The organizing committee for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games has selected KEB Hana Bank as its preferred negotiating partner for an Olympic sponsorship, a banking industry source said Tuesday.The source said KEB Hana Bank beat out two candidates in the open bid last week, and it will negotiate the size of the sponsorship deal and other conditions with PyeongChang organizers over the next month or so. (Yonhap)Once the deal is finalized, KEB Hank Bank will be the main banking partner for the fir

Five former and current senior employees at GM Korea Co. have been indicted, along with many other employees and labor union leaders, on charges of selling job openings, prosecutors said Tuesday.Out of a total 346 employees whose status have been changed from a contract worker to a permanent worker from 2012 to 2016, 123, or 35.5 percent, are suspected to have been hired through the illicit process, the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office said, wrapping up its eight-month investigation.  (Yonha

South Korea's military will expand the use of big data this year in predicting enemy threats and bolstering its defense readiness, the defense ministry said Tuesday.Defense officials, venture firms and experts gathered at a seminar in Seoul to discuss ways to further utilize big data in beefing up the military's defense capabilities against North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats, according to theMinistry of National Defense.     "This year, we are planning to set up a system to analyz

Ko Young-tae, the man who President Park Geun-hye’s lawyers said was the seed of a scandal that led to her impeachment, called the claim “disgusting.” Park's lawyers said at the impeachment trial last week that the president’s friendship with Choi Soon-sil had no problems until Choi started an affair with Ko, a former fencing champion 20 years her junior. Ko, after learning Choi’s close ties to the president, sought to derive personal gains from it and as he failed held grudge against Choi and P

SK Innovation Co., South Korea's top oil refiner, will shoot for more mergers and acquisitions this year, which will lead to a boost in corporate value, its president has said.Kim Jun made the remarks at a gathering of top executives of its affiliates in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)"We need to invest big in order to reshape our business portfolio, and mergers and acquisitions would be under review, while we will seek to minimize our financial burden," he was cited by the company as saying.Kim sai

A resumption of the now-shuttered joint industrial complex could spark a row over the breaking of the latest UN sanctions resolutions against North Korea, a government official said Tuesday.With the shutdown of the Kaesong Industrial Complex marking the first anniversary this week, whether to resume the factory zone is emerging as a key issue, particularly among presidential hopefuls.Seoul's unification ministry said that North Korea's commitment to ending its nuclear and missile programs should

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a major shipyard here, has promised job security for its employees who work at non-shipbuilding business units scheduled to be spun off this year, stressing that hiving off such units will boost their corporate value.Earlier, the shipyard's labor union demanded that the company scrap its plan to spin off non-shipbuilding units, which it claims will lead to a sell-off. (Yonhap)Last year, Hyundai Heavy unveiled a scheme to reorganize its businesses into six separate c

South Korea's state financial watchdog said Tuesday its priority this year is to reinforce readiness to cope with US interest rate increases, the possible impact from North Korean nuclear threats and other emergency situations.The Financial Supervisory Service will immediately shift to a 24-hour emergency response mode if necessary and put "contingency plans" into operation. The logo of the Financial Supervisory Service (Yonhap)Announcing its 2017 policy direction, the FSS placed a "pre-emptive

KEB Hana Bank ranked top in customer satisfaction in services among lenders, while Shinhan Bank was named No. 1 for its mobile app, survey results out Tuesday from the Korea Consumer Agency said.A poll asking 1,600 customers to rate eight banks with nationwide branches showed KEB Hana received 3.68 out of five points. Shinhan came in close second with 3.66 points, Woori and KB Kookmin tying at 3.63 points, and Nonghyup Bank following at 3.61 points. Industrial Bank of Korea and Citi Bank both ea

South Korea launched a joint committee of the government and the private sector to coordinate policies on the car industry, which has been suffering from contracted demand at home and abroad, the government said Tuesday."The South Korean car industry is at a turning point amid the ongoing fourth industrial revolution, rapid growth of China and India, and rising uncertainties in global trade," Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan said in a kickoff meeting of the joint committee in Seoul. (Yonhap)"In ord

South Korea's mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries saw their production remain in a deep slump in recent months, with their business sentiment falling sharply, government data showed Tuesday.According to the data compiled by Statistics Korea, output of 43 industrial sectors out of 80 fell in December from a month earlier, while that of 37 companies rose. (Yonhap)As a result, the production ratio index which represents the percentage of businesses posting output growth reached 46

A Seoul court sentenced an ex-prosecutor to two and a half years in prison on Tuesday for receiving kickbacks from his friend in return for peddling influence in an investigation, the latest ruling in a serious of corruption scandals that rocked the country's legal circle.The Seoul Central District Court found Kim Hyung-joon guilty of receiving some 27 million won ($23,600) worth of bribes from his high school friend, identified only by his surname Kim. In return, he promised to lobby local pros

(Yonhap)South Korean actor So Ji-sub will kick off his fan-meeting tour of Asian countries in Taipei in April,  his agency said Tuesday.The Asia tour titled "Twenty: The Moment" will begin in the Taiwanese capital on April 2 and take him to Seoul, Jakarta and Hong Kong, 51K Company said. It said the actor prepared various onstage events to better communicate with his fans.Schedules and other details of the forthcoming tour will become available via his official Web site at sojisub.com.The model-

North Korea vowed Tuesday to further launch what it claims to be satellites into space as it marked the first anniversary of firing off a long-range rocket in defiance of international condemnation.The successful launch of North Korea's satellite, named "Kwangmyongsong-4," in 2016 confirmed the country as a space program powerhouse, according to the Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper.The placing of the satellite into orbit was viewed by outside experts as Pyongyang's effort to test its lo

South Korea is planning to select a preliminary candidate site for the new Daegu airport this month, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The Ministry of National Defense has recently sent a letter asking if the five counties all located 300 kilometers south of Seoul, are interested in hosting an airport that will also serve as a military airbase, a ministry spokesman said. The five counties are Guneui, Uiseong, Goryeong and Seongju in North Gyeongsang Province and Dalseong, a district in Daegu, t

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Tuesday repeated his ambiguous stance over whether to run in the presidential election this year, saying he will clarify it at an "appropriate" time.In a meeting with reporters, Hwang made the remarks, reinforcing speculation that he could join the election that could come earlier than expected due to President Park Geun-hye's impeachment. Originally voters were set to go to the polls in December to pick the next chief executive."There will be

North Korea is compelling discharged soldiers to settle in areas that were devastated by floods during a powerful typhoon in August last year as there were more new houses constructed than people can live in, a US broadcaster said Tuesday.A resident of Pyongyang who visited China told the Radio Free Asia that the North Korean authorities are forcing former servicemen to live in houses left over in North Hamgyong Province, adding he learned about it through acquaintances living in the northern pr

The floor leader of the conservative opposition Bareun Party on Tuesday proposed creating a bipartisan security policy consultative panel, warning against some presidential aspirants' "populist" arguments on North Korea and national defense ahead of a key election this year.During his address to the National Assembly, Rep. Joo Ho-young also called on political parties to accept a Constitutional Court ruling on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment to be delivered by early June and voicing concer

The government will install streetlights at over 770 pedestrian crosswalks as a way of reducing traffic accidents at sites that currently lack adequate lighting, the transportation ministry said Tuesday.In 2015, more than 25 percent, or 1,168 people, out of the total 4,621 killed in traffic accidents were pedestrians using crosswalks, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.Also, more than 62 percent of all accidents at crosswalks took place at night, apparently suggestin

Six Korean films, including award-winning director Hong Sang-soo's latest movie, will be screened at the Berlin International Film Festival set to kick off this week. (Finecut)Hong's "On the Beach at Night Alone" will be featured in the main competition category, while five others will be shown in noncompetition sections."On the Beach" is Hong's 19th feature film and third foray to Berlin after "Night and Day" (2008) and "Nobody's Daughter Haewon" (2013). It will be Korea's first film to advance