National defense officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold a video conferencethis week to discuss their joint response to the North's imminent long-range missile, a government official here said Thursday.   The video conference will be held early on Friday with working-level national defense officials from the three countries on hand, the official said on condition of anonymity.   The move comes after North Korea recently notified U.N. agencies that it will launch what it c

Brazil is not sharing enough samples and disease data to let researchers determine whether the Zika virus is, as feared, linked to the increased number of babies born with abnormally small heads in the South American country, U.N. and U.S. health officials say.   The lack of data is forcing laboratories in the United States and Europe to work with samples from previous outbreaks, and is frustrating efforts to develop diagnostic tests, drugs and vaccines. Scientists tell The Associated Press that

The body of a missing Italian student was found with signs of torture, including multiple stab wounds and cigarette burns, by the side of a highway on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital, an investigating prosecutor told The Associated Press on Thursday.   Giulio Regeni, A 28-year-old graduate student, went missing in Cairo on Jan. 25, the fifth anniversary of the uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.   His body was found Wednesday along the Cairo-Alexandria Road in the 6 Octo

At No. 7 in the women's singles badminton rankings with a slew of international victories, Sung Ji-hyun admits she remains a work in progress.   Sung, however, has been improving at a rate that has the South Korean national team camp buzzing with talks of an Olympic medal for the 24-year-old in Rio de Janeiro in August.   She's fresh off a Badminton World Federation (BWF) Grand Prix victory in India last week. During an open training session in Seoul Thursday, Sung said she was pleased to get th

The country's two umbrella labor groups have recently lost their organizational power and are faced with their own internal strives, labor industry experts said Thursday.   The Korea Confederation of Trade Unions initially planned to go on an indefinite walkout in protest of the government's adoption of contentious labor guidelines.   However, the KCTU's general strike has de-facto ended in February, the experts said, adding that there has not been a single rally despite its plan to hold it ever

The US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, one of the biggest trade deals in history, was signed in New Zealand on Thursday as protestors demonstrated over fears for jobs and sovereignty.   The ambitious deal, promising the elimination of nearly all tariffs among the 12 member nations, aims to break down trade and investment barriers between countries accounting for about 40 percent of the global economy. Andrew Robb, Minister for Trade and Investment (L) is welcomed with a local Maori elder as the M

Lee Dong-gulLee Dong-gul, a former vice chairman of Shinhan Investment, has been tapped to head the state-run Korea Development Bank, the Financial Services Commission said Thursday. 　The financial regulator said in a press statement that it has decided to recommend the 68-year-old veteran banker as the sole candidate for the post to President Park Geun-hye. 　If appointed, Lee will succeed Hong Kyttack who is to move to the recently-established Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Beijing as

The government said Tuesday that it would fully support corporate investment and hiring plans in order to keep the nation’s economic growth momentum for this year.　“The government will make every possible effort to support companies’ active hiring and investment, such as eliminating the regulatory factors that hinder job creation,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said.　The chief economic policymaker revealed the plan during a rare meeting between a group of government minist

Embattled credit card companies may face stiff competition from online-only banks that are fast seeking ways to infiltrate the market, according to industry sources. 　One such entity is Kakao Bank, a consortium of three firms Kakao, Korea Investment & Securities and Kookmin Bank.  　“Our plan is to launch credit cards linked to our services and win the approval (from the government) within this year,” a Kakao Bank official told a local paper, although it has not revealed the details. 　If Kakao Ba

South Korea will introduce an omnibus account system for foreign investors in the local stock market starting May to improve convenience and access, officials said Sunday.　The Financial Services Commission said the new system would simplify the current registration system that exclusively applies to foreign stock investors, institutional or retail. 　Under the new system, a global asset management firm or a brokerage house can open a single account to process orders from their clients. 　Currently

Korea’s tax authorities said Wednesday they have launched a full-fledged investigation into 30 corporations and individuals on suspicions of offshore tax evasion.The National Tax Service said the probe would target companies and individuals who are suspected of having concealed their wealth using offshore paper companies in the British Virgin Islands and other tax havens. “We will conduct unprecedented intense tax investigations into companies and members of conglomerate families,” said Han Sung

The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Wednesday it has allocated loans and guarantees worth 75 trillion won ($62.5 billion) in 2016 amid the sluggish global economy, vowing strong support for the nation’s future growth engines.　The official export credit agency increased its allocation for corporate loans and investment by 1 trillion won from the previous year to boost liquidity among promising exporters, bank officials said. 　Of the total, the agency plans to inject 3.5 trillion won for promisin

South Korea’s fourth-quarter economic growth slowed on reduced investment in the construction sector, the country’s central bank said Tuesday. 　In the three months that ended on Dec. 31, the nation’s gross domestic product rose 0.6 percent from the previous quarter, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. From a year earlier, the quarterly GDP grew 3 percent.　For the year, Asia’s fourth-largest economy expanded by 2.6 percent, lower than the 2.7 percent projected by the central ban

The ailing South Korean economy grew 2.6 percent in 2015, the lowest in three years, largely due to slumping exports and manufacturing, the central bank said Tuesday.　The nation’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product rose 0.6 percent from the previous three months, according to the Bank of Korea’s preliminary report.　“Private spending and investment in the construction sector expanded at a fast rate in 2015 and growth in facility investment was steady, but the exports and investment in intellec

Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho on Thursday vowed to deliver “tangible” recovery in domestic demand and exports through a continued focus on structural reform and economic stimulus measures. 　“We will remove all obstacles that have hindered economic growth and job creation,” Yoo said in his first ministerial meeting with economic bureaucrats on Thursday. “The government will also try to reinvigorate the entire economy by reviving consumption and export.” Financial Minister Yoo Il-ho attends his first

KT&G Corp., the country’s largest tobacco-maker by market share, said Monday that its annual overseas cigarette sales surpassed its domestic sales for the first time last year, largely owing to strong sales in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific.Packs of ESSE, KT&G’s best-selling cigarette brand in the Middle East, are displayed in a shop in Iran. (KT&G)　According to KT&G’s annual sales report for 2015, the Korean manufacturer sold 46.5 billion sticks of cigarettes outside Korea, either manufac

The recently launched Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will provide Korea with business opportunities in the regional infrastructure sector, the South Korean government said Sunday, pinning high hopes for the China-led agency to elect a Korean vice secretary-general next month. “Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho’s presence (at the AIIB’s meeting in China on Saturday) will contribute to strengthening Korea’s global ties with China and the developing members of the AIIB,” the South Korean Ministry of

South Korea’s central bank lowered its economic growth forecast for 2016 and kept the base rate unchanged Thursday, citing rising global uncertainties, household debt and slumping oil prices. The Bank of Korea’s monetary policy board lowered the growth outlook for Asia’s fourth-largest economy to 3 percent from 3.2 percent three months earlier. “(Korea’s) domestic demand and consumption are showing signs of improvement, yet the pace is slowing down due to the delayed recovery in global demand,”

The Bank of Korea’s monetary policy board on Thursday froze the base interest rate at a record-low of 1.5 percent, citing soaring household debt, volatility in China market and low crude prices.  The central bank said it decided to keep the key rate unchanged largely due to the nation’s skyrocketing household debt. 　As of Sept. 30, South Korea’s total household debt soared to 1,166 trillion won ($962.8 billion), growing at an accelerated pace of 10.4 percent in 2015 from 8.7 percent in 2011. Ban

Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan resigned from his post on Tuesday, in preparation for running in the April general elections. “I am returning to the political field to change the economy, just as I did 12 years ago for my political debut,” Choi said in his good-bye address at Sejong Government Complex. Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan delivers a good-bye address at Sejong Government Complex on Tuesday. (Ministry of Strategy and Finance)Choi, who doubled as deputy prime minister, showed confiden