Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday continued his politically tinged tour across the country in an apparent move to gauge public sentiment and drum up grassroots support ahead of a presidential election this year.His schedule this week included visits to South Korea's southern island of Geoje and its largest port city of Busan, which happens to be the birthplace and political hometown of his arch rival Moon Jae-in, a former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party.Upon his re

President Park Geun-hye's longtime friend Choi Soon-sil testified at the Constitutional Court on Monday that she never made personal or business gains through her ties to the president.Choi, who was summoned to testify at the fifth hearing of Park's impeachment trial, vehemently denied any wrongdoing in her interactions with the president, calling the accusations against her "unfair." The confidante has been jailed since late last year on charges of abusing power, coercion and attempted fraud.(Y

The military's acquisition of a site from Lotte Group for the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system may be delayed due to administrative reasons involving the retail conglomerate, the defense ministry said Monday."The administrative process is underway to secure a golf course from the business group in exchange for a piece of state-owned military land. But the swap deal originally scheduled to be completed by January may be pushed back a bit due to the need to follow a set process

South Korea plans to install unmanned vigilance equipment at major military posts to complement surveillance soldiers in line with an expected reduction in the troop numbers, the state defense acquisition agency said Monday.The military will gradually put up high-definition security cameras and attach infiltration detection equipment to barbed wires at major units from this year until 2024, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.In the first phase, the agency will spend 40 b

Foreign currency deposits held by banks operating in South Korea fell 3.5 percent in December from a month earlier as exporters withdrew their US dollar deposits, central bank data showed Monday.Outstanding foreign currency deposits held by domestic and foreign banks here dropped by US$2.14 billion to $58.91 billion in December from $61.05 billion a month earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. Foreign currency deposits held by domestic banks plunged 5.7 percent to $49.52 billion from $5

South Korea's top 100 large-cap companies have cut more than 7,000 jobs in 2016, data showed Monday, as they are reluctant to hire new employees amid the economy's prolonged sluggishness.According to the data by market tracker Chaebul.com, the leading companies had a combined 861,578 employees as of the end of September 2016, down 0.8 percent, or 7,132 people, from the same period a year earlier.The job reduction is most noticeable in South Korea's shipbuilding industry, with the country's leadi

Economy-related numbers from different government offices all show sweeping indicators of hard times in progress from stagnant income to homes becoming more unaffordable and businesses going bankrupt, analysts said Monday.Average monthly household income in the third quarter last year was 4.445 million won ($3,781), up 0.7 percent from a year ago, figures from Statistics Korea showed. Real income, however, fell 0.1 percent. The actual income has been in a continuous drop from the third quarter o

South Korea's home transactions continued to increase from a year earlier last month, the government said Monday, amid a move to limit the supply of new homes as a way of reducing household debt.The number of home transactions came to 88,601 in December, up 0.8 percent from the same month in 2015, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The tally marked a 13.9-percent plunge from the previous month.However, December marked the fifth consecutive month of on-year gain.Such

South Korea's exports of industrial parts and materials slipped last year from a year earlier due to weak global demand, government data showed Monday.Outbound shipments of industrial parts and materials fell 4.8 percent on-year to $251.9 billion, accounting for a record 50.8 percent of the country's overall exports last year, according to the data collected by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Exports of industrial parts dropped 5.5 percent on-year to $177.2 billion, with shipments of

Moon Jae-in, former head of the Democratic Party, led presidential opinion polls last week for the second consecutive week despite a slight fall apparently caused by his closest rival Ban Ki-moon's homecoming, a pollster said Monday.Moon received an approval rating of 26.1 percent, down 0.7 percentage point on-week, according to a survey conducted by RealMeter between Monday and Friday.  Moon Jae-in (Yonhap)His closest rival Ban Ki-moon, who returned to South Korea Thursday after serving two ter

The interim head of South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party said Monday he will seek to conclude steps to clear-out loyalists of President Park Geun-hye and put an end to the prolonged factional feud."As the ethical committee starts to operate this week, we need to conclude the so-called personnel overhaul," said In Myung-jin, the interim head of the party. In, however, said it will grant the full authority on the matter to the committee in regards to the purge. In Myung-jin, the interim head of the

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is preparing to hold a press meeting next week to explain his direction for state management this year, his office said Monday."We are preparing (for a press meeting) to take place on Jan. 23, Monday," Hwang's aide told reporters, declining to be named."Hwang will deliver his opening remarks, which will be followed by a question-and-answer session." Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn (Yonhap)Observers said the acting president is e

The Bareun Party, a splinter group of the ruling Saenuri Party, on Monday condemned Moon Jae-in, a presidential hopeful from the liberal bloc, on his inconsistent stance on the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system in the country.Amid the controversies, Moon said a new administration should find solutions for the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery but claimed it is not easy to cancel the Seoul-Washington agreement.The party, which fixed its official Engli

South Korea's two largest commercial airlines plan to introduce new aircraft this year, market sources said Monday, providing a chance to fly in the latest and most advanced aircraft, as well as enhanced overall flight safety by replacing aged aircraft.Local industry leader Korean Air Lines Co. is set to introduce Boeing's latest B787-9 Dreamliner in March, along with the CS300 in June.The B787 is a midsize jet airliner with up to 290 seats, and will likely be operated on routes to and from Los

South Korea logged a trade surplus for 59 straight months in December, with its exports remaining in positive terrain, customs data showed Monday.The country's trade surplus came to $6.8 billion last month, compared with a surplus of $6.9 billion tallied in the same month in 2015, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.Exports rose 6.4 percent on-year to $45.1 billion in December, extending its winning streak to two months in a row, while imports jumped 8 percent to $38.3 billion l

Samsung Electronics Co. plans to announce the results of its investigation next Monday into what caused the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to overheat and catch fire, company officials said Monday. Details of the results were not known. However, a failure in the inspection and measurement of the batteries used in the Note 7 is believed to be blamed for the problem, despite the Note 7's ambitious design with advanced features such as an iris scanner and curved display.An industry observer said Samsung

Choi Soon-sil, the woman accused of colluding with President Park Geun-hye for personal and business gains, appeared as a witness in the president's impeachment trial Monday.Choi, who is on trial in connection with the scandal, arrived at the Constitutional Court to testify in the fifth hearing of Park's trial. Choi Soon-sil (Yonhap)Park was impeached by parliament on Dec. 9 on suspicion of colluding with her longtime friend Choi to extort money from conglomerates, but she has yet to appear at h

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, a potential presidential hopeful from the main opposition Democratic Party, on Monday criticized fellow party member Moon Jae-in after he seemed to indicate a willingness to backtrack on the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system.Moon earlier said South Korea may face challenges in canceling the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery as the agreement has already been reached by Seoul and Washington, hinting that his campaign may refr

 South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun on Monday proposed parliamentary-level six-party talks to help revive the stalled multinational negotiations aimed at denuclearizing North Korea.The six-party talks involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia were halted in late 2008."South Korea's National Assembly intends to push for parliament-level six-party talks this year," Chung said during the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum held in Fiji."If parliame

A group of lawmakers from the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee headed to the United States on Monday to attend the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump.The ruling and opposition lawmakers, headed by Rep. Sim Jae-kwon of the Democratic Party, will stay in the US through Sunday to meet officials from the new administration as well. (Yonhap)Along with attending the inauguration ceremony slated for Friday, they will meet with Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the S