South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Sunday he has conveyed President Moon Jae-in's message on the THAAD missile defense system to US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.Han said his "talking points" in the discussion with Mattis held in Singapore a day earlier were decided in "consultations" with Moon's office Cheong Wa Dae. South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo (L) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis in their meeting held on the sidelines of the 16th Asia Security

Politics June 4, 2017

South Korea's latest economic gains do not indicate that the country's financial condition is on a firm track, as the increases can be attributed to investment in the construction sector and not improvements in private consumption, a research showed Sunday.Hyundai Research Institute said in a report that South Korea's economic growth depends excessively on construction, while private consumption, which takes up 50 percent of the country's gross domestic product, only had a limited impact on the

Economy June 4, 2017

South Korea is one of the nations in which the least amount of video is watched in the world, industrial sources said Sunday, citing global research agency Kantar Millward Brown.Of the 41 countries and Hong Kong covered in the agency's report titled "AD Reaction: Video Creative in a Digital World," South Korea came in 35th in the average amount of video watched by its citizens, with total TV, on-demand TV, computer, tablet and smartphone video consumption averaging 166 minutes daily per capita.

Social Affairs June 4, 2017

South Korea strongly condemned the apparent terrorist attack in London on Sunday, calling it a barbarous act that is uncivilized and inhumane."We pray for those killed in the terrorist attack and offer our deepest condolences to the bereaved families of the victims and the people of Britain," Cho June-hyuck, spokesman for Seoul's foreign ministry, said in a released statement. (Yonhap)The attack took place late Saturday on London Bridge where a vehicle veered off the road and ran over dozens of

Social Affairs June 4, 2017

LG Electronics Inc. said Sunday it will release a new smartphone with a 4,500 mAh battery this week, which would top all mobile phones in South Korea in terms of power capacity. The South Korean tech giant said the budget LG X500 will be available to users through the country's three mobile carriers starting Friday. A model poses with the LG X500 smartphone in this photo released by LG Electronics Inc. on June 4, 2017. (Yonhap)The company said the battery would allow users to play videos for 20

Technology June 4, 2017

Samsung Electronics Co. is set to make 700 billion won ($623 million) worth of investment in India to expand the production of smartphones in the large South Asian country, industry sources said Sunday.According to governmental and industry sources in India, Samsung is planning to expand its existing 120,000-square-meter production line in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in the northern part of the country, to 240,000 square meters. (Yonhap)If the expansion is completed, the factory will be capable of pro

Business June 4, 2017

CHEONGJU -- Cheongju International Airport, which serves air traffic in central South Korea, has resumed flights to China that were suspended after the US missile defense deployment row, the regional government said Sunday.According to North Chungcheong Province, China Southern Airlines resumed the Cheongju-Yanji route on May 3 and is operating three weekly flights.(Yonhap)The airline had halted flights out of Cheongju on March 26, days after Beijing requested its travel agencies halt the sales

Industry June 4, 2017

The ruling and opposition parties were again set to clash this week in three separate confirmation hearings for top government and judicial officials, including a vice prime minister and the chief of the constitutional court, observers noted Sunday.The three confirmation hearings are for Finance Minister-nominee Kim Dong-yeon, who will double as vice prime minister; Foreign Minister-nominee Kang Kyong-hwa; and the nominee for Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Kim Yi-su. (Yonhap)The heari

Politics June 4, 2017

South Korea's shipbuilders are expected to recover this year after suffering from a global industrywide slump in 2016, observers here said Sunday.Industry watchers said Samsung Heavy Industries Co. clinched deals worth $4.8 billion coming into this year, which accounts for 74 percent of its annual target of $6.5 billion. The latest performance marks a sharp turnaround from last year, when Samsung failed to win a single contract in the first five months. (Yonhap)Samsung won a deal worth 2.9 trill

Industry June 4, 2017

One out of four affiliates under South Korea's top 30 conglomerates is suffering from poor financial health, data showed Sunday, casting concern over the country's industries.According to the data compiled by Chaebul.com, a local industry tracker, 324 of 1,255 affiliates under the country's top 30 business groups suffered from impaired capital or held a debt ratio hovering beyond 200 percent as of end-2016. (Yonhap)Of 14 affiliates under the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering group, one of

Industry June 4, 2017

South Korea's small and medium enterprises have high hopes for the new Moon Jae-in administration as they struggle with difficult times, industry sources said Sunday.The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, or K-Biz, said its Chairman Park Sung-taek met with 25 regional SME business representatives in Yeosu, 455 kilometers south of Seoul, and exchanged views on the state of the regional economy.  "Business leaders said at the gathering on Saturday that while export figures we

Economy June 4, 2017

Samsung Electronics Co. accounted for 13 percent of the world's smartphone industry in terms of operating profit over the first quarter of 2017, data showed Sunday. According to the data compiled by Strategy Analytics, Samsung Electronics took up 12.9 percent of the combined operating profit posted by global players by posting US$1.57 billion in earnings over the January-March period, down 21.9 percent from a year earlier.  (Yonhap)Samsung's archrival Apple Inc., on the other hand, posted an ope

Technology June 4, 2017

The unit price of South Korean-made vehicles went up this year despite a drop in export volume, industry data showed Sunday.According to findings released by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association and local carmakers, outbound passenger vehicle shipments reached 829,852 units in the first four months of this year, down 1.4 percent compared to a year earlier.Exports of cars made by Kia Motors Corp. and Renault Samsung Motors Co. moved up, but numbers for Hyundai Motor Co., GM Korea Co. an

Mobility June 4, 2017

South Korean exporters employed more than 6 million in 2014 as overseas shipments played a major role in fueling growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy, government data showed Sunday.The number of jobs created by the export-related businesses totaled 6.1 million people in the cited year, up from 5.3 million tallied in 2010 and 3.7 million in 2000, according to the data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The findings are based on the latest available data compiled by the Ban

Industry June 4, 2017

President Moon Jae-in's decision to shut down aged coal-fired power plants is a very encouraging first step toward switching one of the world's largest nuclear-powered countries into a renewable energy leader, the head of the Global Green Growth Institute, a Seoul-based global organization on environmental-friendly development, said. GGGI Director-General Frank Rijsberman said during an interview on Friday in Jeju Island that Korea is quite behind China and Japan in terms of clean energy use, ur

Social Affairs June 4, 2017