About 1 in 5 private companies in South Korea used telecommuting last year, allowing their employees to work via mobile telecommunications technology, not at their office buildings, a survey showed Thursday. According to the survey of 1,700 employees and 300 managers, 18.6 percent of the respondents said they worked from home and other places without commuting to their offices last year, up 4.4 percentage points from 2015.(Yonhap)The survey was jointly conducted by the Ministry of Science, ICT a

LG Electronics Inc. said Thursday it will launch two smartwatches that run on the next Android operating system in the United States later this week.LG's Watch Style and Watch Sport -- which are Google Inc.'s first Android Wear 2.0 wearables -- will hit the shelves in the US on Friday (local time), the South Korean tech company said. LG Electronics Inc. will launch two smartwatches that on the next Android operating systems (OS) in the United States on Feb. 10, 2017. (LG Electronics Inc.)Android

South Korea's finance minister on Thursday dismissed speculations that Asia's fourth-largest economy could suffer another financial crisis similar to one that hit the country two decades ago, citing its solid fiscal fundamentals.The talk of another crisis has recently emerged as the country has been grappling with weak exports, flagging domestic consumption and a leadership crisis triggered by the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal. Yoo Il-ho, South Korea's finance

South Korea's military has revised its long-term defense reform plan to better cope with North Korean threats, including the creation of special units tasked to neutralize its leadership and key facilities in case of contingencies, officials said Thursday. "We have made the revision in a bid to secure the most urgent defense capabilities against North Korean threats over the next five years (through 2021)," a high-ranking ministry official told reporters in a background briefing. "Under the chan

South Korea, Japan and China will hold a trilateral meeting to coordinate their policies on cyber security in Tokyo this week, including their joint response to North Korea's evolving cyber threats, the foreign ministry said Thursday.South Korean Ambassador for International Security Affairs Shin Maeng-ho will meet with his counterparts, Koichi Mizushima of Japan and Long Zhou of China, in the third round of the Cyber Policy Consultation set for Friday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affai

Samsung Electronics Co. emerged as the leader in the global virtual reality market in 2016, accounting for more than 70 percent of 6.3 million VR devices shipped worldwide, a report showed Thursday.The South Korean tech giant sold about 4.51 million units last year, or 71.6 percent of total shipments, the report by analytics firm SuperData showed. (Samsung Electronics Co.)Samsung launched the Gear VR in 2014 in cooperation with the Oculus VR, which connects to high-end Samsung smartphones. The G

KB Financial Group said Thursday its net profit jumped 26.2 percent last year to exceed 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) largely on improved profitability.The South Korean banking giant posted 2.14 trillion won in full-year net profit, up 26.2 percent from a year earlier. It marks the first time in five years for the group's net profit to top 2 trillion won. A man passes by a Seoul building of KB Financial Group and KB Kookmin Bank in this photo provided by Yonhap News TV. (Yonhap)KB cited increase

Any restart of denuclearization talks with Pyongyang will likely end up as a “great fraud” due to its firm resolve to master its nuclear program, massive political risks for South Korean and US leaders, and the lack of solid monitoring mechanisms, a former senior North Korean diplomat said Thursday. Thae Yong-ho, who served as the No. 2 man at the communist state’s embassy in London before defecting to the South last summer, said that despite calls for dialogue, a new round of gathering would on

The Constitutional Court actively intervened in the questioning process during the impeachment trial of President Park Geun-hye on Thursday, in an apparent attempt to quicken the proceedings. During the 12th hearing of the trial, justices interrupted both legal representatives of the president and the parliament several times and asked for “efficiency” in the questioning process, taking issue with their repetitive and unclear questions. “He already answered the question. The purpose of the quest

The special counsel team investigating the President Park Geun-hye scandal on Thursday cried foul over the Presidential Office’s unilateral cancellation of an interrogation of the president. “There has been no contact between the probe team and the Blue House (to reschedule the session) since the cancellation,” said Lee Kyu-chul, the counsel office’s spokesperson, at a press briefing.“Since we ruled out a forced investigation on the president, there is no possibility of a Park interview, if the

Over 400 artists allegedly blacklisted by the Park Geun-hye administration for their critical views of the government have filed a lawsuit against Park and her former top presidential aides, their lawyers said Thursday.  According to Minbyun, or Lawyers for a Democratic Society, the group has so far recruited 461 artists and cultural figures as plaintiffs in a case against the government and individuals involved in drawing up a list of cultural figures deemed unfavorable to the Park administrati

Two South Korean idol stars started their military service Thursday, temporarily leaving behind the glamorous world of show business as well as teary fans.   (Herald DB)Although Big Bang's T.O.P and JYJ's Kim Jun-su had previously warned there would not be any events for fans in front of the basic training camp in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, some 200 fans nonetheless showed up to wish them well.Fans, some from as far as China and Japan, held up signs for their super stars that read "Stay

The conservative opposition Bareun Party on Thursday joined left-wing opposition groups’ push to extend the period for the ongoing special investigation into the scandal involving President Park Geun-hye, currently set to end Feb. 28.  “The Bareun Party requests acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn approve extending the period for Park’s special probe,” Rep. Jang Je-won said after their party meeting. “If Hwang refuses, the Bareun Party will join the opposition parties to pass a leg

For President Park Geun-hye, her entire fate is riding on the Constitutional Court’s ongoing trial of her impeachment, the result of which will determine whether she is to complete her term in office or to step down in disgrace.Striving to shun the worst scenario, Park and her legal aides have apparently adopted a dual strategy -- delaying the trial as much as possible, and resisting the special investigation at all costs.“President Park should never have complied with the special prosecutors’ i

The South Korean government Thursday raised the country’s foot-and-mouth disease watch level to “serious,” the highest in the country’s disease control system, after two different virus strains were confirmed. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs issued a travel ban for all livestock in the country, while ordering tougher quarantine and sterilization measures. Eighty-six livestock markets across the nation will be closed while the ban is in place. It comes less than two days after

Suwon, a city just south of Seoul, is known mostly for being home to the headquarters of the world’s No. 1 chipmaker Samsung Electronics and the UNESCO-designated Hwaseong Fortress.  Its mayor now wants to make the city famous for something else: democracy. “I will work to make a government for the citizens, by the citizens,” said Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young in an interview with The Korea Herald. “What people demanded during the candlelight protests (against President Park Geun-hye) is to build a

The supply of goods both locally produced and imported in South Korea rose at the fastest pace in three years in the fourth quarter of last year, aided by a boom in the chipmaking and construction sectors, government data showed Thursday.The index of domestic manufacturing supply gained 3.6 percent in the October-December period from a year earlier, with Korean-made products gaining 2.8 percent on-year and imported goods also rising 5.5 percent on-year, according to the report by Statistics Kore

South Korea is confirmed to have more than 47,000 indigenous species of animals and plants for the first time in 20 years, with more than 100,000 native species presumed to exist on the entire Korean Peninsula, a state-run think tank said Thursday.The National Institute of Biological Resources, affiliated with the Environment Ministry, put the number of the country's indigenous biological species at 47,003 as of December last year, which it has listed as part of a project to establish a comprehe

South Korea's financial authorities said Thursday they will offer a consolidated information service on foreign currency exchange starting later this week for a growing number of outbound travelers.A total of 22.7 million people left South Korea for foreign countries last year alone, the Financial Supervisory Service said, citing data from the Justice Ministry's immigration office. Travelers exchange currencies at Incheon International Airport in this undated file photo. (Yonhap)Many South Korea

South Korean banks' household loans increased at a modest pace last month on interest rate hikes and less trade in the housing sector, the central bank said Thursday.Loans extended to households here rose 100 billion won ($87.1 million) in January, far less than the 3.4 trillion won recorded a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. A scene of a mortgage loan service team at a Seoul bank in an undated file photo. (Yonhap)Mortgage loans grew 800 billion won during the month to 533.7 trilli