Park Han-chul, chief justice of the Constitutional Court, reiterated his calls for a speedy ruling in the impeachment trial of President Park Geun-hye at his retirement ceremony Tuesday. “The public are united in the view that a conclusion (on the impeachment) should be made as soon as possible, given the gravity of the situation in which the president has been suspended from duty for nearly two months,” the justice said, ending his six-year term as a member of the nine-judge court. Park’s farew

Seoul City is considering taking punitive measures against President Park Geun-hye’s supporters who installed tents without approval in front of the Seoul City Hall building to stage protests and advocate for the embattled leader.“Pro-Park civic groups installed some 40 tents illegally in the corner of the Seoul Plaza without getting the city government’s approval, where it is a public space open for all,” said the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s spokesperson Kang Tae-woong during a briefing Tue

The South Korean government is considering levying an additional tax on liquor, stirring up a heated public debate. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday it is currently reviewing ways to increase the prices of liquor and tobacco, either by newly levying or increasing “health promotion fees” imposed on them.  “Nothing has been confirmed on liquor or tobacco price hikes at this point,” a ministry official said. The ministry said the price hikes are not considered ways to make up for the

The Democratic Party of Korea, South Korea’s largest political party currently enjoying the highest approval ratings, kicked off its presidential primary on Tuesday, with one of its strongest contenders registering his candidacy.  Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung, the second most favored liberal presidential candidate according to polls, registered his preliminary candidacy for the liberal party’s presidential nomination, becoming the second to do so. “This year’s presidential election shall not be

One out of every 10 imports in the Chinese markets came from South Korea last year, data showed Tuesday, in the latest sign of deepening economic ties between the two neighbors.China imported South Korean goods worth $158.9 billion last year, the Korea International Trade Association said, citing China's customs data. It means that South Korean products accounted for 10 percent of China's total imports last year.  (Yonhap)Separately, China's commerce ministry said China attracted $113.8 billion

The prices of computer memory chips surged 39 percent on-month in January, industry data showed Tuesday, boding well for South Korea's leading chipmakers -- Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc.The spot price of the benchmark 4-gigabit DDR3 came to US$2.69 as of Wednesday, compared to an average spot price of $1.94 a month earlier, according to the data by market tracker DRAMeXchange. (Yonhap)It marks the biggest on-month jump since the data was compiled in July 2012, DRAMeXchange said.The s

Nearly one in every three vehicle tires shipped to South Korea last year was produced in China, market data showed Tuesday.The country imported about $599 million worth of tires in 2016, according to the Korea Tire Manufacturers Association. Of the total, $175 million worth, or 33.6 percent, was from China, up 2.1 percent from the previous year. (Yonhap)German tires accounted for 9.5 percent of the total, followed by Japanese products with a 9-percent market share.Notably, China accounted for 79

Ordinary North Koreans are showing an inclination to own cars as the growth of marketplaces fuels capitalism even as the country is run by a repressive regime, South Korea's unification ministry said Tuesday.Under civil law, North Koreans are allowed to possess cars and bequeath or inherit them, but in reality, people register cars under the name of organizations, not under the name of individuals.Local newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported that ordinary North Koreans have been permitted to register

South Korea's central bank vowed Tuesday to keep the current monetary easing policy to support growth amid uncertainties at home and abroad.The Bank of Korea has left its key rate unchanged at an all-time low of 1.25 percent since June when it made a surprise rate cut to bolster Asia's fourth-biggest economy. (Yonhap)"We plan to maintain the monetary easing policy to support the recovery of economic growth," the BOK said in a report submitted to the National Assembly earlier in the day.The BOK a

The South Korean character industry has grown rapidly for the last decade, pulled by the growth of local animations and, more recently, by the popularity of character-rich mobile app services like Kakao Talk, data shows Tuesday.According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, total sales in the character industry jumped 11.4 percent to 10.08 trillion won ($8.6 billion) in 2015 from 9.05 trillion won the prior year. Given the number was 2.07 trillion won in 2005, it has increased nearly fivefold o

South Korea plans to sell 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) worth of Treasury bills next month to speed up frontloading of the government spending in the coming months, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The bills will have a maturity of 63 days and be sold in three separate auctions throughout the month, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. (Yonhap)Treasury bills are designed to raise money to cover short-term financial shortfalls, and thus are generally sold with a maturity of less th

Two South Korean tech giants - Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. - have helped local retail investors reduce part of their losses on the local stock market this month, data showed Tuesday.Individual investors, called "ants" here, tend to lose money in many cases, versus institutions which reap relatively high returns. An investor monitors stock prices on an electronic board at the Seoul bourse in this file photo. (Yonhap)The average yield of the ten most popular stocks among those retail

 President Park Geun-hye's attorneys and the independent counsel team are considering holding face-to-face questioning of the impeached leader over her corruption allegations as early as next week, a presidential aide said Tuesday.The two sides have been coordinating the date and venue for the direct inquiry as the probe team is accelerating its investigation into a highly charged scandal involving the chief executive and her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil."No decision has yet to be made, but

The outgoing chief of the Constitutional Court insisted Tuesday that the impeachment trial of President Park Geun-hye should end as soon as possible in line with the wishes of the people.Park Han-chul made the remark during his retirement ceremony, ending a six-year term as a member of the nine-member bench, just days after he first raised the need to deliver a ruling by March 13, the retirement date of fellow Justice Lee Jung-mi. He voiced concern at the time that an additional vacancy on the b

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of US automaker General Motors Co., will begin to sell the Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle in the local market this week, the company said Tuesday.The Volt EV will be available at any Chevrolet dealership here from Wednesday, the company said in a press release. The Chevrolet Volt EV (GM Korea)The second-generation Volt has what the company called an extended range of 676 kilometers.The new plug-in hybrid car can travel up to 89 kilometers off its battery afte

A professor at a state-run think tank has suggested calling North Korea a "nuclear-armed state," a term which would acknowledge the country's nuke capabilities but not accept the legitimacy of its weapons possession."There is a need to draw a clear line between the objective fact on North Korea's nuclear (weapons) possession and the issue of the nuclear-weapon status," professor Jun Bong-geun at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security said in his policy paper issued last week.IFAN

An international cruise ship operator has cut the number of its services linking China directly with South Korea, a move deemed to be in line with Beijing's retaliatory steps against Seoul's planned installment of a US anti-missile defense system, industry sources said Tuesday.According to the sources, MSC, which operates cruise ships departing from the Northeastern Chinese city of Tianjin directly bound for South Korea, now offers three fewer trips than usual as of the start of this year. The c

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Tuesday reaffirmed his resolve to maintain close cooperation with parliament in stably managing state affairs hamstrung by President Park Geun-hye's impeachement.During a Cabinet meeting, Hwang voiced hopes that the government and parliament will ensure smooth coordination through various communication channels, including "high-level" meetings, during a one-month extraordinary parliamentary session that begins Wednesday."To address pending iss

The government on Tuesday unveiled the final version of a set of state-authored history textbooks amid an ongoing dispute over their interpretation of key political events.The new textbooks for middle and high school students were disclosed during a press conference at the Ministry of Education in Sejong, 121 kilometers south of Seoul, following more than a year of wrangling between the conservative and liberal camps.The controversy began after the conservative administration of President Park G

Samsung Electronics Co. is developing a new smartphone that runs on the next Tizen operating system, apparently to decrease its dependence on Google Inc.'s Android platform, industry sources said Tuesday.The South Korean tech giant currently has a device in the pipeline that will be the company's first smartphone with the impending Tizen 3.0, sources with knowledge of the matter said. Samsung Electronics Co.'s Z2 powered by the Tizen operating system (Samsung Electronics Co.)"Samsung has just be