The race for South Korea's May 9 presidential election is largely expected to be a five-way competition, with all major political parties set to complete their candidate nomination procedures by Tuesday.With the political pendulum having swung in favor of the liberal bloc after a corruption scandal involving ousted President Park Geun-hye, liberal contenders, such as front-runner Moon Jae-in of the largest Democratic Party, have been leading in recent opinion polls, with conservative underdogs l

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday instructed its ambassador to South Korea to request that Seoul implement a landmark 2015 deal to resolve the long-running rift over Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, a Japanese broadcaster reported.Abe met with Ambassador Yasumasa Nagamine, who will return to Seoul later in the day after being recalled nearly three months ago in response to Korean civic groups erecting a statue of a girl symbolizing the sexual slavery victims in fron

South Korean stocks ended slightly lower Tuesday on increased selling by foreigners and institutions.The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 6.41 points, or 0.30 percent, to 2,161.10Bae Sung-young, a market analyst at KB Securities Co., said the foreign selloff and profit-taking by investors are to blame for losses in the main bourse.Institutions remained net sellers of local stocks, selling more than 123 billion won ($109 million) and forei

The financial regulator said Tuesday it will allow mutual savings banks to extend policy loans to people with mid-level creditworthiness and those who have difficulty borrowing money from banks. Starting in June, mutual savings banks, such as the Nonghyup and Suhyup banks, will make non-mortgage policy loans worth 200 billion won ($178.3 million) with an annual interest rate of 9 to 14 percent to such people, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement.  Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the

South Korea's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the state to pay compensation to a suspect for forcing him to wear handcuffs and be tied with a rope during questioning by a prosecutor.The ruling came after Lee Young-chun, a former head of the militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' regional chapter in Goyang and Paju, north of Seoul, launched a lawsuit in May 2015, claiming he was forced to wear handcuffs and be bound with a rope against his will while being grilled by a prosecutor at the

South Korea is planning to reduce the number of traffic fatalities to under 4,000 this year by applying stricter rules and improving infrastructure, the transport ministry said Tuesday.  (123RF)The government will strengthen traffic laws and crackdown on drunk driving and other violations of traffic rules. Moreover it plans to build or upgrade the infrastructure that ensures the safety of pedestrians on the roads, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. Last year,

South Korea's reliance on trade fell to an all-time low in a decade last year, data showed Tuesday, but there are lingering concerns that Asia's fourth-largest economy remains vulnerable to external factors.The proportion of South Korea's trade to its gross national income (GNI) -- a gauge of a country's trade dependence -- stood at 80.8 percent at the end of last year, down 5.9 percentage points from 2015, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)The ratio jumped to 104.5 percen

Asiana Airlines Inc. said Tuesday it will increase flights on routes to Japan and Southeast Asia in the second quarter to offset lower demand from China. Asiana, the country's second-biggest passenger carrier by sales, will flexibly respond to sharp declines in inbound Chinese travelers by reducing flights on routes to and from China, the company said in a statement.  (Yonhap)"From April to June, we will explore fresh demand from Japan and Southeast Asian countries by offering more flights to th

The government said Tuesday it has launched a group of youths tasked with exploring business opportunities abroad to fuel exports of South Korean agricultural products.The government has set a goal of farm product shipments at $7 billion this year, up from $6.5 billion last year, while targeting Islamic countries with halal food products prepared in accordance to Islamic Sharia law. (Yonhap)The Agrifood Frontier Leader Organization (AFLO), consisting of 20 people with expertise in trade, marketi

South Korea and Kenya have discussed ways to step up their collaboration on a range of economic issues, including investment and trade, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.In the fourth round of the joint South Korea-Kenya economic committee held in Nairobi on Monday, South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Lee Tae-ho and Kenya's Political and Diplomatic Secretary Tom Amolo discussed economic cooperation issues before adopting an "Agreed Minutes," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

South Korean stocks narrowed losses Tuesday, as extended gains in Samsung Electronics helped prop up the main index.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 1.51 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,166.00 as of 11:15 a.m.The decline followed overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.06 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.29 percent.Kim Ye-eun, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities, said gains in Samsung Electronics helped narr

The air purifier market has grown rapidly around the world in recent years, industry data showed Tuesday, amid air pollution concerns caused by rising levels of fine and yellow dust particles emitted by cars, power stations and factories.The market has expanded by over 10 percent annually for the past three years to reach $3.7 billion last year, according to the data. (Yonhap)As many as 15 million air purifiers were sold globally in 2014, and the figure is expected to jump to 17 million units by

Exports of South Korean beauty and cosmetics products to Europe have expanded by tenfold over the past seven years, largely driven by surging demand for locally made facial care and makeup items, a report showed Tuesday. The outbound shipments of Korean beauty products to Europe reached 92.5 million euros ($98.6 million) last year, compared with 9.2 million euros tallied for 2009, according to the report by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).  (Yonhap)South Korea's share in the

South Korea's unification ministry on Tuesday dismissed the possibility that it would hold dialogue with North Korea on the occasion of sports events being held on both sides of the border.On Thursday, women ice hockey players from the two Koreas will square off in Gangneung, some 230 kilometers east of Seoul. A day later, their women's football teams will compete in a qualifying match in Pyongyang for the Asian Football Confederation Women's Asian Cup.North Korean players celebrate their goal a

Another South Korean woman who was coerced into Japan's wartime sexual slavery died Tuesday, a local civic group said.The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan said Lee Soon-deok died at around 7:30 a.m. at the age of 99. Lee Soon-deok (Yonhap)Her death leaves only 38 surviving victims of Japan's brutal wartime crime. Initially, 238 women were on the list of government-registered former sex slaves. Historians estimate that up to 200,000 women, mostly from Kore

North Korea said Tuesday that it is holding a photo exhibition about leader Kim Jong-un's achievement ahead of next week's anniversaries of his ascension to the top posts of the country.On April 11, North Korea will mark the fifth anniversary of Kim's election as first secretary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, the previous title of the party's chief.Pyongyang will also celebrate the fifth anniversary of his inauguration as the first chairman of the National Defense Commission on April 13.

South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Tuesday warned against North Korea's "reckless" nuclear ambitions, saying it could launch yet another nuclear test or strategic provocation in time for major political events this month.Hwang made the remarks during a Cabinet meeting amid reports that Pyongyang has been seen preparing for what could be its sixth nuclear test, which experts fear could bring it closer to its long-cherished goal of becoming a nuclear power. South Ko

Presidential front-runner Moon Jae-in embarked on a campaign trail Tuesday by paying his respects to the country's late leaders.Moon, who won the nomination of the liberal Democratic Party a day earlier, visited a national cemetery in Seoul to pay tribute before the tombs of former Presidents Syngman Rhee, Park Chung-hee, Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam. Moon Jae-in, the presidential candidate of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, burns incense in front of the tomb of late President Park Chun

South Korean teen figure skater Choi Da-bin on Tuesday thanked former Olympic champion Kim Yu-na for helping her through the recent world championships.The 17-year-old posted a new personal best score of 191.11 points at the International Skating Union World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki last Friday. South Korean figure skater Choi Da-bin arrives at Incheon International Airport on April 4, 2017, after competing at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Figure Skating Championshi

New foreign direct investment pledged to South Korea fell 9.2 percent in the first three months of the year amid rising uncertainties at home and abroad, the government said Tuesday.Fresh FDI committed to the country in the January-March period came to $3.85 billion, down from $4.24 billion a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The amount of new FDI arriving here, however, soared 38.1 percent on-year to $2.77 billion over the cited period, the ministry said.New