North Korea is expected to fill the vacancy left by the dismissal of Kim Won-hong as its spy chief earlier this year during the upcoming parliamentary meeting, an expert said Wednesday.Jo Yong-won, a senior official in the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, is highly likely to become the minister of state security at the meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly slated for April 11, according to Cheong Seong-chang, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute.Jo Yong-won (C), an official in the

The number of North Koreans escaping to South Korea declined 18.7 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday, as the North is seen as strengthening border control.A total of 278 North Koreans came to South Korea in the January-March period, compared with 342 tallied the year earlier, according to preliminary data by the Ministry of Unification. (Yonhap)The latest tally marked the smallest number of quarterly defectors since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The ballistic missile North Korea recently fired is believed to be "a KN-15 medium range ballistic missile," the US military said Tuesday."The US Pacific Command detected and tracked what we assess was a North Korean missile launch" at 6:42 Korea time, Cdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman for the command, said in a statement. "The launch of a single ballistic missile occurred at a land-based facility near Sinpo."(Yonhap)The missile was tracked until it landed in the East Sea at 6

The tourism industry on South Korea's resort island of Jeju remained relatively sound in March, despite worries about a serious economic setback from China's travel package ban to its neighbor amid a diplomatic standoff, industry sources said Wednesday. The number of tourists who came to Jeju Island was 1.25 million between March 1 and April 3, down 3.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Jeju Provincial Tourism Association. (Yonhap)Of the tally, foreign tourists plunged by

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The clock for resolving the North Korean nuclear issue "has now run out," and the United States is looking at "all options on the table" to deal with the problem, a senior White House official said Tuesday.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the upcoming summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, also said that how to deal with North Korea is a "test of the relationship" between the US and China. US President Donald Tru

US tech giant Apple Inc. and Chinese smarthphone maker Huawei Technologies Co. are engaging in a fierce competition in the Chinese high-end smartphone sector, industry sources said Wednesday, as Samsung Electronics Co. is set to start sales of its new flagship soon there.Huawei kicked off sales of its flagship smartphone, the P10, in China on Saturday. The P10 is the successor to the mega-hit P9, whose sales reached a whopping 10 million units last year.Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S8 smartp

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- North Korea is feared to become capable of striking the US west coast of Seattle with "an indigenously produced nuclear weapon aboard an indigenously produced intercontinental ballistic missile" before US President Donald Trump ends his term, a former CIA said Tuesday.Michael Hayden, who served as CIA director from 2006 to 2009, expressed the concern during a discussion at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, stressing that North Korean prov

Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's two leading tech giants, expanded their spending on marketing last year amid increased competition, data showed Wednesday.According to industry data, Samsung spent 11.5 trillion won ($10.2 billion) on marketing in 2016. The figure included 4.4 trillion won on advertisements, which advanced 15 percent on-year. (Yonhap)LG Electronics also spent 1.3 trillion won on advertisements last year, a 21.4 percent increase over the cited period.

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The commander of the US Strategic Command said Tuesday that North Korea is what he's concerned about "most nights" because it's hard to predict what the communist nation will be doing.Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of the US Strategic Command, told a Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing that Russia represents the "greatest threat" to the US, but the actions of Russia as well as China are predictable, compared with the North. US Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander o

South Korea's current account surplus rose in February from a year earlier due to an increased surplus in the goods account, central bank data showed Wednesday.The country's current account surplus reached $8.4 billion in February, compared with a surplus of $7.62 billion a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.(Yonhap)The figure represents a surplus for 60 months in a row. The current account is the biggest measure of cross-border trade.The BOK said the goods ac

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- US President Donald Trump said Tuesday North Korea is a "humanity problem" and he will talk about the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping."We're going to have a great meeting. I'm sure we're going to have a fantastic meeting and we're going to talk about a lot of things, including, of course, North Korea, a problem, and that's really a humanity problem," Trump said during a townhall meeting with business CEOs. US President Donald Trump (Yonhap)Trump is scheduled to hol

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- A majority of Americans support using force against China to defend South Korea or other Asian allies in the event of a military conflict, a survey showed Tuesday.The Pew Research survey, conducted among 1,505 people Feb.16-March 15, found that 58 percent back the use of force against Beijing "if an Asian ally such as Japan, South Korea or the Philippines were to become embroiled in a military conflict with China."By party, nearly two-thirds of Republicans, or 65 percent,

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in March from a month earlier due to a hike in the value of non-dollar currencies when converted into the US greenback, central bank data showed Wednesday.As of the end of March, the country's foreign exchange reserves came to $375.3 billion, up 1.39 billion from the previous month, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.(Yonhap)Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, as well as Internat

High-class hotel chains in South Korea are scrambling to reshape their brand image by changing their names and through remodeling efforts, as they compete to attract customers in an increasingly tough market, industry sources said Wednesday. Grand Walker Hill, run by SK Networks Co., reopened under its new name Vista Walker Hill early this month. The hotel operator said it has formally ended the partnership with global hotel chain Marriott International, who owns the brands Sheraton and W.(Yonha

Born in South Korea but adopted by an American family as an infant, hockey player Marissa Brandt has come back to the place of her birth in the unlikeliest of fashion: as a member of the women's national team.Brandt, 24, was adopted by a family in Minnesota when she was four months old. She went on to play hockey at Gustavus Adolphus College in the same state from 2011 to 2015, and now finds herself playing for South Korea less than one year from the PyeongChang Winter Olympics here.South Korean

South Korean shares opened higher Wednesday, tracking gains on Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.03 point to 2,161.13 in the first 20 minutes of trading.The main index tracked overnight gains on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.19 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbing 0.07 percent.Most large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.Naver, the top Internet portal operator, gained 0.59 percent, and top steelmaker POSCO was u

After South Korea displayed a mediocre performance against China and Syria in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign last month, the Korea Football Association was put in a dilemma over whether to dismiss or keep men's national team head coach Uli Stielike. While avid football fans called for Stielike's head, the KFA technical committee, which reserves the rights to hire or fire national team coaches, announced on Monday that the German will remain at the helm, a decision that now puts the

The chief of the International Criminal Court said Tuesday the murder case of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half brother in Malaysia cannot be referred to the court immediately as both the countries are not state parties to its founding treaty.Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi made the remark during a press briefing at the Supreme Court in southern Seoul during her visit to attend the ICC's high-level regional seminar.Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi, president of the International Criminal Court, sp

South Korea's Army and Navy staged a large-scale joint live-fire exercise Tuesday, responding to North Korea's war threats and signs of preparations for additional nuclear or missile tests.The artillery drills, held just south of the eastern border with the North, involved the military's new Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers, according to the Army.South Korea's Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher being fired during training. (Yonhap)More than 360 rockets were fired from vehicle-based mobile launche

South Korea is closely communicating with the United States on North Korea and other major issues ahead of the upcoming summit talks to be held between the US and China this week, the foreign ministry here said Tuesday.US President Donald Trump is to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in their first summit on Thursday and Friday (local time) in Florida. North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats are expected to be one of their major topics. (AP-Yonhap file photos)"We are having close