South Korean golfer Park In-bee will compete in her home country for the first time since winning the gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, officials here said Monday. Park, 28, will take part in the Doosan Match Play Championship on the Korean LPGA Tour that will be staged in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, from May 17 to 21, the event organizers said. It will be the first time for Park to join such a match play event at home. (Yonhap)"Park will return to South Korea on May 9 after playing th

Golf May 1, 2017

South Korea's land ministry said Monday it has approved a test run of Samsung Electronics Co.'s self-driving car currently under development based on deep-learning technology.The approval made by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will allow Samsung to test run the self-driving car on actual roads.Samsung Electronics plans to develop top-of-the-line sensors and computer modules backed by artificial intelligence and the deep-learning technologies to improve cars' self-driving capa

Mobility May 1, 2017

Samsung Electronics Co. said it plans to start the full-fledged service of Bixby, an artificial intelligence program installed in its latest flagship Galaxy S8 smartphones.While Samsung officially released the Galaxy S8 smartphone last month, the Bixby service was still in launch preparations.Through deep-learning technology, Samsung said Bixby will learn users' speaking habits as well as other information to provide them with accurate voice assistance.(Yonhap)Market watchers said Bixby is likel

Technology May 1, 2017

The loan delinquency rate of South Korean banks edged down in March from a month earlier as they wrote off bad loans, government data showed Monday.The delinquency rate for their won-denominated loans stood at 0.51 percent at the end of March, down 0.06 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. Loans with both the principal and interest overdue by one month or more are considered delinquent. The decline came as 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion

Market May 1, 2017

Choo Shin-soo of the Texas Rangers has collected his third home run of the 2017 season, but was not able to stop his team's defeat. Choo sent a long ball in the Rangers' 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday (local time). Batting seventh as the designated hitter, the South Korean hit a solo shot off Angles starter J. C. Ramirez in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the deficit to 3-2.(Yonhap)This, however, turned out to be Choo's only hit of the

Baseball May 1, 2017

Mercedes-Benz aims to sell a record high of over 60,000 units in South Korea this year, posting double-digit sales growth for a second consecutive year, the head of the company's local unit has said.In the first quarter of the year, Mercedes-Benz Korea sold a total of 19,119 units, raising hopes that it could far exceed last year's annual sales.In 2016, sales of Mercedes Benz Korea came to 56,343 cars, spiking 19.9 percent from a year earlier, while annual sales of all imported vehicles dropped

Mobility May 1, 2017

South Korea's exports continued to rise in April, extending their winning streak to six months, on the back of brisk overseas sales of ships and chips, the trade ministry said Monday.Outbound shipments came to $51 billion last month, up 24.2 from $41.1 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The country's exports have been on a steady rise since November led by an upturn in oil prices and recovering world trade. Imports jumped 16.6 percent on-year

Economy May 1, 2017

Sales numbers of vehicles produced overseas and sold here by local manufacturers shrank greatly in the first quarter of the year from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, apparently due to advances by local competitors.Sales of the so-called OEM cars came to 3,171 units in the January-March period, sharply down 57.7 percent from the same period last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.  The QM3 small SUV by Renault Samsung Motors Co., the South

Mobility May 1, 2017

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers has collected his first big league win since 2014. Ryu held the Philadelphia Phillies to a run on three hits over 5 1/3 innings at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday and earned his first win of the season as the Dodgers won 5-3.This was Ryu's first win in Major League Baseball since Aug. 31, 2014, when he pitched against the San Diego Padres. The South Korean left-hander missed all of 2015 following a shoulder surgery and made only one start last year

Baseball May 1, 2017

Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics, has shown no signs of recovery since being hospitalized in May 2014 after suffering a heart attack, industry sources said Monday. Samsung officials and medical experts said that Lee's condition has neither significantly improved nor deteriorated. Samsung Group's Seoul-based headquarters (Yonhap)"I have not heard of Lee's condition for a long time. If there is no news, I believe his condition remains the same," a high-ranking Samsung executive said. W

Industry May 1, 2017

The top diplomats from Southeast Asian countries on Friday expressed "grave" concerns over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, strongly urging Pyongyang to comply with relevant U.N. resolutions, a statement showed.Foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations issued the statement ahead of the ASEAN leaders' annual summit in Manila slated for Saturday. (Yonhap)"ASEAN is mindful that instability in the Korean Peninsula seriously impacts the region and beyond," i

North Korea April 28, 2017

The presidential nominee of a splinter conservative party came under mounting pressure Friday to forge an alliance with other contenders to challenge front-runner Moon Jae-in.Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party, however, insisted he would finish the race and warned those questioning the viability of his candidacy to either help his campaign or leave him alone. Yoo Seong-min (right), presidential nominee of the Bareun Party, speaks on the campaign trail in a college district in Seoul on April 26, 2

Politics April 28, 2017

Host South Korea unveiled its final roster for the FIFA U-20 World Cup on Friday.The Korea Football Association said two FC Barcelona prospects, Paik Seung-ho and Lee Seung-woo, will headline the 21-man roster for head coach Shin Tae-yong. The FIFA competition will be staged in six local cities from May 20 to June 11. South Korean national under-20 football team players conduct warm up exercise ahead of their friendly match against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, No

Soccer April 28, 2017

South Korea's political parties on Friday showed mixed reactions to US President Donald Trump's remarks apparently pressuring Seoul into paying for a US missile defense system being installed on the peninsula.Just 11 days ahead of the presidential vote, some parties remained cautious to avoid potential fallout from the divisive issue, while others responded angrily to his remarks, calling on Washington to take back its Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery. This image, provided by Yonhap N

Politics April 28, 2017

South Korean stocks snapped their six-day winning streak on Friday, slipping from their six-year high, as investors cashed in recent gains, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 4.02 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 2,205.44.Trade volume was moderate at 263 million shares worth 5.64 trillion won ($4.96 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 502 to 285.The local stock market opened higher as top market cap Samsung Ele

Market April 28, 2017