South Korea's industrial output grew for the second straight month in July, raising expectations that the economic recovery might be gaining some momentum, a government report showed Friday. According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries expanded 1.1 percent last month from June. The growth rate, however, slowed down from a revised 2.6 percent gain a month earlier.Production in the service sector inched down 0.4 percent on-mon

Aug. 29, 2014

The Islamic State group killed more than 160 Syrian government troops seized in recent fighting, posting pictures Thursday of terrified young conscripts stripped down to their underwear before meeting their deaths in the arid Syrian countryside. The slayings were the latest massacre attributed to the extremist group, which has terrorized rivals and civilians alike with widely publicized brutality in Syria and Iraq as it seeks to expand a proto-state it has carved out on both sides of the border.

World News Aug. 29, 2014

South Korea plans to issue state bonds worth about 6.7 trillion won ($6.6 billion) in September, the finance ministry said Thursday.According to the ministry, the government is seeking to sell 1.75 trillion won in three-year Treasurys, 1.6 trillion won in five-year debts and 1.85 trillion won worth of 10-year bonds next month.It also plans to issue 750 billion won worth of bonds that mature in 20 years and 750 billion won in 30-year bonds.The total to be issued is 100 billion less than Treasurys

Aug. 28, 2014

The South Korean financial watchdog said Thursday it has cautioned troubled Kookmin Bank against a lack of supervision of its employees, which has led to corruption such as massive embezzlement and illegal loans.The Financial Supervisory Service also reprimanded 68 Kookmin Bank officials involved in the scandals. One of the officials was reprimanded in two separate cases.After conducting thorough inspections on the two different cases, the watchdog concluded that 51 employees had pocketed a comb

Aug. 28, 2014

Samsung Electronics Co. won a small but meaningful battle Wednesday after a U.S. court dismissed Apple Inc.'s bid to ban sales of its nine older models in the United States.Judge Lucy H. Koh, a U.S. district judge in San Jose, California, rejected an injunction filed by the iPhone maker to block sales of nine Samsung smartphone lines, including the Galaxy S3, for infringing its patented technologies.The court decision came after a U.S. federal jury concluded in May that Samsung and Apple have in

Technology Aug. 28, 2014

Shoddy construction of a subway line extension has caused the formation of large underground cavities in southeastern Seoul, the city government said Thursday.Earlier this month, the city government discovered the seven hollows below an underpass in Seokchon-dong while inspecting the underground conditions following the appearance of sinkholes, sparking safety concerns.Announcing the result of an inspection, the city government blamed Samsung C&T Co., the construction arm of Samsung Group in cha

Social Affairs Aug. 28, 2014

South Korea's antitrust watchdog has launched an investigation into Kakao Corp., the operator of the country's most-used messenger service Kakao Talk, for possibly abusing its market leader position, industry sources said Thursday.An investigation is underway into allegations that Kakao was involved in abusing its market dominance in deals with smaller service suppliers. A probe is also being conducted on its scheduled merger with Daum Corp., the country's No. 2 Internet portal operator, the sou

Technology Aug. 28, 2014

South Korea and the United States wrapped up their joint military exercise Thursday, a day earlier than scheduled, officials here said, spawning speculation that the move might be intended to help soothe North Korea.The allies' Combined Forces Command in Seoul announced that it successfully completed its annual computer-assisted simulation drill, named Ulchi Freedom Guardian."This year's Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise further strengthened our combined defense and enhanced the readiness of the R

Defense Aug. 28, 2014

South Korea on Thursday expressed "deep" concerns over Japan's repeated moves to deny its wartime atrocities as Tokyo's prime minister reportedly sent a message earlier this year to a ceremony to honor its war criminals.In April, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a condolence message to a memorial service held in a temple in western Japan to commemorate Japanese wartime leaders, including convicted class-A war criminals, according to Japanese media.Seoul's foreign ministry said a series of

Foreign Affairs Aug. 28, 2014

More than 2,000 Chinese companies have registered for an annual trade exhibition with North Korea, which will be held in October in the Chinese border city of Dandong, state media reported Thursday. North Korea and China have held the joint trade fair since 2012, underscoring the hopes of Beijing as it seeks to help develop business ties with the isolated neighbor despite the North's defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons.The two nations will kick off the five-day trade show, named the North Korea-C

North Korea Aug. 28, 2014

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has "guided" an intensive paratrooper exercise in person, the country's state media said Thursday, in what is seen as a response to the ongoing South Korea-U.S. joint defense drill.Kim inspected an airborne unit conducting parachuting drills and gave pep talks, the Korean Central News Agency reported.As is usual, the KCNA did not specify the time and venue of Kim's visit.Kim expressed satisfaction with the successful training exercise by the troops, it said."He pu

North Korea Aug. 28, 2014

South Korea extended its current surplus streak to a 29th consecutive month in July, helped by solid exports and a narrowing service account deficit, central bank data showed Thursday.The current surplus came in at $7.91 billion last month, compared with $7.92 billion in June, according to the preliminary data by the Bank of Korea. The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.With the July data out, South Korea's current account surplus during the January-July period totaled

Aug. 28, 2014

The father of a student killed in April's ferry disaster ended a nearly 50-day hunger strike on Thursday, apparently due to worsening health and in response to a plea from his family, his spokesman said.Kim Young-oh, whose high school daughter was killed in the sunken ferry Sewol, had fasted for 46 days to demand an independent probe into one of the country's deadliest maritime accidents that left nearly 300 people dead or missing."Kim Young-oh, the father of Yoo-min, ended fasting as of today,"

Social Affairs Aug. 28, 2014

A Seoul court on Wednesday sentenced the chief of a subcontractor of telecom giant KT Corp.'s financially troubled affiliate to 20 years in prison for masterminding a large-scale loan fraud.The 46-year-old chief of Joonangtnc Co.Ltd, surnamed Seo, was found guilty of colluding with other employees of KT ENS Co., a subsidiary of the country's No. 2 mobile operator KT Corp., to take out some 1.83 trillion won ($1.71 billion) in loans from 16 local banks using forged documents from May 2008 to Janu

Industry Aug. 27, 2014