Volatility in won-dollar exchange rates rose sharply last month amid uncertainty over the Donald Trump administration's policy direction, while the Korean currency gained ground against the greenback, central bank data showed Thursday.The daily foreign exchange variation of the won-dollar rate averaged 0.60 percent in the month, up from 0.34 percent in December and 0.47 percent in November, according to the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)The figure shows how much the rate changes compared with the previ

Most leading conglomerates in South Korea have yet to finalize their hiring plans for this year, making university graduates and other young jobseekers jittery, sources said Thursday.Amid a prolonged economic slump and the fallout from a massive corruption scandal, many family-controlled business groups are still working on employment plans for 2017, with some feared to cut the number of new employees. This undated file photo shows a student looking at employment notices at a Seoul university. (

The South Korean government said Thursday that it will strike a balance between rice supply and demand by 2019 through efforts to reduce rice cultivation and boost consumption.The country has been suffering from a chronic oversupply of the staple grain for years due to a sharp drop in rice consumption. (Yonhap)Some 300,000 tons of rice remained in excess last year, as the 4.2 million ton supply outnumbers the 3.9 million tons consumed, and the glut will likely stay at 200,000 tons in 2017.Meanwh

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., a major construction firm, said Thursday that it swung to the red last year from a year earlier as it put aside reserves against potential losses related to overseas projects.Net loss reached 794 billion won ($692 million) last year, compared with a profit of 146 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.(Yonhap)Sales increased 11.2 percent on-year to reach 10.99 trillion won last year, while it logged an operating loss of 503 bill

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's decision to give a one-year suspended jail sentence to the wife of a ruling party lawmaker for illicit electioneering, a verdict that caused the politician to lose his parliamentary seat.It marked the first time that a lawmaker, elected in last year's general elections, has lost a seat at the 300-member National Assembly. The ruling has reduced the number of Saenuri Party lawmakers to 94.   The wife of Kim Jong-tae, who represented a constitue

South Korea's telecom giants are engaged in a war of nerves over the title of "world's first" concerning the artificial intelligence-based Internet TV service, which could hurt customers, industry watchers said Thursday.The controversy revolves around KT Corp.'s TV set-top box with an AI system. The top Internet service provider requested the broadcast advertising watchdog Wednesday suspend deliberation of its planned TV commercial on the new device. Models pose during KT Corp.'s launch ceremony

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co., seeks to sell 194,000 cars in South Korea in 2017, the company said Thursday.The annual domestic sales target was released at a workshop for the company's 400-strong dealerships held in Incheon on Wednesday. James Kim (R), president and CEO of GM Korea, poses for a picture after introducing the all new Chevrolet Cruze compact car in a media showcase in Seoul on Jan. 17, 2017. (Yonhap)GM Korea CEO James Kim earlier said his

South Korea's imports of candies and chocolates reached a fresh record high last year on growing demand for foreign confectioneries, customs data showed Thursday.A record $373 million worth of chocolates and candies, or 64,000 tons, were imported last year, up 8.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data released by the Korea Customs Service. (Yonhap)The amount of confectionery imports has been on a sharp rise in recent years, hitting new record highs every year since 2010. Imports of

Trade between the United States and North Korea plummeted drastically to the low $100,000 range last year in the face of tightening American sanctions over the North's defiant nuclear tests, data showed Thursday.Bilateral trade volume stood at $139,334 between the US and North Korea last year, which marks only 2.9 percent of what the countries traded in 2015, according to the data listed by the US Census Bureau.It was the first time two-way trade volume has fallen to the $100,000 level since 199

A Seoul court on Thursday ordered the eldest son of the late owner of a ferry, which sank in 2014 killing more than 300, to pay 75 million won ($65,000) in compensation to the government for its handling of the disaster.The ferry Sewol sank in waters off South Korea's southwestern coast on April 16, 2014.The government sued Yoo Dae-kyun, son of the ferry's late owner Yoo Byung-eun, for 3.54 billion won for the cost involved in handling the disaster, including compensation to the families of the

As many as 60,000 North Koreans plan to hold a mass rally near Mount Paektu on the border with China on the birthday of the late leader Kim Jong-il next week to pay allegiance to the ruling Kim family, a US broadcaster said Thursday.A source in the northern Yanggang Province told the Radio Free Asia that North Korean youth and students, and residents will take part in a series of political events, including the rally in the province's border town of Samjiyon on the birthday, which falls on Feb.

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday said President Park Geun-hye would undergo direct questioning soon "when trust is restored with special prosecutors," dismissing speculation that she would boycott the corruption probe.The remarks came a day after Cheong Wa Dae lashed out at special prosecutors investigating the high-profile scandal involving the president and her friend, for leaking the schedule for the face-to-face questioning of the president.Local media outlets reported Wedne

Husbands are more satisfied with their marriages than wives in South Korea, a survey showed Thursday, indicating that married men's involvement in household work is still insufficient. The survey of 476 married men and 576 married women, conducted between June and November last year, showed that 72.2 percent of the husbands described their marriages as "positive," compared with53.7 percent of the wives who said so. The survey was jointly conducted by the state-run Korea Institute for Health and

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said South Korea is already paying large amounts to support American troops stationed in the country and the two countries will be able to produce an "equitable burden-sharing" deal.Tillerson made the remark in a written answer to questions from Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) before his confirmation as secretary, responding to a question whether he would be willing to pull US troops out of South Korea and Japan unless a "fair" burden-sharing agreement cannot be reache

South Korea's Marine Corps chief on Thursday left for the United States for a week-long visit to discuss enhancing cooperation between the allies and expanding the role of the marines in countering North Korea.  Marine Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Lee Sang-hoon will meet his US counterpart Gen. Robert B. Neller during his trip, in reciprocation of Neller's Seoul visit in October. It marks the first US visit by South Korea's Marines chief in a decade, the Marine Corps said in a statement. Marine Corp

Special prosecutors questioned the jailed friend of President Park Geun-hye on Thursday after she answered a summons in an unexpected move ahead of a face-to-face interrogation of the president. Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of an influence-peddling scandal rocking the country, appeared before Independent Counsel Park Young-soo's team at its office in southern Seoul. It was the first time in weeks for her to comply with a summons voluntarily.Choi Soon-sil appears before the Independent Cou

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Thursday ordered quarantine authorities to finish vaccinating all cows this week, amid the spread of foot-and-mouth disease reported in the country earlier this week.Hwang made the remarks a day after another infection was confirmed in Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul, following two cases reported in central North Chungcheong Province and southwestern North Jeolla Province on Monday and Tuesday, respectively."I call for all-out efforts

A former South Korean unification minister said Thursday the now-shuttered inter-Korean industrial complex needs to be reopened, with the closure of the park entering the first year this weekSeoul's previous administrations had used the operation of the Kaesong Industrial Complex as the symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation, former Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae told a radio program."I think the complex should be reopened," said Ryoo, who served as the country's point man on North Korean aff

South Korean badminton star Lee Yong-dae will tie the knot with his longtime girlfriend, an official from the athlete's sports club said Thursday. (Yonhap)Lee, who won the gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will marry actress Byun Soo-mi, whose stage name is Han Soo-hyun, an official with the Yonex badminton club said.The official added the athlete-actress couple will have a private wedding ceremony, but the exact date and location are still unknown.Lee and Byun have been

The head of a major business lobby in Seoul on Thursday urged the government to further remove unnecessary regulations governing the country's labor market, saying they are preventing the creation of new jobs across all industrial sectors.Bahk Byong-won, chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, also called on the government to stop producing what he called budget-wasting jobs. Dozens of jobseekers attend a job fair hosted by the Busan office of the Korea Employers Federation in Busan, South K