South Korean stocks traded 0.29 percent lower late Monday morning as investors took a wait-and-see approach on U.S. economic data slated to be announced this week, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 5.44 points to 1,857.88 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech blue chips led the market decline, with leading Samsung Electronics falling 0.97 percent and top flat panel maker LG Display losing 1.64 percent.Mobile carriers also traded bearish, with SK Telecom falling 2.86 perce

Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee once again topped the list of Korea’s 400 richest individuals of 2013 with total assets standing at 12.8 trillion won.Each of the 28 richest Koreans held assets worth more than 1 trillion won ($875 million) this year, financial information provider Chaebul.com reported on Monday.At nearly half of Lee’s total wealth, or 6.8 trillion won, Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo came in second, while the son of Samsung chairman and the vice chairman of S

Business sentiment among major Japanese manufacturers turned positive for the first time in nearly two years, a signal that companies are reacting positively to the weaker yen and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies to revive the stagnant economy.The Bank of Japan's closely-watched quarterly “tankan” survey for June showed that the index for major manufacturers rose to positive 4 from negative 8 in March. The survey released Monday was the first to be higher than zero since September 2011. A po

The ratio of younger people in South Korea's total working population has dropped sharply over the past three decades, data showed Monday, raising concerns the decline could undermine the country's overall growth potential.According to the data by Statistics Korea, the number of people aged 15-29 stood at 3.82 million in May, accounting for 15.1 percent of the total 25.39 million working population.The ratio is about half the corresponding figure recorded in May 1983 when related data started to

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top maker of smartphones, memory chips and flat-panel TVs, is projected to reap a record 10 trillion won ($8.76 billion) in operating profit in the second quarter thanks to steady sales of its latest Galaxy smartphone line-up and improved display and chip businesses, data showed Monday.Samsung Electronics' operating profit in the April-June period is expected to reach some 10.22 trillion won, according to the data compiled by financial information provider Fn

South Korea's consumer price growth stayed in the 1-percent range for the eighth straight month in June, indicating that inflation remains in a quite stable mode, a government report showed Monday.The country's consumer prices index rose 1 percent on-year in June, unchanged from the figure tallied in the previous month, which was the slowest growth since September 1999, according to the report by Statistics Korea. The June figure represented the eighth straight month since November that the pric

Fireworks were ready and champagne was flowing as festive crowds gathered on the streets on Sunday to mark Croatia's entry into the European Union, a major milestone some 20 years after the country won independence in a bloody civil war that shook the continent.Croatia will become the 28th EU member on Monday, the bloc's first addition since Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007. Though enthusiasm for the country's achievement has been dampened by the EU's financial turmoil, it is a historic turni

North Korea lambasted South Korean President Park Geun-hye Monday for her remarks made in China that Pyongyang should give up its nuclear weapons.In a statement issued in the name of an unidentified spokesman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK), the North warned such remarks "constitute unacceptable provocations against the country's dignity."Park on Saturday called for the North's denuclearization at a lecture given at Beijing's Tsinghua University during her four-da

Park In-bee of South Korea captured the U.S. Women's Open on the LPGA Tour in New York for her third straight major championship on Sunday, a historic victory that adds more luster to an already sparkling season.On Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, New York, Park, world's No. 1-ranked female golfer, cruised to the title at 8-under 280, four shots better than fellow South Korean Kim In-kyung. In the final round on the 6,821-yard, par-72 layout, Park shot 2-over 74 en route to her second career U

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Monday, dented by losses in top-listed firms, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 7.98 points, or 0.43 percent to 1,855.34 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Leading carmaker Hyundai Motor fell more than 1 percent, with steelmaker POSCO dropping 1.2 percent. Tech giant Samsung Electronics traded flat. The local currency was trading at 1,143.20 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 1.05 won from Frida

Edward Snowden is “under the care of the Russian authorities” and can't leave Moscow's international airport without their consent, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa told The Associated Press Sunday in an interview telegraphing the slim and diminishing possibility that the National Security Agency leaker will end up in Ecuador. Russian President Vladimir Putin has distanced himself from the case since Snowden arrived in Russia last week. But Correa portrayed Russia as entirely the masters of Sn

Fred scored two goals and Neymar added another as host Brazil defeated world champion Spain 3-0 to win the Confederations Cup on Sunday as protesters clashed with riot police outside the Maracana Stadium.Fred put Brazil on the board less than two minutes into the match, Neymar added to the lead just before halftime and Fred netted his fifth goal in five matches early in the second half to give Brazil victory. The win for the host nation was surprisingly easy against the current world champion.Se

Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president poured out onto the streets in Cairo and across much of the nation Sunday, launching an all-out push to force Mohammed Morsi from office on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. Fears of violence were high, with Morsi's Islamist supporters vowing to defend him. Waving Egyptian flags and carrying posters of Morsi crossed out in red, crowds packed central Cairo's Tahrir square, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising against auto

화성인 바이러스에 출연한 ‘시스터보이’ 도한동와 큰 누나가 SNS에 남긴 것으로 추정되는 글이 올라와 ‘조작’논란이 확산되고 있다.지난 27일 오후 방송된 케이블채널 tvN ‘화성인 X파일’에서는 누나 없이는 생활이 불가능한 화성인 도한동 씨가 출연했다. 도한동 씨와 누나 도수진 씨는 분 단위로 뽀뽀를 하는 등 거침없는 스킨십을 나누고, 배변확인까지 하는 등 가족이라고 하기엔 다소 과한 행동으로 논란을 낳았다.방송 직후 시청자들은 상식을 넘는 행동 “조작이 아니냐”고 의혹을 제기했지만, 제작진 측은 이에 대해 “주인공이 어렸을 때부터 부모님과 떨어져 살아서 두 누나가 업어키웠다”며 남매 사이의 관계가 유별날 뿐 조작은 없었다고 의혹을 일축했다.심지어 도한동 씨는 실제 인터넷상에서 유명한 일반인 얼짱에다 온라인 쇼핑몰에서 피팅 모델 등으로 활동한 경력도 있는 것으로 나타나 논란이 확산되었다.그러던 와중에 급기야 도한동 씨와 큰누나가 남긴 것으로 추정되는 글이 퍼지며 파장은 거세졌다.인

NASA launched a satellite late Thursday on a mission to explore a little-studied region of the sun and to better forecast space weather that can disrupt communications systems on Earth.Unlike a traditional liftoff, the Iris satellite rode into Earth orbit on a Pegasus rocket dropped from an airplane that took off around sunset from the Vandenberg Air Force Base on California's central coast. About 100 miles (160 kilometers) off the coast and at an altitude of 39,000 feet, the airplane released t

새누리당 황우여 대표는 28일 고(故) 노무현 전 대통령의 2007년 남북정상회담 대화록 공개로 불거진 '서해 북방한계선(NLL) 포기' 논란에 대해 "우리 영토에 대한 확고한 의지를 담는 여야 공동선언문을 만들어 국민 앞에 상신하자"고 말했다. 황 대표는 이날 여의도 당사에서 긴급 기자회견을 열어 "여야 한목소리로 NLL 수호 의지가 변함없음을 국민 앞에 밝히면 북한도 이 문제를 갖고 무슨 합의가 있었다는 이야기를 못 하고 여러 가지 긴 말이 정리가 될 것"이라면서 이같이 밝혔다.황 대표는 "NLL은 더는 외교가 아니라 영토주권에 대한 문제"라면서 "영토선이 걸린 국가 존립과 생존의 문제이니 여야 총의를 시급히 모을 것을 제안한다"고 설명했다. 황 대표는 "선언문 채택은 국론을 통합하고 국기를 바로잡는 동시에 역사적 진실에 대한 우리의 입장을 밝히고, 반성하는 계기가 될 것"이라면서 "국가정보원 직원 댓글 사건은 국정조사를 하기로 한 만큼 정치 공방을 자제해야 한다"고 촉구했다.

국방부가 연예병사들에게 초상권 등 ‘지적 재산권’ 포기를 요구한 것으로 알려져 논란이 일고 있다.이데일리가 27일 보도한 바에 따르면 국방홍보지원대는 선발된 모든 연예병사에게 서약서를 받고 있는데 이중에 “홍보대원으로 복무 중 제작한 프로그램 등의 저작권, 초상권, 판매권 등 모든 지적재산권을 국방부가 소유하는데 동의한다”는 내용이 포함되어 있다.국방홍보원은 연예병사들이 출연한 영화 등 영상제작물을 해당 연예병사의 팬클럽 회원 등 일반인들에게 팔고 있으며, 더불어 영상자료 저작권과 방영권 역시 판매하고 있다고 한다.이를 통해 “국방부가 연예병사를 이용해 돈벌이에 나선 것이 아니냐”는 의혹이 일었다.한 법조계 인사는 “재산권이 적극적으로 침해받을 경우 인권침해의 소지가 될 수 있다”고 지적했다.그러나 이와 같은 논란에 대해 국방부의 한 관계자는 “해당 항목이 있는 것은 사실이나 이를 통해 막대한 수익을 올리고 있는 것은 아니다”고 해명한 것으로 알려졌다. 이 관계자는 2012년에 국방

The foreign ministers of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan plan to hold talks next week to discuss North Korea’s nuclear programs and cooperation on regional issues, Seoul officials said Friday.South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum on Monday in Brunei.The three-way consultation is the first since each took office this year. Their predecessors met together twic

South Korea's point man on North Korea called on the communist country Friday to free South Koreans believed to have been abducted by the country during and after the 1950-53 Korean War. "North Korea should be cooperative with our efforts to overcome the tragic history," Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said in a commemoration event held in central Seoul by the families of South Korean abductees to the North, marking the June 25 outbreak of the civil war. The North should not turn a blind eye

European Union leaders reached an outline deal Friday on the 27-country bloc's 960 billion euro ($1.3 trillion) seven-year budget, overcoming British objections to sign off on the agreement.British Prime Minister David Cameron had held out for the same financial conditions already promised him months ago, overshadowing a summit called to approve plans to deal with the continent's youth unemployment problems.However, in the end, all 27 nations backed the budget deal. EU President Herman Van Rompu