Malaysia has canceled its visa waiver arrangement with North Korea amid a diplomatic spat over the assassination of the half brother of the North's leader, a news report said Thursday.The cancellation will take effect on March 6, after which North Koreans entering Malaysia will be required to obtain a visa, Malaysian news agency Bernama quoted the country's deputy prime minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, as saying. He cited national security as the reason.This marks Malaysia's first tangible action t

South Korea's football chief said Thursday he hopes to co-host the FIFA World Cup with three neighboring nations in 2030.Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association (KFA), said the country's football governing body is mulling over a joint World Cup bid with North Korea, China and Japan.This is the first time that Chung, who has been leading the KFA since 2013, mentioned the World Cup bid in detail. South Korea in 2002 co-hosted football's signature competition with Japan."I hope

 The Turkish Embassy in Seoul will host a variety of cultural events throughout the year to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, Ankara's envoy to South Korea Arslan Hakan Okcal said Thursday.On March 8, South Korea and Turkey mark six decades of formal diplomatic ties, a decision which followed the Eurasian country's dispatch of its troops to fight in the 1950-53 Korean War.With the total number of casualties reaching 1,005, Turkey suffered the third-larg

 US President Donald Trump welcomed a record surge in the stock market on Thursday, a day after the Dow blasted through the 21,000 mark for the first time after his speech to Congress."Since November 8th, Election Day, the Stock Market hasposted $3.2 trillion in GAINS and consumer confidence is at a 15year high. Jobs!" the Republican president wrote on Twitter.In an address to Congress on Tuesday night, Trump said hewanted to boost the US economy with a "massive" tax relief andmake a $1 trillion

 Suspected militiamen have kidnapped five workers at Banro Corp's Namoya gold mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the company said on Thursday, in the second attack on its facilities in a month.The attack took place during the night of Tuesday into Wednesday and an investigation is underway, Crispin Mutwedu, a senior Banro official, told Reuters, adding that a local militia had been threatening the mine recently.The hostages included a French national, a Tanzanian and three Congolese,

Prosecutors on Jeju Island said Thursday they will carry out an intensive crackdown on foreign nationals illegally staying on the southern resort island until the end of May.Officials from the prosecution, Coast Guard, immigration office and provincial government held a meeting to discuss measures to deal with a growing number of people staying without a legitimate permit on the island, which allows visa-free entry to foreign visitors.The agencies decided to carry out a joint crackdown for the n

South Korea’s consumption remained sluggish in January, in a sign of downward pressure on the country’s economy despite a recovery in exports and industrial output, according to the country’s statistics office Thursday. While industrial production rose for three consecutive months backed by an upturn in exports, consumption saw three straight months of decline due to weak spending during the national holidays in January and a waning of the effects of consumption-boosting meas

Ra In Ho, a South Korean ship lift and transport system developer, has signed a deal with a Russian shipyard to provide it with the world’s largest ship transfer system, the company said Thursday. The company will provide a 54,000-ton ship transfer system worth about 20 billion won ($17.5 million) to Zvezda Shipyard in the Russian Far East. Ra In Ho will have full control of the entire process from designing to installing the system, the company said. Ra In Ho Co. CEO Rainer Sinnreich (right) si

With Hanjin Shipping’s bankruptcy declared earlier last month, Hyundai Merchant Marine, now South Korea’s only major shipping line, is expected to fill the vacuum, supported by government rescue schemes and positive signs in the industry, analysts and industry watchers said Tuesday. “After hitting the bottom in 2015 and 2016, the shipping industry seems to be improving with increased freight rates and eased competition,” Um Kyung-a, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities

The South Korean government unveiled Monday a series of measures to boost the economy amid sluggish domestic consumption and investment weighing down on growth. More than 150 measures were introduced during the 11th Trade and Investment Promotion Meeting on Monday, including promoting investment in four major areas -- stimulating local economies, solving difficulties faced by small businesses and fostering industries that target senior citizens.  But the announcement -- made after seven m

South Korea’s food and entertainment giant CJ Group is set to expand investments and speed up its delayed plans to tap more markets around the world by carrying out a personnel reshuffle in March, the group said Sunday, hinting at chairman Lee Jay-hyun’s return to management. “Sales grew slightly last year but the group’s sales remained at 20-something trillion won for the last three or four years,” an official at CJ Group said. “We need to spur growth in or

The labor union of Hyundai Heavy Industries has launched a full-scale strike, calling on the company to finish wage negotiations and scrap its plan to spin off non-shipbuilding units. The labor union has staged partial strikes several times but Thursday’s strike was the first full-fledged strike in 23 years.  The labor union carried out an eight-hour strike from 8 a.m. and said it planned to continue with it Friday and also Monday when the company shareholders will meet to decide a

KEB Hana Bank was selected the best private bank in Korea in the Private Banking & Wealth Management Survey 2017 by Euromoney, a business and finance magazine based in London, the bank announced Thursday. This is the 10th time the bank was recognized by the Euromoney survey, which has been conducted for 14 years.  KEB Hana Bank CEO Ham Young-joo (center) poses after receiving the best private bank in Korea award Tuesday. (KEB Hana Bank)“As a new bank combines strengths in asset management and fo

South Korea and China are speeding up efforts to boost cooperation on project management to seize opportunities, according to the International Project Management Association Korea on Wednesday. Kim Soo-hong, CEO of Incheon Bridge Corp., the operator of the 21-kilometer Incheon Bridge, and vice president of IPMA Korea, met with Ding Ronggui, a professor at Shandong University, and discussed plans to strengthen bilateral cooperation in project management from Monday to Wednesday. In June l

South Korea’s exports, the backbone of the country’s economy, seem on course to end their two-year losing streak this year. If they do, it will be a relief for Asia’s fourth-largest economy, whose exports plunged 5.9 percent on-year in 2016 and 7.9 percent in 2015, the country’s first two straight years of decline.  Export data for the first several weeks of the year suggested a rosy start. In the first 20 days of February, exports soared 26.2 percent from a year

South Korea’s Shinhan Bank said it is increasing efforts to better assist the growing population of foreigners here and Koreans heading abroad. The bank said Tuesday it will expand its existing channels to better assist foreigners who face difficulties here because of the language barrier and cultural difference.  (Yonhap)“Even if they can communicate in Korea, the financial jargon and financial system in South Korea could be difficult for them to understand,” the bank said. Shinhan has opened a

Shares of a luxury hotel led by Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s younger sister were on the rise amid rumors that she might fill the group’s leadership vacuum. Shares in Hotel Shilla, led by Lee Boo-jin, the eldest daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, soared Friday as market watchers speculated the 46-year-old female tycoon may succeed her brother in managing South Korea’s most powerful conglomerate. Shares in Hotel Shilla soared more than 5 percent

A court in South Korea has declared the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping, after two weeks of appeals that ended Friday, bringing to a close 40 years of the company’s history as a leading shipping line and leaving challenges for the industry. The demise of the company -- once the largest shipping company here and the world’s seventh biggest -- began in 2008 in the midst of the financial crisis.  Hanjin and other local shippers suffered from falling freight rates caused by an over

The Cayman Islands may be little known to ordinary Koreans, but inward and outward investments between South Korea and the British overseas territory located in the western Caribbean Sea have been on the rise, according to government data. As of the end of January, the amount of investment from the island reached 9.96 trillion won ($8.72 billion), up from 8.22 trillion won in January 2015. The figure in 2008 was 3.67 trillion won.  With a population of less than 60,000, the Caribbean isl

South Korea’s jobless rate inched up in January, as job conditions in the manufacturing sector continued to deteriorate and more young people stopped looking for work, government data showed Wednesday. The jobless rate in January stood at 3.8 percent, up 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier, data from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance showed. It marks the highest since April 2016, when the tally was 3.9 percent.  The number of jobless people exceeded the 1 million mark in Ja