North Korea on Friday threatened to conduct more missile firings in protest of the ongoing joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States. The Rodong Sinmun, the ruling party's official newspaper, said in a commentary that "new types of strategic weapons will soar" if Seoul and Washington continue their annual war drills, which the North claims to be a preparation for a war against it. (Yonhap)"The (planned) test-firing of our new strategic weapons is a given right of a sovere

Rep. Yoo Seong-min, a potential presidential candidate from the conservative Bareun Party, said Friday that President Park Geun-hye should announce that she will accept any results before the Constitutional Court delivers the final ruling on her ouster or reinstatement."Although President Park may be facing hardships, I believe (the announcement) can help prevent division of the public and reduce social confusion," Yoo said.Rep. Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party (Yonhap)Park was impeached by par

Malaysia on Friday released a North Korean man detained over the killing of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half brother, citing lack of sufficient evidence, foreign media reported.Ri Jong-chol, 46, was the only one taken into custody out of eight North Korean suspects in connection to the murder of Kim Jong-nam at a Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13. Four were said to have fled Malaysia to Pyongyang on the day of the killing. He was released from a police station where he was questioned.(Yo

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier will arrive in South Korean waters in mid-March to take part in an annual joint military exercise, the US Forces Korea said Friday. "The USS Carl Vinson is expected to arrive in Busan around March 15 to participate in the Foal Eagle exercise," a USFK spokesman told reporters.  This file photo shows the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier during military drills in the South China Sea in May 2015. (Yonhap)The South Korean and US militaries on Wednesday kicked off

A North Korean man who had been under investigation for his possible involvement in the killing of the North Korean leader's half brother in Malaysia will be released and deported on Friday as local authorities failed to find sufficient evidence to back up their suspicions, foreign media reports showed.Ri Jong-chol, 46, was the only one taken into custody out of eight North Korean suspects in connection to the murder of Kim Jong-nam at a Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13. Four were said to have fl

South Korea should reduce its reliance on the US economy and push to galvanize domestic demand as the world's No. 1 economy is expected to continue its slow growth down the road, a state think tank said Friday.In a report on the future of the US economy, the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy forecast its annualized average growth rate to hover below 2 percent until 2060 due mainly to its population aging and the slowing pace of technological innovation."Since the early 2000s, Ame

The head of South Korea's central bank asked heads of major banks on Friday to strengthen efforts to reduce possible risks in embracing innovation in digital finance.Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said innovation in digital finance could offer various benefits, but it could also pose risks to the financial industry.South Korean banks "should pay attention to risk management as they develop a new business territory for digital technologies,"Lee said in a meeting with heads of major banks in Seoul

Bae, Kim & Lee LLC, a law firm that has represented the de facto chief of Samsung Group, will take a bigger role in the upcoming trial of Lee Jae-yong after the group dismantled its key office, a group official said Friday. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., was arrested on Feb. 17 over his alleged role in a presidential influence-peddling scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. (Yonhap)Special prosecutors investigating the scandal accused Lee of paying bribes

한국에 관광온 대만인 여행객 2명이 연락 두절인 상태다. 3일 두 여성 관광객이 실종되었다는 게시물이 페이스북을 통해 한국인들과 대만인들 사이에 확산되고 있다.(사진=페이스북)게시된 글에는 한국에 여행온 98년생 대만인 여성 J씨 등 2명을 찾는다는 글과 포스터가 포함되어있다. 글에 따르면 "한국에 간 대만인 친구 2명이 연락두절 됐다"며 1명은 2월 13일, 다른 1명은 2월 17일부터 현재까지 연락 두절 상태라고 밝혔다.한 여성은 2월 13일 대림역에 있는 한 대만식 국수집에서 찍은 사진을 페이스북에 올린 이후 연락이 두절되었고 다른 여성은 2월 17일 여성의 어머니와 연락한 이후 소식이 없는 상태라고 전했다.   포스터에는 두번째 실종된 J씨에 대한 사진과 인적사항 및 어머니의 연락처가 포함되어 있다.코리아헤럴드 지예은 인턴기자 (yeeunjie@heraldcorp.com)

Prosecutors questioned former Finance Minister Choi Kyoung-hwan Friday over suspicions of influence-peddling to get one of his former interns a job at a public corporation. The four-term lawmaker of the ruling Liberty Korea Party appeared at the Anyang branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office in the morning. Rep. Choi Kyoung-hwan of the ruling Liberty Korea Party touches a computer at the National Assembly in Seoul on Feb. 10, 2017. (Yonhap)Choi is suspected of pressuring the chief of th

South Korean retailers saw their sales fall in the first two months of this year, weighed by sluggish consumption, industry data showed Friday. The sales of Lotte Department Store, the country's leading retail chain, dropped 1.2 percent in the January-February period from a year earlier, according to company data. Its rival Hyundai Department Store also saw its combined revenue slip 0.7 percent on-year in the cited period, the company said.Shinsegae posted double-digit sales growth over the two

Moon Jae-in, former head of the Democratic Party, extended his lead in approval rating over the governor of South Chungcheong Province from the same party, among potential presidential candidates, a poll showed Friday.According to the poll conducted by Gallup Korea, Moon posted an approval rating of 34 percent this week, up 2 percentage points on-week. The survey was conducted on 1,010 South Koreans with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Moon Jae-in, former head of the De

North Korea has stopped the shipments of its rare earth metals to China in retaliation of China's recent ban on the imports of the North's key export item, coal, a US broadcaster reported Friday. On Feb. 19, China introduced the step pertinent to the latest UN Security Council's Resolution 2321 to punish the North's fifth nuclear test in September. The Chinese punitive step was declared to be effective through the end of the year.(Yonhap)Adopted on Nov. 30, the resolution is aimed at significant

South Korea's ruling party on Friday promised to work together with the government to minimize the damage from China's retaliation against the planned installation of an advanced US missile defense system in the country."The party and government will work hard to ensure our people do not sustain damage," In Myung-jin, the Liberty Korea Party's interim head, said during a high-level policy consultation meeting with the government. Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn attended the ses

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party, which has been seen siding with China over the US missile defense system deployment, on Friday expressed concern over Beijing's economic retaliation."We request China to withdraw the retaliatory action in the tourism sector," said Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the floor leader of the Democratic Party. He expressed concerns that Beijing has "gone too far" with the latest actions. Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the floor leader of the Democratic Party (Yonhap)China ordered i

lllicit drugs' production and consumption is widespread in North Korea, a US government report said Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter."Methamphetamine production and consumption appears to be relatively widespread within North Korea, supplied primarily by independent criminal entrepreneurs," the US Department of State said in the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report released this month.(123RF)The best available information on the subject continues to come from North Kore

South Korea will push forward with the installation of an advanced US missile defense system despite objections raised by China, Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Friday"The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery is a vital defense measure to meet national security needs and protect people's lives from North Korea's nuke and missile threats. I reiterate that it will not affect any other third country," Hwang said. "As China's protest against the deploy

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a major shipyard here, traded at a 52-week high on Friday on simmering expectations that the shipbuilding sector is on a recovery track and its plan to spin off non-shipbuilding businesses may boost its competitiveness.Hyundai Heavy closed at 167,500 won ($146) on the Seoul bourse, up 1.21 percent from the previous session's close, while the broader index, the KOSPI, dropped 1.14 percent.For the past month, the combined market capitalization of Hyundai Heavy and its

The National Assembly has passed a law requiring those who run "pet dog factories" to get business licenses from provincial governments, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Friday.The assembly passed the legislation Thursday to enhance hygiene and prevent ill treatment of dogs at the factories, where puppies are produced and raised for weeks before being sold as pet dogs, the ministry said.(Yonhap)Thousands of pet dog factories are operating around the country without any co

South Korea and the South American trade block MERCOSUR will launch their official negotiations on a trade pact before the first half of this year, the trade ministry here said Friday, amid the country's efforts to tap deeper into the region.South Korea's Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan and Susana Malcorra, the foreign minister of Argentina, the chair country of MERCOSUR, signed a joint statement to open the trade talks in Buenos Aires on Thursday (local time), according to the Ministry of Trade,