesday, after the first was pulled from the water at around 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, Navy officials told reporters. It said a remotely operated underwater vehicle was used for the search operations. The three Navy personnel went missing after their Lynx

Social Affairs Sept. 28, 2016

A much-debated anti-graft law has officially kicked off in South Korea, calling for workers in certain sectors who should maintain higher ethical standards to refrain from receiving any gift priced beyond a legal ceiling.Under the Kim Young-ran Law, people working for the government, media outlets and schools are banned from receiving meals priced higher than 30,000 won ($27), gifts exceeding 50,000 won, and congratulatory and condolence money over 100,000 won.The law aims to root out corruption

Sept. 28, 2016

South Korea's top economic policymaker denounced unionized workers of the country's railway and subway services Wednesday for staging a joint strike for the first time in 22 years to protest the introduction of a performance-based pay system.Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho also condemned the labor union of Hyundai Motor Co., the country's biggest carmaker, for orchestrating a walkout in the midst of rising challenges at home and abroad that weigh heavily on the South Korean economy."Strikes at the pu

Industry Sept. 28, 2016

Publicly placed stock funds have suffered a massive capital outflow, totaling 24 trillion won ($21.9 billion) over almost four years, as investors' appetites for risky assets declined amid a tepid local stock market and increased uncertainties, industry data showed on Wednesday.According to the data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA), the outstanding deposit for publicly placed stock funds stood at 63.6 trillion won as of end-August, compared to 87.5 trillion won at t

Sept. 28, 2016

The United States intends to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea "on an accelerated basis" and "as soon as possible," given the ever-growing missile threats from North Korea, the top US diplomat on Asia said Tuesday.Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel made the remark during a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, stressing it's important to upgrade defensive systems to cope with the North Korean threats."I can't speak as assistan

Defense Sept. 28, 2016

Britain has effectively deported two London-based officials of North Korea's state insurance firm by refusing to renew their visas after the firm was slapped with sanctions in the wake of Pyongyang's January nuclear test, a diplomatic source said.In April, Britain blacklisted the North's Korea National Insurance Corp. and its London office in line with European Union sanctions imposed after the North's fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February."It's part of implem

North Korea Sept. 28, 2016

Seven South Korean food and beverage firms recorded 1 trillion won ($910 million) or more in production last year, a government ministry said Tuesday.Their combined output of 9.18 trillion won accounted for 12.8 percent of the entire domestic market worth 70.41 trillion won, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.A total of 37,793 companies here reported their food production data to the ministry in 2015.Nongshim ranked first with 1.8 trillion won of production, followed by Lotte Chil

Industry Sept. 27, 2016

An opposition lawmaker said Tuesday an average of 3,000 South Koreans with separated families in the North are dying every year, while only a few of them given the opportunity for a reunion.According to the data compiled by Rep. Lee Seok-hyun of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, 67,740 of 130,982 South Koreans with families in North Korea have died so far, with only 1.8 percent of them having been granted a chance to be reunited with long-lost loved ones.A separate data compiled by Hyun

North Korea Sept. 27, 2016