South Korea's chief economic policymaker on Monday held a meeting with local experts to discuss ways to deal with China's measures taken on some South Korean firms, in an apparent retaliation for Seoul's plan to deploy a US-led missile system.At the round-table meeting in Seoul, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho and 11 professors and researchers including Hyun Jung-taik, president of the state-run Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, reviewed the current pending trade and economic issues

China stood at the bottom in terms of market openness, a global report showed Monday, spawning concerns over its protectionist stance amid heightening tension with South Korea over the deployment of a US missile defense system. China ranked 126th out of a total of 136 countries in terms of market accessibility, according to the latest Global Enabling Trade Report, a biennial finding published in November by the World Economic Forum. Image representing the Chinese economy (123RF)It stood 61st in

South Korean actor Lee Joon-gi received a feverish response from Singaporean fans by singing more than 20 songs during a concert there, his management company said Monday. (Yonhap)Namoo Actors said Lee, who recently appeared in the hit TV series "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo," performed at the concert "Thank You" on Saturday, organized as part of a music festival for the HSBC Women's Champions that took place on March 2-5.The actor arrived at Changi Airport on Friday night and was greeted by

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a major shipyard here, said Monday that it has secured a deal to build a LNG carrier, the latest in a series of its shipbuilding contracts.Hyundai Heavy did not reveal the terms of the contract, but a deal to build a 180,000-cubic meter LNG ship is valued at some $193 million, according to industry sources. (Yonhap)With the latest deal, Hyundai Heavy has received deals so far this year, valued at a combined $800 million to build a total of six ships, including two v

South Korea plans to bring up North Korea's recent use of the lethal VX nerve agent in the assassination of its leader's half brother in a bid to draw international attention to the North's chemical weapons threat during an international meeting this week, the foreign ministry said Monday.The foreign ministry's Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Choi Jong-moon plans to shed light on the case in his keynote speech to be delivered on Tuesday at an executive council session of the

The chief of the Supreme Court on Monday named a female lawyer to succeed the outgoing acting chief of the Constitutional Court, which is currently reviewing the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.Lee Seon-ae of law firm Hwawoo was tapped by Yang Seung-tae to replace Lee Jung-mi, who is set to retire next Monday upon completing her six-year term, the Supreme Court said. (Yonhap)"We thoroughly reviewed the candidates' preparedness to serve the people, their ethics, as well as the basic qualit

South Korea's public financial service firms will aggressively write off nonperforming loans extended to low-income people in a bid to facilitate their debt rescheduling, a public agency said Monday.The decision came at a meeting of the nation's regulators and the heads of such organizations as Korea Housing Finance Corp. and Korea Asset Management Corp.  South Korea's financial regulators meet with the head of the nation's public financial firms in Seoul on March 6, 2017. (Yonhap)KHFC, KAMCO an

f(x) 전 멤버 가수 겸 연기자 설리와 다이나믹 듀오 랩퍼 최자가 결별설을 인정했다.(사진=연합뉴스)6일 최자, 설리 양측은 "최근 설리와 최자가 결별하고 각자의 길을 가기로 했다"며 "좋은 선후배로 남기로 했다"고 밝혔다.최자 측은 또한 "두 사람은 바쁜 스케줄과 서로 다른 삶의 방식으로 인해 자연스럽게 소원해지게 되었습니다"라고 전했다. 결별 시기에 대해서는 구체적으로 언급된 바는 없다.설리와 최자는 지난 2014년 8월 열애를 인정한 후 공개 연애를 시작했다.두 사람은 14살이라는 나이차를 무색하게 만드는 다정한 모습을 SNS에 과감하게 공개하며 많은 관심을 받았다.코리아헤럴드 지예은 인턴기자 (yeeunjie@heraldcorp.com)

The head of South Korea's central bank said Monday that Seoul should brace for a possible rate hike this month in the United States.Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol called on officials to come up with countermeasures over a rate hike, noting the US Federal Reserve could quicken the pace of monetary policy normalization. Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol (Yonhap)His comments came days after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said an improving job market and rising inflation could prompt the US central

South Korea's major duty-free shops have been operating in the black in recent months despite the number of Chinese tourists declining over the country's plans to deploy an advanced US missile defense system, indtry sources said Monday. Chinese travel agencies in recent weeks spended sales of tour packages to South Korea as part of the Beijing government's retaliation against Seoul's decision in July to have the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system deployed on South Korean soil later this

Chinese products are fast expanding their presence in South Korea in a graphic indication of their ever-growing brand power in Asia's fourth-largest economy, local analysts said.China has long been a major exporter of consumer goods and tech items to South Korea, but Chinese manufacturers, armed with lower prices and improved quality, are now venturing into new South Korean markets such as home appliances and even autos.Last year, South Korean imports from China came to $86.98 billion, with Seou

year on a sharp increase in marketing cost and loan loss expenses, data showed Monday.Eight standalone credit card firms here posted a total of 1.81 trillion won ($1.5 billion) in net profit, down 9.9 percent from 2015, according to the country's state financial watchdog. Credit cards sit one atop another in this file photo. (Yonhap)"Merchant fee income and card loan interest revenues rose compared with the previo year. However, provisions against soured assets and marketing expenses increased b

South Korea and Indonesia have agreed to extend a currency swap deal for another three years as part of efforts to strengthen bilateral financial cooperation, the finance ministry here said Monday.The new 11 trillion won ($9.54 billion) deal went into effect earlier in the day and expires in 2020, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Hands holding bank notes (Yonhap)The ministry said the currency agreement is to promote bilateral trade and bolster financial cooperation between the

The United States strongly condemned North Korea's missile launches Sunday, reaffirming its commitment to defend itself and South Korea by using the "full range of capabilities at our disposal.""The United States strongly condemns the DPRK's ballistic missile launches tonight, which violate UN Security Council Resolutions explicitly prohibiting North Korea's launches using ballistic missile technology," State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said. (Yonhap)Toner said the US calls on all cou

South Korea's corporate watchdog said Monday that it has slapped a combined 58 million won ($50,000) in fines on three affiliates of retail giant Shinsegae Group for regulatory filing violations.Shinsegae Inc., Shinsegae Food Inc. and E-Mart Inc. were penalized for not properly reporting group owner Lee Myung-hee's shareholding to authorities, according to the Fair Trade Commission. Logo of Shinsegae (Yonhap)Lee had held less than a 1 percent stake in each of the three companies under the name o

Online sales in South Korea continued an upbeat mode in January but the pace slowed down to some extent amid faltering consumer sentiment, government data showed Monday.Total online transactions reached 6.02 trillion won ($5.22 billion) in the first month of 2017, up 14.6 percent from 5.25 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea. Online sales app Coupang (Yonhap)The monthly amount marked the third highest, following 6.25 trillion won set in December last ye

Loans extended to local businesses fell slightly in the fourth quarter from a quarter earlier on decreased operating expenses, central bank data showed Monday.Outstanding corporate loans came to 985.5 trillion won ($853 billion) in the October-December period, down 0.1 percent from a quarter earlier, according to data from the Bank of Korea. Various loans provided by a bank in Korea (Yonhap)Still, year-on-year, the fourth quarter figure marked a 4.5 percent gain.By purpose, loans extended for co

The South Korean government said Monday that it will monitor the local financial market and the economy around the clock in order to reduce any possible fallout from North Korea's latest missile launch.The unidentified projectiles were launched from an area near the North's Dongchang-ri long-range missile site at 7:36 a.m. and flew about 1,000 kilometers before splashing into the East Sea, according to the military. North Korea's latest missile launch (Yonhap)Economy and finance-related governme

Stocks of major retailers and their affiliates with business ties to China continued to plunge Monday, as Beijing has intensified its measures against South Korea in what appears to be retaliation for the deployment of an advanced US anti-missile battery. Lotte Shopping Co., a key unit of retail giant Lotte Group, finished down 0.47 percent to 211,000 won ($182) on the main KOSPI index, extending its losing streak for a fifth consecutive session. It has plummeted 9.7 percent since Feb. 27.  Lott

SK Innovation Co., the country's top oil refiner, said Monday that its board of directors has approved a proposal to double the company's electric vehicle battery production capacity, in order to meet growing demand.The proposal calls for the construction of two EV battery production lines, which will churn out EV cells with a combined 2 GWh, larger than its current 1.9 GWh capacity.  SK Innovation's electric vehicle battery plant in Seosan, South Korea (Yonhap file photo)The construction of the