South Korean households benefited less from the country's economic growth in 2015 than a year earlier, data showed Tuesday, as their income stagnated amid corporate reluctance to invest.According to the data by the Bank of Korea, households and nonprofit organizations serving them recorded a combined income of 970.4 trillion won ($853 billion) in 2015, or 62 percent of the country's gross national income at 1,565.8 trillion won. Park Seung, former chief of the Bank of Korea, speaks during an eco

South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Tuesday warned of North Korea's possible strategic provocations ahead of the birthday of its late former leader next week, stressing the need for Seoul to maintain strong security cooperation with its ally Washington.During a Cabinet meeting, Hwang also noted that US Defense Secretary James Mattis' visit to Seoul last week reaffirmed the robust bilateral alliance and sent a "strong" warning to an increasingly provocative Pyongyan

Aided by improved cracking margins, inventory gains and solid demand for petrochemical products, local oil refiners are forecast to have pocketed record earnings last year, and their stellar performance may continue into this year, analysts say.Oil prices have been in the doldrums since 2015 on concerns of an oversupply, and things were almost the same, as international sanctions on Iran were lifted allowing the oil-rich country to add new barrels to an already glutted global market. (Yonhap)Cru

The Constitutional Court on Tuesday opened the 11th hearing of President Park Geun-hye's impeachment trial as uncertainties persisted over when and how the ruling will be delivered.Two witnesses were scheduled to testify to help the justices determine the legitimacy of Park's impeachment. The third witness Kim Ki-choon, a former presidential chief of staff seen as a key witness in the trial, submitted a statement to the court Monday to indicate his planned absence. He cited health issues.Jeong H

The Polish government plans to take legal action to prevent the North Korean Embassy in Warsaw from continuing on its alleged illegal commercial activities, a US-based media said Tuesday.Voice of America reported that the European country's foreign ministry has sent VOA an email saying it will take additional steps to terminate the embassy's illegal activities in line with new sanctions that the UN Security Council imposed on the North in response to its fifth and largest nuclear test.The North

SK hynix Inc., the world's second-largest maker of computer memory chips, has submitted a bid to acquire a 20 percent stake in Toshiba Corp.'s memory chip business, an industry source said Tuesday. The bid is aimed at strengthening SK hynix's NAND flash memory business as global demand for flash memory chips is roaring.  (Yonhap)SK hynix submitted the bid last Friday, with a deal expected to cost between 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) and 3 trillion won, according to the source.In January, Toshib

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a precision machine factory in Pyongyang, calling for its employees to steadily improve their technical skills, state-run media said Tuesday.The North's leader made an inspection to the Kangdong Precision Machine Plant, stressing the need for its workers to "make it part of their everyday life to acquire the knowledge of cutting-edge science and technology," according to the Korean Central News Agency monitored in Seoul.He said that by doing so, the fa

The United States and Japan have successfully carried out a missile interception test with a jointly developed interceptor missile, the US Missile Defense Agency said. The test took place off Hawaii early Saturday (Eastern Time), with the Aegis-equipped destroyer USS John Paul Jones shooting down a medium-range ballistic missile target with the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor missile, the agency said in a statement.The SM-3 Block IIA is being developed cooperatively by the United States and Japan to

The United States has approved a proposed sale to South Korea of two sets of advanced short-range missiles designed to arm fighter jets, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.South Korea had requested to buy 60 AIM-9X-2 Sidewinder Block II All-up-Round missiles, six guidance units and other associated support for $70 million. The country also asked to buy 89 AGM-65G-2 Maverick missiles, missile containers and other related elements for another $70 million, the agency said. F-16 fighter je

The number of companies listed on South Korea's equity market is expected to top 2,000 this year on the entry of new ones, especially onto the tech-heavy KOSDAQ, data suggested Tuesday.A total of 1,987 firms were registered with the Korea Exchange, South Korea's sole bourse operator, as of the end of last year. A stock investor monitors share prices on an electronic board at the Korea Exchange in this undated file photo. (Yonhap)Compared to a year earlier, the number of companies listed on the m

South Korea's rapid population aging may make the country's monetary policy virtually ineffective down the road by neutralizing its ripple effect on the real economy, a report said Tuesday.According to the report based on the data of 25 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development between 1995 and 2014, an interest rate hike led to the conventional ripple effects of dwindling household consumption, a fall in stock prices and declining household debt in countries, with the

A group of South Korean scientists discovered a new magnetic resonance imaging  platform that selectively finds diseased cells, the state-run research center said Tuesday, a development that could overcome the limits of the current MRI technology.The team led by Cheon Jin-woo at the Center for Nanomedicine under the Institute for Basic Science developed the so-called "nano MRI lamp" which activates MRI signals only in the presence of the disease target. (Institute for Basic Science)"This study c

The special prosecutor’s team looking into the President Park Geun-hye scandal is “positively considering” asking for an extension of its 90-day investigation period, citing the need to look at the case more thoroughly, it said Monday.  Lee Kyu-chul, the spokesperson for independent counsel Park Yong-soo, said at the briefing that more work has to be done in order to wrap up its investigation on charges against President Park and her close friend Choi Soon-sil. 　In response to a question on whet

North Korea accused South Korea, the United States and Japan on Monday of carrying out drills aimed at pre-emptively attacking the communist country, and threatened to take retaliatory actions in response.The threat carried by North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper came after the three regional partners conducted a joint three-day exercise from Jan. 20 to detect and track potential North Korean missile launches.The recent missile alert exercise, the third of its kind carried by the three nations,

Former Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo on Monday called on the Constitutional Court to rule against the parliamentary impeachment of President Park Geun-hye as the potential presidential candidate of the Saenuri Party apparently maneuvers to woo conservative votes."Considering the current situation, grounds do not seem to be sufficient (for the court) to uphold Park's impeachment," Kim, a staunch rightist and a member of the ruling party's ad-hoc leadership committee, told a news confere

The US has proposed deploying its largest stealthy destroyer in South Korea as the allies are exploring ways to better deter North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Monday.During a meeting with South Korean lawmakers last month in Hawaii, Adm. Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command, floated the idea of the USS Zumwalt being stationed at Jeju Island or Jinhae, homes to South Korea‘s naval bases on the southern tip of the peninsula, ministry spok

North Korea renamed its financial planning department in an effort to empower the government ministry to newly take charge of practical economic affairs, a Pyongyang source has said."The Financial Planning Department under the Workers' Party of Korea was renamed last year as the Department of Economy," the source told Yonhap News Agency. O Su-yong, a vice chairman of the ruling party's Central Committee is heading the renamed ministry, the source said.  (Yonhap)The rebranding broadened the depar

The National Assembly on Monday passed a motion to request Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn appear at a parliamentary interpellation session later this week.The passage followed Hwang's refusal last Thursday to join the session on the grounds that his attendance at the session for long hours could lead to a government vacuum in case of a national emergency.The two-day interpellation session begins Thursday. The motion calls for Yoo Il-ho, deputy prime minister for economic affai

SK Innovation Co., South Korea's top oil refiner, said Monday that its rating was raised by global credit appraisers for its strong bottom line.Moody's Investors Service has raised its rating on SK Innovation to 'Baa1,' from 'Baa2,' the highest-ever grade given by the global rating agency to the refiner, it said. (Yonhap)Another rating agency, the Standard & Poor's, also upped its rating on SK Innovation to 'BBB+' from 'BBB,' according to the firm.The rating given to SK Innovation is the highest

Signs are growing over a strung-out standoff between Seoul and Tokyo as the Korean government is grappling with the statue of a wartime sex slave in Busan that has triggered a heated protest from Japan. On Jan. 6, Tokyo instructed its Ambassador to Korea Yasumasa Nagamine and Busan Consul General Yasuhiro Morimoto to return home in protest against the statue installed in front of the Japanese consulate general in Busan at the end of December. The Shinzo Abe government also declared a halt in hig