Underwater operations to find 16 people still missing in the deadly ferry disaster were to resume on Wednesday amid improved weather conditions, the state response team said.Heavy rains, coupled with strong winds and waves, have effectively prevented operations since Sunday to find those still unaccounted for after the ferry Sewol sank off the country's southwestern coast on April 16."We expect to resume the underwater operations later in the day, as the high seas watch was lifted," an official

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top carmaker, has started producing heavy-duty trucks in China, a company official said Wednesday, joining an intensifying competition with rivals such as Daimler and Volvo for the Chinese market for big trucks.  Production of the two-engine Trago Xcient luxury trucks recently began as Hyundai completed building its commercial vehicle plant in Ziyuan, Sichuan province, said the official at Hyundai's Beijing office. The new plant in Sichuan was completed about two

North Korea is set to open its portion of the Korean Peninsula's highest mountain to Chinese tourists this month, a travel agency official said Wednesday, resuming the tour route that has been suspended since the North conducted its third nuclear test. If realized, it would represent another bid by North Korea to increase tourism income by approving more tour routes that start in Chinese cities.The peninsula's highest peak, Mt. Baekdu, sits on the border between North Korea and China. Tourists c

Voters took to polling stations nationwide Wednesday for the crucial local elections that will bring potentially decisive effects for the Park Geun-hye administration and political parties.The elections were seen as a referendum for the administration in the wake of the April 16 ferry disaster that left more than 300 people dead or missing. The government has been sharply criticized for its poor handling of the accident. Voters line up to vote for the local elections in Seoul, Wednesday. (Yonhap

The June 4 local elections have created a tough test for President Park Geun-hye as the polling day is being seen as an early interim assessment of her leadership and a referendum on her government’s handling of the ferry disaster that left more than 300 dead or missing in April. President Park Geun-hye cast her ballot for local elections at a school near Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday morning. (Yonhap)The local elections on Wednesday are currently being held to pick new mayors, provincial governors

South Korean lenders are reaching out to wealthy Chinese customers as they seek new growth engines amid ultra-low interest rates and lackluster demand on their home turf.Local banks have been providing Chinese-language banking services to mostly blue-collar laborers in southwest Seoul.However, recent moves highlight their efforts to tap affluent Chinese who have already emerged as a major force in the retail sector.Woori Bank, the flagship unit of South Korea's biggest banking group, said Tuesda

The polls for the local elections opened at 6 a.m. Wednesday, as political parties vie for administrative and legislative posts in regional governments. The results, which are likely to bring significant changes to interparty and in-house dynamics for the Saenuri Party and New Politics Alliance for Democracy, are expected to come out from about 11 p.m.  Korean voters participate in the voting for local elections on Wednesday in Seoul. (Yonhap)Buoyed by the highest-ever early voting rate, this ye

South Korean President Park Geun-hye asked her new national security adviser Monday to pay "full attention" to the security situation on the Korean Peninsula amid North Korea's ongoing threats and provocations.Park made the request to Kim Kwan-jin during a weekly meeting with senior secretaries at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, one day after she named the defense minister to the post."Judging from the political situation in the region, North Korea's endless threats and provocations, and

North Korea lashed out at a new nominee for South Korea's national security adviser on Monday, calling him a military gangster and a traitor, the latest in a series of diatribes against South Korean officials.The North's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, claimed the nominee, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, is behind South Korea's confrontational policy toward North Korea.The accusation came a day after President Park Geun-hye nominated the defense chief to be her new national security adviser to avo

Former President Lee Myung-bak has been cleared of the charges that he used taxpayers' money for his now-scrapped retirement home project, prosecutors said Monday. Lee was under suspicion of giving instructions to former officials of the Presidential Security Service to use public funds to buy a plot of land on the southern outskirts of Seoul in 2011 to be used as his retirement residence. Former President Lee later scrapped the project and moved into his existing private home in Nonhyeon-dong i

A parliamentary investigation into the Sewol ferry disaster got off to a shaky start Monday as only opposition party lawmakers visited the site of the shipwreck, with ruling party legislators absent from the trip. Last week, family members of the victims demanded that lawmakers handling the investigation first visit them at Paengmok port on the southwestern island of Jindo to hear their voices on the disaster that left more than 300 people dead or missing.All 18 lawmakers on the special parliame

South Korea's foreign ministry said Monday it has requested the United States Embassy in Seoul and U.S.Forces Korea to cooperate with a local police investigation into an alleged sexual molestation case involving three U.S. soldiers. On Saturday, police in Yongin, south of Seoul, arrested three U.S. servicemen from the 210th Field Artillery Brigade on suspicion of being involved in sexual harassment that happened at a water theme park.The U.S. soldiers are suspected of sexually molesting a femal

Global investment banks and rating agencies forecast that South Korea's economy will advance in the mid 3-percent range this year, data showed Monday, lower than estimates by local government and institutions. Projections from 33 major IBs and credit rating agencies said South Korea's gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic performance, is expected to grow 3.63 percent this year, according to Bloomberg data. Last year, the Korean economy grew 3 percent.Barclays and Wells Fargo p

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's No. 1 maker of smartphones, said Monday it will add a low-end phablet to its Galaxy smartphone lineup, which is optimized for visual contents through HD displays.The Galaxy W, to be released Tuesday, comes with a 7-inch display, larger than the 5.7-inch of the flagship Galaxy Note 3 phablet, with an aspect ratio of 16.9. A phablet refers to a cross between a smartphone and tablet PC, and has been one of the focused projects by tech giants amid saturation of t

South Korean LPGA Tour star Park In-bee will fall from the No. 1 spot in the women's world golf rankings after more than a year on top.Stacy Lewis of the United States cruised to her second win of the season at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, New Jersey, on Sunday, local time. She will move up from No. 2 to No. 1 when the newest rankings are announced later in the day, ending Park's 59-week reign at the top of women's golf.Lewis shot a three-round total of 16-under at the tournament for a

The overall number of business group affiliates subject to restrictions on mutual investments and loan guarantees rose in June from a month earlier, the antitrust watchdog said Monday.The Fair Trade Commission said the number on the watch list stood at 1,688 from 63 business groups as of Monday, up four from the previous month.Twelve affiliates were included on the list following a stake purchase or launching of new companies, while eight companies were removed, the watchdog said.Under South Kor

"Miss Granny," a South Korean film that topped the local box office early this year, will be made into a new movie tailored for the vast Chinese market, the film's copyright holder said Tuesday.CJ E&M said the filming for the Chinese adaptation of the comedy will begin next month for release in the Chinese market.The new film, titled "20th Year, Once Again," will be co-produced by CJ E&M and a Chinese studio and directed by rising Chinese filmmaker Leste Chen, who is best known for "The Heirloom

A tourist bus carrying 26 South Koreans crashed on a road in northwestern Mexico late last week, leaving the driver dead and 18 passengers injured, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.The bus, operated by a tourist agency in Los Angeles, veered off a road near Ensenada in Mexico on Saturday (local time) and overturned while trying to avoid an oncoming bus, the foreign ministry added.The driver, Paul Noh, a Korean living in the U.S., was killed and 18 passengers were injured, it said. The injure

 At least six people were killed and about 40 injured in a fire that broke out at Goyang Bus Terminal in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, Monday. The blaze occurred at around 9 a.m. at an underground food court that was under construction. According to Goyang Fire Station, the fire was brought under control within about 20 minutes.Most of the injured were found in the terminal’s bathroom, which is located near the construction site, the police said. A total of 21 were sent to hospitals throughout the

South Korea's national pension fund made more than 1 trillion won ($975.1 billion) in two weeks from its Samsung Group stocks, an analysis of its latest investment portfolio indicated Sunday.Samsung Group's share prices have jumped across the board after the conglomerate's chief Lee Kun-hee, who commands the country's top cap business empire, was hospitalized earlier this month after a heart attack. The incident raised investor confidence that Samsung would take pro-shareholder steps as it exped