South Korean stocks closed higher Thursday, led by gains in tech and some defensive shares with the pace of the Korean won's ascent to the U.S. dollar slowing on verbal intervention by foreign exchange authorities, analysts said. The won closed at a near six-year high.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 9.66 points, or 0.48 percent, to 2,008.61. Trading volume was moderate at 219 million shares worth 4.1 trillion won ($3.94 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 492 to 310.The

April 10, 2014

South Korea's central bank froze the key interest rate for the 11th straight month on Thursday amid an economic recovery at the first rate-setting meeting with its new chief at the helm.Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol and his six fellow policymakers held the benchmark seven-day repo rate, called the base rate, at 2.5 percent as widely expected.Gov. Lee, a former senior deputy governor at the BOK, replaced his predecessor Kim Choong-soo on April 1, vowing to operate the monetary policy in a consis

April 10, 2014

KT Corp., South Korea's No. 2 mobile carrier, said Tuesday it will accept voluntary retirement from senior employees in an apparent bid to tighten its belt as it is dragged down by lackluster performances.The company said it reached an agreement with its labor union to allow employees who have worked 15 years or more at KT to retire, which accounts for 23,000 of the current 32,000 workers. Applications will be accepted from Thursday to April 24. This is the first such step since 2009 when the mo

Technology April 8, 2014

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's biggest technology firm by revenue, estimated Tuesday its 2014 first-quarter operating profit at 8.4 trillion won ($7.9 billion).The preliminary estimate represents a 4.3 percent fall from the operating profit of 8.78 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.The figure, however, marks a 1.08 percent increase from the operating profit of 8.31 trillion won posted over the September-December period of 2013.First-quarter sales were est

Technology April 8, 2014

President Park Geun-hye said Monday that South Korea should be prepared to immediately repel any North Korean provocations, stressing it is an ominous sign that the communist nation has fired missiles and strengthened reconnaissance with drones.In a weekly meeting with senior aides, Park also ordered officials to come up with measures to close the holes in South Korea's air defense that were revealed in the wake of findings that a series of North Korean drones flew undetected over the South on s

North Korea April 7, 2014

South Korea is not considering lifting its four-year-old sanctions against North Korea, Seoul's unification ministry said Monday, maintaining its stance that the North should first admit to its deadly torpedo attack against the South's warship.In the wake of the sinking of the South's Cheonan warship near the Yellow Sea border with the North on March 26, 2010, which claimed the lives of 46 South Korean sailors, the Seoul government imposed a set of sanctions against Pyongyang on May 24 that year

North Korea April 7, 2014

South Korea's defense minister ordered tighter vigilance against new threats of small unmanned aerial vehicles on Monday as a recent discovery of suspected North Korean drones has sparked concern over the nation's air defense system.Kim Kwan-jin issued the order at a meeting of top military commanders convened to discuss anti-drone measures after South Korea collected three drones in less than a month near the western and eastern front and on a border island.One was found in late March in Paju,

Defense April 7, 2014

President Park Geun-hye expressed regret Monday in the wake of criticism that her office dealt too leniently with corruption involving its own staff by just sending those officials to their original ministries and agencies without additional punishment.Last week, a local newspaper carried a series of critical reports about 10 presidential staff members getting off the hook without any punishment after they committed corruption and other irregularities and that most of them are faring well in the

Politics April 7, 2014

South Korea's top 30 conglomerates earmarked 1.71 trillion won ($1.62 billion) this year to help partner companies and vendors develop new growth engines this year, the lobbying group for the country's big businesses said Monday.The Federation of Korean Industries said the total to be offered marks a 7.6 percent increase from the year before. In 2013, large businesses provided 1.59 trillion won to smaller partners.Of the total, 559.2 billion won will go to assisting sales and purchases, 452.7 bi

Industry April 7, 2014

North Korea blasted South Korea Monday for test-firing a ballistic missile capable of reaching all parts of the communist country, threatening strong retaliation against any provocation.Late last month, South Korea successfully tested the ballistic missile with a range of 500 kilometers and a payload of 1 ton at a firing range southwest of Seoul, which hit the intended target.Calling the March 23 test launch a "grave provocation," the North's Academy of the National Defense Science said that Pyo

North Korea April 7, 2014

South Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae earned four titles, including the individual all-around gold medal, at a World Cup stop in Portugal over the weekend.Son finished first in ball, clubs and ribbon events on Sunday at the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup in Lisbon, a day after claiming the all-around title.Son became the first South Korean rhythmic gymnast to win an individual all-around gold at a senior international event.In the ball competition, Son earned 17.500 points to beat out Me

More Sports April 7, 2014