South Korean President Park Geun-hye urged Japanese leaders to make clear they honor the country's past apologies for its colonial rule of Korea and not to engage in any acts that put their intentions into question.Park made the remarks during an interview Monday with CNN, saying the past apologies, known as the "Kono statement" and the "Murayama statement" named after former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono and former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, have been the basis of relations between

Politics Jan. 14, 2014

China on Monday slammed a reported plan by Japan to revise guidelines for school textbooks to bolster its territorial claims to a set of islands in the East China Sea at the center of a bitter dispute with Beijing.China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the remarks in response to Japanese media reports that Tokyo was considering revising the guidelines to describe the islands, known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, as Japan's "indigenous territory."The reported move by Jap

Foreign Affairs Jan. 13, 2014

South Korea said Monday that it will increase this year's aid for developing countries by 11 percent as part of efforts to return what it received from the international community to rebuild its war-torn economy decades ago.A total of 2.27 trillion won ($2.14 billion), or some 0.16 percent of the country's gross national income, has been earmarked for this year's official development aid, according to the Prime Minister's Secretariat.It is up from last year's 2.04 trillion won, or 0.15 percent o

Politics Jan. 13, 2014

President Park Geun-hye plans to use the upcoming state visits to India and Switzerland to open the world's second-most populous nation wider to Korean businesses, learn the Swiss know-how in fostering skilled labor and appeal to global CEOs about investing in Korea, officials said Monday.The weeklong trip starting Jan. 15 to the Indian capital of New Delhi and the Swiss capital of Bern, as well as the resort town of Davos, is Park's first overseas trip in her second calender year in office. It

Politics Jan. 13, 2014

South Korean stocks closed higher Monday as the weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data curbed concerns that its central bank may speed up the tapering of its quantitative easing, analysts said. The Korean won closed higher against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 10.38 points, or 0.54 percent, to 1,948.92. Trading volume was low at 263.9 million shares worth 3.31 trillion won ($3.14 billion) with gainers outpacing losers 450 to 360.Analysts said Seoul shares ga

Jan. 13, 2014

President Park Geun Hye, who became South Korea’s first woman leader by promising a more “creative economy,” begins her second year vowing to pursue the unprecedented prosperity she said will result from unification with North Korea amid flagging interest from many citizens more than six decades after the peninsula’s war. To persuade voters captivated by Samsung Electronics Co.’s electronic gadgets and the latest “K-pop” music stars as the aging workforce threatens the nation’s productivity, Par

Politics Jan. 13, 2014

U.S. mobile carrier AT&T Inc. is using Samsung's smartphones to test-run the voice over long-term evolution (VoLTE) service slated to be launched this year, industry sources said Monday.AT&T included Samsung's Galaxy smartphones among the devices to be tested for the VoLTE service, the sources said, a move expected to open ways for the South Korean player to expand its foothold there.The VoLTE service, which offers voice calls through the fourth-generation LTE network, enables clearer quality an

Technology Jan. 13, 2014

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman returned from North Korea on Monday, describing his latest trip to Pyongyang, where he met with the North's leader Kim Jong-un, as "amazing.""It's amazing that I had an opportunity," the heavily tattooed Rodman told a throng of journalists at the Beijing airport, wrapping up his week-long trip to North Korea. "Marshal (Kim Jong-un) gave me this opportunity."Asked how he felt about his fourth trip to the North in the past year, Rodman replied, "This is not a bad deal

North Korea Jan. 13, 2014

South Korea's newly appointed cardinal, Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, on Monday vowed efforts to realize Pope Francis' vision of a church serving the poor.The 71-year-old archbishop of Seoul was one of the 19 new cardinals named by Pope Francis on Sunday. He is South Korea's third-ever cardinal after late Stephen Kim Sou-hwan (1922-2009) and Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk."I will make efforts to realize Pope Francis' vision of a church toiling for the poor and those on the margins of society and to make it a c

Social Affairs Jan. 13, 2014

영원무역이 자사 방글라데시 공장에서 사흘 전 일어난 대규모 노동자 시위와 관련해 “조정된 임금체계를 오해한 일부 근로자들의 시위”라고 일축, 불미스러운 사태에 대해 유감스럽게 생각한다는 공식 입장을 밝혔다.영원무역은 12일 “방글라데시 소재 ㈜영원무역 계열 공장 KSI에서 지난 9일에 새로운 최저 임금 인상을 집행하던 과정에서, 조정된 임금체계를 오해한 일부 근로자들의 시위 중 경찰의 발포로 노동자 1명이 숨지고 10여명 내외가 중경상을 입었다”는 내용의 자료를 배포했다.해당 사건은 지난 9일 방글라데시 남부 항구도시 치타공의 한국수출공단에서 수천명의 노동자들이 임금 수당 축소에 문제를 제기하면서 불거졌다.방글라데시 주재 한국 대사관 관계자는 “영원무역이 방글라데시 당국의 바뀐 최저임금 체계를 반영하는 과정에서 이번 달 수당을 축소해 지급하자 노동자들이 시위를 벌이기 시작한 것으로 안다”고 설명했다.방글라데시 정부가 지난달 의류공장 노동자 400만여 명에 대해 최저임금을 월 38달러

한국어판 Jan. 13, 2014

South Korea needs to redefine what constitutes close family relations in its basic tax code law to reflect realistic social and economic conditions, a think tank belonging to an association of conglomerates insisted Monday.According to the Korea Economic Research Institute, the research arm of the Federation of Korean Industries, South Korea maintains outdated taxation rules that define close blood and in-law relatives based on revisions made in 1974. It said such rules do not reflect the way pe

Jan. 13, 2014

Foreign currency deposits in South Korean banks declined for the first time in seven months in December as companies withdrew money to cover import bills, the central bank said Monday.Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents reached $48.44 billion as of end-December, down $170 million from a record high of $48.61 billion in November, according to the Bank of Korea.It marked the first decline since May when such deposits fell by $1.66 billion.Residents include local cit

Jan. 13, 2014

South Korea plans to finish building a new data transfer system at a jointly run factory park in North Korea this week, an official said Monday, a move expected to facilitate travel to and from the industrial complex.The radio frequency identification system will be up and running at the North's western border city of Kaesong later this month, unification ministry spokesman Kim Eui-do told reporters.The system would allow South Korean factory managers to visit the park and return home at any tim

North Korea Jan. 13, 2014

Lotte Group, a conglomerate whose businesses range from fast food to retail and construction, has joined the race to take over LIG Insurance Co., a local non-life insurer, industry sources said Monday.According to the sources, Lotte picked Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse as its financial advisor for the acquisition, Ernst & Young Han Young as its accounting advisor and Milliman Korea as its actuarial advisor."It is true that we have an interest in buying LIG Insuarnce," a Lotte official said,

Jan. 13, 2014

Samsung Electronics Co. fell in market cap rankings in the global IT industry, dogged by dull fourth-quarter earnings estimate and the weakening Japanese yen, data from the Korea Exchange showed Monday.The market cap for the world's No. 1 maker of smartphones was 187.3 trillion won ($176.6 billion) as of Friday, down 16.7 percent from 224.9 trillion won posted end-March 2013, according to the data.The ranking is two below where the company was in March last year when it had nudged out Microsoft

Jan. 13, 2014