Some 1,000 residents from the southern city of Gimcheon staged a massive rally in downtown Seoul on Wednesday to protest the decision by South Korea and the United States to deploy a US anti-missile system to Seongju County, adjacent to the city.The protesters called on the central government to scrap the plan to station a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery at a golf course in Seongju by the end of 2017 to counter North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats. The system is a core

Typhoon Chaba struck venues for the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) Wednesday, tearing down the walls of makeshift facilities and causing panic among the organizers.With the festival's opening just a day away, organizers scrambled to prevent further damage to the BIFF Village set up on Haeundae beach where various press conferences and hand-printing events have been scheduled for the participating actors and filmmakers."I'm glad the typhoon didn't come on opening day, but I'm still very

Prosecutors said Wednesday they will seek the criminal extradition of a former head of Oxy Reckitt Benckiser amid an ongoing probe of the firm's deadly products that claimed many lives here.Under the plan, the prosecutors will seek to bring Gaurav Jain, an Indian national residing in Singapore who currently works for Britain-based Reckitt Benckiser, to South Korea to further the investigation.Prosecutors said they will provide translated investigation records as well as an arrest warrant and ask

The new head of South Korea's sole bourse operator on Wednesday pledged all-out efforts to transform it into a holding company with a few subsidiaries in a bid to survive the rapidly changing market environment."Given internal and external necessities, a shift to a holding firm is a task we have to achieve at all costs," Korea Exchange CEO Jeong Chan-woo said, starting his three-year tenure.The KRX has sought to go public and become a holding firm as part of efforts to strengthen governance and

A former prime minister was quoted by political sources on Wednesday as saying that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will run in the upcoming presidential race, a move which may bring key changes in the election amid the lack of popular figures among the conservative bloc here."I think Ban has clearly made up his mind," said Kim Jong-pil, a former prime minister and an iconic conservative politician, during a meeting with close figures last week.Former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil (Yonhap)Kim, ho

Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Group threatened Wednesday to stage a general strike if the government invokes its right to emergency arbitration to order workers at South Korea's No. 1 carmaker to return to work, sources said.The move came after Labor Minister Lee Ki-kweon said last week the government would consider calling for an emergency measure if the trade union and management fail to iron out a compromise and end a strike at Hyundai Motor Co. that is seriously hurting car parts subcon

Smartphone makers such as Samsung Electronics Co. and Sony Corp. have launched their latest mid-range smartphones in South Korea, targeting the niche segment between flagship and low-end smartphones.Samsung began selling the Galaxy A8 smartphone on Wednesday via SK Telecom, the nation's top mobile carrier. With a 5.7-inch screen and better camera capabilities, the A8 smartphone is touted as the closet mid-range smtphone to the flagship Galaxy S series. The A8 is priced at 649,000 won ($583) in S

운동으로 다져진 커플 오스틴 레이 (Austin Raye)와 줄리안 데이거 (Julian Daigre)의 영상이 5일 오전 11시 기준 페이스북에서 3천만번 이상 조회되는 기염을 토하고 있다.　(페이스북)　지난 9월 22일 게재된 이 영상에서 이 선남선녀는 일반인으로썬 엄두도 못 낼 동작을 함께 해내며 공중 곡예와도 같은 묘기를 부린다. 　　　　레이(26)와 데이거는 각각 18만2천명과 15만6천명의 인스타그램 팔로워를 자랑한다. 　　 Chillin': the art of doing nothing without being bored. That's what my @iFit told me to do. #iFit #ad⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Austin Raye(@austin_raye)님이 게시한 사진님, 2016 10월 2 오후 2:09 PDT　 Decide if you're going to get through the task at hand before you start. See it

A ranking North Korean official stationed at North Korea's mission in Beijing has recently defected, possibly seeking to move to South Korea, a source familiar with Pyongyang's affairs said Wednesday.An official belonging to the North's health ministry disappeared with his family in late September, according to the source, who declined to be identified.He is known to be in charge of providing medical supplies to a clinic in Pyongyang which caters to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his family

South Korea's top financial regulator on Wednesday emphasized the government's unswerving commitment to expand performance-linked pay for local bank workers."It's an indispensable financial reform task," Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission said at a government-civilian meeting on improving the nation's financial system.The government will push for the spread of a "performance-oriented culture" on the basis of constant principles, he added.Yim's comments came as bank work

South Korea will introduce its traditional food to Indonesians this week in a fair designed to promote its charm and taste worldwide, a government ministry said Wednesday.The four-day event, titled "2016 Indonesia Jakarta K-food Fair," is to open on Thursday at a local hotel, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.Indonesia, with close to 90 percent of its population Muslim, is expected to emerge as an advance base for South Korea's efforts to tap deeper into the global

South Korea's finance ministry on Wednesday remained cautious about whether Asia's fourth-largest economy has gotten on a clear recovery track, as economic indicators have been fluctuating in recent months amid rising uncertainties at home and abroad.In its reports submitted to the National Assembly for an annual parliamentary audit, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said the country's economy is facing flaccid recovery momentum with the local financial market staying unpredictable.South Kore

South Korea's central bank said its governor left for the United States on Wednesday for talks with his counterparts from the world's major economies on pending economic issues and ways to stabilize global financial markets. Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol is scheduled to attend the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings in Washington on Thursday, according to the central bank.Lee also plans to attend annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Gro

Police raided the headquarters of CJ Hellovision Co., the country's top cable channel operator, on Wednesday over an allegation of fabricated tax statements.Investigators said the company is suspected of fabricating tax statements worth 23 billion won ($20.6 million) to exaggerate its sales.CJ Hellovision may have overstated its sales by overcharging regional offices for commodities. Police currently suspect the firm's headquarters was directly involved in the fabrication."The investigation aims

Two United Nations agencies have decided to provide emergency aid to North Korea after the latest floods that struck the reclusive country's northeastern region, Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday.The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UN International Children's Emergency Fund decided to offer assistance to North Korea to help in the recovery effort in North Hamgyong Province, the Korean Central News Agency said.Heavy rains hit North Korea's northeast

A large number of South Korean parents have given assets to their children over the past five years due mainly to the country's low effective gift tax rate, an opposition lawmaker said Wednesday.In a report based on data by the National Tax Service, Rep. Park Kwang-on of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea said 26,227 South Korean minors under 19 years of age received a combined 3.05 trillion won ($2.75 billion) in donated fortunes from their parents between 2011-15.That translates to an a

Owners of South Korea's major business groups have been reluctant to give their assets to their children over the past few years due to the large burden of gift taxes, a market tracker said Wednesday.According to CEO Score, the "asset succession rate" for the country's top 50 family-controlled conglomerates, known here as chaebol, stood at 32.7 percent this year, up a mere 4.1 percentage points from 2011.The figure refers to the portion of assets held by offspring compared to the owner families'

The South Korean government and the ruling Saenuri Party have agreed to consider purchasing surplus rice produced in the country in bulk to ensure price stability amid concerns of falling prices caused by a better-than-expected harvest."We urged the government to purchase the surplus production in bulk within this year to separate them from the market," said Rep.Kim Gwang-lim, the policy official of Saenuri, after the meeting, adding the government also said it will make efforts to reflect such

The number of cruise passengers visiting South Korea surpassed 1.48 million in the first nine months of this year and is expected to break 2 million in 2016, the maritime ministry said Wednesday. The Port of Jeju on the southern resort island welcomed the record number of 920,000 passengers as of September, and the southeastern port of Busan and the western port of Incheon had430,000 and 120,000 passengers, respectively, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said.The latest figure was up 130 perc

A ruling party lawmaker said Wednesday existing math textbooks for students are excessively complicated, casting concerns they may induce students to seek private tutoring to keep up with class work."Many South Koreans believe math is complicated. When we asked third graders a question that had been reviewed for second graders' textbook, less than 30 percent got it correct," said Rep. Bae Duk-kwang of Saenuri during the regular audit by the parliament's science committee.A math problem reviewed