The gap in operating margins of Samsung Electronics Co. and that of Apple Inc., the world's two largest makers of smartphones, fell to a record low as sales of Apple's iPhone slumped, according to the two companies' financial statements on Wednesday. Apple posted an operating profit of $10.1 billion and sales of $42.4 billion in the quarter ending June 25. Apple's operating margin declined 3.85 percentage points on quarter to 23.82 percent. In its earning guidance for the April-June period, Sams

North Korea has been importing a large amount of bear bile, used in traditional Asian remedies, from China for key officials of the ruling Workers' Party, a media report said Wednesday, citing testimonies by defectors.A defector, who was not named, told Radio Free Asia that there is a flow of bear gallbladders into North Korea from China.The source said transactions generally take place in China's border city of Suifenhe in Heilongjiang Province.RFA said that gallbladder trade is able to be cond

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday they found strongly worded North Korean leaflets in the Han River, the first distribution of such propaganda materials via a waterway. On July 22, the Korean military collected scores of tightly air-filled vinyl bags carrying North Korean leaflets which contained threats of the North's possible attacks on the South using the intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile, a spokesman for Seoul's JCS said in a press briefing. "North Korea intention

The head of South Korea's central bank on Wednesday stressed the importance of a fiscal and restructuring policy than a monetary one in tackling the country's low growth.Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol said in a meeting with lawmakers that South Korea's relatively strong financial status will allow the government to inject some money to support slowing growth and generate jobs.He said an excessive monetary easing policy could lead to an increase of risky assets of financial companies and an e

South Korea's chief economic policymaker said Wednesday that the government will give full support to the industries that are undergoing tough restructuring and workers affected to minimize adverse impact.The South Korea government earlier unveiled a set of stimulus steps, including an 11 trillion won-extra budget, to boost Asia's fourth-largest economy which has been suffering from faltering exports and lukewarm domestic demand.Its economy-boosting measures focused on cushioning fallout from in

South Korean builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. (Hyundai E&C) said Wednesday that its second-quarter earnings jumped over 16 percent from a year earlier despite a slight dip in sales.Net profit came to 167.8 billion won ($147.96 million) in the April-June period, up 16.4 percent from the same period last year, according to the company.Sales slipped 2.7 percent on-year to some 4.69 trillion won, partly due to a delay in major overseas projects.Operating profit climbed 5.5 percent to 2

Samsung Electronics Co. raised its share of the U.S. home-appliance market for the second quarter of this year, widening its lead over competitors, according to a market estimate on Wednesday. Samsung accounted for 16.7 percent of the U.S. market for five major household appliances -- refrigerators, washing machines, ovens, microwave ovens and dishwashers -- for the April-June period, according to the estimate by market researcher TraQline. It marked a 2-percentage-point increase from the previo

South Korea will conduct a feasibility study on redeveloping the historic port city of Alexandria in Egypt, the maritime affairs ministry here said Wednesday.The research will be into the technical feasibility of the development of the Egyptian seaport, along with detailed plans to raise funds, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.Alexandria, on the Nile Delta, is one of the oldest seaports in world history, linking trade between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Currently, the

South Korea's land prices continued to grow in the first half of the year, government data showed Wednesday, amid a residential building construction boom partly created by a series of government measures aimed at boosting the property market.In the six months ended June 30, land prices gained 1.25 percent from six months earlier, accelerating from a 1.07 percent increase over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The tally marks the steepest

South Korea's industrial electricity sales in the second quarter grew at the fastest pace in nearly two years on the back of a recovery in the chipmaking and oil refinery sectors, the government said Wednesday.The amount of electricity consumed by the country's industrial sector reached 69.55 billion kilowatt-hours in the April-June period, up 1.6 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The on-year growth in the second quarter marked the la

Seven South Korean fishermen who died during pelagic fishing some four decades ago were repatriated to their relatives on Wednesday for reburial, the maritime ministry here said.The late fishermen had been buried in graveyards in Spain after years of ocean fishing in the 1970s and 1980s.The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has carried out a project to find the remains of the fishermen since 2002 as part of its efforts to commemorate their contribution to South Korea's economic development. South

South Korea's finance minister on Wednesday held a meeting with the president of the World Bank Group to discuss ways to expand the country's participation in the organization, the ministry here said."It is time to come up with projects to utilize South Korea's experience of economic development and create synergy in the World Bank," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in a meeting with Jim Yong Kim in Seoul.The South Korea-born president has been in Seoul since Monday, following a Group of 20 meeti

In nearly a decade the number of foreigners in Korea has doubled, hitting 2 million this year, government data showed Wednesday.According to the Justice Ministry, the number of foreign residents was 2.18 million as of June 30, accounting for 3.9 percent of the nation’s entire population. Considering the size of the foreign population grew by an annual average of 8 percent during the 2011-2015 period, the Justice Ministry expects the number to exceed 3 million and make up 5.82 percent of the popu

North Korea has launched a total of 31 ballistic missiles in the past five years under Kim Jong-un, twice the number of missiles test-fired when his late father was in power, the defense ministry here said Wednesday.North Korea has test-fired 16 short-range Scuds with a range of 300 to 1,000 kilometers, six mid-range Rodongs that can fly 1300-1500 km, six intermediate-range Musudans with a range of 3,500-4,000 km and three submarine-launched ballistic missiles since late 2011. The incumbent lead

South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party said Wednesday it will move quickly to form a joint consultation group made up of the military, the government and Seongju residents to discuss the deployment of an advanced anti-missile defense system in the country.Residents of Seongju, located 296 kilometers southeast of Seoul, have strongly protested the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, amid lingering rumors of health risks caused by its powerful X-band radar. Locals have also v

The South Korean government has blocked North Korea's participation in a martial arts competition here in September, after Pyongyang accepted an invitation, a Washington-based news media report said Wednesday.According to Voice of America, the organizers of World Martial Arts Masterships asked George Vitale, the spokesman of the North Korea-led International Taekwondo Federation, to check whether North Korean taekwondo practitioners are willing to participate in its inaugural event in Cheongju,

Cash-strapped Hanjin Shipping Co. has come under growing pressure from its creditors to secure more money to tide over a deepening cash shortage, industry sources said Wednesday.According to the sources, Hanjin Shipping, the country's No.1 shipping line, has proposed raising some 400 billion won ($353 million) via stocks sales to its affiliates, but creditors want the shipping firm to jack up the figure to some 700 billion won.Hanjin Shipping needs some 1.2 trillion won over the next 18 months t

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Wednesday said South Korea wishes to express gratitude to the invaluable support provided by the United Nations during the Korean War (1950-53), adding Seoul will continue to take steps to protect the country from Pyongyang's relentless provocations."Due to the efforts made by the war veterans and its people, South Korea achieved miracle-like industrialization and democratization, making it stand strong today," Hwang said in a ceremony marking the signing of the A

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's No. 2 automaker, said Wednesday that its second-quarter net income surged over 10 percent from a year earlier on a large increase in sales.Net profit came to 825.7 billion won ($727 million) in the April-June period, up 10.6 percent from the same period last year, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales jumped 16.1 percent on-year to 14.45 trillion won, marking the highest quarterly tally since 2010, when the company adopted international financial reporting

Kim Moon-soo, a former governor of Gyeonggi Province who has been cited as one of the prominent contenders for the ruling party's leadership election, said Wednesday that he will not join the race.In a statement, Kim, who was elected to parliament three times in the past, said he will not be running in the chairmanship election slated for next month, and instead will devote himself for the betterment of South Korea and the Saenuri Party. Kim Moon-soo, a former governor of Gyeonggi Province (Yonh