South Korea on Tuesday protested Japan's repeated sovereignty claim to the Dokdo islets in the East Sea in its annual defense white paper."The government strongly protests Japan's illegitimate territorial claim to Dokdo in its defense white paper and calls for an immediate withdrawal," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement."The Japanese government should be aware clearly that the repeat of the claim does not help with the development of a forward-looking and mature partnership betw

Foreign Affairs Aug. 8, 2017

MANILA -- South Korea's top diplomat said Tuesday that she could see North Korea's diplomatic isolation deepen in the wake of its repeated missile provocations as she attended multiple meetings hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.In a press briefing held Tuesday, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha also said that the Seoul government could secure support from ASEAN countries in its approach toward the North that focuses on not only sanctions and pressure but also talks aimed at easi

North Korea Aug. 8, 2017

An accounting firm again refused to provide its audit opinions on China Ocean Resources Co., a Hong Kong-based deep-sea fisheries company listed on the Korean stock market, saying the company's accounting books were riddled with problems. In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Shinhan Accounting Corp. said it could not "rationally judge" the financial status of China Ocean Resources, which is on the verge of being delisted from the Korean stock market due to its false financial disclosures

Economy Aug. 8, 2017

A majority of part-time workers expect they will be replaced by kiosks due to the rise in minimum wage, with those working at restaurants and cafes expressing the most concern, a portal survey said Tuesday.Alba, a portal for job seekers, asked 644 members between July 27 and Aug. 1 what they thought of stand-alone computer devices that serve as vendors and service providers.Sixty-eight percent said the number of such devices will rise with the marking up in hourly wages that goes into effect nex

Industry Aug. 8, 2017

The floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party on Tuesday bashed President Moon Jae-in's two-pronged approach of sanctions and dialogue toward North Korea, saying it is sending a wrong signal to the increasingly provocative regime.Chung Woo-taik made the remarks amid concerns that Pyongyang's hard stance and missile tests have blunted the momentum for Moon's initiative to re-engage with Pyongyang through dialogue, seek its denuclearization and build a lasting peace on the Korean Pen

Politics Aug. 8, 2017

The government on Tuesday approved a revision to immigration law that would impose an emergency exit ban on foreign nationals found responsible for committing murder or other crimes that warrant a prison term of three years to life, government officials said.The adoption of the bill was made at a Cabinet meeting that President Moon Jae-in presided over.If implemented, the law would enable authorities to ask immigration officials to place foreign nationals, who could destroy evidence and escape,

Politics Aug. 8, 2017

The government has revised regulations on state ceremonies in a way that allows a moment of silence to take place not only in memory of independence fighters and war heroes but also pro-democracy martyrs, officials said Tuesday.The current regulation states that a moment of silence should be offered only in memory of "patriotic martyrs and national defense heroes," terms that refer, respectively, to independence fighters during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule and those killed while defending the c

Politics Aug. 8, 2017

The government said Tuesday it will implement a prior approval system for biocidal products, such as disinfectants, starting in 2019, in a preventive measure after unscreened use of a deadly substance in a household humidifier disinfectant resulted in more than 70 deaths here.The Ministry of Environment announced the change in two separate legislations regarding the use of harmful chemical substances, which was approved at a Cabinet meeting.Under the amended rules, any biocides or biocidal produ

Technology Aug. 8, 2017

The recovery pace of the South Korean economy has remained feeble for months as an upturn in exports and private consumption was offset by weak industrial output, a government report said Tuesday."The South Korean economy saw its exports and investment continue to rise and private consumption make a slight rebound, but its recovery pace remained lackluster due to a slowdown in the production of mining and manufacturing," the finance ministry said in its monthly economy assessment repor

Economy Aug. 8, 2017

South Korea's antitrust watchdog has received the top rating among the world's competition authorities for two years in a row this year for its effective anti-competitive activities, the agency said Tuesday.The South Korean regulator earned five stars, or the "elite" grade, along with France, Germany and the United States, at the latest "Rating Enforcement" survey conducted by the Global Competition Review, the Fair Trade Commission said.The FTC advanced to the top spot in th

Economy Aug. 8, 2017

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday following overnight Wall Street gains, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 8.63 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,407.38 in the first 15 minutes of trading.On Monday (local time), US stocks closed higher, with the Dow edging up 0.12 percent to its ninth-record closing high in a row and the S&P 500 adding 0.16 percent on consumer and technology sector gains.Most large caps on the Seoul bourse traded mixed, with tech and med

Market Aug. 8, 2017

WASHINGTON -- North Korea must halt its missile launches if it wants to have talks with the United States, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday, a call Pyongyang quickly spurned by demanding Washington first withdraw its "hostile policy."Tillerson made the remark on the sidelines of meetings involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila, the Philippines."The best signal that North Korea could give us that they're prepared to talk would be to stop these missile launches,"

North Korea Aug. 8, 2017

MANILA -- Top diplomats from South Korea and Japan expressed hopes Monday to increase cooperation in fending off their common threat of North Korea. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, also agreed to make efforts to improve national ties, including resuming their leaders' summit. But they failed to narrow differences over the longtime dispute over Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women."In the face of North Korea's increasingly sophisticated nucle

North Korea Aug. 8, 2017

WASHINGTON -- The United States is actively considering allowing South Korea to increase the capacity of its ballistic missiles in the face of North Korea's growing military threats, the Pentagon said Monday.The remark by Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis comes a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in requested a revision to the allies' missile guidelines in a phone call with his US counterpart, Donald Trump."Yes, we are working on it," the spokesman told reporters when asked if the

Defense Aug. 8, 2017

South Korean banks' combined net profit more than doubled on-year in the first six months of 2017, government data showed Tuesday, led by lower loan-loss provisions and higher interest income.Combined net profit at local banks soared 171.4 percent to 8.1 trillion won ($7.18 billion) in the first six months of 2017, compared to 3 trillion won a year earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a statement."The growth was mostly because loan loss expenses were reduced by 5.7 trillion wo

Economy Aug. 8, 2017