South Korea will be considered a priority candidate when the existing members of the Trans PacificPartnership talk about accepting new members of the massive free trade agreement, a former White House official said Thursday.Matthew Goodman, who served as a former White House coordinator for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation until early 2012, also said in a phone interview that TPP will provide enormous opportunities for a struggling South Korean economy."I think Korea should be first in line whe

Three out of the few football powerhouses -- Germany, Brazil and Argentina -- were shut out overnight during their matches, respectively. The loses, however, are unlikely to hamper their advance to the Euro 2016 in France and the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.                              Entrance sign with the logo at the FIFA headquarters Zurich, Switzerland (AFP)On Friday (Korean time), Ireland beat Germany, the 2014 World Cup winner, 1-0 during a Euro 2016 group D qualifying match. In the op

U.S. tech giant Apple Inc.'s latest iPhone 6s series is set to reach the South Korean market, industry sources said Friday, signaling another battle with domestic brands such as Samsung and LG.The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, first showcased last month, will be available for purchase through the country's three mobile carriers on Oct. 23, the source said. Pre-orders are expected to start on Oct. 16.The devices first landed in a handful of countries including the United States and China on Sept.

Sepp Blatter is out of a job at FIFA. Michel Platini might never even get there.Two of the most powerful men in soccer were handed 90-day suspensions by the FIFA ethics committee on Thursday, essentially ending Blatter's 17-year reign as president and likely stunting Platini's chances of replacing him.Both Blatter and Platini, former allies who turned into rivals in the buildup to the most recent FIFA presidential election, have become embroiled in a Swiss criminal investigation. Blatter has bee

South Korea defeated Kuwait 1-0 here Thursday for their fourth consecutive victory in the Asian qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, inching closer to their ninth straight appearance in the quadrennial tournament.Midfielder Koo Ja-cheol put South Korea on the board with a header in the 12th minute, and it was all South Korea needed in the hard-fought victory at Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium in Kuwait City.Coached by Uli Stielike, the undefeated South Korea stayed atop Group G in the second

A top U.S. military commander has said he believes North Korea is capable of firing a nuclear missile that can reach the continental United States, but the country's ready to defend against such attacks.Adm. William Gortney, commander of U.S. Northern Command, made the remark at a think tank event Wednesday, saying he agrees with the intelligence community's assessment the North has the ability and technology to put nuclear weapons "on rockets that can range the homeland."It's not the first time

The Finance Ministry plans to map out a guideline on dismissing employees at state-funded agencies or institutions with poor performance records, as part efforts to reform the public sector.The policy is an extension of the government’s recent pledge to vitalize the scheme to lay off low-performing civil servants, which was introduced in 2006.Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Kyung-hwan. (Yonhap)Aside from the civil service, the government has decided to expand the

South Korea’s financial market is likely to face another tough test this month as the possibility of a base rate hike in the U.S. has come to the fore again, even as many market participants had expected it to remain unchanged for two more months.The nation’s stocks and currency appeared to be rising after the Chuseok holidays in late September. But the benchmark KOSPI dropped and the won lost ground against the U.S. dollar again on Friday after gaining for the second consecutive trading session

While the economic forecasts for Korea in the third quarter of the year have been mostly gloomy in the wake of the so-called G2 risks -- China’s economic slowdown and the likelihood of the U.S. key rate hike -- new data released Thursday offer some hope of a revival.The two external uncertainties still linger on, which is restricting both economic vitalization and hampering the stock and currency markets.                                                             Federal Reserve chair Janet Yel

South Korea’s financial sector has yet to mature in terms of diversifying its profit-taking structure, data from the Financial Supervisory Service showed Tuesday.According to an analysis of eight financial groups by the regulator, the commercial banking segment still accounted for their major earnings during the first half of the year.Further, the proportion of earnings reaped by their banking business rose to 67.1 percent during the January-June period of 2015, up more than 10 percentage points

South Korea’s exports are expected to post negative growth this year in the wake of an economic slowdown in its major trade partners including China, officials and experts said Tuesday.Exports account for about half of the nation’s gross domestic product. And the volume, including intermediate goods for processing trade, shipped to China accounts for 25 percent of Korea’s total exports.The nation’s central bank and some private think tanks expect the 2015 exports to drop by 4 percent to 6 percen

The uncertainty about financial volatility at home and abroad is expected to linger on until late October as the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates on hold in its September meeting amid split predictions in the market, analysts said Friday.As Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen took an ambiguous position over the timing of an increase, South Korea’s financial indexes moved in a limited boundary on the day, despite the relief from a variety of risks upon a U.S. rate hike. The benc

The uncertainty involving the likelihood over the U.S. rate hike is expected to linger on at least five more weeks until late October, as the Federal Open Market Committee overnight chose to freeze in its September rate-setting amid split predictions in the market, analysts said Friday.As Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen took an ambiguous position over the timing of raising the rate, South Korea’s financial indexes moved in a limited boundary on the day, despite the relief from a variety of ri

[URGENT] FOMC freezes base rateThe U.S. Federal Open Market Committee kept the benchmark interest rate untouched at 0-0.25 percent per annum on Friday (Korean time).(khnews@heraldcorp.com)

[속보] 미FOMC 금리 동결미국 연방공개시장위원회(FOMC)는 17일(현지시간) 연 0~0.25%의 기준금리를 동결했다.(khnews@heraldcorp.com)

Stocks and currency gained sharply in the domestic market Wednesday on the back of Standard & Poor’s upgrade of Korea’s sovereign rating a day earlier and the overnight increase of the U.S. bourse.The benchmark KOSPI rose 37.89 points, or 1.96 percent, from the previous trading session to close at 1,975.45. This marked the highest in one month since it reached 1,983.46 on Aug. 13.The equities’ gain is drawing attention as it comes ahead of the interest rate-setting meeting of Federal Open Market

South Korean households’ debt problem is higher than other emerging economies, a research report from a Swiss financial organization showed Tuesday.According to the Bank for International Settlements, the nation’s ratio of household debt to gross domestic product was 84 percent at the end of 2014. The debt figures include microcredit loans issued to the self-employed.Korea topped the list among the 14 major emerging countries, whose consumer loans were studied by the BIS, in the household debt-G

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance has come under criticism for reportedly inflating its yearly growth target, which caused the government to see far less-than-expected tax revenue, opposition lawmakers said Monday.During the National Assembly’s audit on the ministry, Rep. Yun Ho-jung of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy said the Finance Ministry has set its nominal growth target of between 6 to 7 percent over the past three years.The main difference between real and nominal gross domest

ATHENS - A total of 28 bodies have been pulled from the sea off Greece after a boat carrying scores of migrants capsized on Sunday, the coastguard said.Their stricken boat sank off the island of Farmakonisi in the southern Aegean Sea where a search and rescue effort is under way.A dead child was among those found early Sunday, while 68 people were rescued and a further 29 managed to swim to a beach on the island, the coastguard said. (AFP)

BUDAPEST -- German police say a total of 12,200 migrants came to Munich on Saturday and the flow is continuing into the city, the main point of entry to Germany.Federal police spokesman Simon Hegewald said more than 700 people fleeing their homelands have arrived at the city's main station on Sunday morning. Police didn't immediately have an estimate of how many more might land during the day.Officials in Munich were putting up tents but say their capacity to house the newcomers arriving from Hu