The South Korean economy has been seeing a modest recovery in recent months on the back of improvement in investment and exports, a state-run think tank said Thursday."The Korean economy continued to grow at a moderate pace on improving investment and exports," the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in its monthly evaluation of the country's economic conditions. "Both construction and facilities investment continued to grow fast, while exports trended up on the recovery of the global economy

South Korea's corporate watchdog said Thursday that it has slapped a nearly 1.5 billion won ($1.3 million) in fine on LS Corp. and LS Cable & System, the country's top cable maker, for giving illegal benefits to one of its units held by its owner family.The companies lent production facilities to Pountek, a company that manufactures cable covers, at lower prices between 2004 and 2011, so that the latter received an undue profit of 1.51 billion won, according to the Fair Trade Commission.(Yonhap)

Memebox, an online seller of Korean cosmetics, has raised the most investment among South Korean startups last year, industry data showed Wednesday. According to the data by startup platform Platum, the company attracted a total of 143 billion won ($127 million) from investors including major tech firms and venture capitals last year. (Yonhap)The company not only sells relatively cheap Korean beauty products ranging from cosmetics to facial masks but also recently launched in-house brands. Woowa

Semiconductor and equipment manufacturers are likely to make some 60 percent more in operational profit in the first quarter than the same period last year with demand outpacing supply, an industry analysis showed Thursday.According to FnGuide, a provider of financial information services, outlook on eight chip and related equipment producers from security companies indicated their first-quarter operational profit to reach some 11.71 trillion won ($10.38 billion), up 59.72 percent from 7.33 tril

Limiting tax exemptions on earned income would be effective in increasing the country's revenue, but when it comes to raising tax rates, applying the hike on businesses would have better results than applying it on people's earnings, a report said Thursday.Authored by professors Park Ki-baeg and Jun Byung-wook of the University of Seoul, the report measured the effects of different options in taxation revisions aimed at narrowing income inequality.(Yonhap)The report was requested by the National

South Korea is committed to improving accessibility for foreign investors, by encouraging its financial markets to meet global standards, the head of the nation's financial regulator said Thursday. Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remarks during a meeting to review the goal of establishing Korea as a regional financial hub.(Yonhap)So far, the government has put its priority on attracting branch offices of global financial firms to South Korea. But, Yim said

Seoul's government said Thursday it will financially reward motorists for reducing their driving mileage, staring this month, as part of efforts to fight fine dust pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the city's motorists will be paid a maximum of 70,000 won ($62) if they reduce their driving mileage by more than 3,000 km on an annual basis.(Yonhap)The reward will be given in the form of points, which can be used to pay local taxes or buy mobile

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 8.4 percent in March from a year earlier as the government's sales ban on Audi and Volkswagen cars continues following the German carmaker's emissions scandal, industry data showed Thursday. The number of newly registered foreign cars fell to 22,080 in March from 24,094 a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. In July, Seoul announced it will ban the sale of almost all Audi and Volkswag

South Korean stocks extended losses late Thursday morning as foreign investors and institutions offloaded local stocks.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 12.57 points, or 0.58 percent, to 2,148.28 as of 11:15 a.m.The decline followed overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.20 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.58 percent.Most large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.SK Telecom, the No. 1 mobile carrier in the cou

The South Korean government spent nearly 90 trillion won ($79.8 billion) of its state budget in the first three months of the year as part of its efforts to frontload spending to prop up the economy, the finance ministry said Thursday.Budget spending by the government and public institutions for the January-March period stood at 89.3 trillion won, up 1.8 trillion won from the earlier target of 87.4 trillion won, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. (Yonhap)It accounted for 31.7 per

Prosecutors on Thursday grilled former President Park Geun-hye at a detention center again over corruption allegations that removed her from office.Prosecutors arrived at the detention house in Uiwang, south of Seoul, at around 11 a.m. Former President Park Geun-hye leaves her home in Seoul for prosecution questioning on March 21, 2017. Park, dismissed by the Constitutional Court on March 10, faces a probe on 13 criminal allegations, including graft and abuse of power. (Yonhap)It is the second i

South Korea's unification ministry said Thursday it has turned down a request by Japan's top envoy to South Korea to meet with Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo, citing the minister's schedule.The ministry handling inter-Korean affairs said that the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Wednesday delivered the request by Ambassador Yasumasa Nagamine to meet with Hong on short notice.South Korea's Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo. (Yonhap)"The ministry told the embassy Wednesday that the minister could

South Korean and American military officials are apparently struggling to determine the exact type of ballistic missile that North Korea fired earlier this week, their public comments and news reports suggested Thursday amid Pyongyang's reticence about the issue.Hours after the launch from the North's eastern coastal area Wednesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said "a type of KN-15 intermediate-range ballistic missile" flew around 60 kilometers into the East Sea.North Korea test-fires a

Police said Thursday they have recently referred the drunk driving case involving popular singer-actor Kim Hyun-joong to the prosecution.The member of the K-pop boy band SS501 was caught on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol on a street in Seoul's Songpa Ward around 1:55 a.m. on March 26, according to the Songpa Police Station. Police recommended an indictment, sending the investigation result to the prosecution Monday, officials said. (Yonhap)Kim was driving his car on his way ho

"Queen of Mystery," KBS 2TV's new comic detective series, made a striking debut, instantly overtaking rival shows thanks to the halo effect from "Good Manager," data showed Thursday.Wednesday night's premier broadcast of "Queen of Mystery" recorded a 11.2 percent nationwide viewership, according to Nielsen Korea. The rating for Seoul and its vicinity stood at 12.4 percent.The show apparently benefited from its predecessor "Good Manager," an office comedy series, which ended last week with an imp

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it has selected 40 research projects which will be funded over the first half of 2017, in line with its move to secure key technologies.Since 2013, Samsung has operated a program which funds key research in three fields -- basic science, material technology, and information-communications technology.  (Yonhap)The South Korean tech giant plans to allocate 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion) throughout the 10-year program. So far, Samsung has supported 312 project

South Korea's state pension fund, one of the key debt holders for ailing Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., is set to announce the outcome of its meeting about debt rescheduling measures that aim to keep the shipyard afloat. The National Pension Service, which holds about 30 percent of bonds sold by Daewoo Shipbuilding, said it will announce the meeting's outcome on the troubled shipbuilder before Thursday noon.(Yonhap)Of 1.35 trillion won ($1.19 billion) worth of corporate bonds sold

The security chiefs of South Korea and the United States on Thursday condemned North Korea's latest missile test and agreed to craft a strong response to its provocations, Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.During a 20-minute phone call that began at 8 a.m. (Korea time), national security adviser Kim Kwan-jin and his US counterpart H.R. McMaster agreed to maintain close cooperation over the North's saber-rattling, Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.South Korea's national security

Banks have agreed on a refund guarantee for future orders received by the troubled Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. that puts a policy lender up front and has commercial banks provide the secondary safety net, sources said Thursday.RG had become a new thorn among creditors of Daewoo Shipbuilding in their efforts to resuscitate the company tittering on insolvency with a 6.7 trillion-won ($5.94 billion) rescue deal. RG is a form of security for the ship purchaser, which usually makes a

Samsung Display Co. continued to stand as the top player in the global small and middle-sized display market for the sixth consecutive year in 2016, data showed Thursday.According to the data compiled by industry tracker IHS Markit, Samsung accounted for 31 percent of the global market for displays sized 9 inches and below. The South Korean firm's sales in the segment came to $13.8 billion, the data also showed. (Yonhap)Samsung's latest market share in the area marked a sharp increase from 25.2