The finance ministry said Friday that it will set aside a supplementary budget to help create jobs, a key campaign pledge of Presidential Moon Jae-in."We will create jobs through aggressive macroeconomic policies, including a supplementary budget," the ministry said in its monthly economy assessment report called the "Green Book." The ministry also vowed to revitalize Asia's fourth-largest economy, which is showing signs of a recovery on increased exports.It marked the first

Economy May 12, 2017

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party on Friday reinstated a group of lawmakers who had left it or been disciplined in the fallout of the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.The group includes 13 lawmakers who defected to create the splinter Bareun Party and three lawmakers whose memberships were suspended as punishment for the internal crisis after a parliamentary vote to oust Park in December. The logo of the Liberty Korea Party (Yonhap)Their reinstatement comes as the party is str

Politics May 12, 2017

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday that it has promoted 42 employees to senior management posts at its chipmaking business as part of its latest regular personnel appointment, five months later than usually, as its vice chairman has been arrested for alleged graft charges.On Thursday, the world's largest manufacturer of smartphones also carried out a partial personnel appointment, which affected 54 executive level posts at its consumer electronics and smartphone business

Industry May 12, 2017

A request for a parliamentary confirmation hearing on Prime Minister-designate Lee Nak-yon will be submitted to the National Assembly as early as Friday, multiple government sources said.Once the written request is submitted under the name of new President Moon Jae-in, the legislature is to complete the confirmation process within 20 days. This photo, taken on May 11, 2017, shows Prime Minister-designate Lee Nak-yon speaking during a press conference in Muan, 385 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonh

Politics May 12, 2017

Audi Volkswagen's recall of its Tiguan compact SUV in South Korea has been going without a hitch with the recall rate reaching more than 30 percent for the first three months, industry sources said Friday.In January, the Seoul government allowed Audi Volkswagen Korea, the local importer and distributor of the German brands, to recall some 27,000 Volkswagen Tiguan cars sold here for fabricating test results of emissions, noise and fuel efficiency. (Yonhap)As of May 6, Audi Volkswagen Korea recall

Mobility May 12, 2017

South Korean mobile carriers' Internet-based TV businesses have emerged as their stable source of profit on the back of an increase in the number of subscribers, data by the companies showed Friday.The country's three mobile carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- saw sales from their Internet protocol television business jump 10 percent to 20 percent in the first quarter of this year from a year ago, according to the data based on their first-quarter earnings reports. (Yonhap

Technology May 12, 2017

The management and union of Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, an affiliate of Hyundai Heavy Industries, said Friday they agreed to arrange paid leave for the shipyard's workers idled by a lack of orders.The agreement is a compromise for the management, which last month had proposed up to one month of unpaid leave to deal with falling orders and an industrywide slump in the shipbuilding business. The company had also suggested a temporary suspension of fringe benefits but was rejected by the union, official

Industry May 12, 2017

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 5.48 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,290.89 in the first 15 minutes of trading.The decline followed overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.11 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.22 percent.Most large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. gained 1.01 percent, and

Market May 12, 2017

President Moon Jae-in has accepted the resignation of the chief prosecutor, a presidential spokesman said Friday."President Moon, this afternoon, accepted Prosecutor-General Kim Soo-nam's resignation," Moon's chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan said at a press briefing, adding the resignation will be effective as of Monday. (Yonhap)The three-day pause was apparently aimed at affording him enough time for a departure ceremony.Yoon said the president had agonized over Kim's resignation. He had s

Politics May 12, 2017

South Korea, a thriving hub of technology in Northeast Asia, is also second to none when it comes to the gaming industry, with the size of the local market estimated at 11.3 trillion won ($9.9 billion) as of last year.According to data compiled by Korea Creative Content Agency, the country's game market is expected to continue growing and reach 11.6 trillion won in 2017. The venue of the Indie Game Festival 2017 held in Seoul on April 22, 2017. (Yonhap)The growth is especially faster for mobile

Industry May 12, 2017

The United States is believed to have started putting together a delegation of officials to be dispatched to South Korea to lay the groundwork for the first summit between President Donald Trump and South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in, sources said Thursday.Trump said in his first phone call with Moon on Wednesday that he will send a high-level delegation to Seoul to discuss Moon's first visit to Washington as president. Moon also said he would send a special envoy to Washington to lay the g

Foreign Affairs May 12, 2017

The Central Intelligence Agency has created a special team dealing exclusively with North Korea in an unusual move underscoring the seriousness the United States attaches to the nuclear and missile threats from the communist nation.The Korea Mission Center was established to "harness the full resources, capabilities, and authorities of the Agency in addressing the nuclear and ballistic missile threat posed by North Korea," CIA said in a statement. "The new mission center draws on experienced off

North Korea May 12, 2017

The US intelligence chief said Thursday North Korea poses a potentially "existential threat" to the United States with its growing nuclear and missile capabilities.Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats made the assessment during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, saying a very significant amount of intelligence resources has been dedicated to the issue of North Korea. (Yonhap)"North Korea is an increasingly grave national security threat to the United States because of its growing

North Korea May 12, 2017

North Korea routinely delays or denies consular access to US citizens detained in the communist nation, the State Department said Thursday, after Pyongyang threatened to "mercilessly punish" the Americans it's accusing of unspecified "crimes" against the country.The North's Foreign Ministry made the threat earlier Thursday, claiming it is the "legitimate right of a sovereign state to deal with the criminals according to its law" and rejecting criticism the country's holding the Americans to use

North Korea May 12, 2017

The vice chairman and heir apparent of Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's leading carmaker, on Thursday told the company's global salespeople that the company will churn out new vehicles and make necessary investments in technologies that will make it more competitive.On the second day of the 2017 Global Distributors Convention being held from Wednesday through Saturday in Seoul and Jeju Island, Chung Eui-sun stressed, "We will continue to support our sales networks and people by delivering new te

Mobility May 11, 2017