South Korea's global competitiveness ranking fell by four notches this year due mainly to sluggish economic performance and business efficiency, an international institute said Tuesday.According to the 2016 report by the International Institute for Management Development, South Korea ranked 29th in terms of global competitiveness among 61 countries surveyed.IMD is a Swiss-based institute that releases competitiveness rankings every year based on a country's economic achievements, infrastructure,

South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in Kenya on Monday on the third leg of her swing through Africa meant to boost business opportunities with the continent that has a huge growth potential.Park was greeted by Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. This marks the first state visit by a South Korean president in 34 years. The two countries established diplomatic ties in 1964 when Park’s late father, Park Chung-hee, and Jomo Kenyatta, late father of

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has watched a basketball game between his country's military team and the Chinese Olympic team, saying that the match showed their "deep friendship," the North's state media said Monday.Kim watched the friendly basketball match between North Korea's Sobaeksu team and the Chinese Olympic men's team, together with key party officials, including Choe Ryong-hae, according to the Korean Central News Agency. It did not specify the date of the game."(The North's leader)

State-run policy lender, the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank Korea), decided Monday to offer incentives and penalties to their employees based on their performance, becoming the last of nine public financial firms here to introduce the so-called performance-based wage system.The decision, however, may face strong resistance, if not a legal battle, from unionized workers as it was made solely by the bank's board of directors.The decision came one day before the deadline set by the country's

South Korean stocks closed lower on Monday as investors took to the sidelines over the growing possibility of a rate hike in the United States in the near future.The Korean won dropped against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 2.04 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 1,967.13. Trade volume was moderate at 541 million shares worth 4.53 trillion won ($3.89 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 489 to 315. The local stock market got off to a weak start after U.S

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin said Monday that the upcoming listing of its affiliate, Hotel Lotte, will be a crucial initial step to boost the group's corporate governance, hoping to restore the retail giant's image tainted by a prolonged succession feud.Shin made the remark in a meeting with institutional investors as Lotte's hotel and duty-free operating unit is set to make its debut in the KOSPI market on June 29. The listing is one of the reform pledges that the 51-year-old made as part

The South Korean antitrust watchdog on Monday said it will lift the price ceiling on promotional giveaways, offered by companies to attract more customers, as part of its deregulation drive.Under the current Fair Trade Commission guidelines, a business is not allowed to provide free gifts worth 20 million won ($16,780) or more to those who buy their goods. The price restriction was adopted in 1982 in order to keep customers from overspending.Leading tire maker Hankook Tire Co. was ordered to can

A U.S. soldier convicted of sexual assault will be deported from Korea and banned from reentry for five years immediately, once a court sentence delivered Friday is confirmed. The soldier, only identified by the initial “S,” was given an 18-month prison sentence with three years of probation by Suwon District Court for sexually assaulting a female restaurant owner who had been asleep at her empty shop in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.  (Yonhap)The court said the sergeant broke in to the restaura

탱탱한 피부를 유지하고 싶다면 보톡스보다 더 빠르고 돈도 필요 없는 ‘넘나’ 좋은 것이 있다. 다른 게 아닌 바로 금주가 그것이다.안티에이징 세럼이 따로 필요 없다. 몸에서 수분을 빼앗아 가는 술만 끊어도 피부에 생기와 윤기가 돌아올 것이다.  (123RF)[술은 이뇨제다] 술은 몸에서 수분을 방출시킨다. 피부의 수분도 다 빼앗아 간다. 촉촉함을 잃은 피부는 당김이 있고 푸석해 보이며 쉽게 주름지는 등 조기 노화 증상을 보인다. 또한, 자외선과 미세먼지 등의 외부 오염물질에 취약해지게 된다. 햇볕에도 금방 탈 뿐 아니라 심하게는 피부암과 갖은 트러블이 일어날 수 있다.[술은 세포를 파괴한다]술은 온 몸의 세포를 뜨겁게 덥힌다. 피부도 예외가 아니다. 빨갛게 익는 얼굴은 전혀 피부에 좋을 수 없는 것. 또한, 장기와 조직세포도 자극해 관절염, 간 문제, 심장 문제 등을 유발할 수 있다.[술은 간에 독이 된다] 술은 간을 상하게 한다. 간의 역할은 우리 몸에 들어오는 독소를 정화하고 씻

The number of Chinese residents in South Korea crossed the 1 million mark for the first time last month owing largely to the increase of the entry of Korean-Chinese migrants hoping to seek jobs here, the country's immigration office report said Monday. According to the monthly report, 1,000,138 Chinese people, including 630,998 Korean-Chinese, reside in the country as of the end of last month.The all-time high figure represents 50.7 percent of the total of 1,972,580 foreigners in the country, an

Police said Monday a 25-year-old Filipino has been arrested in connection to the murder of a South Korean missionary in the Southeast Asian country last week, thanks to close collaboration between the law enforcement agencies of the two countries.The Filipino is suspected of killing the 57-year-old man, surnamed Shim, earlier this month. The victim was attacked with a blunt weapon when he returned home from a workout early in the morning.Following the incident, South Korean police immediately di

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked South Koreans Monday to refrain from speculating about whether he will run for president next year, saying the meaning of his six-day stay in the country has been exaggerated.South Korea's former foreign minister said in a press conference after the U.N. Department of Public Information Non-Governmental Organization Conference in Gyeongju, 371 kilometers southeast of Seoul, that talks with senior reporters last Wednesday were a closed door affair and that

A man claiming to be the murderer of a woman found dead on Suraksan Mountain in Seoul turned himself in on Sunday, 13 hours after the body of a 64-year-old woman was found on the trail. The man, surnamed Kim, 61, turned up at the Seoul Nowon police station around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday and claimed he killed the victim. He said he had no connection to the victim.  (Yonhap)Following his directions, police retrieved a 15-centimeter bloodied knife from a mound of trash at a residential area in Sanggye-

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dismissed speculation Monday that he may run for South Korea's presidency next year, saying he plans to concentrate on his duties as U.N. chief.Ban, who is on a six-day visit to his native South Korea, made headlines last week after making remarks that were interpreted as an indication of his interest in the election slated for December 2017."My remarks were somewhat exaggerated and blown up, which baffles me," he said during a press conference at a U.N. confer

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on young people around the world Monday to raise their voices in support of global causes, such as climate change and human rights.Speaking in his home country, he especially urged young South Koreans to look beyond their borders and broaden their perspective of the world around them."All youth should raise their voices on climate change and human rights," Ban said in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the U.N. Department of Public Information N

South Korea's unification ministry said Monday that North Korea appears ready to kick off another campaign designed to push its people to work harder starting in June.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that the "200-day campaign of loyalty" will be launched in a bid to implement the five-year strategy of economic development, which he unveiled at the congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in early May, according to the Korean Central News Agency.In February, the North launched the 70-day work

Bank lending rates on new household loans dropped from a month earlier in April, while interest paid on new deposits remained unchanged, central bank data showed Monday.The average interest rate on fresh household loans extended by local banks came to 3.17 percent last month, down 0.07 percentage points from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The drop followed two consecutive months of increase and came ahead of what many believe to be an imminent U.S. rate hike in June that coul

A workshop to transfer South Korea's fashion know-how to Indonesia will be held in the Southeast Asian nation this week, one of the event's co-organizers said Monday. The Seoul-based ASEAN-Korea Center said it will co-host the event with Indonesia's trade ministry. The ASEAN-Korea Center was launched by South Korea and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in March 2009 to promote trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges between them.A group of South Korean fashion exper

Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea's top automotive group, acquired the largest number of patents on clean energy technology in the United States in the third quarter of 2015, the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index showed Monday. Among 916 clean energy patents registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the July-September period, the combined patents by Hyundai Motor Co. and its company Kia Motors Corp. ranked top with 54, according to the index released by the Cleantech Group.Japan's To

The Seoul city government opened its first career support cafe at a bustling university neighborhood on Monday as young people scramble to secure good positions in a very tough job market.The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it equipped the cafe, located near Hongik University in western Seoul, with seminar rooms, books and media boards that provide a wide range of information for those seeking employment."The new cafe is just like any other cafe, except for the fact that it has information jo