Widespread fear about toxic substances being found in drinking water has led to a spike in consumer complaints regarding water purifiers in July, according to data from the Korea Consumer Agency Monday.The agency released numbers from its consumer call centers for July, showing that 2,100 people called in with questions about water purifier rentals, making up approximately 3 percent of all consumer complaints.Over one-fourth of those complaints were concerned with ending rental contracts of prob

Consumer goods related to Korean pop culture were a bright spot in this year’s exports so far, rising 15.2 percent in the first half of 2016, data showed Monday.According to a report from the Korea International Trade Association’s Institute for International Trade, exports of Hallyu-related consumer goods rose for both emerging and advanced markets.  (KBS2)The basket of so-called “K-consumer goods” includes food, pharmaceutical, beauty, fashion, lifestyle, and sports products whose exports can

South Korea’s two tech giants Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are ready to show off their latest display and imaging technologies at the annual IFA technology show in Berlin at the beginning of September. Samsung Electronics said on Monday it plans to unveil three types of curved quantum dot monitors at the event. This is the first time that Samsung has applied quantum dot technology for computer monitors since it unveiled the quantum dot super ultra-high definition television at the US c

South Korea's military said Monday it will conduct detailed examinations into three sites in the rural county of Seongju to check if alternate locations can be found to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system. The move comes as Seongju residents strongly protested the government's decision to install the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system at the Seongsan artillery base which is not too far away from the county's main population center. The government announced on July 13 that it p

The culture ministers of South Korea and seven South Asian countries will hold their second round of talks this week in the southwest city of Gwangju to agree on enhancing cultural cooperation among them, South Korean officials said Monday.During the one-day talks on Thursday, South Korean Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok and his counterparts from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are scheduled to adopt a joint communique on an action plan in relation to what

Loans extended by local lenders to businesses rose slightly at the end of June from three months earlier due to increased facility investments, central bank data showed Monday.Outstanding loans extended to local companies by financial institutions came to 970.7 trillion won ($863 billion) as of end-June, up 11.6 trillion won or 1.2 percent from the previous quarter, according to data from the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)It marked decline from a 1.7-percent on-quarter gain in the previous quarter. Fro

South Korea will start a year-long journey to the 2018 FIFA World Cup this week against China, with an eye on reaching the sport's premium competition for the ninth consecutive time.South Korea, ranked 48th in the latest FIFA world rankings, will host No. 78 China at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Thursday to open the final Asian qualifying round for the World Cup. South Korea will then face No. 105 Syria five days later on the road.In the previous round, South Korea won Group G with a flawless reco

South Korea said Monday that there is an "ample" possibility of the North making additional provocations during ongoing joint military drills between Seoul and Washington.Seoul's unification ministry said North Korea is likely to take further provocative action following last week's test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in response to the allies' two-week military exercise which kicked off on Aug. 22."It seems that North Korea is not just making (verbal) threats.There is a

A lawmaker of South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party said Monday that Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the country's troubled shipbuilder, allegedly paid for a luxury tour for the chief editor from one of the country's top national dailies, apparently to seek favorable news coverage.Rep. Kim Jin-tae said his investigation showed Song Hee-young, a chief editor of South Korea's top newspaper Chosun Ilbo, went on a tour in 2011 involving a private jet flight, a yacht cruise and hitting the

The reigning Olympic women's golf champion Park In-bee said Monday she will sit out the final major of the LPGA Tour season with a nagging thumb injury.Park appeared at a press conference in Seoul with her left thumb in a cast, and said it will stay that way for three weeks -- which has ruled her out of the Sept. 15-18 Evian Championship in Evian-les-Bains, France.The 28-year-old had been bothered by back and thumb ailments all season. She was questionable for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics held ea

South Korea's defense ministry said Monday it excavated the remains of 320 soldiers killed during the Korean War in the first half, with six of them identified and returned home to their families. In the excavation that ended early this month, the government sent the remains of 36 Chinese soldiers back to their home country in March and sent the remains of two American soldiers back to the US in exchange for the remains of 15 Korean soldiers in April, the ministry said in a statement.Photo taken

The South Korean Embassy in Beijing has warned South Koreans in China about possible terrorist attacks or abduction attempts by North Korea in the wake of the recent defection of a senior diplomat, sources said Monday.The embassy urged South Korean residents and travelers in China to refrain from visiting the North Korea-China border areas or coming in contact with North Koreans in a message recently conveyed to South Korean expatriate groups and other associated organizations in China, accordin

President Park Geun-hye on Monday ordered her military to maintain a full readiness posture to ensure that any North Korean provocation will lead to the "self-destruction" of the communist regime.During a meeting with her senior secretaries, the commander-in-chief also instructed her government to craft "effective" measures against the North's evolving nuclear and missile capabilities.Park has recently cranked up her rhetoric against Pyongyang as the reclusive state has continued to engage in pr

담배 연기로 가득 찬 집에 사는 반려동물들은 암에 걸릴 수 있다. 사실이다. 　　흡연자가 뿜는 연기를 들이 쉬는 간접흡연 외, 연기가 빠져 나간 후에도 피부, 털, 의류, 가구 등에 잔류하는 담배성분으로 건강에 해로운 영향을 입을 수 있다. 　　담배가 고양이에게 미치는 영향 　 (123RF)2002년 발표된 한 연구결과는 담배에 노출된 고양이들이 악성 림프종에 걸릴 확률이 그렇지 않은 고양이에 비해 2.5배 가량 높다고 밝혔다. 　　노출 정도가 약 2~5년에 거쳐 지속된 고양이들은 발병률이 3.2배 이상으로 올라갔다. 　　고양이들은 특히나 혀로 털을 빗어 몸단장을 하기 때문에 건강에 해로운 담배 성분을 입으로 섭취할 가능성이 높다. 이로 인해 구강세포에 손상을 입을 수 있으며 구강암에 걸릴 수 있다. 　　참고자료:　Environmental tobacco smoke and risk of malignant lymphoma in petcats. Bertone ER, Snyder LA, M

An international trade fair for South Korean food and agricultural products will take place later this week to help local firms go overseas and export their goods, the government said Monday.Some 290 South Korean food and beverages companies will participate in the "Buy Korean Food" fair, which will be held at the aT Center in southern Seoul on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs. (123rf)About 160 foreign buyers from 23 countries, including Ja

Vitamins and tonics topped the list of best-selling over-the-counter drugs in South Korea in the first half of the year, data showed Monday, as people got more health-conscious.According to the first-half business reports by local drugmakers, the best-selling OTC medication was Aronamin, a vitamin manufactured by Ildong Pharmaceutical Co., in the January-June period with sales of 33.5 billion won ($29.9 million). (Ildong Pharmaceutical)Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co.'s hepatic protector Ursa came ne

South Korea's wage gap between its high school and university graduates is smaller than the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, data showed Monday.According to data compiled by Seoul's Ministry of Employment and Labor, average wages of the country's university graduates are 37 percent higher than those of high-school graduates. The OECD average wage gap stands at 56 percent. In terms of the wage gap, South Korea ranked 23rd among the OECD member countries. (Yonh

South Korean companies listed on the nation's main bourse have marginally improved their financial health this year, data showed Monday.The average debt ratio of 626 firms listed on the Kospi market that have available related data for last year came to 115.4 percent as of end-June, according to the Korea Exchange and the Korea Listed Companies Association. (KRX)It marks a 3.15 percentage-point drop from the end of 2015.The debt ratio, showing the proportion of total debt to total assets, is a k

South Korea's only foundry chipmaker Dongbu HiTek Co. appears likely to rank ninth in the global foundry market, a market research firm said Monday.Dongbu HiTek is expected to generate sales of $640 million this year, up about 8 percent from a year earlier, according to market research firm IC Insights. The sales could place the South Korean chipmaker ninth in the global foundry market. (Dongbu HiTek)Foundry manufacturers refer to those that make chips for other companies.In the first quarter, D

Volkswagen Korea, the local unit of German automaker Volkswagen, said Monday that it would not take legal action against the South Korean government's decision to ban sales and revoke the certifications of its 80 vehicle models.Earlier this month, the Ministry of Environment also separately slapped the German automaker with fines of 17.8 billion won ($16 million) for 47 models that are thought to have passed the local authentication process by cheating on gas emissions tests.   (Yonhap)The punit