Slightly over 8 percent of South Korea's major listed companies suffered a double whammy of operating and net losses in 2015 amid an economic slump, data showed Wednesday, sparking concern over their financial health.According to the data by the Korea 20000 Corporate Research Institute, 23 of the 273 listed companies with sales of at least 500 billion won ($447 million), or 8.4 percent, reported both operating and net losses last year.Of the total, 27 companies posted operating losses, while 55

South Korea's industrial output advanced for the third month in a row in July on a rise in chips and chemical production, a government report showed Wednesday.Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries rose 1.6 percent last month from a year ago, according to the report by Statistics Korea. The July figure marks the third straight month of advance, following a 4.7 percent jump in May and a 0.8 percent gain in June.From a month earlier, industrial output also climbed

North Korea's latest submarine missile test makes it urgent for US President Barack Obama and other East Asia leaders to discuss the threat when they hold an annual regional summit next week, the State Department's top Asia official said Tuesday.Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel made the remark during a Foreign Press Center briefing to preview Obama's upcoming trip to China for a summit of the Group of 20 nations and then to Laos for a series of regional summits, including the East Asia

South Korean airlines reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by over 280,000 tons in the first half of the year, cutting their use of fuel in the process, which reduced the travel cost for passengers, the government said Wednesday.Under a voluntary agreement, seven South Korean flag carriers, including industry leaders Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc., reduced their combined greenhouse gas emissions by 287,000 tons from the business as usual levels in the first six months of the yea

South Korean companies' business sentiment for the upcoming month rose sharply from a month earlier, but a majority of local firms continued to hold a negative outlook due to weak demand at home and abroad, a survey showed Wednesday.The business survey index for September came to 95, the highest level since 102.3 registered in April for the following month, according to the Federation of Korean Industries.The monthly index is based on a survey of 600 largest companies here. A reading below 100 m

South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment will improve next month as they expect a slight recovery in domestic demand and exports, central bank data showed Wednesday.The business survey index of manufacturing firms here came to 74 for the upcoming month, up from 71 for August, according to the Bank of Korea.A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists, while a reading below the benchmark means the opposite.An index measuring local firms' sentiment toward exports came to 87 for S

A North Korean prison on the border with China has expanded detention facilities for female inmates in an indication that a growing number of women are forcibly repatriated from the neighboring nation, a U.S.-based human rights group said Tuesday.Satellite imagery confirms the expansion of the Jongori reeducation camp, also known as reeducation camp No. 12, in the North's northern city of Hoeryong, bordering China, the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea said in a joint report with AllSour

US President Barack Obama will express his strong support for South Korea's security if he has a chance to meet with South Korean President Park Geun-hye on the sidelines of the upcoming summit of Group of 20 nations, the White House said Tuesday.Both Park and Obama are scheduled to attend the G20 summit in the southeastern Chinese city of Hangzhou on Sept. 4-5. The summit comes as tensions on the Korean Peninsula are running high in the wake of North Korea's successful submarine missile test."I

Nearly two dozen countries around the world host North Korean laborers that the communist regime is accused of forcing into harsh working conditions to earn hard currency for its nuclear and missile programs, a US State Department report showed Tuesday.The list of 23 countries, including China, Russia, Singapore and Thailand, was included in the department's recent report to Congress that details US strategy to promote initiatives to enhance international awareness of and address the human right

South Korea's top court on Tuesday upheld a ruling by a lower court that South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. is not to blame for the leukemia death of one of its former employees at a chipmaking facility, citing a lack of evidence.In 2010, five people, including three bereaved family members of the three Samsung employees who died of leukemia after working at its semiconductor production lines, filed a suit with the Seoul Administrative Court to nullify the Korea Workers' Compensatio

The South Korean government aims for a 3.7 percent increase in its spending next year to push the annual budget above the 400 trillion won ($358 billion) mark for the first time, with steep rises planned for youth job creation, expansion of custom-made welfare benefits and stabilization of public livelihoods, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The proposed 2017 budget calls for boosting spending on job creation, education, defense, and culture and tourism by 10.7 percent, 6.1 percent, 4 percent a

North Korea is using Seoul's decision to deploy an advance antimissile system on its soil to intensify hostility toward South Korea, a media report citing sources in the reclusive country said Tuesday.A source in North Hamgyong Province told Radio Free Asia that North Korea's propaganda machine has harshly criticized Seoul's decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system.According to the RFA, the source said lectures to the public include the claim that the development of THAA

Creditors of Hanjin Shipping Co. on Tuesday decided not to extend additional support to the cash-strapped shipper, creditor sources said, triggering speculation about its possible court receivership.A creditor-led restructuring scheme for the largest South Korean shipper is set to end Sept. 4, which means the Hanjin Group company will be left with little choice but to file for receivership before the deadline.The creditors, led by the state-run Korea Development Bank, have been ratcheting up pre

South Korea and Morocco have agreed to tighten collaboration in cultural sectors that include education, sports and youth exchanges as they seek closer bilateral diplomatic ties, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.In the sixth meeting of the bilateral joint cultural committee held a day earlier at the Moroccan foreign ministry, the countries reached the agreement under a shared understanding that exchanges between the two culturally rich nations would be mutually beneficial. During the meeting, C

The nation's top court on Tuesday returned to a lower court a ruling that convicted the chairman of Taekwang Group on charges of embezzlement.Lee Ho-jin was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison at the Seoul High Court in December 2012 for a series of corruption charges, including misappropriation of some tens of billions of won through manipulating books on textile sales.He allegedly created slush funds by selling the products without recording them in the books and underreporting the amount of pr

South Korea's defense ministry on Tuesday said it will hold a regional security forum next month, with focus placed on North Korea's provocations and feasible countermeasures that can be taken.In the fifth Seoul Defense Dialogue to be held from Sept. 7-9, participants from the Asia-Pacific region will exchange their views on the North's evolving nuclear and missile threats, and joint efforts among regional countries to counter such security challenges, the Ministry of National Defense said in a

The third wife of the embattled Lotte Group founder owns real estate worth tens of millions of dollars, data showed Tuesday, a revelation that comes as she faces a prosecution probe over suspected tax evasion.Prosecutors are widening their probe into the country's fifth-largest conglomerate on suspicions of embezzlement, tax evasion and the creation of slush funds through dubious deals among affiliates and companies with links to the family of 93-year-old founder Shin Kyuk-ho.According to data b

South Korea's ratio of short-term foreign debt to foreign reserves rose in the second quarter on increased borrowings by local banks, data showed Tuesday.The country's short-term external debt, with a maturity of one year or less, totaled $106.8 billion as of the end of June, up $2.7 billion from three months earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.The end-June figure accounted for 27.3 percent of the country's total external debt, up 0.5 percentage point from the previous quarter, t

South Korea's vice foreign minister will visit the Italian Embassy in Seoul Tuesday to offer his condolences to the victims of the 6.2-magnitude quake that rocked the European country last week, the ministry said.The death toll from the earthquake, which hit central Italy on Aug. 24, reached about 290 with the number expected to rise as more bodies are being found in the rubble.The disaster also left thousands of people homeless.Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam plans to express his condolences

The US State Department has turned in a report to Congress that details North Korea's abuse of its people through overseas labor, including the list of countries and individuals that accept or use such labor, diplomatic sources said Monday.The report, which was submitted recently, is seen as the latest in a series of measures by Washington to increase pressure on Pyongyang over its human rights record. In July, the US imposed its first-ever sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for his ro