The head of the National Intelligence Service paid a rare visit to the country's National Assembly speaker Monday to brief the latter of recent activities by North Korea, a move aimed at enhancing the spy agency's cooperation and communication with the legislature, the NIS said.The briefing involved reports on North Korea's latest activities, an outline on the North Korean Supreme People's Assembly and NIS efforts to prevent and counter cyberterrorist activities by the communist state, it said i

North Korea's state-run Korea National General Insurance Co. has resolved to further expand its business in defiance of UN sanctions on the North's nuclear and missile programs, a North Korean daily reported Monday. The resolve was made at a ceremony to mark the company's 70th anniversary, with its chief Hong Myong-ryong attending, the Rodong Sinmun, the paper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, said.Pointing out that even the insurance business, directly linked to humanitarianism, is under un

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday renewed his country's invitation for North Korea to the Winter Olympic Games to be held here early next year, saying the country will keep the doors open until the very last minute.The remarks came at an event aimed at promoting the Winter Olympics to be held in the country's eastern PyeongChang county 200 days from Monday."I again urge North Korea's decision. We will not rush nor be pessimistic, but will keep the doors open until the very last moment

South Korean stocks closed at a new record high on Monday, although the local stock market finished nearly flat, as investors opted for profit-taking on bullish rallies observed last week, analysts said. The Korean won gained against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index edged up 1.47 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at a fresh record high of 2,451.53. Trade volume was low at 230 million shares worth 4.56 trillion won ($4 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers a

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has filed a request with a Seoul court seeking a divorce settlement with his wife Roh So-young, legal sources said Monday. The settlement request was lodged with the Seoul Family Court on Wednesday, with the date for a hearing on the mediation yet to be decided, according to the sources familiar with the matter. Chey, who runs South Korea's third-largest conglomerate, has only made the request for divorce and an asset division was not included, the sources said, as

South Korea's government on Monday appointed nine members of a panel tasked with overseeing the sensitive process of collecting public opinions to determine the fate of two nuclear reactors, as it began its three-month operation.The panel will select a group of "citizen jurors" who will have the final say over whether to cancel the reactor construction in Ulsan, 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and ensure fairness in the opinion gathering process, officials said. The final decision is set to b

SEOUL/TOKYO -- A group of women's organizations in South and North Korea called for the revocation of the 2015 deal South Korea signed with Japan to settle the latter's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, the North's official news agency reported Monday.The Korean Central News Agency reported that the appeal was issued jointly by the Women Sub-Committee of the North Side Committee for Implementing June 15 Declaration and the Women Headquarters of the South Side Committee dedicated to the

South Korea's new energy minister said Monday that he will push forward with the Moon Jae-in government's plans to do away with nuclear and coal-fired power plants and replace them with clean, renewable energy."It is the right time to ride the global trend of nuclear and coal-free energy," Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu said in an inauguration speech. "It must be advantageous for us in terms of industrial competitiveness and a stable energy supply."President Moon, who took of

The presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, dismissed reports suggesting a possible halt of anti-spy activities and security investigations by the National Intelligence Service, noting such a move required a legal revision."The reports that the NIS has finalized a decision to halt security investigations are not true," Cheong Wa Dae said in a brief released statement."Whether to halt the security investigation function of the NIS requires legislation by the National Assembly," it added. (Yonhap)The

South Korea's coastal city of Boryeong has signed a contract to export its famous mud to Rotorua in New Zealand's North Island, a city official said Monday. Boryeong Mayor Kim Dong-il and Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick signed the contract on Saturday, under which the South Korean city will export 5 tons of mud powder worth 75 million won (about $67,000) to Rotorua, the official said. The signing was made on the sidelines of a world festival cities workshop, one of the programs which the ongoing 20

South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. said Monday it has joined forces with the country's leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister company Kia Motors Corp. to develop Artificial Intelligence technology.Under the agreement, the automakers will implement server-based speech recognition technology into the Genesis G70 model by utilizing Kakao's AI platform, called Kakao I, starting in September of this year.The server-based speech recognition technology is the first serv

The Naver Cultural Foundation said Monday it has reached an agreement with a state-run cultural agency to produce English promotional materials for new and ambitious Korean visual artists.The agreement between the foundation and the Korea Arts Management Service calls for KAMS to translate content published on Naver's Hello! Artist website into English, the foundation said. The foundation is run by South Korea's largest Internet portal, Naver. This composite image from Naver`s Hello! Artist webs

A total of 30 refugees from Myanmar are expected to arrive in South Korea next week, as part of a United Nations-led refugee resettlement program, the Justice Ministry said Monday. The first batch of refugees -- 23 Myanmarese nationals of four families who have been staying in a refugee camp in Thailand -- will land at Incheon Airport on Tuesday morning. The rest -- a family of seven -- are to arrive in early August.As part of the three-year pilot project, the government has granted 86 Burmese r

Prosecutor general nominee Moon Moo-il vowed Monday that if appointed, he will work to restore public trust in the prosecution long criticized for its perceived political bias.During a parliamentary confirmation hearing, Moon stressed that he would ensure the prosecution's political neutrality and make its investigation procedures "transparent, right and open.""I am well-aware that citizens have great concerns regarding the prosecution's political neutrality and transparency (in its investigatio

South Korean stocks traded lower late Monday morning as investors took an apparent breather after the sharp rise observed last week.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 3.47 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,446.59 as of 11:20 a.m.Market behemoth Samsung Electronics fell 0.59 percent and Samsung SDI lost 1.38 percent. LG Electronics moved down 0.15 percent.Builders also traded bearish, with Hyundai Engineering & Construction decreasing 1.03 percent and Hyundai Industrial losing 0

Jin Air Co., the budget carrier unit of Korean Air Lines Co., said on Monday it added a B737-800 jet to its growing fleet to meet demand during the summer peak season. With the addition of the B737-800, Jin Air's fleet is now composed of 20 B737-800s and four long-range B777-200ERs, all leased from US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, the company said in a statement. The latest 189-seat plane was deployed on the Gimpo-Jeju Island route starting Saturday. It is also scheduled to serve on routes to Ba

The ruling Democratic Party and the government on Monday vowed seamless cooperation in seeking a major economic policy shift, repeating President Moon Jae-in's mantra of "people-oriented, income-led growth."During their regular meeting, they agreed that the new administration will seek a broad change from South Korea's strategy that has hitherto focused on seeking high growth and supporting big conglomerates' exports."We have shared the view that we need new economic policies in line with an eco

Hyundai Construction Equipment Co., a unit of major shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries, said Monday that it has signed a deal valued at 500 billion won ($447 million) to provide a total of 2,200 miniexcavators to Britain-based construction equipment maker CNHi by 2021.The company also has inked a series of other deals, including one to provide 285 forklift trucks to US firm Oldcastle. (Yonhap)Hyundai Construction said it plans to jack up its sales in North America by 40 percent this year. The com

South Korea's low-cost carriers posted a 51 percent on-year jump in the number of passengers they served on international routes in the January-May period as they took advantage of low fares and diversified routes, the transport ministry said Monday.The number of local passengers who used the full-service carriers for overseas travel fell 5.4 percent year-over-year to 2.45 million in the first five months of 2017. In contrast, passengers who chose LCCs over FSCs on international routes soared to

Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister company Kia Motors Corp. outsold Toyota Motor Corp. in Mexico in the first half of this year, the South Korean carmakers said Monday. The strong sales comes as Hyundai and Kia reported weak numbers in the key US and Chinese markets due to a lack of new models and diplomatic rows, respectively.The two Korean carmakers sold a combined 61,616 vehicles in Mexico in the first six months, up a solid 53 percent from 40,264 units a year earlier. Sales by rival Toyota ros