South Korean shares opened higher Tuesday as most heavyweight stocks gained ground over healthy outlooks for their earnings.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 6.09 points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,163.10 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Most large caps traded higher, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics rising 0.38 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor gained 1.6 percent, and top steelmaker POSCO edged up 0.17 percent.Naver, the operator of the country's top Internet portal,

March 21, 2017

Both South Korea and Japan are "vitally important" allies to the United States, the State Department said Monday, stressing that Secretary Rex Tillerson's use of different words to refer to the two allies shouldn't be read into too much.During last week's visit to Tokyo and Seoul, Tillerson called Japan an important "ally" but South Korea only an important "partner." That has led to some raising questions about whether the top American diplomat puts a greater emphasis on relations with Japan tha

Foreign Affairs March 21, 2017

The White House expressed concern Monday about North Korea's weekend test of a high-powered rocket engine amid concern the communist nation could use the engine to carry out a threatened test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the US."We continue to be concerned with North Korea's activity. That's why not only have we continued to have conversations with officials in Japan and South Korea, but continue to urge China to step in and play a larger role in deterring

Foreign Affairs March 21, 2017

The high-powered rocket engine that North Korea carried out a ground test on over the weekend appears to be for a satellite launch vehicle rather than an intercontinental ballistic missile, a US aerospace expert said Monday.John Schilling, known for his expertise on the North's missile program, released the assessment in a report carried by the website 38 North, saying the combination of a core engine and four vernier engines is too big to fit on any known North Korean ICBM prototypes."With four

North Korea March 21, 2017

South Korea's exports jumped 14.8 percent in the first 20 days of March from a year earlier, continuing their upbeat mode for five straight months, customs data showed Tuesday.The total outbound shipments reached $27.3 billion during the cited period, up from $23.8 billion tallied over the same period last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service.The increase was led by a 42.5 percent on-year gain in exports of semiconductors and a 62.2 percent surge in petroleum product

March 21, 2017

Former President Park Geun-hye is set to be questioned by prosecutors Tuesday over a string of corruption allegations that removed her from office earlier this month.Park is scheduled to arrive at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul at around 9:30 a.m. She will undergo a day-long interrogation over allegations of bribery, abuse of power, coercion and leak of government secrets in 13 difference cases.Her lawyer Son Bum-kyu earlier said Park will deliver a message to t

Social Affairs March 21, 2017

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday its chip factory under construction in southern Seoul is expected to start production in the first half of this year as scheduled.The 15.6 trillion-won ($14.4 billion) project began in 2015 to build the chip line in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul. It marks Samsung's largest-ever investment in a single production line. Some 90 percent of the construction is now completed, the firm said.The new line is expected to focus on the production of 3-D V

Industry March 21, 2017

The United States has developed various military options against North Korea, but all of them carry too big a risk to put into action, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.Talk of pre-emptive strikes against the North has come to the fore after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said during a visit to Seoul last week that all options were on the table in dealing with the communist nation and the military option was one of them.Former US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta (EPA-Yonhap)"We obvio

Foreign Affairs March 21, 2017

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday that the US-based video service provider Netflix has recommended its smart televisions released this year as the most suitable platform to enjoy its entertainment content.The video-service provider has been announcing "Netflix Recommended TV" every year since 2015 based on convenience, speed and other features.LG Electronics said the operating system of its smart televisions, the WebOS 3.5, provides users with "intuitive" experiences.The tech company said all of

Industry March 21, 2017

North Korea bristled strongly at US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's warning of military strikes against the communist nation, saying it is fully ready for "any war" with the US.The North's Foreign Ministry also said that the world will soon see how significant its recent test of a large-scale rocket engine was, an apparent threat to use the engine to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the US."The US should face up to the situation of the world with its eyes wi

North Korea March 21, 2017

Former President Park Geun-hye faces allegations of bribery, abuse of power, coercion and leak of government secrets in 13 different cases involving her close friend and former aides.Park, Korea's first leader to be ousted by impeachment, was scheduled to appear at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul on Tuesday morning to undergo questioning.Ousted President Park Geun-hye talks with her supporters in front of her private residence in southern Seoul as she left the pr

Social Affairs March 21, 2017

The second round of a legal battle over the ownership of an ancient Korean-made Buddhist statue which was stolen by South Korean thieves from a Japanese temple a few years ago will begin later this week, a high court official said Monday. In its ruling on Jan. 26, the Daejeon District Court ordered the government to hand over the 14th century statue to its original owner Buseok Temple. Earlier, the temple filed a suit against the government, claiming that the statue was first plundered by the Ja

Social Affairs March 20, 2017