Overseas tuition fees spent by South Koreans fell 6 percent last year from a year earlier due to the won's weakness and the slowing economy, the central bank said Friday. In 2016, the tuition fees for South Koreans studying overseas declined to $3.52 billion from $3.74 billion a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea."Rising exchanges rates may have affected the declines in spending by parents on education for their children overseas," a BOK official said.The dollar rose t

Nearly half of South Korea's working moms quit their jobs within a year of taking childcare leave, a report said Friday.The high proportion of early retirement by women is attributed to discrimination at the workplace and long work hours, the report by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs said.South Korea ranked second only to Mexico in work hours put in by its people among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member states in 2014. OECD data showed a South Kore

South Korea's three major parties excluding the biggest Democratic Party are seeking to revise the Constitution to adopt a four-year, two-term presidency while shortening the next president's tenure to three years. The Korean president currently serves a single, five-year term. Earlier this week, the Liberty Korea Party, the People's Party, and the Bareun Party agreed to push to hold a referendum on the revision of the Constitution concurrently with the presidential election slated for May 9. So

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Friday vowed to enhance public safety amid deepening social and political divisions over the recent ouster of former President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal.During a meeting of ministers on public safety, Hwang stressed the government will do its best to make a "safe society" by preventing any accidents that could occur due to failed safety checkups of major public facilities vulnerable to disasters.Acting President and Prime Ministe

North Korea may have test-fired five ballistic missiles, instead of four, into the East Sea on March 6, a news report said Friday, speculating that a fifth one ended in failure.North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported on March 7 that four ballistic missiles were launched simultaneously the previous day.This file photo shows four ballistic missiles about to be fired from mobile launchers in North Korea on March 6, 2017. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution)

The presidential office has been sending former President Park Geun-hye's pet dogs to organizations that will preserve their breed after they were left behind by the ousted leader, officials said Friday.Park raised two dogs of the native Korean Jindo breed during her term. She received them as gifts from a neighbor in February 2013 when she left her private home in southern Seoul to move into the presidential office upon election. This image shows former President Park Geun-hye with two of her J

Shareholders of LG Electronics Inc. approved a plan Friday that reduced the number of board members to seven directors from nine, in what the company says is a move to better cope with the rapidly changing global market environment.LG Electronics CEO Jo Seong-jin, who was nominated to take up the post last December, was formally appointed at the company's annual shareholder meeting in Seoul.Jo, a high school graduate with no bachelor's degree who joined LG Electronics in 1976, was credited with

Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday it has shipped its first batch of the new i30 hatchback to Australia while planning to ship more of the vehicles to the United States, Canada and Brazil during the first half of this year.Hyundai said it shipped 300 of its i30s to Australia last week. A file photo of the i30 hatchback (Hyundai Motor Co.)A total of 37,772 i30 hatchbags were sold there last year, becoming the third biggest-selling car in the country, a company spokesman said.The latest version of the

The market capitalization gap between South Korea's two stock trade boards -- KOSPI and KOSDAQ -- has continued to grow recently as institutional investors have increasingly favored the main market over the secondary one, data showed Friday.Many local retail investors, or individuals, called "ants" here, have been sidelined when it comes to profits amid the polarization. (Yonhap)According to the Korea Exchange, which operates the bourse in South Korea, the total market cap of firms listed on the

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of US automaker General Motors Co., on Friday began taking pre-orders for its new Bolt Electric Vehicle ahead of its scheduled local debut next month.The Bolt EV comes in four different colors and has a starting price of 47.79 million won ($42,325), but government incentives of up to 26 million won will bring the price down to less than 22 million won, making it one of the most affordable green cars now available, the company said in a press release. The Bolt

The approval ratings of Moon Jae-in, former head of the Democratic Party, and his in-house rival An Hee-jung, the governor of South Chungcheong Province, rose slightly from the previous week, a Gallup poll showed Friday.According to the poll conducted by Gallup Korea this week, Moon posted an approval rating of 33 percent, up 1 percentage point from a week earlier. The survey was conducted on 1,004 South Koreans with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.An followed with 18 pe

South Korean snowboarder Lee Sang-ho took fifth place in the men's parallel giant slalom competition at the International Ski Federation Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships.Lee, 21, reached the quarterfinals in the men's PGS at the worlds in Sierra Nevada, Spain, on Thursday (local time). He was beaten by Benjamin Karl of Austria by 2.54 seconds but ranked fifth because of his qualification time. In this file photo taken on Feb. 20, 2017, South Korean snowboarder Lee Sang-ho competes i

The government should increase financial support for patients with cancer, the leading cause of death in South Korea, to help reduce the burden of their medical expenses, a local nonprofit health organization said Friday.The Korea Cancer Care Alliance released a set of policy suggestions that center around the government giving support to patients and their families so as to ease excessive financial burdens associated with medical care.A total of 76,855 people died of cancer in 2015, which accou

An international consortium led by major South Korean builder SK E&C has inked a deal to build the world's longest suspension bridge in Turkey, government officials in Seoul said Friday.The deal, said to be worth some $3 billion, was signed in Ankara on Thursday, according to officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. This photo provided by SK E&C shows a rendered image of the Canakkale 1915 Bridge, which will become the world's longest suspension bridge when built. (Yonh

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Friday, after a surge in the previous session following the US Federal Reserve's rate hike.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 0.35 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,149.73 in the first 15 minutes of trading.In the previous session, the index surged to an almost two-year high as the Fed hinted at gradually raising interest rates.Most large caps traded higher, although market kingpin Samsung Electronics shed 0.14 percent.SK hynix, a major chip

The Democratic Party on Friday expressed discontent with three other parties' push for a referendum on constitutional revision on the sidelines of the presidential polls on May 9."Our party will seek a well-prepared revision of the Constitution centered on the people by June next year," Rep. Choo Mi-ae, the head of the former main opposition party said, dismissing the referendum proposal as a political ploy.Rep. Choo Mi-ae of the Democratic Party (Yonhap)Earlier this week, the Liberty Korea Part

Won Hee-seon recently switched from a Givenchy bag to a Prada for a "fresh look," but the decision did not result in a big dent in her bank account.The secret behind the change of designer luxury bags that ordinarily would have cost a tidy sum of money was simply renting the accessory.Won is one of a growing number of young South Korean women who have signed up for a monthly membership to rent luxury bags and watches. "I want to carry Givenchy and Prada bags, but buying luxury goods is not easy

Former President Park Geun-hye's first spy chief announced he will run for the presidency Friday as an independent candidate, vowing to root out what he calls "leftist followers of North Korea."Nam Jae-joon, who served as the head of the National Intelligence Service from 2013 to 2014, will register his preliminary candidacy later in the day, his campaign team said in a statement.Nam Jae-joon, former head of the National Intelligence Service (Yonhap)"The goal is to establish a unified South Kore

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson began his two-day trip to South Korea on Friday, which is expected to focus on discussing ways to strengthen the bilateral alliance and fend off the growing threats from North Korea. Tillerson arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul at about 10:10 a.m. He came from Japan where he held talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and others in Tokyo on Thursday.US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson shakes hands with one of officials waiting f

The majority Democratic Party on Friday escalated its campaign against a US missile defense system and renewed calls on the Seoul government to obtain parliamentary approval over its deployment.The center-left party, enjoying rising popularity after the ouster of Park Geun-hye from office, convened the first meeting of its expanded in-house committee on the issue of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system and demanded the ongoing deployment be immediately suspended.The first meeting of th