A set of clothes believed to have been worn by sex slaves working at a wartime military brothel in Japan have been confirmed to be government-made, yet more evidence of direct state involvement in the sexual slavery system, the country's archives said Wednesday.The National Archives of Korea said it has confirmed the Japanese army's clothing agency made the two pieces of clothes recovered in 2007 by a South Korean scholar from what used to be a navy airport in the Japanese prefecture of Nara. (Y

South Korea's parliamentary speaker will embark on a 12-day trip to Iran, Pakistan and Myanmar on Wednesday to help enhance bilateral cooperation and support the country's businesses operating there, his office said.Chung Sye-kyun will first visit Tehran to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart Ali Larijani Friday (Iran time) and attend the inauguration ceremony for President Hassan Rouhani the following day.During the talks with Larijani, Chung will call for Tehran's support for South Korean

South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Wednesday that North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile development poses a "new-phase" security threat.In a trilateral video conference of defense officials, they reaffirmed a united resolve to apply "maximum pressure" on Pyongyang in a bid to stop its provocations and resume denuclearization talks.The working-level consultation came four days after the nuclear-armed North test-fired a Hwasong-14 ICBM, the second in a month. North Korea fi

North Korea may be able to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile powered by solid propellant by 2025 out of the experience of its recent two launches of liquid-propellant ones, an American aerospace engineer has said."North Korea may consider the liquid-propellant KN-20 (Hwasong-14) to be strictly an interim system to provide limited deterrence by threatening US west coast targets," John Schilling, an expert in missile and spacecraft propulsion, said in an article posted on Tuesday at 38

The top American military commander in South Korea on Wednesday assured people here that the THAAD missile defense system will enhance the allies' defense against North Korean threats.He cited another successful interception by a THAAD rocket of a medium-range ballistic missile in a test conducted in Alaska last weekend.It "adds to the confidence I have in the THAAD system deployed to Seongju to defeat the North Korean threats against the Republic of Korea," said Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, who comm

Opposition parties on Wednesday criticized the government's new measures to stabilize an overheated real estate market as being "against market principles" and lacking fundamental solutions.The government laid out a new package of measures, including increasing capital gains taxes on multiple-home owners, restricting the resell of purchase rights of new apartments and zoning some affluent districts in Seoul for tougher anti-speculation regulations. (Yonhap)"Government cannot defeat the market,"

SsangYong Motor Co., a local automaker, started selling its new G4 Rexton SUV on Wednesday, as it attempts to expand its lineup of off-road capable cars.The seven-seat vehicle is a longer version of the existing five-seat G4 Rexton released in April.The new G4 Rexton comes with a 2.2-liter diesel-powered engine and Mercedes-Benz's seven-speed automatic transmission, according to the company. This photo provided by SsangYong Motor Co. on Aug. 2, 2017, shows its seven-seat G4 Rexton SUV released i

Purchases made through mobile devices rose 35.5 percent in June from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday, as a growing number of South Koreans utilize smartphones to buy things ranging from clothes to electronic goods.South Korea is one of the most wired countries in the world with one of the highest smartphone penetration rates. Eight out of 10 South Koreans use a smartphone, according to government data. (Yonhap)Mobile transactions through smartphones and tablets reached 3.75 tril

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party on Wednesday put out "new conservatism" as its new motto while it strives to revamp its image associated with corruption-tainted former President Park Geun-hye.The party's reform panel, launched last month under the directive of its new leader Hong Joon-pyo, issued an "innovation declaration," vowing to strengthen internal cohesion, bring together the country's fractured conservatives and regain public support.Lew Seok-choon, the panel's chairman, said tha

Samsung Electronics Co. stood as the leading smartphone maker in terms of shipments in the second quarter of 2017, data showed Wednesday, with Chinese firms narrowing the gap with the traditional leaders.According to the data compiled by Strategy Analytics, the South Korean giant accounted for 22.1 percent of the global market in the April-June period, down 0.6 percentage point from a year earlier. This translates into 79.5 million units made by Samsung.The industry tracker said Samsung was able

South Korean stocks traded higher late Wednesday morning as foreign investors scooped up large-cap tech and telecom shares, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 4.77 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,427.73 as of 11:20 a.m.On Tuesday (local time), the US Dow Jones industrial average climbed 0.33 percent toward a fresh record and the S&P rose 0.24 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index also gained 0.23 percent. Most large caps traded mixe

Revenue from taxes levied on cigarettes is forecast to reach 3 trillion won ($2.8 billion) for the first time ever this year, government data showed Wednesday.Starting in January 2015, South Korea jacked up the price of cigarettes by 80 percent from 2,500 won per pack to 4,500 won, in an effort to curb smoking. Following this move, taxes collected from the sale of individual cigarette packs jumped from 354 won to 841 won.According to the data by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, revenues from

A pro-North Korean newspaper based in Japan claimed Wednesday that South Korea's leader has not understood Pyongyang's upgraded strategic status following the North's latest long-range missile tests.The Chosun Sinbo reported that President Moon Jae-in has made a "miscalculation" about the security situation that has been re-shaped by North Korea's two tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles in July.The paper is not North Korea's state media, but it serves as an unofficial mouthpiece for Pyo

A 19th-century Korean map which marks Dokdo as part of Korean territory was recently found in Japan, scholars from both countries said Tuesday.Nam Kwon-hee, a professor at Kyungpook National University, said he confirmed the existence of what appeared to be Dokdo on the right side of Ulleung Island in the East Sea on the colored, handwritten version of Daedongyeojido, a Korean map made by cartographer and geologist Kim Jeong-ho in 1861.  An ancient map found in Japan shows Dokdo to the right of

The chief of a major South Korean drugmaker was summoned by police Wednesday to face questioning over allegations of verbal harassment of his chauffeurs. Rhee Jang-han, chairman of Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp., appeared at the special crime unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at around 10 a.m., according to the Seoul police. Rhee, 65, is suspected of hurling invectives at four of his private car drivers and forcing them to violate traffic regulations. They have all quit their job

South Korea's industrial electricity consumption rose 0.6 percent in the second quarter from a year ago helped by an upturn in the chipmaking and chemical sectors, the government said Wednesday.The amount of electricity consumed by the country's industrial sector reached 69.97 billion kilowatt-hours in the April-June period, compared with 69.55 billion kWh in the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The quarterly figure has been on a steady rise since th

The sales of small-sized food products jumped in the first half of this year on rising demands from one-person households, industry data showed Wednesday.According to E-Mart Inc., South Korea's largest discount chain operator, sales of small fruit containers rose 71.9 percent on-year in the January-July period.  South Korea`s largest discount chain operator, on Aug. 2, 2017, shows a watermelon slice packaged in small containers for single- or two-person households. (Yonhap)Auction, a leading onl

State subsidies for childbirth and child rearing have helped increase South Korea's birthrate, but the effect is weakening over time, a report said Wednesday.According to the report from the Center for Economic Catch-up, subsidies can take credit for 0.122 of 0.163, or 75 percent, increase in the nation's birthrate between 2005 and 2015. The birthrate during the period rose from 1.076 to 1.239. Such effects, however, are waning after policy changes from 2012-2013 to pay a uniform amount to all h

HANOI -- Vietnam has criticized the North's latest test-launch of a second intercontinental ballistic missile, calling on Pyongyang to comply with UN Security Council resolutions, government officials said Wednesday.Le Thi Thu Hang, spokeswoman of Vietnam's Foreign Ministry, said in a press conference the previous day the country "is deeply concerned about the continued test of an intercontinental ballistic missile by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on July 28, 2017, which seriously vi

The government and ruling Democratic Party on Wednesday agreed to toughen regulations to stabilize an overheating real estate market. The government is set to announce the measures later in the day, including increasing capital gains taxes on multiple-home owners and restricting the resell of purchase rights of new apartments, which has been cited as a major speculative practice aggravating problems facing regular households.The government is also expected to list four affluent districts in sout