On the eve of the start of her Olympic title defense in the ladies' singles figure skating, South Korean star Kim Yu-na said she could hardly wait to get on the ice."I've prepared hard and I can't wait for the day of the competition to arrive," Kim told reporters after completing her practice at Iceberg Skating Palace, where the ladies' short program is scheduled to open on Wednesday. It will be followed by the free skating on Thursday."I think my preparation has been perfect," Kim said. "But fi

China expressed condolences Tuesday to the three South Koreans who were killed in a suspected terror attack in Egypt's Sinai.At least four people, including three South Koreans and the Egyptian bus driver, were killed in the bombing attack on a bus filled with South Korean churchgoers in the Sinai Peninsula on Sunday."We are saddened by the tragic event," China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters during a daily press briefing."We express condolences to the victims and sinc

South Korean President Park Geun-hye met with her Lithuanian counterpart Tuesday in a summit expected to focus on ways to increase trade and investment and bolster cooperation in energy and other areas between the two countries, officials said.Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite has been on a visit to South Korea to attend the naming ceremony for a Korean-built liquefied natural gas, or LNG, carrier that the Baltic country is borrowing from Norway in an effort to lessen its dependence on Rus

Japan's point man on Northeast Asia met with his South Korean counterpart on Tuesday in an apparent bid to improve ties frayed over territorial and history-related issues, Seoul officials said.The meeting between Junichi Ihara, the director general of the Japanese foreign ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and his South Korean opposite number, Lee Sang-dek, came amid heightened tensions sparked by Japan's recent string of nationalist remarks and actions.It marks the first direct-gener

South Korean President Park Geun-hye thanked the chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday for his support in Seoul's efforts to resolve the issue of Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II.Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is known for his sympathy and support for the so-called comfort women issue. Earlier this month, he visited the statue of a girl set up in Glendale, California, in memory of the victims and paid his re

Cutting off North Korea's access to hard currency is the best strategy to slow down the communist country's nuclear weapons development, a visiting U.S. Republican lawmaker said Tuesday.Ed Royce, the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also said the recent United Nations' report accusing the North Korean regime of severe human rights violations will add pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program."It seems that the strategy that slows down North Korea the mo

South Korea's finance minister Tuesday called on European companies to expand investment here, promising that the government will continue to provide support and help them do business "with security."Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok made the remarks during a meeting with envoys of EU member countries in central Seoul. The meeting comes a week after Hyun met with foreign business leaders and urged them to increase local investment and employment."The Korean government has continued to push forward i

The chief of KB Financial Group Co., South Korea's No. 3 banking group, may be punished for a recent massive data theft at its credit card unit depending on the results of an ongoing probe, the country's financial regulator said Tuesday.Last month, the Financial Services Commission revealed that some 20 million clients' personal data had been leaked from three credit card firms -- KB Kookmin, NH Nonghyup and Lotte – as well as Kookmin Bank, which shared customer data with its affiliated card fir

South Korean pitcher Yoon Suk-min has officially signed a multiyear contract with the Baltimore Orioles after passing his physical, the Major League Baseball (MLB) club announced Tuesday (Korean time).The Orioles said they will formally introduce Yoon at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon in Sarasota, Fla., the site of the O's spring training camp.Yoon's deal is worth $5.75 million for three years, and the value could hit around $13 million with performance-based incentives. According to th

South Korea and Germany held a high-level defense talk on Tuesday to discuss regional security issues and arrange military exchange programs between the two nations, Seoul's defense ministry said.Lee Jeong-gyu, South Korea's defense ministry international policy director, met with his German counterpart Thorsten Kahler to explore ways to expand cooperation in international peacekeeping operations and exchange programs between the two nations' armed forces.The two sides also shared opinions on th

Hyundai Elevator Co., South Korea's largest lift producer, said Tuesday it will expand its overseas presence as part of its ongoing efforts to increase exports and sales.The company, which accounted for 45.3 percent of all new lifts installed in buildings in the country last year, said it secured a 100 percent stake in its Shanghai Hyundai Elevator Co. affiliate, giving it a firm market presence in the world's biggest elevator market.The Chinese market is estimated to be worth 500,000 units a ye

The local market for mobile advertisement nearly doubled on-year in 2013, a government report showed Tuesday, amid soaring number of smartphone users in the country.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said the size of South Korea's mobile advert market was estimated at 416 billion won ($392 million) last year, a leap from the 215.9 billion won in 2012.Last year's figure accounted for 4 percent of the entire advertisement market in the country, a twofold growth from 2 percent tallied

South Korea will form a consultative body with 21 foreign diplomatic missions here to boost coordination in dealing with North Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.The Korean Peninsula Club, to be comprised of 21 foreign diplomatic missions stationed here but in charge of both Koreas, will officially be launched later in the day whey they hold their first gathering.The countries include Australia, Canada, the European Union, Finland, Italy, Mexico and Turkey.Diverse inter-Korean issues a

A large-scale South Korean parliamentary delegation will visit Beijing this week for talks with Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, a Seoul diplomat said Tuesday.A total of 42 South Korean lawmakers, led by Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the ruling Saenuri Party, will arrive in Beijing on Thursday for a four-day visit expected to focus on further improving relations between the two nations.The diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the scale of the South Korean parliament

An injured student is treated outside South Korea's producer prices declined for the 16th straight month in January as prices of raw materials including oil fell, the central bank said Tuesday.The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, slid 0.3 percent in January from a year earlier, compared with a 0.4 percent on-year fall in December, according to the Bank of Korea.On an on-year growth basis, producer prices have fallen every month since October 2012, when they fell 0.

In a landmark ruling, a district court Monday sentenced a left-wing lawmaker to 12 years in prison for plotting an armed rebellion against the South Korean government in case of an inter-Korean war.Rep. Lee Seok-ki, affiliated with the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party , was found guilty of conspiring with members of a clandestine organization to topple the Seoul government if a war with North Korea broke out.The Suwon District Court in Suwon, south of Seoul, also stripped the 52-year-o

South Korea, China and Japan will hold a fourth round of negotiations this week aimed at forging a trilateral free trade agreement, a Seoul diplomat said Monday, despite a diplomatic impasse over Tokyo's nationalist moves regarding historical and territorial issues.The three Northeast Asian nations kicked off formal negotiations earlier last year and have held three rounds of talks since, with Seoul officials describing the third round as being "productive.""The fourth round of Korea-China-Japan

South Korea's tax agency said Monday that it imposed more than 1 trillion won ($944.3 million) in taxes last year through an investigation into offshore tax evasion.A total of 1.08 trillion won was imposed as a result of its offshore tax evasion probe last year, which is a 30.6 percent rise from 2012, according to the National Tax Service. This also marked the first time that the amount surpassed the 1 trillion mark.The NTS said that it probed 211 people suspected of evading taxes through divers

President Park Geun-hye ordered broadcasting regulators Monday to ensure that the industry won't fall into the hands of a handful of conglomerates, saying diversity and fairness are key to revitalizing the broadcasting sector.Park issued the instruction during a joint policy briefing by the ministry of science and the Korea Communications Commission. She said the broadcasting industry strongly influences the economy and is directly related to people's everyday lives."Conglomerates, which have go

Rival political parties clashed Monday over allegations that the prosecution fabricated evidence to press charges against a former civil servant accused of spying for North Korea.The Chinese-born suspect, Yoo Woo-seong, was indicted last year on charges of handing over the personal information of more than 200 North Korean defectors to Pyongyang after disguising himself as a defector in order to enter South Korea.After a local court acquitted Yoo of espionage, prosecutors appealed the verdict an