South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party said Tuesday the Constitutional Court should not be in a hurry to make its ruling on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment to ensure fairness.The remark came as Park Han-chul, the outgoing chief of the nine-justice court, earlier called for a verdict to be given by March 13 to ensure a fair trial. The chief justice steps down on Tuesday with the term of his fellow judge Lee Jung-mi ending on March 13.Rep. Chung Woo-taik, the party whip, said it was inappropriat

South Korea is unlikely to approve a move by a local civic group to contact North Koreans in China next month, citing inter-Korean tensions, a government official said Tuesday.The South Korean Committee for the Joint Implementation of the June 15 Summit Declaration seeking to hold joint events requested the unification ministry last week approve its plan to meet with its North Korean counterparts in Shenyang on Feb. 7-8 to discuss ways to promote exchanges between the two Koreas.The ministry sai

Hyun Bin and Yoo Hae-jin star in a scene from “Confidential Assignment.” (CJ Entertainment)A Korean comedy-action film about an inter-Korean secret police mission claimed the top spot at the box office over the weekend, dethroning a local political thriller, data showed on Tuesday."Confidential Assignment" topped the chart, amassing 1.9 million viewers in its second weekend of Jan. 27-29, according to the real-time based box office tally from the Korean Film Council."The King," which premiered o

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday denied news reports that President Park Geun-hye had directed her aide to gather information about an ongoing probe into a corruption scandal involving her and her longtime friend.The local daily Hankyoreh reported that Kim Jin-soo, presidential secretary for health and welfare, had stated that Park directed Kim Hyun-sook, senior presidential secretary for employment and welfare, to glean information about the probe."(Kim Hyun-sook) has never rece

The "Boombayah" music video by Black Pink, one of K-pop's biggest breakout stars from last year, has racked up more than 100 million views on YouTube, the group's agency said Tuesday. (Yonhap)According to YG Entertainment, view count for the song on YouTube stood at 100,026,826 as of 5 a.m. on Tuesday, reaching the milestone figure 177 days after its release."Boombayah" is one of Black Pink's two songs included on the group's "Square One" debut single album. The dance number features a synth-hea

South Korea's national debt surpassed 900 trillion won ($770 billion) last year largely due to the government's expansionary fiscal policy to cope with a years-long economic slump, data showed Tuesday.The conservative administrations of Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye have favored the issuance of debts to finance the fiscal expansion, instead of hefty taxes. This composite image alludes to South Korean government bonds. (Yonhap)The country's debt, which covers the central government's general an

South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will meet US Defense Secretary James Mattis this week to discuss joint efforts to counter North Korea's growing military threats and enhance the bilateral alliance, Hwang's office said Tuesday.The meeting will be held at Hwang's office in Seoul at 5 p.m. Thursday. Mattis will begin his two-day visit to South Korea that runs through Friday as part of his first overseas trip since taking office on Jan. 20.Acting president and prime mi

The South Korean government will strengthen its safety measures on smartphone batteries after some Galaxy Note 7 smartphones by Samsung Electronics Co. caught fire, sources said Tuesday.The state-run Korea Testing Laboratory will announce a set of measures and release the outcome of its investigation later this week into what caused Samsung's latest flagship phones to catch fire, they said. (Yonhap)"The government is preparing a revision to safety regulations to prevent a similar accident from o

Demand deposits at South Korea's five major commercial banks have exceeded 300 trillion won ($257 billion), as a growing number of people are waiting for investment opportunities, data showed Tuesday.Demand deposits at Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Woori, KEB Hana and NH banks totaled 327.3 trillion won at the end of last year, an increase of 41.7 trillion won from a year earlier. This undated file photo is of a pile of bank notes. (Yonhap)KB Kookmin posted the largest growth of 11 trillion won, followed

South Korea's Ambassador to Myanmar Yoo Jae-kyung was questioned by investigators Tuesday over allegations a close friend of President Park Geun-hye, who is at the center of an influence-peddling scandal rocking the country, was involved in his appointment as the top envoy.Yoo appeared before the office of the independent counsel team looking into the scandal that led to President Park Geun-hye's impeachment, in southern Seoul after he returned to South Korea earlier in the day. The probe team s

The number of stay-at-home fathers in South Korea hit a six-year high in 2016 amid rising female employment and the tightened job market, government data showed Tuesday.A total of 161,000 men took on the caretaking and homemaking role in a family last year, marking the largest since 2010, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)After peaking at 161,000 in 2010, the figure steadily dropped to 130,000 in 2014, though it rebounded to 150,000 in the following year.The 161,000 men

LG Electronics Inc. was more profitable than Samsung Electronics Co. in the home appliance business in 2016 despite a gap in their overall revenue, industry data showed Tuesday.LG's home entertainment, home appliance and air solution divisions chalked up an operating profit of 2.57 trillion won ($2.19 billion) on sales of 34.6 trillion won in 2016, according to the data. The company's operating margin in the appliance business, or the ratio of operating profit to sales, came to 7.4 percent. (Yon

Defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States on Tuesday reaffirmed the planned deployment of an advanced missile defense system this year to counter growing threats from North Korea.Defense Minister Han Min-koo and US Defense Secretary James Mattis talked over the phone to confirm that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system will be placed in South Korea this year as scheduled and the allies will maintain full readiness to counter any aggression by the North, the Ministry of Nation

US President Donald Trump should never settle for a freeze on North Korea's nuclear programs as it amounts to accepting the communist nation as a nuclear power, a senior American expert on Korea said.David Straub, a former State Department diplomat handling Korean Peninsula issues, also said in an op-ed piece carried by the newspaper The Hill that the Trump administration should ramp up pressure on Pyongyang to force it to genuine denuclearization talks.US President Donald Trump (Yonhap)A growin

The US State Department on Monday urged North Korea to refrain from escalating tensions after indications emerged of the communist nation resuming operations at its plutonium-producing nuclear reactor.The North Korea-monitoring website 38 North has reported that recent satellite imagery showed the North restarting the 5-megawatt reactor at its Yongbyon nuclear complex after completing reprocessing spent fuel unloaded from the reactor.The State Department declined to confirm the report, but urged

South Korea's IT industry is expected to bask in robust business performance this year, while automakers and shipbuilders face tougher conditions, a report showed Tuesday.According to the report compiled by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, most sectors are faced with uncertainties at home and abroad, including political unrest, economic slump in major economies, and growing protectionism around the globe. (Yonhap)The Internet of Things and artificial intelligence-related technologies

The delinquency rate of domestic banks' won-denominated loans dropped again last month, as they stepped up efforts to reduce bad loans, officials said Tuesday.They were also recovering from the impact of the restructuring of the nation's shipping and shipbuilding industries. (Yonhap)The delinquency rate for bank loans fell 0.17 percentage point on-month to 0.47 in December, according to the Financial Supervisory Service, the country's financial watchdog.It represents a decrease for two months in

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff will lead a combined military exercise with the US from a new command center in March amid growing threats from North Korea, military officials said Monday. "During the upcoming Key Resolve exercise, Seoul's JCS will be responsible for exercise planning and control, operation of opposing forces, and after-drill meetings," an official at the defense ministry said. The exercise's command center will be set up in an underground bunker of South Korea's Capital Def

The sales of non-life insurance products via the Internet soared last year, as local insurance firms rushed to roll out cheap and online-only products to woo customers, data showed Monday.According to the General Insurance Association of Korea, local non-life insurance companies raised a total of 1.4 trillion won ($1.19 billion) in premiums by selling products through the Internet last year, up 34.3 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)The growth rate is far higher than the 1.3 percent on-year r

President Park Geun-hye is expected to employ a two-track approach to handle an ongoing legal battle over her corruption charges and unfavorable public sentiment, her aides hinted Monday, as she fights against what she calls "preposterous" accusations.February will be a critical month for the beleaguered president as she is likely to undergo questioning by the independent counsel team with the Constitutional Court pressured to wrap up its impeachment trial by March.During the Lunar New Year's ho