Liberal political parties called for former President Park Geun-hye's arrest Thursday, demanding what they called justice and fairness in the investigation over her allegations that have already led to the arrest of her friend and former aides."The people cannot but feel betrayed to watch a former president attend a court hearing on a warrant for her arrest," Chang Jin-young, a lawyer and spokesman for the liberal People's Party, told a press briefing at the National Assembly."Even belatedly, sh

The South Korean military said Thursday North Korea may be preparing for a new kind of nuclear test different from its five previous ones.The Joint Chiefs of Staff reaffirmed its assessment that the unpredictable regime appears ready to conduct its sixth nuclear test at any time on the leadership's decision. South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin holds phone talks with his US counterpart Gen. Joseph F. Dunford on North Korea in this file photo provided by the JCS. (Yonhap)"

A ranking North Korean defector has claimed that the two Koreas' unification cannot be delayed further in the face of the North's mounting nuclear threats, a South Korean political party said Thursday.Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat, made the remark during a closed-door forum hosted by the Liberty Korea Party on Tuesday, according to party officials. Thae Yong-ho speaks during a forum at the National Assembly in Seoul on March 28, 2017, in this photo provided by the Liberty Korea Pa

South Korean stocks snapped earlier gains and turned bearish late Thursday morning, as widening losses in airlines and foodmakers pushed down the main index, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 5.74 points, or 0.26 percent, to move to 2,161.24 as of 11:20 a.m.Shares of Korean Air Lines, the country's top air carrier, tumbled nearly 3 percent, with those of Lotte Confectionery dipping 2.7 percent. LG Electronics, the smaller rival of tech giant Samsung Electronics,

The US Embassy in South Korea on Thursday posted a photo of a magnolia tree that former President Barack Obama dedicated to a high school three years ago to pay tribute to the victims of the country's worst maritime disaster. (Yonhap)Obama gave the tree as a gift to Danwon High School when he visited South Korea in April 2014, right after the 6,825-ton ferry Sewol capsized and sank off the country's southwest coast on April 16, leaving more than 300 people dead or missing. Many students from the

North Korea has sent a document guaranteeing the safety of South Korean women football players who seek to visit Pyongyang next month for the AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifying matches, Seoul's unification ministry said Thursday.Late Wednesday, South Korea's football governing body received the document in an email via the Asian Football Confederation as the Group B qualifying games will be held in North Korea from April 3-11, the ministry added.South Korean players will have a match with their No

The government said Thursday it will foster two regional cities and one county as tourist destinations that can offer industry-related attractions to visitors. Yeongdo, an industrial district located in the country's southern port city of Busan, will be funded by its metropolitan city government to build a museum, from where visitors will be able to enjoy the cityscape toward the sea, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said in a release. An old industrial block of vessel repair shops in

The national football governing body will convene a meeting next week to discuss the status of the beleaguered men's coach, Uli Stielike, officials said Thursday.The Korea Football Association will hold a technical committee meeting sometime next week to break down what's been ailing the men's squad in the ongoing Asian qualifying round for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. South Korea men's national football head coach Uli Stielike waits for the start of the World Cup qualifying match against Syria at S

The new Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone unveiled for the first time in New York and London boasts an advanced voice recognition system, dubbed Bixby, which stands out from other existing programs in the market, the phone's manufacturer Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday.Samsung showcased the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus, the first flagship series to be launched since the suspended production of the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 last year, with an emphasis on promoting Bixby. Samsung Electronics C

South Korean companies issued bonds worth 13.8 trillion won ($12.4 billion) last month, up 72.8 percent from a month earlier, data showed Thursday, as they capitalized on record-low interest rates. Sales of debts by non-financial firms more than doubled to 4.9 trillion won last month from a month earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service.  Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S8 (Yonhap)Sales of debts by financial firms also shot up 35.9 percent on month to 7.5 trillion won

The Koreas are set for a women's hockey showdown south of the border next week, a match taking place against the backdrop of increasing tension on the peninsula.Gangneung, Gangwon Province, some 230 kilometers east of Seoul, will host the International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship Division II Group A starting Sunday. Gangneung Hockey Centre and Kwandong Hockey Centre will be the two venues during the April 2-8 tournament, which doubles as a test event for the 2018 PyeongChang

The Internet bank of Kakao Corp., South Korea's dominant chat app, is expected to win a final regulatory approval early next month, an industry source said Thursday, clearing the final hurdle for Kakao to launch the nation's second Internet bank. The Financial Services Commission will hold a meeting on April 5 to grant the final approval for Kakao's Internet bank, the source said on the condition of anonymity. (Yonhap)An Internet bank offers banking and financial services without any branch netw

South Korea's major business groups prefer scholars to retired government officials as outside directors, data showed Thursday, as local companies move to cope with alleged bribery involving former President Park Geun-hye and some conglomerates.As many as 57 out of 126 outside directors appointed by the country's 10 biggest conglomerates this year were professors, according to the data by market researcher Chaebul.com. (Yonhap)The comparable figure for last year was 45 professors, or 33.8 percen

South Korea and the United States are considering curbing oil exports to North Korea as part of punitive measures against its possible additional nuclear test, diplomatic sources said Thursday.Multiple news reports have raised the possibility of the North carrying out its sixth nuclear detonation test by pointing to increased excavation activity at its Punggye-ri test site.(Yonhap)According to the sources, Seoul and Washington are considering making a push to curb oil exports to the North throug

The main creditor of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. on Thursday informed private creditors and bondholders of the outcome of due diligence on the troubled shipbuilder, as part of its efforts to persuade them to agree on a debt-for-equity swap.The state-run Korea Development Bank, the main creditor, was holding a meeting with stakeholders of Daewoo Shipbuilding, including the National Pension Service and the Korea Post, to discuss the financial arrangements that have to be undertake

South Korea's central bank vowed Thursday to maintain the current monetary easing policy to support growth.The Bank of Korea has left its key rate unchanged at an all-time low of 1.25 percent since June when it made a surprise rate cut to bolster Asia's fourth-biggest economy.(Yonhap)The BOK will "maintain its stance of monetary policy accommodation as the inflationary pressures are not expected to be high given the moderate pace of domestic economic growth," the BOK said in a report submitted t

MEXICO CITY -- Ecuador on Wednesday called off a visa waiver program for North Korea in an apparent response to UN sanctions on the North's nuclear and missile tests. The step took effect immediately after a foreign minister order requiring North Koreans to get a visa to enter Ecuador was announced in the official gazette on the day.Up until now, North Koreans could stay in the South American nation without a visa for up to 90 days.  This is an Ecuadorian Foreign Minister order to exclude North

Three Russian nationals have been arrested on charges of smuggling North Korean medicines into South Korea for online sales, police here said Thursday.The Russians, including a 47-year-old woman, are accused of importing North Korea-made medicines and health supplements via Russia by airmail and selling them without a permit to South Korean consumers through social media sites, Geumjung Police Station in this port city said. This photo provided by Busan's Geumjung Police Station on March 30, 201

Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said the largest corporate tax in South Korea in 2015, with the top 10 taxpayers accounting for about 24 percent of the total corporate tax revenue, data showed Thursday.Samsung Electronics, the flagship of South Korea's leading conglomerate Samsung Group, paid 3.2 trillion won ($2.87 billion) in taxes in 2015, taking up 7.1 percent of the total revenue, according to the data by the National Assembly Budget Office. (Yonhap)No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. follo

The number of unfair trade practices in South Korea plunged in 2016 from the previous year due largely to a drop in newspaper companies' violations of the nation's fair trade, officials said Thursday.The Fair Trade Commission, the country's antitrust watchdog, imposed sanctions on 60 unfair business practices last year, down 43 cases from the previous year.  (Yonhap)The number covered violations for which the FTC issued administrative warnings or stricter penalties. It marked the first time in 2