The facial recognition technology equipped in Samsung Electronics Co.'s new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8, will not be sufficient to guarantee the phones' security, industry sources said Friday."The phones can be unlocked by the face of a sleeping person, or even just by a photo," an industry watcher said. "For now, the facial recognition technology is only intended for fun. It should not be considered as a foolproof security measure." (Yonhap)Samsung Electronics showcased the Galaxy S8 and

Affiliates of construction and power equipment conglomerate Doosan Group are expected to further improve their bottom lines this year, aided by increased sales and cost-cutting measures, an executive said Friday."This year, key Doosan affiliates are forecast to post improved earnings this year, and we will strive to meet our goals," Doosan Corp. vice chairman Lee Jae-kyung said at a shareholder meeting.(Yonhap)The executive said Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., the country's top power

The South Korean military said Friday it will resume a crackdown on Chinese fishing boats illegally operating near the tension-high inter-Korean sea border in the West Sea.The operation to start this weekend comes at the outset of the peak crab-catching season.A Chinese fishing ship is caught by South Korea's Coast Guard for illegal operation in the West Sea in this file photo provided by the Coast Guard. (Yonhap)Defense officials here said they are reviewing whether to inform North Korea of the

South Korea's central bank said Friday it will offer English and two other language service for visitors to its money museum.The Bank of Korea Money Museum said the service, set to begin on Saturday, will be available at 2 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday.(Yonhap)English service will be available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays while Chinese and Japanese service will be provided on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.The BOK said about 230,000 South Koreans and foreigners visited the museum

South Korean stocks traded nearly unchanged late Friday morning, as bearish tech stocks capped gains in foodmakers and oil refiners, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched down 1.14 points, or 0.05 percent, to move at 2,163.50 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech giant Samsung Electronics retreated 0.8 percent, with chipmaker SK hynix falling 1.6 percent. In contrast, shares of Shinsegae Food soared more than 3 percent, with oil refiner S-Oil rising 2 percent. The local currency w

Two presidential contenders of the conservative camp have launched a war of words in an apparent bid to solidify their status as the only person to take on liberal frontrunner Moon Jae-in.With the election only 39 days away, Moon, a former leader of the Democratic Party, has maintained what many observers have called a comfortable lead over his rivals, sending the conservatives scrambling to extend their rule cut short by the ouster of President Park Geun-hye, according to analysts. South Gyeong

South Korea's finance ministry said Friday that it held a meeting with its Indian counterpart and discussed ways to bolster bilateral economic and financial cooperation.At the working-level talks in New Delhi on Thursday, South Korea and India agreed to work launching the $10 billion Seoul-New Delhi financial program in the near future, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.(123RF)In a summit in 2015, heads of the two countries reached an agreement on the program, aimed at helping de

A record number of overseas South Korean nationals have come forth to take part in the upcoming presidential election, the election watchdog said Friday.More than 300,000 overseas voters have registered for the May 9 presidential election, according to the National Election Commission.The number already exceeds the 222,389 recorded in the last presidential election in 2012.A number of expat South Koreans visit the South Korean consulate in Los Angeles on March 30, 2017 (U.S. time), the last day

The Export-Import Bank of Korea, one of South Korea's state-run policy banks, suffered a net loss of 1.46 trillion won ($1.3 billion) last year, hit by higher provisions against its loans extended to the country's ailing shipbuilding industry. It was the first time that the bank reported an annual net loss since its foundation in 1976, according to the bank's audit report posted on its website Friday.(Yonhap)The bank reported a net profit of 41.1 billion won in 2015, the report showed. The bank

An artificial program promoted by Google Inc. may ship with Samsung Electronics Co.'s latest smartphone, the Galaxy S8, that will come with the tech giants own Bixby voice support program, the industry sources said Friday.According to the sources, the Galaxy S8, which runs on the Android 7.0 Nougat operating system, will likely have the Google Assistant program, which has similar features to Bixby.(Yonhap)Bixby is seen as one of the key features of the Galaxy S8 that was unveiled earlier in the

Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic Party maintained his lead as the presidential front-runner, while a longtime rival nearly doubled his approval rating to come in second, a poll showed Friday.Moon, a former leader of the largest party in parliament, garnered 31 percent in the survey conducted from Tuesday to Thursday, posting the same figure as the previous week, according to Gallup Korea. Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic Party (Yonhap)Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the centrist People's Party,

Mercedes-Benz, Maserati and Peugeot have been ordered to recall faulty parts in some of their models, South Korea's transport ministry said Friday. This is part of a broader recall order recently delivered by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in the South Korean automobile market. (Yonhap)Local customers increasingly choose imported brands over homegrown ones, such as Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., due to declining prices and difference in performance and quality.Merced

Samsung Electronics Co., set to announce its first-quarter earnings guidance next week, may report forecast-beating performance results largely backed by its chip business, industry sources said Friday.Although the tech giant announces detailed figures of each business later in the month, Samsung's chip business is presumed to be the top contributor for its stellar performance. they said.(Yonhap)Some brokerage houses here expect Samsung's first-quarter operating profit to hover above its previou

Creditors of cash-strapped Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. have asked the shipyard's labor union to submit a written pledge not to launch any strikes in protest over bold restructuring moves, industry sources said Friday.The creditors, led by the state-run Korea Development Bank, demanded that the union present the written pledge by the end of next week, which they see as leverage to pressure corporate bondholders and commercial lenders to join a 6.7 trillion won ($5.98 billion) res

Samsung Electronics Co. started a full-fledged marketing drive for its latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8, in South Korea, industry watchers said Friday, ahead of the official release slated for April 21.Samsung already started displaying the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus at its main shop located in southern Seoul on Thursday, allowing visitors to experience firsthand the top-notch features and cutting-edge design that has received positive initial reviews from home and abroad.(Yonhap)

South Korea on Friday strongly denounced Japan's renewed claim to Korea's easternmost islets in its latest education guidelines and demanded their immediate withdrawal.The Japanese government earlier decided to approve the revised guidelines that call for teaching students in elementary and middle schools that Dokdo belongs to Japan.(Yonhap)The guidelines, which also serve as a basis for writing textbooks, have been posted online for public viewing since mid-February. They will be added to the e

The South Korean government said Friday it will publish the latest defense white paper in six foreign languages as part of efforts to publicize the nation's policy worldwide.The 2016 edition of the comprehensive document, issued in January, will be summarized and translated into English, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Arabic, according to the Ministry of National Defense. A file photo of the Defense White Paper (Yonhap)It marks the first time for the ministry to issue the dossier in suc

About a quarter of South Koreans think they can neither afford to enjoy cultural activities nor have the wherewithal to provide for an uncertain future, a poll showed Friday.According to the survey of 3,669 South Koreans aged 19 to 57 taken last year, some 26 percent of the respondents answered they can't afford a family trip twice or more per year.(Yonhap)Another 26.7 percent replied they can't enjoy hobbies and cultural activities with family members on a regular basis, according to the poll t

South Korea and the United States have staged a two-week naval exercise focusing on combined diving and salvage operations, the US Pacific Command announced Friday.During the Salvage Exercise Korea 2017 training, which began on March 21, US Navy divers assigned to the Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1 used South Korea's 3,500-ton salvage and rescue ship, named the Tongyeong, alongside their local counterparts.  South Korean and US naval divers hold a joint rescue and salvage exercise. (US Pacific

WASHINGTON -- Next week's summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is a key test of whether the US will stand up for South Korea against a series of Chinese retaliatory measures over Seoul's hosting of the US THAAD missile defense system, the Washington Post said.Trump is scheduled to hold his first meetings with Xi at his Mar-a-Lago resort on April 6-7.  (Yonhap)"The United States' allies in Northeast Asia will be watching closely to see if the Trump administrat