A special inspector charged with looking into allegations of corruption involving presidential aides and close family members has sought a formal investigation into President Park Geun-hye's estranged younger sister over fraud, state prosecutors said Tuesday.Lee Seok-su, the inspector under the presidential office, filed the report on Park Geun-ryoung with the country's top prosecutor Kim Soo-nam last month. The case has been allocated to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, according

South Korea's terms of trade improved from a year earlier in July due to bigger declines in import prices compared with drops in export prices, central bank data showed Tuesday.The terms of trade index for products came to 100.09 last month, up 0.4 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.The index measures the amount of imports a country can purchase for each unit of its exports, showing how the country's exports are doing in comparison with those of oth

South Korea has confirmed its first case of cholera in 15 years, local health authorities said Tuesday.A 59-year-old man from the southern city of Gwangju was confirmed to have been infected with the water-borne disease, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, adding the man doesn't have any records of overseas travel this year.It marks the first time that a South Korean national has been infected with the disease on local soil since 2001, the KCDC said. In 2001, an outbreak h

State prosecutors on Tuesday said they have indicted a local civic group chief on charges of carrying out an illegal protest against a controversial deal reached by Seoul and Tokyo on former sex slaves last year.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said the defendant, identified only by her surname Kim, is accused of unlawfully entering the building where the Japanese Embassy is located in central Seoul in December.(Yonhap)Prosecutors said the 24-year-old defendant allegedly occupied t

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn vowed to make efforts to improve the safety and quality of school meals throughout the country on Tuesday, as a recent investigation hinted at some irregularities among food suppliers and lunch operators."School meals are directly connected to the dietary life and health of 6.14 million students," Hwang said, adding the government rolled out a full-fledged investigation to uncover any problems regarding food regulations.The investigation, carried out by the prime min

Fewer disabled people say they feel discrimination from employers but more from schools, a survey showed Tuesday.The survey, conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, reported that 35.8 percent of the respondents with a disability said in 2014 they were discriminated against while seeking a job, compared to 39.1 percent in 2005.However, the number of disabled people saying they have experienced discrimination in school increased during the cited period, according to the sur

A majority of South Koreans are in favor of the government's recent decision to place a US missile defense system on its soil, saying it is necessary to counter North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats, a survey showed Tuesday.In July, South Korea and the United States unveiled a plan to station a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery on the peninsula by end-2017. China has strongly objected to the plan on worries that it would undermine its strategic security interests, while Seo

All new commercial trucks and buses will be required to have an automatic braking system starting next year, while all existing large vehicles and their operators will be checked for safety, the government said Tuesday.The government plans to inspect all 819 shipping and transportation service companies with more than 50 trucks or buses before the year's end, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.An additional 2,030 such firms with more than 20 but fewer than 50 vehicle

Economic and trade relations between South Korea and China have expanded at an incredible rate since the countries normalized ties 24 years ago, but they must now focus on improving the quality of bilateral cooperation, a report suggested Tuesday.According to the report from Hyundai Research Institute, a private think tank run by Hyundai Group, the countries' relations have continuously improved, both in terms of size and meaning, since they established diplomatic ties on Aug. 24, 1992.Such impr

South Korea's government on Tuesday said it has imposed administrative penalties on some hundreds of private education institutes illegally operating in the affluent southern part of Seoul this year. The Seoul Gangnam Seocho District Office of Education said a total of 259 cram schools were fined or received other administrative measures for false advertisements, late-night operations and other irregularities. Among those penalized, 40 were caught while operating past 10 p.m., which is illegal i

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. posted a solid gain in sales of semiconductors for the second quarter of the year, narrowing its revenue gap with its bigger rival Intel Corp., according to industry data Tuesday. Samsung's semiconductor sales rose 11 percent on quarter to $10.3 billion for the second quarter, while Intel's sales fell 1 percent to $12.9 billion for the same quarter, the data compiled by IC Insights showed. In the first quarter, Intel reported $13.1 billion in sales

A top South Korean financial regulator on Tuesday called on the international community to intensify joint efforts to fight against North Korea's financing for its weapons of mass destruction program."The steady growth of WMDs has been threatening the whole world. We are facing an imminent nuclear threat from North Korea," Jeong Eun-bo, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said in a speech at an annual workshop of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering in Seoul."We must urgent

The South Korean parliamentary intelligence body on Tuesday said easing the public's health concerns over the deployment of a US missile defense system must take top priority, adding the government's move to choose an alternative spot cannot end protests.Earlier this week, South Korea said it will consider an alternative site for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, as residents of Seongju, a southern county designated earlier to host the system, staged protests claiming the system ha

Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., two major South Korean TV makers, increased their share of the global television market in the second quarter, widening their lead over Japanese and Chinese competitors, according to industry data on Tuesday.Samsung's share of the global TV market in terms of shipments rose to 22.2 percent for the April-June period, compared with 21.4 percent for the same quarter last year, data compiled by industry tracker IHS Inc. showed.LG's market share slight

Mosquito-borne illnesses such as the Zika virus and dengue fever could increase in Southeast Asia in the second half of the year, South Korean health authorities said Tuesday.The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention forecast that the viral diseases transmitted by mosquitoes could thrive in countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam starting in October when the rainy season begins.South Korea has so far confirmed 10 Zika virus cases, with three of the infected returning from the Ph

National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun on Tuesday said South Korean parties must overcome differences on the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in the country, adding the issue should not weigh on the unity of the political segment."Now is the moment to come up with a conclusion that overcomes ideologies and political tensions to minimize public division," Chung said. South Korean parties have been divided over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense in the

Sales at South Korea's duty-free stores reached an all-time high in July thanks to a rising influx of Chinese travelers and last year's low base in the wake of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak, data showed Tuesday. Sales at duty-free stores nationwide reached $954 million last month, up 4.1 percent from the previous month's $869 million, according to the data compiled by the Korea Duty Free Association. July sales marked the highest since the association began compiling related data

South Korean investors have been pouring a large amount of money into safer bond funds since July amid jitters over a possible US rate hike, with stock funds suffering a massive outflow, data showed Tuesday.According to the data by fund researcher Zeroin, local investors added a net 2.37 trillion won ($2.11 billion) into funds investing in domestic and overseas bonds between July 1 and last Friday.In contrast, a net 2.95 trillion won was withdrawn from investment funds reserved for local stocks

North Korea's leader seems to be obsessed with erasing all remaining vestiges of his uncle Jang Song-thaek, who he executed in 2013 for treason, a source familiar with the North's affairs said Tuesday.The North's leader Kim Jong-un has reacted sensitively to anything related to Jang, ordering overseas restaurants' names to be changed and the dismantling of a folklore theme park in Pyongyang, according to the source.Kim has ordered his officials to change facilities named "Haedanghwa," which mean

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a major South Korean shipbuilder, said Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with a Norwegian customer to end their dispute regarding the canceled order of an offshore drilling rig.Under the agreement, Hyundai Heavy will pay back US$176 million to Fred Olsen Energy ASA, in return for ownership of the Bollsta Dolphin semi-submersible drilling rig.The dispute dates back to May 2012 when Hyundai Heavy won a $620 million deal from Fred Olsen, which called for the shi