A co-leader of the main opposition party called on President Park Geun-hye Sunday to hold talks with him on the recent controversy surrounding candidate nominations for the upcoming local elections in June.Ahn Cheol-soo, one of two co-leaders of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, made the call amid a growing dispute within his party over whether to nominate candidates for lower-level administration chiefs and councilors in the June 4 elections."As leader of the No. 1 opposition party, I pr

Politics March 30, 2014

South Korean companies whose fiscal year ended in December paid a total of 13.6 trillion won ($12.7 billion) in dividends to shareholders, the Korea Securities Depository said Sunday.The agency said the total takes into account the 892 companies listed on the country's various stock exchanges.It said the 465 companies listed on the KOSPI, the country's main bourse, paid a little over 12.7 trillion won in dividends to their shareholders, while numbers for the 419 businesses on the tech-heavy KOSD

Industry March 30, 2014

North Korea has visibly increased imports of cargo-handling machinery from Russia, a possible sign that the two countries are stepping up economic cooperation in developing a strategically located North Korean port, a trade agency report issued in Seoul showed Sunday.Russia exported $21.16 million's worth of jib cranes, machinery used mostly for cargo handling at ports, to North Korea last year, accounting for nearly 22 percent of its total exports to the North, according to the report by the Ko

North Korea March 30, 2014

A disabled couple expressed deep anger at American Airlines over a disparaging customer description note by the carrier’s employee, ABC reported on Friday, local time. Free trade pacts that went into effect in the last decade played a role in fueling South Korean exports, a report by an international traders association showed Sunday.According to the Korea International Trade Association, nine open trade arrangements reached so far allowed local companies to make further inroads into 46 countrie

March 30, 2014

Cash assets held by South Korea's top 30 conglomerates grew sharply to 157.7 trillion won ($147.5 billion) in 2013 as businesses withheld investment in the face of mounting uncertainties, a report by an online corporate research firm showed Sunday.According to CEO Score, cash held by the 171 listed companies belonging to the largest conglomerates, excluding financial firms, were up 18.3 percent from 133.3 trillion won tallied a year earlier."The increase is due to businesses taking a conservativ

Industry March 30, 2014

South Korea's fisheries minister pledged full government efforts to limit losses by local fishermen from a free trade agreement with China and take compensatory measures for businesses inevitably hurt by the pact.In an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Sunday, Lee Ju-young, the minister of oceans and fisheries, acknowledged that there were many products from which South Korean fisherman would suffer losses if tariffs on those are removed or reduced from the FTA.The two countries are currently

March 30, 2014

South Korea will use its state-run Economic Development Cooperation Fund to support development in Latin America, the country's top economic policymaker said Saturday.Seoul's finance minister Hyun Oh-seok said he signed a letter of intent with Luis Alberto Moreno, the president of the Inter-American Development Bank, that outlines South Korea's commitment to provide funds to assist with various infrastructure development projects.The agreement was reached at the annual meeting of the IDB held in

March 30, 2014

A day after the search for the Malaysian jetliner shifted to a new area of the Indian Ocean, ships on Saturday plucked objects from the sea to determine whether they were related to the missing jet. None were confirmed to be from the plane, leaving searchers with no sign of the jet three weeks after it disappeared.Meanwhile, a Chinese military plane scanning part of the search zone, which is roughly the size of Poland, spotted several objects floating in the sea, including two bearing colors of

World News March 30, 2014

Rival political parties here urged North Korea Wednesday to apologize and take responsibility for the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship four years ago.The ruling Saenuri and main opposition Democratic parties made the calls as South Korea mourned the deaths of 46 sailors in the sinking of the Cheonan near the western sea border with North Korea exactly four years ago.A joint international investigation into the sinking concluded that North Korea torpedoed the ship, but Pyongyang has flatl

Politics March 26, 2014

A total of 17 people, including a veteran carpenter, have been arrested on various corruption charges related to their participation in the restoration of one of Seoul's ancient city gates, police said Wednesday.Shin Eung-soo, the 71-year-old carpenter who took charge of the carpentry work for the project, is under suspicion of siphoning off timbers, including Korea-grown pine timbers called geumgang, that were supposed to be used to replace burned columns in the wooden gate, police said.Sungnye

Social Affairs March 26, 2014