Controversy is escalating over an opposition lawmaker who displayed a caricature painting portraying President Park Geun-hye in the nude at a parliamentary building. While the disputed lawmaker cited artists’ freedom of expression, other parliamentary figures -- including ranking members of his own party -- described the painting as misogynic and discourteous.The conservative camp Wednesday hurled criticism at Rep. Pyo Chang-won, a first-termer of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, f

A lower court has ordered cash-strapped STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. to compensate its minority shareholders for losses they suffered due to its accounting fraud, court records showed Wednesday.The Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of 290 plaintiffs who sued the shipbuilder, former STX Group Chairman Kang Duk-soo and the accounting firm Samjong KPMG, and ordered the defendants to pay a total of some 4.9 billion won ($4.2 million) in damages.  (Yonhap)The court said Kang, who led the

South Korea's customs agency said Wednesday that it has caught illegal imports in 89,336 cases in 2016, up 8 percent from a year earlier.The Korea Customs Service said it seized imports of foods that contain harmful substances in 9,033 cases, up 315 percent from 2,867 cases in 2015. (Yonhap)Among the items seized by the agency include dietary supplements that could cause hallucination and stomachache, sexual performance drugs and supplements meant to enhance athletic performance.Some of the item

South Korea's exports will likely post positive growth for the first time in three years in 2017, the head of a local trade agency said Wednesday, pledging all-out efforts by his organization to help ensure growth."External conditions will likely remain unfavorable for South Korea's exports this year due to Donald Trump's America First policy and China's China Inside policy. Also, with the issue over South Korea's scheduled deployment of a US air defense system, but we can turn a crisis into an

Seven additional suspected sexual assault reports involving Korean tourists have been reported in Taiwan, a foreign ministry official said Wednesday.The seven cases involving eight women were reported to the Korean Mission in Taipei during Jan. 16-18, days after two Korean tourists were allegedly sexually assaulted by a taxi driver in the Taiwanese capital, according to a ministry official. The taxi driver, identified only by his surname Chan, is suspected of first rendering the women unconsciou

A jump in China's coal imports from North Korea in December is probably attributed to Pyongyang's push to increase shipments ahead of Beijing's decision to temporarily suspend the purchase of the energy resource from its neighbor, a Seoul official said Wednesday.Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported on Monday that China imported 2 million tons of North Korean coal in December, up 13 percent from a year earlier, citing China's customs data.The shipments surged even though China's commerce

North Korea was behind the spread of malicious codes through e-mails in November posing as news reports on the influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye, police said Wednesday, The National Police Agency said the Internet Protocol address used by the first sender was found to be located in Pyongyang.Attached to the e-mail was a file entitled "A worrying Republic of Korea." Inside the document was content related to the scandal on Park and her confidante Choi Soon-sil.Once a us

South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. suffered a huge setback in its profit in the fourth quarter of last year, the company said Wednesday.Net profit came to 1.07 trillion won ($918.5 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, down 30.1 percent from the same period in 2015, the company said in a regulatory filing. Hyundai Motor Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 5, 2017. (Yonhap file photo)Sales slipped 0.9 percent on-year to 24.54 trillion

More than 2.83 million South Koreans are presumed to have downloaded the popular augmented reality game "Pokemon Go" on the first day of its official launch in the country, a survey showed Wednesday.On Tuesday, Pokemon Go was officially released in the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store in South Korea, six months after becoming a global hit. (Yonhap)According to the survey of 17,400 smartphone users conducted by an app analytics company WiseApp, 2.83 million people are presumed to have down

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn's aide on Wednesday expressed displeasure over the political interpretation of his activities as an interim leader, calling it "excessive."His remarks came amid speculation, mostly from opposition politicians, that Hwang, seen as a possible conservative contender in this year's presidential race, is using his position to boost his political profile."The government thinks that it is excessive to politically interpret (Hwang's) policy efforts and a

Top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan will likely meet in Washington next month to discuss cooperation in dealing with North Korea's evolving nuke threats, a diplomatic source said Wednesday.Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the foreign ministry, is arranging a meeting with his US and Japanese counterparts, Joseph Yun and Kenji Kanasugi, according to the source. "The meeting is being arranged for the middle of Februa

The volume of cargo processed at South Korea's seaports reached a record high last year despite a global economic slump and the collapse of the country's leading shipper, the government said Wednesday.Cargo handled at seaports across the nation totaled 1.5 billion tons in 2016, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Trade cargo totaled 1.23 billion tons, while domestic shipments came to 265 million tons. This file photo shows containers waiting for

South Koreans changed residences from region to region at the lowest pace in 43 years last year due largely to the deepening economic downturn and rapid aging, government data showed Wednesday.The number of people who moved to other regions in the country dropped 4.9 percent on-year to 7.38 million throughout 2016, marking the lowest amount since 1979 when it posted 7.32 million, according to the data by Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)Among them, 66.7 percent moved within their cities or provinces, w

The number of childbirths in South Korea hit a fresh record low in November last year as the country is experiencing rapid aging and fewer marriages, government data showed Wednesday.About 30,300 babies were born in November 2016, down 9.6 percent or 3,200, from a year earlier, extending the losing streak to 12 months, according to the data by Statistics Korea.The November figure marked the lowest monthly number of newborns, breaking the earlier record of 31,600 set in the previous month, since

South Koreans changed residences from region to region at the lowest pace in 43 years last year due largely to the deepening economic downturn and rapid aging, government data showed Wednesday.The number of people who moved to other regions in the country dropped 4.9 percent on-year to 7.38 million throughout 2016, marking the lowest amount since 1979 when it posted 7.32 million, according to the data by Statistics Korea.Among them, 66.7 percent moved within their cities or provinces, while 33.3

North Korea is aggressively seeking cooperation with Russia's maritime province, proposing cooperation between the two countries' ruling parties, a US broadcaster reported, citing a local media. According to PrimaMedia in the maritime province, Rim Chong-il, North Korean consul-general in Vladivostok, paid a call to Valentine Shumatov, a regional chairman of the Russian ruling party United Russia, on Jan. 11, Radio Free Asia said. During the meeting, made at the request of the North, the two sid

The chairman of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission has called the results of the investigation by Samsung Electronics Co. into what caused the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to catch fire an "important step forward." Announcing the results of its monthslong probe Monday, Samsung said earlier this week it concluded that faulty batteries were the cause of the Note 7 fires, not the smartphone's hardware design or software. (Yonhap)In a statement released Tuesday, Elliott Kaye, chairman of the US

New home permits issued in South Korea dropped 5.1 percent from a year earlier last year, the government said Wednesday, amid ongoing government efforts to limit the supply of new homes.Construction permits issued for new homes came to 726,048 in 2016, compared with 765,328 issued the previous year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. (Yonhap)The drop was attributed to a sharp decrease in Seoul and its surrounding area.New home permits issued in Seoul plunged 26.2 pe

South Korea's land prices continued to increase from a year earlier in 2016, also growing at the fastest rate in nine years, the government said Wednesday.Land prices increased 2.7 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, accelerating from a 2.4 percent on-year gain in 2015 and marking the fastest rise since a 3.89 on-year spike posted in 2007, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. (Yonhap)The increase in land prices also far outpaced the 1 percent on-year gain in overall

South Korea's exports of information and communications technology products dropped 6 percent in 2016 from a year earlier due to weak global demand, government data showed Wednesday.Outbound shipments of ICT products hit $162.5 billion last year, compared to $172.89 billion tallied the year before, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The Galaxy Note 7 by Samsung Electronics Co. is displayed at a smartphone store in Seoul. (Yonhap file photo)ICT exports plung