Thae Yong-ho, a former Pyongyang diplomat who defected to Seoul last year, on Thursday urged South Korea to be "predictable" when it comes to inter-Korean issues."(The conservative and liberal parties) must reach consensus to let North Korea know that it will pay dearly for any provocations against South Korea," Thae said during a meeting with lawmakers."Only then will North Korea not roll out thoughtless policies against the South."Thae Yong-ho, a former Pyongyang diplomat who defected to Seoul

A national security expert on Thursday called on South Korea to consider putting on hold the ongoing deployment of a US missile defense system on its soil until China stops its stepped-up retaliation on Korean goods and businesses.South Korea and the US recently started the process of installing a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to cope with the North's missile threats. Members from conservative civic organizations calls for China to stop retaliatory steps against South Korea's planne

South Korea has begun an environmental impact assessment of a local golf course ahead of the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system there, the military said Thursday, speeding up the deployment amid growing threats from North Korea.  The defense ministry picked a firm in December to conduct the assessment of the site in Seongju in the southeast, which will host the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. Late last month, the company began looking into the location to see if THAA

Most South Koreans are very cynical about politicians as they believe those in politics tend to serve not for national interests but personal gains, a survey showed Thursday.As many as 87.3 percent of the 1,052 people polled said politicians put more focus on personal interests than on national well-being, according to a poll conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs between June and November last year.Only 7.3 percent were neutral and 5.3 percent said politicians are focuse

Moon Jae-in, a frontrunner presidential hopeful from the Democratic Party, on Thursday announced his plans to fight the nation's mounting household debt by lowering the ceiling of interest rates and other measures.The announcement came as outstanding household credit in South Korea jumped to 1,344.3 trillion won ($1.18 trillion) in the final quarter of 2016, up 11.7 percent from a year earlier. Moon Jae-in, former head of the Democratic Party, speaks during a session on household debt held in Se

South Korea and Japan will hold a meeting in Seoul to discuss cooperation for the safe use of nuclear power, the foreign ministry said Thursday.The meeting will be held later in the day between Ham Sang-wook, director-general for nonproliferation and nuclear affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry, and his Japanese counterpart Kazutoshi Aikawa, according to the ministry.They will discuss their own nuclear power-related policies and measures aimed at increasing cooperation in the global stage includi

North Korea has announced it won't attend the upcoming international collegiate programming contest in the United States without elaborating on the reasons, a US broadcaster said Thursday. The contest refers to the 41st Annual World Finals of the Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest set for May 20-25 in Rapid City, South Dakota. The ACM is the world's largest educational and scientific society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals

The foreign ministers of South Korea and Sri Lanka have agreed to work together in pressuring North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons program, the foreign ministry here said Thursday.South Korea's Yun Byung-se and Sri Lanka's Mangala Samaraweera also shared the understanding that North Korea's recent series of ballistic missile launches pose a serious threat to the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific as well as the entire international community during their talks in Colombo a day earl

The presidential chief of staff met with hundreds of staffers Thursday to urge unity and dedication during the remainder of their term cut short by the ouster of President Park Geun-hye, a spokesperson said.Han Kwang-ok called more than 400 staffers of his office to a meeting at the presidential palace Cheong Wa Dae after the Constitutional Court dismissed Park over a corruption scandal on Friday. Presidential spokesperson Han Kwang-ok (Yonhap)"I feel terrible that we have met the unprecedented

The floor leader of the Democratic Party said Thursday South Korea should delay the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system in the country until it wins consent from Beijing and Moscow.Rep. Woo Sang-ho also said Seoul should let the new government decide on the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system and ensure that the issue does not damage South Korea's relationship with neighboring countries. Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the floor leader of the Democratic Party (Yonhap)"

South Korea was the sixth-biggest target of Trojan horse malware attacks in mobile banking last year, a multinational cybersecurity firm said Thursday.The most vulnerable country was Russia, followed by Australia, according to the Kaspersky Security Bulletin 2016.The Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider, Kaspersky Lab, said it detected more than 260,000 Trojan horse ransomware package attacks last year, 8.5 times more than the previous year.Trojan horse attacks mostly affe

The minor left-wing Justice Party with six incumbent lawmakers has come out against a proposal floated earlier this week by three major parties, except the majority party, to simultaneously hold a referendum on a constitutional revision and the presidential polls on May 9.Rep. Sim Sang-jung, the head of the Justice Party, said Thursday that the constitutional revision proposal by the Liberty Korea Party, People's Party and Bareun Party is "too radical and improvised" to be widely accepted by the

Prices of agricultural, livestock and fisheries products in South Korea remain unstable as supply fails to keep up with demand, sources said Thursday.According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp., prices of eggs and chickens have recently swung to an upturn after leveling off following imports of US and Australian eggs.A package of 30 eggs sold for an average of 7,277 won ($6.44) at local stores as of Wednesday, down from 7,826 won a month ago but more than 30 percent higher than usua

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday its US luxury appliances brand Dacor unveiled a new line-up of premium kitchen products, marking the first products since Samsung acquired the US brand. Samsung acquired Dacor last August to expand its share of the US high-end home appliances market. After the acquisition, Samsung kept Dacor's brand name. "Samsung and Dacor have partnered to do something that is virtually unheard of in the industry ? design, create, and execute a simultaneous launch of a ful

India and Bangladesh will likely see their smartphone markets expand rapidly over the next few years amid China's sluggish growth, emerging as new lands of opportunity for global smartphone makers, a report said Thursday.In terms of smartphone shipments, India's smartphone market is expected to grow at an annual average rate of 16 percent between 2017 and 2022, with the figure reaching 13.4 percent for Bangladesh, according to the report by industry tracker Strategy Analytics.India is the world'

Moon Jae-in, the front-runner presidential hopeful from the Democratic Party, remained the most favored contender for the May 9 election, a poll showed Thursday, with South Gyeongsang Gov. Hong Joon-pyo rising as a strong conservative figure after the acting president decided not to enter the race.Moon posted an approval rating of 37.1 percent in the survey conducted Wednesday by Realmeter right after Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn declared a decision not to run for president.

Exports of South Korea-made cosmetics to China jumped by more than five-fold over the past three years, industry data showed Thursday, as the Korean Wave, or Hallyu, fueled robust demand.Outbound shipments of makeup products shipped to China reached $1.56 billion in 2016, compared to $300 million tallied in 2013, according to the data by the Korea Cosmetic Association.A pedestrian walks by a cosmetics store in Myeongdong in central Seoul, on March 6, 2017. (Yonhap)The 2016 figure also marks a 33

South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Thursday, as investors took a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street amid eased concerns over the pace of the interest rate hike in the United States. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index  jumped 22.06 points, or 1.03 percent, to 2,155.06 in the first 15 minutes of trading.The US stocks rose sharply overnight after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates as expected without accelerating its timeline for further tightening.The US central ban

Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., a major shipping line in South Korea, said Thursday that it has signed a deal for strategic cooperation with a global shipping alliance, paving the way for the company to better compete with rivals.In December last year, Hyundai Merchant agreed with Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Company -- two key members of the 2M Alliance -- on a new strategic cooperation -- slot exchanges and slot purchases between the three.The initial term of the strategic cooperation is t

Police said Thursday they have formally arrested a protester who attacked two journalists during a violent street rally last week against the Constitutional Court's decision to dismiss Park Geun-hye as president.The Seoul Central District Court issued a warrant on Wednesday night to detain the 55-year-old man, identified only by his last name Lee, on charges of striking the reporters with a ladder during the rally Friday, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.  Protesters clash with