The daily traffic volume on the nation's main roads increased 4.2 percent in 2016 from the year before, the transportation ministry said Tuesday, apparently from low oil prices coupled with more registered vehicles.Data by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport were collected by counting cars passing through select sections on highways and major roads throughout the country. Results showed an average 14,525 cars using key roads on a given day.(Yonhap)The traffic volume jumped 17.4 pe

The South Korean men's hockey team on Tuesday departed for Ukraine, the site of the upcoming world championship, with an eye on a promotion to the sport's highest division next year.Coached by former National Hockey League defenseman Jim Paek, South Korea will compete in the April 22-28 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship Division I Group A, which is the second-highest level of men's international hockey.All games will be held in Kiev.In this file photo taken on March 19, 2017

WASHINGTON -- A US State Department official said Monday there is no hiccup in the ongoing deployment of a cutting-edge missile defense system in South Korea, dismissing concern about a political setback."There hasn't been any change, and there hasn't certainly been anything about the decision-making process that would indicate any change," Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told reporters in a telephone conference. "So we're on track as far a

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un condemned the United States on Monday for its missile strike on Syria in a message sent to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, North Korean media reported.The message celebrating the 71st anniversary of Syria's independence from France, carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, said Kim took the occasion to lambaste the US for its "reckless act of invasion" on Syria. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signs an order on the previous day to launch the "Kwangmy

Korea's e-book market has been growing while the wider book industry is shrinking, a recent report from a government agency showed Monday.The report by the Publication Industry Agency of Korea about the general condition of the country's publishing industry showed the industry's total sales amounted to 7.58 trillion won ($6.67 billion) in 2015, down by 3.8 percent from a year ago.  The file photo shows Kyobo Bookstore in downtown Seoul. (Yonhap)Sales of publishing companies and distributors came

With his US visa status in limbo following a drunk driving conviction, Pittsburgh Pirates' infielder Kang Jung-ho continues to train on his own in South Korea while biding his time for legal proceedings to resume, sources said Monday.One source told Yonhap News Agency that Kang is trying to keep a low profile but has been "working hard" to stay in shape. The source said in addition to indoor training, Kang has also been doing batting and field practice.In this file photo taken on March 3, 2017,

BEIJING -- China's foreign ministry on Monday called on North Korea and other neighbors to refrain from inflammatory behaviors following Pyongyang's failed missile test-launch over the weekend."As declared repeatedly, the current state of the Korean Peninsula is highly complicated and highly dangerous," Lu Kang, spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry, said in a briefing, responding to a query on North Korea's missile firing on Sunday. "The point we have consistently made is that each country

Senior defense officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan will have face-to-face talks on North Korea's saber-rattling later this week, a Seoul ministry announced Monday.The regional powers plan to hold the Defense Trilateral Talks in Tokyo on Wednesday, the ninth session of the forum launched in 2008, according to the Ministry of National Defense.An image of three-way defense cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan against North Korea in this file photo provided by Yonhap N

The South Korea women's national football team plans to play a friendly against the United States in October, their head coach said Monday.Yoon Duk-yeo said South Korea, ranked No. 17 in the latest FIFA rankings, will play two friendly matches against No. 2 US in October away from home, although the exact dates and locations have yet to be determined.In this file photo taken on April 2, 2017, South Korean women's national football team head coach Yoon Duk-yeo (left) and players pose for a photo

PYONGYANG -- The clouds of war, it might seem, are gathering around the Korean Peninsula.The North Korean government flaunts an increasingly sophisticated arsenal of intercontinental missiles and launches a midrange version, which apparently fails seconds after takeoff. The US moves an immense warship to the waters off the peninsula in a display of military might. President Donald Trump warns he's ready to "solve North Korea," while North Korea's deputy foreign minister says his country will con

Microsoft Korea, the local unit of US software giant Microsoft Corp. said Monday that it has added an artificial intelligence  function to its cloud-computing service, Office 365.The company said Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel will be backed up by various cloud-powered AI capabilities through data centers in South Korea by employing machine learning capabilities. (Yonhap)Earlier, Microsoft opened two data center regions in Seoul and the southern port city of Busan for its open cloud computi

French carmaker Renault SA is planning to launch the supermini Clio hatchback in South Korea in August to absorb "pent-up" demand here for small and fuel-efficient vehicles, a company official said Monday. "South Korean customers appear to be fed up with similar designs and lack of features in the existing subcompact vehicles. Renault's Clio hatchback (Yonhap)As we have judged, there is demand for a small but powerful and premium hatchback, we will place the Europe-made Clio in the Korean market

South Korea's defense ministry said Monday it plans to create a cybersecurity technology team and a multilateral security department in an organizational change.It would instead abolish a culture policy department tasked with improving life in the barracks amid continued reports of bullying cases in the nation's 625,000-strong military.In an advance notice of a related bill on the scheme, the first in a decade to redraw the organizational chart of its headquarters, the ministry said its existing

Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo gave up his parliamentary seat Monday to follow through on his promise to give his all to win the upcoming election, an official said.Ahn, a co-founder and former leader of the center-left People's Party, submitted his resignation form to the National Assembly earlier in the day as the official campaign for the May 9 election kicked off.Ahn Cheol-soo, presidential nominee of the People's Party, raises both arms while greeting citizens in central Seoul on the

South Korea plans to gradually increase women's representation in senior positions in government and public institutions, officials said Monday.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said that the government will raise the ratio of female civil servants ranked at grade 4 or higher to 15 percent by the end of this year. (Yonhap)The share of women in senior government posts above grade 4 had risen from 9.3 percent in 2012 to 13.5 percent last year. The nation's civil service system is comprise

TOKYO -- Japan on Monday urged the next South Korean government implement a landmark 2015 deal to resolve the long-running rift over Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women as the official campaign period for South Korea's upcoming presidential election began the same day."The two countries promised to implement the December 2015 agreement that was highly esteemed in the international community regardless of the internal affairs (in South Korea)," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshi

KCON, a global Korean pop music and culture convention, will be held in Japan next month, showcasing 60 fast-rising K-pop idol artists, according to its organizer Monday. (Yonhap)The three-day event at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, east of Tokyo, from May 19 will feature Apink, CNBLUE, Cosmic Girl, GFriend, Lovelyz, Seventeen and more of the hottest K-pop names, the organizer of the annual event said.CJ E&M's cable TV subsidiary Mnet will broadcast its music chart show MCountdow

The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Monday that it will sell a local tiremaker to a Chinese firm unless the chief of Kumho Asiana Group exercises his right to buy back the logistics conglomerate's tiremaking affiliate currently under creditors' control.Park Sam-koo, chairman of Kumho Asiana Group, has urged the KDB, the main creditor of Kumho Tire Co., to allow him to form a consortium for the potential takeover.(Yonhap)But the KDB said Park is required to show his intention by Wedne

Presidential front-runner Moon Jae-in on Monday vowed to spend 10 trillion won ($8.8 billion) in the first year of his presidency alone to create new jobs in the public sector and encourage the private sector to follow.The presidential candidate of the liberal Democratic Party said the money will be spent in just about seven months left in the year following his election.The five-year term of the new president will begin the day after the May 9 presidential election.Moon Jae-in (R), the candidat

North Korea has formed special operation forces for the first time in an apparent show of military strength, an analysis on North Korea's media reports showed Monday, amid tensions over its nuclear and missile program.The country unveiled the existence of the Korean People's Army special forces for the first time at a military parade Saturday to mark the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il-sung, according to an analysis on the reports by Yonhap News Agency. This photo unveiled by the North Kor