With "sharing economy" services like Uber, Blablacar and Airbnb spreading among consumers, state tax collectors risk experiencing a revenue pinch as these new collaborative players capture market share from traditional businesses.   The so-called "Uberization" of commerce is both rising in volume and spreading across an ever-larger number of sectors -- ranging from apartment, car and power tool sharing to money lending and food services.   Increasingly popular trade directly between individuals

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim speaks at the fourth annual Global Citizen Festival in Central Park Manhattan on September 26, 2015 in New York. The Festival is part of the Global Poverty Project, a UN-backed campaign to end extreme poverty by 2030. (AFP)Some of the biggest names in music and politics from Beyonce to European prime ministers rallied Saturday in a concert aimed at mobilizing action to eradicate extreme poverty.   Before thousands of people in New York's Central Park and a

Pope Francis embraces a young man in a wheelchair during the World Meeting of Families in the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo)Pope Francis addressed a festival of families attended by tens of thousands of Catholics, offering a frank assessment of the difficulties of life and a prescription for love on the penultimate day of his U.S. tour.   The 78-year-old Argentine pontiff rode through downtown Philadelphia waving to ecstatic crowds, after endearin

(123RF)South Korea's three mobile carriers are estimated to have posted an improved ratio of operating income to total revenue in the third quarter, industry sources said Sunday, as the firms reduced marketing expenditures.   The combined sales posted by SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. are estimated to have reached 12.5 trillion won ($10.46 billion) in the July-September period, while the operating profit is expected at 1.67 trillion won, the data compiled by industry tracker FnGuide

South Korea's Ministry of Unification on Sunday said almost 700 North Korean defectors' whereabouts are unknown, casting concerns over the country's settlement support system.   The ministry said it has failed to locate 688 North Korean defectors, which accounts for 2.6 percent of the 26,000 defectors in South Korea, with 664 of them currently presumed to be overseas.   The ministry's data also showed the number of North Korean defectors seeking to resettle in another country came to 22 this yea

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, left, talks with South Korea president Park Geun-hye during a conference on A New Rural Development Paradigm and the Inclusive Sustainable New Communities Model, Saturday, at the United Nations headquarters. (AP)President Park Geun-hye announced Saturday that South Korea will donate US$200 million in aid to poor countries as part of Seoul's efforts to boost contributions to sustainable development.   South Korea plans to launch the "Better Life for G

(123RF)The number of South Koreans using wearable telecommunications devices reached nearly 240,000 at the end of July, data showed Sunday, amid the rising popularity of smartwatches in the country.   According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning, the number of subscribers of wearable telecommunication devices soared 67 times to 239,042 in Julycompared with the 3,542 posted in October last year.   The number of subscribers of mobile phones, on the other hand

(123RF)The senior population in South Korea hit a record high in 2015, showing that Asia’s fourth-largest economy is about to become an aged society, the state-run statistics agency reported on Thursday.　According to Statistics Korea’s report on senior population in 2015, the number of senior citizens of 65 and over hit a record high of 6.62 million. This is the highest since the statistics agency started began collecting the data in 1960, when it was as low as 2.9 million.　This year’s senior po

(Hyundai Card)Hyundai Card launched a special mileage point event that applies to a variety of global fashion brands, the card issuer said Thursday. 　Dubbed “50% M point Special -- Fashion,” the mileage event enables Hyundai Card users to pay up to 50 percent of the shopping expenses at assorted fashion apparel stores with “M points,” or Hyundai’s mileage points. The event runs from Sept. 24 through Oct. 11.　The participating fashion brands range from casual wear to premium jeans, including Theo

Shinhan Financial Group chairman Han Dong-woo shakes hands with officials at Shinhan’s Creative Financial Plaza in April. (Shinhan Financial Group)Shinhan Financial Group has become the first Korean finance firm to be listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World for three consecutive years, the group said on Wednesday. 　As the longest-running global sustainability benchmarks worldwide, the DJSI World is the global leg of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, launched in 1999. It is used to

South Korea shipped 5 tons of “geobong” -- a species of grapes -- to China, marking its first-ever export of fresh fruit to the country, said the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Tuesday. 　Agriculture Minister Lee Dong-phil and representatives of 13 local vineyards in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, saw the premium quality geobong grapes, also dubbed the kyoho grapes in Far East Asia, set sail for Chinese shores.　The exported brand is “Haneul Green,” a signature geobong br

The Finance Ministry on Monday vowed to strengthen its crackdown on state-run institutions that provide fabricated spending reports. 　Starting next year, the ministry decided to implement “microscopic investigations” to root out the inaccurate spending reports on a variety of areas, including investment, income statements and balance sheets. According to the ministry, a total of 124 public institutions, or 4 out of 10 public institutions, have cooked their financial reports. 　The Finance Ministr

Visitors flock to the Korean forest product section at a global food convention in Indonesia in April. (KFS)The Korea Forest Service is seeking to expand the nation’s export of premium-quality forest products to China, catching on the growing demand for food safety in the world’s No. 2 economy.　The KFS on Monday said it is in the last stage of meeting this year’s export goal of $500 million for forest products, thanks to the stable construction of export-intensive frameworks, including the Korea

The Federal Reserve held its key interest rate locked at zero Thursday, citing worries about how the slowdown in China will hit the US economy.   Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the economy continues to grow moderately and that a rate increase could still take place before the end of the year.   However, policy makers were still focused on the spillover from China's troubles and those in other major emerging market economies.   "A lot of our focus has been on risks around China, but not just China,

Europe was off to a tepid start with Britain's FTSE 100 down 0.4 percent to 6,205.60. France's CAC 40 dipped 0.2 percent to 4,631.50. Germany's DAX was nearly unchanged at 10,222.81. Futures showed that Wall Street was set to lose ground. Dow futures fell 0.2 percent. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.3 percent.    HIKE OR NO HIKE: Two months ago, it seemed almost certain that the Fed was going to raise rates in September. Now, after the turmoil in financial markets and concerns about China's economy, t

Events on the Serbia-Hungarian border where police tear-gassed crowds of migrants including women and children reveal “a dark side of the European character,” the chief of the International Rescue Committee said Wednesday.   “Anyone with an ounce of morality feels appalled by what's happening in parts of Europe,” David Miliband told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday.   While lauding German leadership in tackling Europe's migrant crisis, the former British foreign secretary said that

South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., said Thursday that it signed a deal to export trainer jets to the Thai government for around $110 million.   The deal inked in Seoul between leaders of the two sides called for KAI to deliver four units of the T-50TH to the Thai government within 30 months of the contract, the company said in an emailed press release.   The T-50TH will likely replace the outdated L-39 model that the Thai air force has been using for train

An annual documentary film festival themed on "peace, life and communication" opened in Camp Greaves, the former U.S. military camp near the Demilitarized Zone, Thursday.   The seventh edition of the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival will run until next Thursday, featuring 102 documentary films from 43 countries around the world, including 43 from South Korea.   It will open with "I am Sun Mu," an 87-minute film by American photographer and filmmaker Adam Sjoberg, which follows the def

After a decade of political infighting and violent protests, the long-awaited passage of Nepal's constitution should be a reason to celebrate.    But there are also signs that the Himalayan nation's first complete political framework since monarchy was abolished in 2006, could set the stage for prolonged conflict as some ethnic groups are protesting the charter.   The government sees the new constitution as a much-needed success for the nation of 28 million, still recovering from a devastating A

Prosecutors said Thursday they have indicted 10 people on charges of leaking component blueprints of Hyundai Motor Co., the country's top carmaker, for the development of a Chinese automobile.The Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office said a 30-year-old man, identified only by his surname Cho, is suspected of siphoning 71 component designs of Hyundai's car bumpers from its business partner, known by its initial D, while working there.     Cho was on dispatched duty from another company to pa