South Korean stocks fell Wednesday, weighed down by sell-offs by foreign investors as their risk appetite weakened by a sharp decline on Wall Street overnight. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 10.08 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 2,168.30. Trade volume was moderate at 388 million shares worth 5.45 trillion won ($4.85 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 521 to 271.The local stock market opened lower, retreating from an alm

Former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon received a plaque of appreciation from the tourism body of the United Nations on Wednesday, for his contributions to the advancement of world peace and development, the organization said.Former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (center) (Yonhap)Taleb Rifai, the chief of the UN World Tourism Organization presented Ban with a merit plaque in Seoul earlier in the day, in gratitude for his service to world peace and development as the he

The conservative Liberty Korea Party's presidential contenders launched into tirades against their powerful liberal rival during their policy debate Wednesday.The primary debate of the former ruling party featured South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Hong Joon-pyo, former six-term lawmaker Rhee In-je, Rep. Kim Jin-tae and North Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kwan-yong.The conservative Liberty Korea Party's presidential contenders (from L to R) -- South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Hong Joon-pyo, Rep. Kim Ji

The amount of payments made electronically hit a record high in 2016, central bank data showed Wednesday, underscoring the growing trend of South Koreans using electronic means for financial transactions.The daily average amount of electronic financial transactions came to 343.5 billion won ($306 million) in 2016, up 36.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. Electronic financial transactions made by using a smartphone (Yonhap)The reading marked the highest a

Nearly 70 percent of the North Korean population, roughly seven in 10 people, is undernourished, a US broadcaster reported Wednesday, citing a UN report on the need for humanitarian aid to North Korea. According to the report released the previous day by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, some 18 million North Korean people, including 1.3 million children under five, are malnourished because of the socialist country's poor state food rations which lack protein and fat, R

Dozens of local schools have canceled their planned field trips to China amid a diplomatic dispute over the deployment of a US missile defense system to South Korea, the education ministry said Wednesday.Out of the 87 schools that planned trips to the neighboring country, 44 have switched the destination to Japan and other places as of Monday, according to the Ministry of Education.  A relatively quite Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, as China's measure to force its travel agencies

A US strategic bomber trained with South Korean fighter jets Wednesday over the peninsula, sending a strong warning message to North Korea, according to the allies.They said the B-1B conducted an immediate deployment and simulation-based bombing drill in case of any emergency on the peninsula. Initially, two B-1Bs were scheduled to be deployed but there was a "mechanical" problem with one, an informed source said. A B-1B bomber in a photo provided by the US Air Force. (Yonhap)Flying over the isl

A group of South Korean scientists developed a new type of gold nano-sized materials to treat hyperuricemia, the science ministry said Wednesday, opening a new gateway for the treatment of diseases such as gout.Hyperuricemia is a phenomenon marked by an abnormally high level of uric acid in the blood. Such a high level of uric acid is associated with numerous diseases ranging from cardiovascular illnesses to gout. (Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning)The team led by Kwon In-chan of the

Samsung Display Co., a major flat panel maker, and its local rival LG Display Co. are moving to increase the output of organic light-emitting diode panels to meet growing demand and jack up their profitability, an industry analyst said Wednesday."South Korean companies are making various preparations to switch from LCD to OLED," Park Jin-han, an analyst from the industry tracker IHS, said at a forum in Seoul. Samsung Display Co.'s production line of organic light-emitting diode panels (Yonhap)Sa

South Korea is considering whether to file an official complaint with the World Trade Organization over the United States' practice of levying anti-dumping duties on South Korean steel and chemical products, government sources said Wednesday."A legal review involving WTO experts is under way at the level of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to see if it's possible to lodge a complaint," an official told Yonhap News Agency. (Yonhap)The complaint, if lodged, will take issue with the US' "

South Korea's terms of trade deteriorated slightly in February from a year earlier as a rise in export prices was offset by a hike in import prices, central bank data showed Wednesday.The terms of trade index for products came to 100.48 last month, down 2.9 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)The index measures the amount of imports a country can purchase for each unit of exports, showing how the country's exports are doing in comparison to

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it has released its mobile payment service -- Samsung Pay -- in India, tapping into one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets in Asia.The South Korean tech giant said it clinched agreements with seven major Indian financial companies such as AXIS Bank and HDFC Bank, and SBI to provide the mobile payment solution on the subcontinent. Models demonstrate Samsung Pay in this file photo released by Samsung Electronics on Dec. 1, 2016. (Yonhap)Samsung Pay use

Google Inc.'s improved artificial intelligence powered algorithm can better recognize and classify photos and may achieve "human-level" accuracy soon, the company's engineer said Wednesday.In November 2016, Google announced that it has applied a machine learning algorithm to its computer vision model of Google Photos to produce captions that can accurately describe images. The service -- both available online and through mobile applications -- can back up, organize and label the photos automatic

The air purifier market in South Korea is expanding rapidly, largely due to surging demand as consumers are becoming more concerned about fine dust, industry data showed Wednesday. The market size of air purifiers reached 1 trillion won ($888.4 million) at the end of 2016, soaring from 300 billion won in 2013, according to the latest findings. This year, it is forecast to grow by 50 percent on-year to a value of 1.5 trillion won.  (Yonhap)Air purifier makers sold a combined 1 million units of th

South Korea's central bank chief said Wednesday that concerns over US protectionism were a key issue at the recent meetings of finance ministers and central bank governors from the world's major economies.Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol made the comments to reporters earlier in the day, just one day after he returned home from the northwestern Swiss city of Basel where he attended a regular meeting of the Bank for International Settlements. (Yonhap)Last week, Lee also attended the G20 Finance

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has delivered a strong message to China that it is "uncalled for" for Beijing to retaliate against the ongoing deployment of an advanced missile defense system in South Korea, a senior US official said Wednesday.Tillerson visited Beijing over the weekend and held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to discuss key pending issues of mutual concern. The US diplomat chief wrapped up his first Asian tour since taking office, which a

JAKARTA/HANOI -- A North Korean suspect involved in the killing of Kim Jong-nam is a son of the former top North Korean envoy to Vietnam and lured an Asian woman into the murder using his fluent Vietnamese, sources said Wednesday.Ri Ji-hyon, 33, is the son of former North Korean ambassador to Hanoi Ri Hong and had lived in Vietnam for about 10 years, according to the sources.He is suspected of having lured Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong into the plot to kill the estranged half brother of North Korean

South Korea's presidential front-runner pledged Wednesday to scrap a regulation that denies a state subsidy to those who live below the poverty line but have income-earning family members to depend on.    The controversial rule has been blamed for driving poor people, especially those with disabilities, into deeper poverty.Moon Jae-in, former leader of the liberal Democratic Party, made the pledge during a forum on social issues ahead of the May 9 presidential vote. Moon Jae-in, former leader of

South Korea's finance minister said Wednesday that the current pace of the local currency's appreciation is not a problem should the volatility of the won-dollar rate remains limited."If the volatility isn't too high, I think the won's current ascent versus the US dollar is not a big problem," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said after a ministerial level meeting in Seoul. South Korea's Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho speaks at a ministerial meeting in Seoul on March 22, 2017. (Yonhap)"The latest currency

South Korean shares retreated late Wednesday morning from an almost six-year high in the previous session, tracking an overnight decline on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 17.8 points, or 0.82 percent, to 2,160.58 as of 11:20 a.m.Most large caps traded lower with market kingpin Samsung Electronics falling 1.08 percent, while global chipmaker SK hynix was up 0.63 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.88 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors traded 1.