The country's rival parties were locked in a heated debate over how to treat a former president Tuesday, one day after the prosecution asked the local court to issue a warrant for the arrest of Park Geun-hye.The debate began after Rep. Kim Jin-tae, a presidential hopeful and pro-Park loyalist of the former ruling Liberty Korea Party, called the former president a lady ousted from her royal palace, apparently labeling Park a person of nobility. (Yonhap)"I simply feel miserable," he told a press c

Politics March 28, 2017

The number of childbirths in South Korea fell for the 14th month in a row in January from a year earlier amid a late marriage trend and a rapidly aging population, a government report showed Tuesday.About 35,100 babies were born in January, down 11.1 percent, or 4,400, from 39,500 tallied a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)The figure has been on a steady decline since it posted a 2.4 percent on-year drop in December last year.The latest number also marked the lo

Social Affairs March 28, 2017

A parliamentary committee passed a proposal Tuesday to allow the incoming president to form a de facto transition team after taking office following the early election in May.Under current transition law, the new president must begin his term immediately after the May 9 election, which was triggered by the ouster of Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal. A plenary session of the National Assembly (Yonhap)The revision bill passed by the parliamentary safety and administration committee would al

Politics March 28, 2017

The mobile map app powered by South Korea's top portal operator Naver Corp. attracted more local Android users than the map app made by US giant Google Inc., data showed Tuesday.According to the data compiled by industry tracker Wiseapp, Naver's map app boasted 8.08 million monthly active users on the Android platform here in February, compared to 7.66 million posted by Google.  (Yonhap)The map app served by Kakao Corp., South Korea's No. 2 portal operator, followed with 3.09 million users, the

Technology March 28, 2017

Sales of sneakers rose sharply last year from a year earlier, industry data showed Tuesday, as health-conscious people of all ages are opting to run as an easy way to exercise.Sales of sneakers posted a whopping 96 percent rise last year from the previous year, according to data by online shopping mall 11Street. The comparable figure was three percent in 2015. (Yonhap)Gmarket, another online retailer, reported a 33 percent increase in the sales of sneakers last year from the previous year.The sh

Industry March 28, 2017

The United States will repel any kind of North Korean attack, State Department spokeswoman Anna Richey-Allen told a US broadcaster Tuesday, in response to Pyongyang's latest threat of "preemptive attack" on South Korea and the USOn Sunday, the North Korean army warned that it will "mercilessly smash the enemy's (South Korea and the US) moves with its own style of special operation and preemptive attack" in defiance of joint drills by South Korea-US special operations teams in the South. A statem

Foreign Affairs March 28, 2017

The administrative process for child registration for divorced families will be simplified thanks to the revision of the Civil Code, officials said Tuesday.The current Civil Code presumes a child born within 300 days after marriage ends by divorce to belong to the former husband.Thus, children are automatically listed on the divorced fathers' family registries.(Yonhap)Mothers wanting to avoid the automatic family registration have to start a lengthy and costly court battle to sever the family re

Social Affairs March 28, 2017

South Korea will focus its fiscal policy on pushing forward with the fourth industrial revolution next year, as well as improving job creation, tackling a low birthrate trend and economic polarization, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The 2018 budget guidelines, which were approved by the Cabinet, are aimed at improving fiscal efficiency and allocating government funds to pressing issues and boosting growth potential moving forward, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. (Yonhap)Bas

March 28, 2017

Local fishery prices have risen steadily in recent months, government data showed Tuesday, amid sharp increase in cost to import such goods.Prices of fishery products soared 6.4 percent in February from a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)The comparable figures were 6.6 percent in January and 5.1 percent in November.The price hike is attributed partly to the climbing costs caused by declining catches abroad, a Statistics Korea official said. He cited abnormal weath

Industry March 28, 2017

Duty-free stores and hotels in South Korea are suffering a dip in sales after China's travel agencies stopped selling trips to Korea early this month, industry sources said Tuesday, stemming from a diplomatic row over Seoul's deployment of a US anti-missile system. Lotte Duty Free, the No. 1 duty-free shop in the country, saw its sales from Chinese customers at key branches in Seoul and Jeju island tumble 40 percent between March 20-26, compared with a year earlier, heading for a cumulative 30 p

Industry March 28, 2017

South Koreans are almost equally divided on the sticky issue of whether the country's policy priority should be income redistribution or economic growth, a poll said Tuesday.According to the survey of 3,443 South Koreans, 50.4 percent of the respondents said redistribution matters more than growth, with the remaining 49.6 percent replying growth is more important. (Yonhap)Nearly 54 percent of low income earners answered income redistribution is more important than economic growth, according to t

March 28, 2017

South Korea's government plans to create a new website this year to provide the private sector with tailored information on humanitarian assistance to North Korea, officials said Tuesday.The Ministry of Unification said that the 400 million-won ($360,800) project is intended to boost government-private sector cooperation and efficiency in the provision of relief supplies to North Korea through closer analysis and integration of extensive data. The Ministry of Unification (Yonhap)The bidding proc

Social Affairs March 28, 2017

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, backed by a bullish start of market behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. and chemical companies, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 6.58 points, or 0.31 percent, to trade at 2,162.24 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Shares of Samsung Electronics, a global leader in smartphones and memory chips, jumped 1.07 percent, with LG Chem, a leading chemical firm, also soaring 1.6 percent. Samsung stocks account for more than 20 per

March 28, 2017

The supply of Samsung Electronics Co.'s upcoming flagship smartphone, presumably the Galaxy S8, may fail to meet demand due to the sluggish production of Qualcomm chipsets, industry sources said Tuesday.The outlook came as the new top-of-the-line model is expected to become the first smartphone to adopt Qualcomm's latest system on a chip (SoC), the Snapdragon 835. The models that will be sold in South Korea and some other global markets will come with Samsung's own Exynos 8895 that boasts simila

Industry March 28, 2017

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it will seek to sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7s, an ill-fated phablet whose production was suspended last year due to safety issues.The South Korean tech giant said some 3 million units of the Galaxy Note 7 will be resold or rented out.  (Yonhap)The smartphone maker launched the Galaxy Note 7 last year, but its sales were soon suspended on reports of some of the devices catching fire while being charged.The tech giant has been rolling out replacement programs

Industry March 28, 2017