The number of South Koreans going to theaters alone nearly doubled over the past seven years as a growing number of the younger generation enjoy doing activities such as viewing performances or shopping by themselves, a leading online ticket seller said Sunday.   Nearly a quarter (23.9 percent) of those who booked tickets with Interpark Corp., a leading online ticket and book seller, last year purchased one ticket to view performances alone, Interpark said.   The comparable figure for 2005 was

  NHN Japan, a subsidiary of South Korea's top portal operator NHN Corp., is likely to see the number of its "LINE" messenger users break the 100 million mark this week, sources said Sunday.   LINE, launched in June 2011, is the company's free group messenger application that runs on the Android, Blackberry and iOS operating systems.   The service, which has been launched in roughly 230 countries, has ranked No. 1 in downloads on Google Play and App Store platforms in 41 countries.   After garne

 More than one third of foreign manual workers staying in South Korea under a work permit system overstay their visas, the Justice Ministry said Sunday.   Statistics by the ministry showed that 15,804 foreigner workers, or 37.3 percent of the 42,379 whose E-9 non-professional work visa expired in the first 10 months of 2012, failed to get out of the country.   South Korea introduced a work permit system in 2004 in which laborers from 15 countries are allowed to work here for up to three years wi

 The government plans to conduct detailed safety tests on two nuclear reactors that have exceeded their original operating life cycles to ensure no problems occur, an official said Sunday.   The official, who declined to be identified, said the Nuclear Safety Commission will include plans to conduct so-called stress tests on the Gori 1 and Wolsong 1 reactors in a report to President-elect Park Geun-hye's transition committee. A stress test refers to a series of experiments that push the reactors

President-elect Park Geun-hye's transition team aims to keep public utility charges below gains in consumer prices to reflect the incoming administration's key policy goal of improving the livelihood of the people, sources said Sunday.   A source in the transition committee told Yonhap News Agency that it is right for hikes in utility prices be kept to a minimum so as not to adversely affect the economy and the lives of ordinary people.    "The goal is to encourage state-run utility companies to

  South Korea saw the number of its leading export products fall from a year earlier, raising alarm bells over the country's trade competitiveness, data showed Sunday.   The number of South Korea's leading export products reached 61 in 2011, down from 71 the previous year, according to the data by the financial industry and the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). Leading export products refer to product categories in which South Korea ranks first in export market share.   The data show

South Korea's Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group emerged as the biggest exporter of automobiles to Germany last year, industry data showed Sunday.   Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. have sold 155,673 units in the biggest European market in 2012, according to data by the International Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK).   Renault SA came second with 150,740 units and Skoda third with 142,611 units last year.   Hyundai-Kia was third with 128,931 units in 2011, when Ren

 South Korea's per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to only marginally inch up in 2012 compared with the previous year due to the slowing economy, a report showed Sunday.   Korea's per-capita GDP is estimated to reach $22,705 this year, up 1.3 percent from a year earlier, according to a report by Korea Investment & Securities Co.   In calculating the figures, the full-year economic growth rate was estimated at 2.3 percent and the local currency was set at an average of 1,127.1 ag

  The floor leader of South Korea's main opposition Democratic United Party stepped down Friday over his party's defeat in this week's presidential election, leaving the party leadership in a vacuum following the resignation of other senior party officials.   Rep. Park Jie-won told a meeting of party lawmakers at the National Assembly that he is resigning to take responsibility for DUP presidential candidate Moon Jae-in's defeat in Wednesday's election.   Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Part

South Korean banks should take the initiative in boosting the slumping local economy as political uncertainties have been lifted with the presidential election now wrapped up, the central bank chief said Friday.    "Lenders need to step up efforts to bring the economy back on track," Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo told a meeting with heads of major banks. "Four major world powers tied to the Korean Peninsula, including Japan and China, are at a new phase in their leadership."   His rema

   Park Geun-hye, the eldest daughter of the late former president, Park Chung-hee, will return to Cheong Wa Dae 33 years after she left the presidential office, this time as South Korea's first woman president.   Park, who turns 61 in February, fought long and hard for her victory following her defeat to outgoing President Lee Myung-bak in a party primary ahead of the 2007 presidential election and an unexpected challenge from her liberal rivals in the last months of the race.   Her reputation

Chronology of South Korea's 2012 presidential electionThe following is a chronology of major events leading up to South Korea's presidential election Wednesday.-- June 17: Moon Jae-in, the 59-year-old former chief of staff to late President Roh Moo-hyun, officially announces his bid for president, challenging long-time presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party.-- July 10: Park, the 60-year-old daughter of late authoritarian President Park Chung-hee, officially announces her

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A man was arrested Saturday after firing about 50 shots in the parking lot of a Southern California shopping mall, prompting a lockdown of stores crowded with holiday shoppers.Marcos Gurrola, 42, of Garden Grove was taken into custody by bicycle police officers patrolling around the open-air Fashion Island mall around 4:30 p.m., police spokeswoman Cathy Lowe said. She said he fired into the air and onto the ground in the parking lot near a Macy's department store.No

   Lottery sales in South Korea surpassed an annual government-set limit for the second straight year as more people bought tickets amid an economic recession, data showed Sunday.   Sales of lottery tickets totaled 2.91 trillion won ($2.71 billion) in the January-November period, exceeding the 2.87 trillion won ceiling recommended by the National Gambling Control Commission (NGCC), according to the data by government agencies.   If the trend continues, this year's lottery sales are expected to s

  Samsung Electronics Co. saw its market share in the tablet PC market nearly double in the third quarter from three months earlier as it moved to catch up with rival Apple Inc., data showed Sunday.   The South Korean tech giant's global market share reached 18.1 percent in the July-September period, compared with 9.2 percent in the previous quarter, according to the data by research firm Strategy Analytics.   Meanwhile, Apple's market share fell to 52.9 percent from 68.4 percent, narrowing the

Sales of wine at local discount chains outstripped those of soju for the first time, data showed Sunday, mirroring a changing trend in South Korea's drinking culture.   Wine sales surpassed those of the local alcoholic drink by 4.6 percent this year, according to the data by Lotte Mart, a discount chain arm of retail giant Lotte. Last year, sales of wine lagged behind those of soju by roughly 6 percent.   Wine sales stood at around 25 percent of soju sales in the first half in the early 2000s, b

Nearly 80 percent of all voters in the country said they will vote in this year's presidential race, a poll conducted by the state election watchdog said Tuesday.   The survey carried out by Korea Research Center on behalf of the National Election Commission on 1,500 people nationwide late last week showed 79.9 percent of all respondents saying they will definitely vote on Dec. 19.   By age group, 74.5 percent of people in their 20s, 71.8 percent in their 30s and 78.3 percent in their 40s said t

Independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo resigned in favor of Democratic United Party’s Moon Jae-in on Friday after prolonged negotiations over the candidate selection rules failed. 　“I am relinquishing my role as a candidate. My becoming the president to bring in a new politics is important, but a politician keeping the promises he made to the public is the most important value of all,” Ahn said in a press conference. 　“The unified candidate is now Moon Jae-in, so reprimand me for all t

 South Korean tech behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. has scaled down its investment in production facilities for the second quarter in a row apprently in anticipation of a protracted global economic slump, industry data showed Sunday.   The company spent 4.54 trillion won ($4.16 billion) on facilities for semiconductor, liquid crystal display and other products over the July-September period, the lowest level in 10 quarters since it invested 4.14 trillion won in the first quarter of 2010, accordi

  Smartphones and tablets powered by Google's Android software are devouring the mobile gadget market, eating into Apple's turf by feeding appetites for innovation and low prices, analysts say.  The Android operating system powered nearly three out of four smartphones shipped worldwide in the recently ended quarter as the mobile platform dominated the market, according to industry trackers at IDC.   "Android has been one of the primary growth engines of the smartphone market since it was launche