South Korea's exports continued their upbeat mode in the first 20 days of February, underscoring a recovery in the country's outbound shipments, the latest customs data showed Tuesday.Exports amounted to $27.7 billion from Feb. 1-20, up 26.2 percent from the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. (Yonhap)The increase was led by a 51.5-percent on-year gain in exports of semiconductors and a 64.5-percent surge in petroleum products.Imports jumped 26 percent to

Feb. 21, 2017

The South Korean government said Tuesday that it will revise its performance evaluation criteria for state-run companies in a way to encourage them to increase dividend payouts.Their dividend payout ratio, referring to a percentage of earnings paid to shareholders in dividends, will be reflected in the government's annual business performance evaluation for state-run companies, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. (Yonhap)All 321 public agencies, including the Korea Electric Power

Industry Feb. 21, 2017

The level of digital information among underprivileged people in South Korea improved in 2016 from the previous year, but it remained far lower than the national average, a poll showed Tuesday.According to the survey of 15,000 people nationwide, the digital information level among the so-called information have-nots stood at 58.6 percent of the average for all South Koreans, up 6.2 percentage points from a year earlier. This undated file photo shows a handicapped child participating in an inform

Technology Feb. 21, 2017

The net income of South Korea's insurance companies dropped 2.3 percent on-year in 2016 due to low performance by life insurers, data showed Tuesday.They reported a combined net profit of 6.16 trillion won ($5.37 billion) for the year, versus 6.3 trillion won in 2015, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. An image of car insurance in a photo provided by Yonhap News TV. (Yonhap)Life insurers' net income decreased 25 percent to 2.69 trillion won, while that of nonlife ones jumped 27.7 pe

Feb. 21, 2017

One school in the country has volunteered to use a set of state-authored history textbooks, the education ministry said Monday, highlighting the controversy surrounding the program advocated by impeached President Park Geun-hye.Munmyeong High School in Gyeongsan, 331 kilometers southeast of Seoul, applied to use the textbooks in the new academic year starting in March, the ministry said. Some 1,800 other middle and high schools did not apply even though the government offered merit points for te

Social Affairs Feb. 20, 2017

A fisherman died and another went missing after a fishing boat sank off South Korea's southernmost island of Jeju on Monday, the Coast Guard said.The 278-ton fishing ship with a crew of 10 sank in waters some 40 kilometers northeast off the city of Jeju on the island, coast guard officers said. The ship sent a distress message to the coast guard around 1:30 p.m.Medical workers carry a fisherman, who was in critical condition, to an emergency room at a hospital in the city of Jeju on South Korea'

Social Affairs Feb. 20, 2017

A growing number of households in South Korea are exposed to debt risks, especially people in their 30s and the elderly, data showed Monday.The number of "marginal households," whose debt-to-disposable income ratio is over 40 percent, came to 1.81 million last year, up 14.7 percent from 1.58 million recorded in 2015, according to National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun's policy office. An image of rising household debts. (Yonhap)It analyzed data compiled by Statistics Korea.Among the country's

Feb. 20, 2017

Samsung Group will halt its weekly meeting of top executives for the time being after the group's de facto chief, Lee Jae-yong, was arrested over his alleged role in the presidential influence-peddling scandal, group officials said Monday.Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics who has denied any wrongdoing, was arrested last Friday over the scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.  (Yonhap)Samsung has held the weekly meeting every Wednesday and the temporary suspension

Social Affairs Feb. 20, 2017

South Korea's defense chief said Monday that North Korea's alleged assassination of its leader Kim Jong-un's half brother appears to be part of Pyongyang's move to remove any potential challengers to Kim's power and forestall any outside attempt to overthrow its regime."The murder of Kim Jong-nam by the North can be meant to remove alternative forces to the Kim Jong-un regime and warn the international community against any possible regime change attempts," Defense Minister Han Min-koo told the

Social Affairs Feb. 20, 2017

South Korea's point man on North Korea issues said Monday it is becoming increasingly clearer that Pyongyang is behind the killing of the half brother of its ruler Kim Jong-un.Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo made the remark after Malaysian police said Sunday that at least five North Korean suspects appeared to be involved in the death of Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of late former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo"Although we must observe the investigation res

North Korea Feb. 20, 2017

Asiana Airlines Co., South Korea's second-largest flag carrier, was forced Monday to temporarily close its global website due to an apparent attack by hackers, causing inconveniences to many who tried to book flights or check their flight schedules.No leaks of personal information have been detected despite the hacking attack that began around 4:30 a.m., according to company officials. (Yonhap)Online services had been restored from as early as 8 a.m., and the company said they were fully back on

Social Affairs Feb. 20, 2017

South Korean banks' credit exposure to the country's three major shipbuilding companies was reduced by 5.4 trillion won ($4.7 billion) in 2016 due to their restructuring efforts, data showed Monday.According to the data by the Korea Enterprise Data, eight state-run and commercial banks' credit exposure to the three shipbuilding companies -- Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. -- came to 46.35 trillion won as of the end of 20

Feb. 20, 2017

Special prosecutors on Monday questioned a former aide of President Park Geun-hye over suspicions she received treatment from medical personnel without due security checks, as part of their probe into a corruption scandal rocking the country.Ahn Bong-geun, a former presidential secretary for public relations, appeared at the special counsel team's office in southern Seoul. It was his first public appearance in three months since he underwent state prosecutors' questioning over the scandal center

Politics Feb. 20, 2017

About 560,000 doses of vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease are set to arrive in South Korea later this week, the agriculture ministry said Monday, a move that would help the nation prevent the further spread of the animal disease.The development came after South Korea recently asked a British manufacturer of the vaccine, Merial, for emergency imports of the FMD vaccine for the type O+A virus to fight against the simultaneous outbreak of the type A and type O viruses. So far, about 1,400 cattl

Social Affairs Feb. 20, 2017

Police said Monday they have booked five youths without physical detention for being allegedly involved in a break-in of a claw machine to steal dolls by entering the machine through its exit which is slightly larger than an A4 sheet of paper.According to the Dongbu Police Station, one of the five, 18, identified only by his surname Lee, managed to crawl into the exit of a machine at an unattended shop in the southwestern city of Gwangju around 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 25 and take seven dolls worth 45

Social Affairs Feb. 20, 2017