The estimated value of land owned by South Korea's 10 biggest business groups rose to a record high last year due in part to the purchase of the headquarters of the Korea Power Electric Corp. (KEPCO) by Hyundai Motors Co. and its affiliates, a market researcher said Monday.Hyundai Motor Co. and some of its affiliates purchased the 79,345-square-meter plot in southeastern Seoul for 10.55 trillion won ($8.96 billion) in late 2015 to build a Seoul landmark featuring the country's tallest skyscraper

South Korean Lee Mi-rim has picked up her third career LPGA Tour title in California.Lee cruised to a six-shot victory at Kia Classic at par-72 Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California, on Sunday (local time). In this Associated Press photo, South Korean Lee Mi-rim watches her tee shot on the second hole during the final round of Kia Classic on the LPGA Tour on March 26, 2017, in Carlsbad, California. (Yonhap)She began the final round nursing a one-stroke lead over fellow South Korean Hur Mi-jun

The South Korean government plans to bolster efforts to lure more tourists from Muslim countries, its tourism body said Monday, to cope with a drop in visitors from China in the wake of a diplomatic row with Beijing over South Korea's plans to deploy an advanced US missile defense system on its soil.Asia's fourth-largest economy has seen the number of Chinese travelers, who make up nearly half of inbound foreigners, decline rapidly and is feared that the loss will widen, since Beijing ordered tr

North Korea on Monday condemned South Korea's unification ministry for the strained inter-Korean ties and confrontation between the two Koreas, saying that it should be disbanded.A spokesman at the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea issued a statement claiming that the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs cannot avoid its responsibility for the frayed relations between the two Koreas.(Yonhap)"The Unification Ministry should be disorganized under any circumstances as it is oppose

No good military options exist on North Korea and the best way to deal with the provocative regime is to increase cooperation with China, former US nuclear negotiator with North Korea Christopher Hill said Sunday.Talk of pre-emptive strikes against the North have gained traction after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said earlier this month that diplomacy failed to disarm the North and the United States is considering a new range of options, including military ones. Former US nuclear negotiat

A US senator has introduced a resolution calling for an investigation into North Korea's possible involvement in the unexplained disappearance of an American citizen from China more than a decade ago.Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) proposed the bipartisan resolution last week renewing concerns about the 2004 disappearance of David Sneddon, noting that the communist North has a track record of kidnapping foreigners to train spies in languages and culture. (Yonhap)Seven senators co-sponsored the resolution,

The number of self-employed South Koreans rose at the fastest clip in more than a decade in February as more people opted to set up shop amid a prolonged economic slump and subsequent difficulty finding jobs, data showed Monday.According to the data by Statistics Korea, the country's self-employed numbered 5.52 million in February, up 213,000 from the same month a year earlier. (Yonhap)It marked the largest on-year increase since the 220,000 people recorded in April 2002.Of the total, one-man op

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Monday, driven by losses in banks and brokerage firms, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index slipped 7.29 points, or 0.34 percent, to trade at 2,161.66 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Financial stocks led the decline, with leading lender Shinhan Financial dipping more than 2 percent and brokerage firm NH Investment & Securities sliding nearly 3 percent. In contrast, domestic-focused issues gathered ground, with SK Telecom,

High-end smartphones took up less than 30 percent of Samsung Electronics Co.'s combined sales of handsets, data showed Monday, although the figure is expected to rebound after the launch of the tech giant's upcoming new flagship model this week.According to the data compiled by Hana Financial Investment Co., premium models are estimated to have accounted for 29 percent of Samsung's combined smartphone sales in the January-March period. (Yonhap)It marks the first time that high-end devices, such

South Korean listed companies' rights issues soared 21.4 percent in 2016 from a year earlier with firms on the main bourse taking up the lion's share, data showed Monday.A total of 276 companies listed on the main KOSPI market and secondary KOSDAQ bourse raised a combined 12.6 trillion won ($11.2 billion) through rights offerings last year, compared with 10.4 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Exchange. (Yonhap)Rights offerings by 199 KOSDAQ firms spiked 68.1 percent

South Korea's political parties on Sunday paid tribute to soldiers killed in the sinking of the Cheonan warship by North Korea as the country observed the seventh anniversary of one of the deadliest incidents between the two countries since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War.The 1,200-ton Navy corvette with 104 personnel aboard sank in waters of Baengnyeong Island in Yellow Sea on March 26, 2010, killing 46 sailors. A multinational investigation team concluded that a North Korean torpedo was re

The four contenders in the presidential primary of the pro-government Liberty Korea Party bickered over its frontrunner's proposal to merge campaigns with other parties during their televised debate on Sunday.South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Hong Joon-pyo said the main conservative party should seek an alliance with other political parties if it does not want to see leftists take power in the May 9 presidential election.  Liberty Korea Party presidential contenders Kim Jin-tae (L) Rhee In-je (2nd

South Korea's industry ministry said Sunday it will launch a program to lend rare minerals to key businesses, including chipmakers, in case of unexpected supply shortages.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it has completed securing reserves of around 10 kinds of rare minerals, including molybdenum and chrome, which can be provided to local firms for up to three months. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Yonhap)The ministry said the program aims to guarantee a stable supply

가수 황치열은 코리아헤럴드와의 단독 인터뷰에서 “6월쯤을 목표로 앨범작업을 하고 있다”고 밝혔다.  가수 황치열 (사진=HOW엔터테인먼트)그는 “(한)여름 전에 앨범이 발매될 것 같다”며 “직접 쓴 곡도 앨범에 담길 것”이라고 말했다.황치열은 앨범 작업과 더불어 예능프로그램 출연과 KBS2<불후의 명곡> 진행등도 활발하게 하고 있다. 황치열이 최근 발매한 곡은 걸그룹 레드벨멧 슬기와의 콜라보 <남녀의 온도차>이다. 걸그룹 콜라보 프로젝트의 세 번째이자 마지막인 이 곡은 중화권 인기가 특히 더 폭발적이다.황치열은 지난 23일 S.E.S 바다의 결혼식에 참가해 식후 파티에 몰려든 중국팬들과 사진도 찍고 중국말로 감사인사도 전했다.코리아헤럴드 지예은 인턴기자 (yeeunjie@heraldcorp.com)

A South Korean deputy prime minister will leave for Kazakhstan this week as part of his two-nation trip to Central Asia to celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and the region, and the 80th anniversary of ethnic Koreans' settlement there, the Education Ministry said Sunday.The four-day trip that begins Monday will also take Lee Joon-sik, who also serves as South Korea's education minister, to Uzbekistan.South Korean Deputy Prime Minister Lee Joon-sik (Yonhap)Durin

North Korea on Sunday threatened a preemptive strike in response to South Korean and US special operations troops' recent drills for incapacitating Pyongyang's leadership in case of conflict.The North Korean People's Army issued a statement saying that it is ready to fend off any attempts by enemy commandos to attack its leader. A statement by the General Staff Department of the North Korean People's Army's is announced by Pyongyang's Korean Central TV on March 26, 2017. (Yonhap)"We will mercile

Rep. Yoo Seong-min, a right-of-center politician, on Sunday appeared headed for a victory in the competition to become the presidential candidate of the minor conservative Bareun Party after sweeping all four initial polls by nonparty members last week. The party said on Sunday that Yoo beat rival Gyeonggi Province Gov. Nam Kyung-pil by 59.8 percent to 40.2 percent in four regional polls from March 19-25. The polls were conducted on 2,689 people outside the party by phone after their policy deba

North Korea is expanding its oil import capacity as Washington seeks to tighten sanctions for its nuclear and missile programs, a US broadcaster has reported.Radio Free Asia on Saturday said the oil terminal expansion at Nampo, situated about midway along North Korea's west coast, has been under way since October 2015. The report is based on US commercial satellite photos taken on Oct. 4, 2015, and again on Oct. 4, 2016.These satellite photos provided by Google Earth show an expansion of oil imp

South Korean tech giant LG Electronics Inc. unveiled its test lab to the public for the first time to reassure customers of the safety of its flagship smartphone G6 and its battery, industry watchers said Sunday.The company last week took the press on a tour of its smartphone production line located in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, amid concerns about smartphone safety sparked by rival Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 7. LG Electronics Inc.'s G6 smartphone (Yonhap)Samsung suspen

The number of cars newly registered in South Korea edged down in 2016 from a year earlier, data showed Sunday, as the prolonged economic slump weighed down consumers' sentiment.According to the data compiled by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, new vehicle registrations came to 1.82 million units last year, down 0.6 percent from 2015. (Yonhap)Industry watchers said the decline came as South Koreans in their 30s and 40s were less inclined to buy new cars amid the gloomy economic out