South Korea's science ministry said Monday that it will inject 77 billion won ($67.7 million) this year to develop climate-related technologies to curb carbon gas emissions.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said it designated seven new sectors in 2017 to secure related technologies to better combat climate change. (Yonhap)The ministry said it will earmark 19.2 billion won for the seven projects, including carbon use technology and a climate change adaption program to help developi

Rep. Won Yoo-chul, a five-term lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party, officially declared his presidential bid Monday, proposing a pre-election constitutional revision to install a "power-sharing" governance structure.Won became the second Saenuri lawmaker to join this year's presidential race. Rhee In-je, a former six-term lawmaker of the same party, threw his hat into the ring last month.During a press conference, Won suggested a two-stage constitutional revision that seeks to alter the country

Japan will allow entry to North Korean athletes for an upcoming regional sports competition as an exception to its travel ban, a news report said Monday.Citing multiple government sources, Kyodo News said Japan will let North Koreans compete at the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo from Feb. 19 to 26.The news agency noted that while Japan normally bans North Korean nationals from entering the country, it will make an exception for sports exchange. Closing ceremony at the Rio Olympics in Brazil (Yonh

South Koreans expect consumer prices will rise further this year due to possible increases in utility and raw materials costs, the central bank said Monday.Consumers' perceptions of increases in consumer prices in the past year came to 2.7 percent in January, the highest level in 26 months, according to data from the Bank of Korea.  (Yonhap)Meanwhile, the consumers' expected inflation rate for the next 12 months came to 2.8 percent in January, the highest level in 28 months, the BOK data showed.

Hancom Inc., a South Korean software maker, said Monday that its sales for 2016 breached the 100 billion won ($87.8 million) mark for the first time since the company's foundation in 1990.The homegrown software firm said its annual sales came to 101.2 billion won last year, a 19.2-percent jump from a year earlier. (Yonhap)Operating profit also increased 4 percent on-year to 29 billion won.Hancom, well-known among South Koreans with its mainstay word processing computer software based on the Kore

LG Electronics Inc. is set to unveil its new flagship smartphone this month, about one month before the launch of a premium smartphone by Samsung Electronics Co. for the first time, according to industry sources on Monday. LG has said it will launch the G6 smartphone later this month at an annual technology fair in Spain, while Samsung, reeling from the global recall of the Galaxy Note 7 over safety concerns, is expected to release the Galaxy S8 in late March, according to the sources.  (Yonhap)

Actress Kim You-jung met with fans in Taiwan last week after recovering from stress-induced shock she experienced late last year, her agency said Monday. (Sidus HQ)Kim, star of KBS 2TV's hit period show "Love in the Moonlight," met up with some 600 fans at the ATT Show Box in Taipei on Saturday, according to Sidus HQ.The series told the story of a crown prince who ruled the country in his ailing father's stead. Kim starred as a woman disguised as a eunuch opposite to the prince played by Park Bo

South Korean motorists pay much higher oil taxes than their counterparts in the United States and Japan, a report said Monday, sparking calls for the government to lower them.According to the report by online crude price provider Opinet, gasoline prices in South Korea averaged 1,455 won ($1.28) per liter in December last year, with taxes accounting for 62.3 percent of the price, or 905.75 won. Customers look at oil prices listed at a gas station in Seoul on Jan. 8, 2017. (Yonhap)South Korea impo

Hyun Bin (left) and Yoo Hae-jin star in “Confidential Assignment.” (CJ Entertainment)A Korean comedy-action film about an inter-Korean secret police mission ranked No. 1 for the second weekend at the local box office, giving it a 19-day cumulative audience total of over 6 million, data showed Monday."Confidential Assignment" topped the chart for the Feb. 3-5 frame with slightly more than 1 million viewers, according to the real-time based box office tally from the Korean Film Council.Released on

With many of South Korea's households piling on debt, concern has grown about potential risks facing Asia's key economy already in the doldrums.Some economists warn that private household debt in the country may increase to as much as 1,500 trillion won ($1,310 billion) at the end of this year, close to four-fold of South Korea's yearly budgets set at around 400 trillion won. A sign of the mortage loan service department at a South Korean bank in a file photo. (Yonhap)Simply calculated, it means

South Korea's foreign minister will meet leaders from a union of Korean residents in Japan on Monday to listen to their views on the relations between the two neighbors long plagued by historical and territorial feuds, his office said.Yun Byung-se plans to meet a delegation of the Korean Residents Union, also known as Mindan, later in the day, according to the foreign ministry. The meeting was arranged at the request of the union.This marked the first time since Aug 2013 that Yun is officially m

South Korea logged a net outflow of gold not held as foreign reserve assets for the first time in four years in 2016, central bank data showed Monday.The balance of trade in non-monetary gold was valued at a surplus of $265 million last year, according to data by the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)Non-monetary gold covers exports and imports of all gold that is not held as foreign reserve assets, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.South Korea's exports of gold came to

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea grew slightly from a year earlier in January, market data showed Monday, signaling a possible recovery in the sector still struggling with an emissions scandal.The number of imported cars newly registered here in January came to 16,674, up 2.7 percent from 16,234 cars registered in the same month last year, according to the data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. (Yonhap)The on-year increase comes amid continued difficultie

South Korea's offshore fisheries output sank to a 44-year low in 2016 due to tumbling fish stocks caused by a combination of Chinese illegal fishing, climate change and overfishing, a report showed Monday.The country's inshore and offshore fisheries production came to 923,000 tons last year, down 12.7 percent from the previous year and the lowest yearly catch since 1972, according to the report by the Korea Maritime Institute. This undated file photo shows a Chinese boat armed with iron spears i

South Korea's major airlines continued to do well in terms of sales last year, but their profitability fell far short of those of other global airlines, market data showed Monday.In a 12-month period starting from September 2015, sales of South Korea's largest full service carrier, Korean Air Lines Co., came to $10.1 billion, according to the data compiled by US-based Airline Weekly. (Yonhap)The amount marks the 18th largest among 72 global airlines surveyed.Sales by Asiana Airlines Inc., South

Top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan will likely meet in Washington in the middle of this month at the earliest to discuss cooperation in dealing with North Korea's evolving nuke threats, a diplomatic source said Sunday.The gathering, if realized, would mark the first of its kind since the launch of the US administration led by President Donald Trump last month.The three nations would be represented by Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and

South Korean companies' tax payments overseas nearly tripled in 2015 from four years earlier in line with their increasing foreign income, government data showed Monday.In order to avoid double taxation, they also received a large amount of money in tax credits here, sparking concerns that such a practice could eat into the country's tax base amid unfavorable long-term conditions for taxation due to the economy's prolonged downturn. The headquarters of the National Tax Service in Sejong, south o

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and US State Secretary Rex Tillerson will hold their first telephone conversation this week, a South Korean foreign ministry official said Sunday."We're currently fine-tuning the timing for a phone conversation between South Korean and US foreign ministers on Tuesday (Korean time)," the official said, requesting not to be named. Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se (Yonhap)The conversation, if made, would mark the first formal contact between foreig

South Korea's agriculture ministry said Sunday it has received a report of suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the central county of Boeun and a diagnosis is under way. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said the report came from a dairy farm of 195 cows in Boeun, 180 kilometers southeast of Seoul, of North Chungcheong Province.The result of the diagnosis will be announced on Monday, the ministry said.  (Yonhap)Foot-and-mouth disease, which does not affect humans, is

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's recent sacking of the chief of the country's spy agency is likely to aggravate the sense of instability among the North Korean elite class, a report by the state-run Institute for National Security said Sunday.South Korea's Ministry of Unification said last week that State Security Minister Kim Won-hong was dismissed from the seat in mid-January over charges of abusing authority. The previously four-star general was also demoted to a one-star general, the minist