South Korean shares sharply increased on Monday as better-than-expected job data from the United States improved investor sentiment here, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 25.43 points, or 1.3 percent, to finish at 1,988.54. Trading volume was moderate at 332 million shares worth 4.23 trillion won ($3.68 billion), with gainers beating losers 530 to 278.The world's largest economy announced the data on Friday that

July 11, 2016

South Korea will use security guard robots to reinforce safety in and around Olympic stadiums and venues during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, the government said Monday. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it has launched a robot support team led by Oh Joon-ho, a professor of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.The team will draw up a comprehensive plan on the use of security guard robots by next month in the run-up to the winter games scheduled in February 20

Technology July 11, 2016

South Korea's four major banks likely posted an 11 percent on-year jump in their first-half net profits on their efforts to boost profits in the nonbanking sector and less exposure to debt-ridden companies, industry people said Monday. The country's four leading lenders -- Shinhan Financial Group, KB Financial Group, Hana Financial Group and Woori Bank – reported 3.883 trillion won ($3.4 billion) in combined net profit for the January-June period, up from 3.494 trillion won a year earlier, accor

July 11, 2016

South Korean shipyards are likely to suffer difficulties in the second half of this year, a new survey said Monday, amid declining new orders over the protracted global economic slump.South Korean shipbuilders clinched a combined 830,000 compensated gross ton worth of orders in the first half, down 88 percent from 6.85 million CGTs a year earlier, according to the data compiled by global research firm Clarkson Research Services.The first-half new orders mark the lowest figure that South Korean s

Industry July 11, 2016

Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday released some 23,000 photos of Seoul taken over 20 years. The photos, compiled in collective efforts with research agency The Seoul Institute, shows how the capital city has changed from 1995 to 2015. The intersection at Gangnam subway station (The Seoul Research Data Service)As long as due credit is given, the photos can be freely altered for commercial use, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, who holds the copyrights. Photos with resolution o

Social Affairs July 11, 2016

Changdong Sports Culture Complex in Dobong-gu, northeastern Seoul, will open an outdoor swimming pool for a week beginning from Saturday. The opening hours of the pool will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Dobong-gu outdoor swimming poolThe entrance fee is 3,000 won ($2.60). Those under the age of 3 can enter for free if proof of medical insurance or a copy of their resident registration is shown. The pool will have various facilities for children including a 40-meter water slide, sand playground and

Culture July 11, 2016

Eight male students from Seoul National University’s liberal arts college are being slammed for using sexually abusive language toward fellow female students in a private mobile messenger room. On Monday, SNU’s minority human rights committee and victims’ task force put up a poster accusing eight students of exchanging borderline “rapist” talks about women between February to August in 2015. (Yonhap)The poster by the student committee called for the accused to give a written apology with their f

Social Affairs July 11, 2016

A main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea lawmaker who has been become the center of controversy for hiring family members to work for her said on Monday that she will leave the party.Rep. Seo Young-kyo made the decision after taking flak for hiring her own daughter as an intern at her parliamentary office for five months in 2014. Her daughter's salary was sent to the lawmaker in the form of political donations.  Rep. Seo Young-kyo, a former lawmaker of the Minjoo Party of Korea (Yonhap)Seo is als

Politics July 11, 2016

A group of South Korean businessmen on Monday called on the government to further compensate their losses over the investments made in the now-halted inter-Korean tour program ahead of the eighth anniversary of the project's suspension.The local businessmen who poured money into the joint tour program at Mount Kumgang on the North's east coast should get financial compensation following Seoul's decision on July 12, 2008.The government took such a step after a North Korean soldier shot and killed

Industry July 11, 2016

Both the volume and face value of damaged banknotes found in the first half of the year dropped from six months earlier, the central bank said Monday.In the January-June period, the face value of damaged banknotes exchanged at local banks, including the Bank of Korea, came to 1.51 trillion won ($1.31 billion), down 8.8 percent from the second half of 2015, according to the BOK.They will still cost tens of billions of won to be replaced, one of the reasons for the central bank's ongoing feasibili

July 11, 2016

South Korea will resume the process of selling its majority stake in Woori Bank in the third quarter to help recover public funds after four failed attempts to privatize the state bank since 2010, people familiar with the matter said Monday. In a meeting held last week, the public funds management committee under the Financial Services Commission reconfirmed the government's stance to privatize Woori Bank and retrieve public money injected into the bank during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, a

July 11, 2016