A public servant paid an average of 88.53 million won ($78,868) a year, an amount equal to the top 7 percentile of the nation's average income, according to the Korea Taxpayers' Association.Based on basic salary information disclosed by the government and expenditure analysis of a ward office in Seoul picked as a representative sample, it costs about 179.9 million won a year to keep a public servant employed, the association said. Salary levels of government workers have become news after p

Economy July 19, 2017

South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo assured the leader of American troops here Wednesday that he will place top priority on bolstering the time-honored alliance against North Korea's saber-rattling.Song, who took office last week, delivered the message to Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, who commands the US Forces Korea, in their introductory meeting at Song's office in Seoul, according to his ministry.The minister told Brooks that he has proposed "robust and complementary development of the ROK

Defense July 19, 2017

A total of 118 newborns have been infected with inactive tuberculosis at an obstetrics clinic in Seoul, health authorities said Wednesday.The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the infants from the clinic in northern Seoul were confirmed to have been infected with the bacteria-related disease.Inactive TB means that bacteria are present in the body but are dormant. The body's immune system can suppress TB for years. (Yonhap)Between 60 and 90 percent of inactive TB patients can

Social Affairs July 19, 2017

A tough market is making it harder for young people to find work with new jobseekers taking up to a year to land a position, government data showed Wednesday. According to Statistics Korea, the number of college graduates, dropouts and high-school graduates stood at some 4.82 million in May. Of them, about 4.18 million, or 86.8 percent, were employed or held a job at least once. The ratio of young people who had work experience fell 0.2 percentage point from a year ago.  As for 4.09 million

Economy July 19, 2017

Samsung Heavy Industries Co., a major shipyard here, said Wednesday that it has clinched a 271 billion won ($242 million) deal to build two ships.The deal, however, is subject to final approval from the buyer, it said in a regulatory filing.Samsung Heavy did not reveal the name of the customer adding that it will make another regulatory filing if the contract is signed. (Yonhap)The shipyard said earlier it has won $4.8 billion worth of orders to build 13 ships, including two offshore plants, in

Industry July 19, 2017

South Korea aims to generate 20 percent of its electricity with clean, renewable energy by 2030, while reducing its reliance on fossil fuel and nuclear power plants, the new Moon Jae-in administration said Wednesday. In a policy report to President Moon Jae-in, who took office in May, the State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee said it will encourage big companies and small merchants to use renewable energy by offering financial incentives and other promotional packages. By 2023, the governmen

Industry July 19, 2017

South Korea plans to establish a national memorial day to remember the country's "comfort women,"victims of sex crimes committed by Japan during the second World War, according to a state policy blueprint announced Wednesday.The government said it has approved a plan by the State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee to designate an official remembrance day for the country's hundreds of thousands of women forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese soldiers during the war. It is expected to

Social Affairs July 19, 2017

South Korea needs to map out its "comprehensive" negotiation strategy aimed at inducing an agreement to completely dismantle North Korea's nuclear program by 2020, a presidential advisory body said Wednesday. The State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee also advised the Moon Jae-in government to use all possible means to address the North's nuclear threat, including possibly resuming the long-suspended six-party denuclearization talks.They are part of the policy recommendations made by the comm

North Korea July 19, 2017

A Seoul appellate court on Wednesday lowered the jail term for the daughter of the Lotte Group founder charged with embezzlement and breach of trust. The Seoul High Court handed down a two-year sentence on Shin Young-ja, head of the Lotte Foundation, saying that it allowed for the fact that she has paid back most of the misappropriated funds. Shin, 75, was sentenced to three years in prison in January for receiving bribes from various companies in return for business favors related to Lotte's du

Industry July 19, 2017

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister nominee Paik Un-gyu said Wednesday that if appointed, he will pursue the new government's nuclear power phase-out policy based on "social consensus."He made the remarks during a parliamentary confirmation hearing amid fears that President Moon Jae-in's energy policy shift could result in a hefty rise in electricity prices and energy shortage in a country heavily dependent on energy imports.Last month, Moon vowed to scrap all plans for new nuclear power plants

Politics July 19, 2017

Global sales of dynamic random-access memory chips and NAND flash memories are expected to set a new record in 2017, data showed Wednesday, with South Korean chipmakers anticipated to become the main beneficiaries of the industrywide boom."The strong annual upturn in sales is being driven almost entirely by fast-rising average selling prices," industry tracker IC Insights said. "Prices for DRAM and NAND first began increasing in the second half of 2016 and continued with quarterly increases thro

Industry July 19, 2017

South Korea's central bank said Wednesday that it has put more than 290 million dormant coins back into general circulation.People brought out some 296 million coins worth 40.8 billion won ($36.3 million) to have them changed into banknotes during the nationwide collection campaign in June, according to the Bank of Korea.This marked a 10.6-percent increase in the number of reclaimed coins vis-a-vis last year. Combined value of coins collected rose 10.9 percent. The annual campaign is designed to

Economy July 19, 2017

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest carmaker by sales, will start operation of its fifth assembly plant in China next month to better meet growing local demand for small vehicles, the company said Wednesday. Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., a 50:50 joint venture set up by Hyundai Motor and Beijing Automotive Group Co., has invested a combined $1 billion to build the 300,000-unit-a-year plant in Chongqing, Southwest China, the carmaker said in a statement. This year, Hyundai plans to produce 30,00

Mobility July 19, 2017

The Korea National Arboretum said Wednesday that it will create a Korean garden in the Eden Project, the world's biggest botanical garden built on the site of an abandoned clay pit used for more than 160 years in the British town of St Austell, Cornwell. Completed in 2001, the Eden Project houses huge biomes that boast an enormous collection of endangered plants from around the world."(The KNA) and the Eden Project signed a business accord in St Austell Tuesday on the creation of the Korean gard

Social Affairs July 19, 2017

Hyundai Asan Corp. on Tuesday asked the government to give permission to visit North Korea next month to mark the anniversary of the death of its former chairman, the company said.The memorial service for Chung Mong-hun, who spearheaded the now-suspended inter-Korean tour program in the North, had been held at Mount Kungang every year since his death in August 2003. This file photo, taken on Oct. 16, 2015, shows Mount Kumgang located on North Korea`s east coast. (Yonhap)Hyundai, however, did not

North Korea July 18, 2017