The 19th National Assembly of Korea finished its four-year term Sunday, pulling the curtain down on what critics say is one of the worst-performing parliaments of all time.    It got off to a rough start due to a brewing controversy over surveillance by the state on ordinary people and a rigged election process involving a progressive minor political party.    In 2014, the parliament didn't pass a single piece of legislation for nearly five months amid a political deadlock over a special law adv

 Woori Bank, South Korea's second-biggest bank by assets, said Sunday it has won final approval to take over a Philippine-based bank, in line with its efforts to tap deeper into overseas markets.   The South Korean bank said it has won a nod from the Central Bank of the Philippines to purchase a 51 percent stake in the Wealth Development Bank. Woori Bank said it plans to complete the procedures in the first half of 2016.   Established in 2002, the Wealth Development Bank boasts US$170 million in

A committee will likely be launched this week to lay the groundwork for a foundation for South Korean women who worked in Japanese military brothels during World War II, sources said Sunday.   The committee will be tasked with the implementation of a slew of compensation measures announced during a historic agreement between South Korea and Japan in December last year for the "comfort women."   "As far as I know, the committee will be launched around May 31," a person familiar with the matter sa

In the wake of U.S. President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Hiroshima last Friday, controversy continues to boil in Korea, with some begrudging him for crushing hopes that he would pay respects at a Korean memorial. He lay a wreath at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and embraced some survivors of the 1945 U.S. nuclear bombing, but Obama stopped short of visiting a monument set up within the park in dedication to Korean victims. He instead remarked at the onset of his speech that he had come to m

U.N.Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in a small folk village in southeastern South Korea on Sunday, a trip widely seen as the start of a presidential campaign ahead of next year's election.   Ban, who is on a six-day visit to his native South Korea, made headlines last week after he told senior reporters on the southern resort island of Jeju that he would contemplate his future as a South Korean citizen once he steps down from his U.N. post at the end of this year. The remarks were interpre

South Korea's agricultural ministry on Sunday said it has reached an agreement with China to start exporting traditional chicken soup to the world's most populous country as early as June.   The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it has completed talks on exporting "samgyetang."   Samgyetang is a traditional chicken soup made with a whole young chicken stuffed with ginseng, sticky rice and garlic. It is widely recognized in the country as an energy-boosting meal during the summ

The South Korean government will work toward eradicating polio, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said at an international event Sunday.    In a welcoming speech at the Rotary International Convention 2016, he said, "The government will support global efforts to fight against polio," adding, "Korea, a former aid recipient but now a giver, is contributing to global prosperity.   "We will share our experiences on economic development and will help global neighbors who are suffering in various fields, s

The runaway popularity of the "Descendants of the Sun" TV series has spurred a spike in the number of young men wanting to join South Korean special forces units, a military source said Sunday.   The series that ended in mid-April has been a phenomenal success in both South Korea and in places such as China. The TV show highlighted the exploits of South Korean special forces conducting humanitarian operations in a fictitious country and the romance that develops between the male and female chara

Samsung Electronics Co. on Sunday said it plans to release three new large-sized models of its SUHD TV series, amid the rising demand for bigger displays among local consumers.   Samsung said it plans to start the sales of 68-, 78- and 88-inch TVs, providing consumers with a wider scope of choices.   The price tags on the three products stand at 7.89 million won (US$6,647), 12.9 million won and 33 million won, respectively.    The SUHD TV incorporates quantum dot technology, which refers to a fi

South Korea's self-sufficiency of beef and pork decreased together for the second consecutive year in 2015, data showed Sunday, amid the falling number of cattle raised and the rising demand for pork-related products in the country.   According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, South Korea's self-sufficiency rate of beef came to 46 percent in 2015, down from 50.1 percent posted in 2013.The figure is anticipated to reach 38.8 percent in 2019.   Industry

South Korea's top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. became the inaugural chair of the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), a global union of companies studying fifth-generation (5G) network technologies, the company said Sunday.   SK Telecom said TIP has named Choi Jin-sung, its chief technology officer, as the first chairman of the organization.   Led by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, TIP is an organization that studies deeper into the 5G network technology. Along with SK Telecom, the members also include G

South Korea's central bank said Sunday it will issue the country's first commemorative banknote for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, along with coins.   The Bank of Korea said it plans to sell the commemorative banknote in the future, taking example from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.   The bank earlier said it would start the sales of the first sets of commemorative coins in November, composed of two gold, eight silver and one bronze.    The bank added

North Korea kicked off a new loyalty campaign to get people to work more as part of its five-year economic plan announced at its seventh ruling party congress, state controlled media said Sunday.   According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a joint conference of officials from the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), government, economic sector and military was held Thursday through Saturday, where participants agreed to launch the "200-day campaign of loyalty" that aims to bolster nat

Possible attacks by Pyongyang against South Korean citizens is causing local schools to cancel student excursions to the Mount Paekdu region, along the Sino-North Korean border, sources said Sunday.   Seoul's foreign ministry issued warnings that the North may be planning some kind of attack against South Koreans, which could include kidnapping.   The education ministry and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education also sent official letters to all schools not to arrange trips to Mount Paekdu a

There was a short power blackout at the hotel in Ethiopia where South Korean President Park Geun-hye was staying during her state visit, hotel and South Korean officials said.   The electricity went out around 8:55 p.m. on Thursday and lasted for about 30 seconds to one minute at the Sheraton Addis Hotel in Addis Ababa before the hotel's generators kicked in to provide backup power, hotel concierge Asheber Belay said.   Asheber said the power supply returned to normal later, though he did not el

South Korea's annual economic growth lagged behind fast-expanding members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), data showed Sunday.   Asia's fourth-largest economy saw its annual economic growth reach 2.6 percent on-year in 2015, ranking 12th among the members of the Paris-based organization of economically developed countries.   It marked the first time since 2006 that South Korea did not make the top-10 list of the fastest expanding member states.   South Korea's

North Korea again urged South Korea to accept its proposal for military talks Saturday in its latest charm offensive toward Seoul.   In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a ranking official from the country's ruling Workers' Party called on the Seoul government to accept the dialogue proposal made by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the recently concluded party congress.   "If South Korea is willing to improve its relations with the North, it should

 U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Friday he will continue to defend South Korea, but wants the Asian ally to pay more for American defense support.   Speaking on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Trump also said that he's willing to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but won't go to the communist nation.   "As far as Japan and South Korea are concerned, all I'm saying is we defend them. They are paying us a tiny fraction of what it's costing. I want them to pay," Trump

South Korean stocks will likely remain range-bound next week and in the lead up to the U.S. Fed's rate-setting meeting, but may suffer additional setbacks on appreciation of the U.S. dollar, local analysts said Saturday.   On Friday, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,947.67, down nearly 1 percent from a week earlier. It also marked the fourth straight month of decline.   A heightened possibility of a U.S. rate hike following better-than-anticipated U.S. indicato

Sales of self-defense weapons increased dramatically in South Korea after a 23-year-old woman was brutally killed by a stranger in Seoul's affluent Gangnam district earlier this week, online marketplace operators said Saturday.   Local internet shopping mall CJmall said its sales of self-defense gadgets between Tuesday and Friday jumped 700 percent from the same period last week.     (TV Chosun Capture, original footage provided by Seocho police)Of the total, 86 percent of purchases were made by