Prosecutors said Wednesday it indicted the head of Seoul's Gangnam District Office without detention on charges of slandering President Moon Jae-in when he was a presidential candidate earlier this year. Shin Yeon-hee, a member of the conservative Liberty Korea Party, is accused of illegal electioneering and defaming Moon by spreading false information about him via mobile messenger Kakao Talk on more than 200 occasions from December last year to March, according to the Seoul Central District Pr

South Korean stocks ended lower Wednesday morning as foreign investors offloaded large-cap stocks amid heightened tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 26.34 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,368.39.Ryu Yong-seok, a market analyst at KB Securities Co., said tensions between North Korea and the United States weighed on the main index.Foreign investors sold over 259 billion won ($228 milli

President Moon Jae-in has invited ruling party lawmakers for a luncheon later this month, party officials said Wednesday, an apparent move to strengthen cooperation ahead of a possible legislative battle over his key policy initiatives.Moon plans to meet the Democratic Party lawmakers on Aug. 26 before the parliament begins its 100-day regular session next month, when parties are expected to wrangle over Moon's push to revise the tax code and reform the prosecution and spy agency, and other plan

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday introduced a government move to significantly reform the state-run health care program that will greatly reduce the medical expenses of patients, especially those in the low-income bracket, while providing new and enhanced benefits.At the same time, the president vowed to keep the rise in insurance payments at a minimum. (Yonhap)"Medical expenses continue to increase. The number of people spending more than 5 million won ($4,406) a year stands at around 460,000

TOKYO -- Japan on Wednesday reiterated its stance that a 1965 Seoul-Tokyo deal settled all issues of individual compensation to victims of forced labor during its colonial rule of Korea, rejecting a South Korean court ruling in favor of the victims.South Korea's Gwangju District Court ruled the previous day that the Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries must pay 120 million won ($106,572) in compensation to Kim Young-ok, 85, and 3.25 million won ($2,892) to a family member of late victim Cho

Sixty percent of surveyed adults disapprove of government proposals on lowering telecommunications costs for not meeting their expectations, a consumer advocacy group said Wednesday.A poll by the Green Consumer Network of Korea said 60.2 percent appraised the proposals as inadequate compared with 42.8 percent who felt the move fell somewhat shy of their expectations. Another 17.4 percent answered the ideas being pushed by the government are highly insufficient.The survey was carried out from Jul

Volatility in South Korea's currency markets rose in July from a month earlier, though the stability of the global financial markets continued, the central bank said Wednesday.The session-over-session changes in the dollar-won exchange rates averaged 0.42 percent in July, compared with 0.28 percent a month earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. "The won has fallen slightly against the dollar since July due to geopolitical risks" stemming from North Korea's missile and nuclear

South Korean shipyards recaptured the No. 1 position in new orders worldwide in July amid a plunge in overall numbers, outpacing Chinese rivals, industry data showed Wednesday.According to the data compiled by global research firm Clarkson Research Institute, local shipbuilding companies clinched new orders worth a combined 306,000 compensated gross tons last month to build nine vessels.Chinese rivals came next with 295,000 CGTs, or 13 ships. Japanese shipyards' orders came to nil.Globally, new

The money supply in South Korea jumped 5.9 percent in June from a year earlier, the central bank said Wednesday.The nation's M2 totaled 2,470.8 trillion won ($2.17 trillion) in June, compared to 2,334.2 trillion won a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.The money supply gained 0.4 percent on-month, the statement said.The growth rate of the money supply has been on the decline since October 2015 as companies decreased domestic credit.M2 is a measure of the money supply counting th

South Korean exports of information and communication technology products increased in July to a record high for the sixth consecutive month on brisk overseas sales of semiconductors and displays, government data showed Wednesday.A total of $15.7 billion worth of ICT products were shipped overseas, up 20.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. July's overseas shipments of ICT products were a record for the month, breaking the previous $14

The Korean Education Center, a Ministry of Education-affiliated agency in charge of teaching Korean to overseas Koreans and foreigners, will open its 42nd offshore branch in Atlanta in the US state of Georgia this week, the ministry said Wednesday.South Korea opened the first Korean Education Center in Japan in 1963, and there are currently 41 Korean Education Centers in operation in 18 countries worldwide.In the United States, the center opened in Washington, DC and Los Angeles, both in 1980, a

South Korea's household loans extended by banks rose 9.4 percent in July from a year earlier due to increased mortgages, central bank data showed Wednesday.Outstanding household loans from lenders came to 737.7 trillion won ($650 billion) as of the end of last month, compared with 673.7 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.Compared with June, the amount rose by 6.7 trillion won. Mortgages climbed 4.8 trillion won on-month to 554.6 trillion won in July du

South Korea's top financial regulator on Wednesday unveiled details of upcoming ordinances that will require insurers to gradually increase their capital reserves from December to help them better cope with changes in global accounting rules.The Financial Services Commission will also ease some requirements on risk-based capital ratios for insurers to help them comply with the rules under the new ordinances, which will take effect from Dec. 1.  South Korea is one of more than 100 nations th

Prosecutors said Wednesday they have indicted 10 construction firms and 20 officials for fixing a dozen biddings for mega public utility projects worth 3.5 trillion won ($2.83 billion). The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office announced the result of a probe into the allegations that some 11 local builders colluded with one another to win state-funded contracts to build 12 liquefied natural gas storage facilities in three provinces from 2005 to 2012. They face charges of violating the Fair

South Korea's tax office said Wednesday that it has launched a probe into 286 people suspected of evading taxes through illegal real estate transactions as part of the government's drive to curb property market speculation.Last week, the government announced stricter measures to stabilize the country's overheated housing market around the capital city of Seoul and its surrounding areas. It imposed an effective ban on bank loans given to multiple-home owners and forbid people from reselling an ap

South Korea's finance chief said Wednesday that the government is keeping close tabs on the local financial market following the latest North Korean provocations, but predicted only a limited impact."We are watching the market around-the-clock, but its impact seems to be limited," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said in a meeting with economy-related ministers in central Seoul. "We are mapping out plans for various scenarios."Geopolitical risks over North Korea's missile and n

South Korean stocks extended losses late Wednesday morning as rising tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs weighed on the main index.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 21.27 points, or 0.89 percent, to 2,373.46 as of 11:25 a.m.The decline followed overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.15 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.21 percent.Kim Ye-eun, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities, said

Opposition parties on Wednesday ratcheted up pressure on President Moon Jae-in to cancel his appointment of a senior science innovation official who was mired in a 2005 stem cell research fraud scandal.On Monday, Moon appointed Park Ky-young to lead the Science, Technology and Innovation Office at the Ministry of Science and ICT, triggering searing criticism from scientists, politicians and civic groups that called her unfit for the post billed as a science policy control tower.Park, a biology p

South Korean President Moon Jae-in called for a complete and thorough overhaul of the country's armed services Wednesday, highlighting an "urgent" need to enhance the country's defense capabilities against North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile technologies."I believe we might need a complete defense reform at the level of a rebirth instead of making some improvements or modifications," the president said while meeting with six new top commanders of the three armed services in a promotion ce

Japan's government was found to have put a poster laying claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo inside passenger cabins of the Kyushu Shinkansen high-speed rail line, a South Korean activist said Wednesday.The office of the Chief Cabinet Secretary made the poster claiming that Dokdo is Japan's native territory illegally occupied by South Korea, according to Seo Kyoung-duk, a professor at Seoul's Sungshin Women's University. (Yonhap)The poster titled "Do you know?" also claimed Japan'