President Moon Jae-in on Friday expressed "strong regrets" over a local business lobby's criticism of his policy to turn all irregular jobs in the public sector into regular employment, his spokesman said.On Thursday, Kim Young-bae, the vice chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, bashed Moon's policy during a public forum, saying private enterprises are having a tough time due to growing calls to enhance job security for their irregular workers. Park Soo-hyun, presidential spokesman, speaks

Politics May 26, 2017

South Korean football club Gangwon FC will play a friendly match in Vietnam next month, a club official said Friday.The official, who asked not to be named, said the K League Classic club will play a friendly match with a united team of Ho Chi Minh City FC and Sai Gon FC in Ho Chi Minh City on June 9. Gangwon, currently sixth in the first division, signed Vietnamese international Luong Xuan Truong from Incheon United last season, and they have been working to explore the Vietnamese market.  In t

Soccer May 26, 2017

Police will refrain from using excessive physical force at street rallies, a ranking officer at the National Police Agency said Friday, in line with President Moon Jae-in's calls for better protection of human rights.Lee Dae-hyung, an NPA officer in charge of human rights protection, said at a workshop in Busan that in principle, police will no longer deploy riot troops, water cannon vehicles and bus barricades in places of rallies and demonstrations. This file photo taken on Nov. 26, 2016, show

Social Affairs May 26, 2017

South Korea's military prosecutors said Friday they sought an arrest warrant for a Navy captain accused of sexually assaulting a female subordinate."(The prosecutors) applied for an arrest warrant today for the captain" who has been in temporary detention on charges of sexual assault against a lieutenant found dead on Wednesday, a defense official said. (Yonhap)She apparently committed suicide, the Navy said, citing notes alluding to her ultimate choice. She also reportedly told a civilian frien

Social Affairs May 26, 2017

South Korean shares extended their winning streak to end at a new record high Friday on the back of improved investors' sentiment on gains from the Wall Street, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 12.37 points, or 0.53 percent, to reach an all-time high of 2,355.30. Trade volume was moderate at 309.17 million shares worth 6.03 trillion won ($5.38 billion), with advancers far outnumbering losers 499 to 307.It also marks th

Market May 26, 2017

Eighteen South Korean soldiers were commissioned Friday as second lieutenants under the local military's program modeled after Israel's Talpiot training program, the defense ministry said.They will serve at the Agency for Defense Development, the country's state agency for research and development in defense technology, for three years. They are 14 army officers, two naval and two air force ones. (Yonhap)The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning launch

Defense May 26, 2017

South Korea's top lender KB Kookmin Bank said Friday that it has successfully issued $400 million worth of bonds in Taiwan, becoming the first local bank to do so.The Formosa bonds will mature in five years and carry a floating rate with the spread set at 0.95 percentage point plus the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate, a benchmark interest rate in the global financial market, the bank said. Formosa bonds refer to bonds issued in Taiwan but denominated in a currency other than the Taiwan

Market May 26, 2017

President Moon Jae-in's office offered an apology over alleged irregularities of nominees for top government posts Friday.The apology came as the main opposition party refused to endorse a joint report on the outcome of a recent confirmation hearing for Prime Minister nominee Lee Nak-yon. (Yonhap)Lee, a former lawmaker and a provincial governor, came under scrutiny over his wife's false registration of residence while working as a public school teacher, a move aimed at being assigned to the scho

Politics May 26, 2017

The number of foreigners illegally staying in the country rose for the fourth month a row last month, coming to nearly 11 percent of all foreign nationals here, monthly data from the Justice Ministry said Friday. According to the data, the figure was tabulated at 220,510 in April, or 10.8 percent of 2,024,818 foreigners here, up 3.1 percent from a year ago.  This file photo shows foreign nationals in the country illegally at a police station on South Korea's Jeju Island. (Yonhap)Comparable figur

Social Affairs May 26, 2017

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers has earned his first major league save after throwing four scoreless innings.The South Korean southpaw relieved starter Kenta Maeda in the top of the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Thursday (local time), with the Dodgers leading 6-3. It was his first relief appearance in his major league career and also his first outing since his most recent start on May 18. (Yonhap)Ryu worked around a two-out single by Kol

Baseball May 26, 2017

Hyundai Motor Co. on Friday held its fourth biennial competition for autonomous cars at a local speed circuit, a move aimed at enhancing its brand image and promoting technology growth.  In the past two decades, the carmaker provided advice and information on self-driving cars to university students so they can apply this know-how and come up with their own autonomous vehicles.  (Yonhap)It is part of Hyundai's broad effort to become a leading player in the cutting-edge vehicle sector going forwa

Mobility May 26, 2017

A committee investigating the body of the salvaged Sewol ferry said Friday that it has successfully restored media files and other data from at least two mobile phones found inside the wrecked ship.The Sewol Ferry Investigation Committee convened a sub-committee meeting on the remains and belongings in the port of Mokpo, 410 km south of Seoul, and discussed how to handle photo, video, voice and text message files restored from two smartphones recovered from the wreck, officials said. A mobile ph

Social Affairs May 26, 2017

South Korea's terms of trade deteriorated slightly in April from a year earlier as a rise in export prices was offset by a hike in import prices, central bank data showed Friday.The terms of trade index for products came to 101.38 last month, down 1.1 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea . The index measures the amount of imports a country can purchase for each unit of exports, showing how the country's exports are doing in comparison to others.Last m

Economy May 26, 2017

President Moon Jae-in on Friday asked the incumbent Cabinet members to help run his new administration at least until he finds their replacements.The president's request to the ministers appointed by his ousted predecessor Park Geun-hye came at a lunch at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae. (Yonhap)"The president wished to encourage the ministers and also listen to any advice they had to offer," a Cheong Wa Dae official said on the condition of anonymity.Friday's lunch involved all 16 governm

Politics May 26, 2017

North Korea was found to have used South Korean vehicles left in the closed inter-Korean industrial park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong without permission, a US broadcaster reported Friday. Radio Free Asia made the report, citing a photo taken on Dec. 9 by DigitalGlobe, an American commercial space imagery vendor, and recently made public on Google Earth.  Vehicles pass through an inter-Korean immigration office in Paju, north of Seoul, on Feb. 11, 2016, returning from the North's Ka

North Korea May 26, 2017