The recovery momentum for the South Korean economy has remained fragile as an upturn in exports and investment was offset by a drop in private consumption, a government report said Thursday."The South Korean economy saw investment improve on the back of recovering exports, but a slump in consumer sentiment and private consumption slowed down the recovery pace," the finance ministry said in its monthly economy assessment report called the "Green Book." (Yonhap)The report is based on the latest ec

South Korea's foreign ministry has launched a drive to enforce stronger discipline on its diplomats following revelations of a series of workplace misdeeds, a government source said Thursday.A taskforce was formed recently and held its first meeting to discuss ways to maintain discipline of officials stationed in embassies, consulates and other overseas missions, according to the source. The source said that the ministry has reached out to private-sector experts for input and opinions in establi

South Korea will push forward the delivery of two landing ships by one year to bolster the Navy's defense capabilities and help the struggling ship building sector, the state defense procurement agency said Thursday. In December, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration placed a 150 billion-won ($130 million) order with Hanjin Heavy Industries Co. to build two hovercraft landing ships, with a goal of delivering them to the Navy by 2020, not by the originally 2021 date, DAPA said in a state

AmorePacific Co., South Korea's top cosmetics maker, traded at a 52-week low on Thursday as investors were disappointed with the domestic sales slump amid growing concerns that the planned deployment of a US missile defense system to South Korea will further batter sales in China, its largest overseas market. AmorePacific stocks were changing hands at 283,000 won ($247) on the Seoul bourse as of 9:35 a.m., up 0.53 percent from the previous session's close. On Wednesday, it dipped to an almost tw

South Korea will build 240 electric vehicle charging stations at shopping malls and railway stations by the end of 2017 as a way to expand infrastructure for green cars in urban areas, the government said Thursday.According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, 230 EV super chargers will be established at large discount store chains, including E-Mart and Homeplus, in Seoul and other major cities, while 10 will be set up at commuter train stations. (Yonhap)People can enjoy shopping when

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., a major shipyard in South Korea, said Thursday that it has signed a letter of intent with a US firm to build up to seven floating storage and regasification units.Under the deal with Excelerate Energy, Daewoo Shipbuilding will receive an order to build one FSRU for the US energy firm in the second quarter of the year. The LOI also gives Excelerate an option to place more orders depending on market conditions. (Yonhap)Daewoo Shipbuilding expects the d

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, on Thursday said its operating profit for last year rose 31.1 percent on-year, helped by strong sales of mobile games, music and other content. Full-year operating profit reached 116.1 billion won ($101.3 million), the company said in a regulatory filing.  (Yonhap)Net profit, however, fell 14.7 percent on-year to 67.2 billion won, while sales jumped 57.1 percent to 1.46 trillion won, according to the filing. Last year, Ka

South Korea will extend national roads by over 900 kilometers this year, greatly improving the accessibility of the entire nation while also helping boost the local economy, the government said Thursday.Also, more than 60 percent of 7.3 trillion won ($6.37 billion) in government budget earmarked for the construction of new roads will be utilized in the first half of the year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.In total, the ministry plans to build 918 kilometers of n

When Kim Joo-young entered Ewha Womans University in 2011, she didn't imagine she would still be on campus six years later. She expected to have already graduated, landed a well-paying job and started to build a promising career following four years of study.That dream is two years behind schedule, and she might need even more time to reach it. Knowing that her attempt to get a job at a financial firm fell through in late December, the 26-year-old grudgingly decided to put off graduation once ag

진행자: 손지영, Paul Kerry 1. 한미 외교장관 첫 통화, ‘북핵 위협 공동 접근’  기사요약: 한미는 7일 미국 트럼프 행정부 출범 후 처음 진행한 외교장관간 통화에서 북핵을 ‘임박한 위협’으로 규정하고 공동의 접근 방안을 마련하기로 했다. 윤병세 외교부 장관과 렉스 틸러슨 미국 신임 국무장관은 북한의 핵무기 개발 및 도발에 대한 강력한 대응과 긴밀한 공조가 필요하다고 공감했다. 아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2 팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638 Yun, Tillerson reaffirm ‘joint approach' to NK threats [1] The top diplomats of South Korea and the US reaffirmed t

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Wednesday attended a ceremony to launch a provincial "creative economy innovation center," a state project tainted by a recent corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye. During the opening ceremony in Naju, 355 kilometers south of Seoul, Hwang pledged to support technology startups and make all-out efforts to revitalize the country's economy suffering from weak exports and flagging consumption. "(The government) will strive harder t

South Korea's vice foreign minister held a meeting with his East Timor counterpart to discuss ways to increase cooperation in areas ranging from economy and development to North Korea's nuclear threat, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.Lim Sung-nam was in Dili, the capital of East Timor, for two days this week to hold talks. This marked the first time that South Korea's vice foreign minister has visited the country since both established diplomatic ties in 2002.The senior diplomat held a meeti

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has begun to review whether to punish a group of doctors for publicly posting a photo of them posing with a cadaver during training for surgical techniques, ministry officials said Wednesday.The five medical professionals, including an orthopedic surgeon from an unspecified university hospital, posted the photograph on the Internet Tuesday after taking part in a cadaver dissection workshop at a Seoul hospital on Saturday, drawing flak from the general public.On

South Korean construction companies racked up a record in domestic orders last year, aided by a boom in the local property market, offsetting a slump in overseas projects, industry data showed on Wednesday.According to the data compiled by the Construction Association of Korea, local builders received a record 164.9 trillion won ($143.7 billion) last year, rising 4.4 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)Of the orders tallied, they bagged 117.47 trillion won worth from the private sector and 47.4

The state quarantine agency said Wednesday it will revise its livestock vaccination system after an animal disease outbreak revealed unrealistic sampling that allowed farm owners to disregard necessary prevention.Two cases of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed at cattle farms in the southern part of the country this week, raising alarm against what could lead to mass culling if not contained quickly.The outbreak also raised questions after the government announced that very few of the cows at

South Korea's unification ministry has asked China to notify its people not to buy goods produced at the now-shuttered inter-Korean industrial park in North Korea, a government official said Wednesday.The government said that it has identified some attempts by North Korean authorities to sell South Korean owned goods made at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, including rice cookers, to buyers in China.The move to check the North's attempt to sell such goods comes almost a year after Seoul shut down

A Seoul appeals court on Wednesday rejected a suit filed by a Korean-American woman to nullify the government's expulsion of her for making pro-North Korea remarks during her talk shows in 2014.The Seoul High Court upheld last year's lower court ruling in favor of the government decision, citing concerns that she could harm the country's national interests. Shin Eun-mi was accused in late 2014 by conservative civic groups of violating the National Security Law by making comments sympathetic to t

A court ruling overturning a government decision to extend operation of a nuclear reactor has brought the country's other aged reactors back into the spotlight, about a third of them due to expire in lifespan within 10 years.South Korea has 25 reactors currently running as of Wednesday.According to the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, eight of them have expiry dates in the years between 2023 and 2027. While most of the reactors were initially given 40 years of operational license, two wer

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday that its mobile-payment service, Samsung Pay, was officially launched in Thailand.The official launch in Thailand is the latest move by Samsung to expand the mobile-payment service globally.  (Yonhap)The company has launched Samsung Pay in the United States, China, Spain, Australia, Singapore and Brazil. "We hope that Samsung Pay will play a big role in transforming Thailand in line with its national e-payment strategy," said Wichai Pornpratang, vice presid

President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday called off a plan to undergo face-to-face questioning, saying the special counsel team betrayed trust by leaking the schedule of the session to the media.The abrupt cancellation came after multiple local media outlets reported Park, impeached for corruption and currently standing trial at the Constitutional Court, was to face investigators Thursday, becoming the first sitting president to be interrogated.  “The interview schedule of President Park should have