The number of people preparing for jobs surpassed the 700,000 mark in May for the first time ever, data showed Thursday, amid the rising unemployment among young people.The figure surged to 735,000 last month, up 13 percent from 656,000 a year earlier, the data by Statistics Korea said. Those who are preparing for jobs are not categorized as jobless as they belong to the economically inactive population. These include people studying for state employee exams or attending vocational training cour

The state-run Korea Gas Corp. said Thursday that it started the operation of three large-scale LNG storage tanks in eastern South Korea earlier this week.Since March, the utility firm has test-run the three 270,000 kiloliter LNG storage tanks in Samcheok, 290 kilometers east of Seoul. The capacity of the tanks is the largest in the world, according to KOGAS. (Yonhap)The Samcheok LNG facility currently operates nine 200,000 kiloliter LNG storage tanks.With the three storage tanks going into full

South Korea's finance minister said Thursday that he has no immediate plan to raise income and corporate taxes, and seek other ways to support President Moon Jae-in's expanded fiscal role in creating jobs and boosting the economy."The government is looking into discretionary spending and unnecessary items in terms of government expenditures that can be adjusted and review plans to remove tax exemptions and other benefits," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon told reporters after his inaugur

The property value of South Korean homes has risen sharply in recent years, data showed Thursday, amid the previous government's policy to prop up the country's housing market.The value of homes in the country stood at over 3,732 trillion won ($3.32 trillion) as of late last year, up 17.7 percent or 560.6 trillion won from late 2013, according to figures by the Bank of Korea. Compared with the end of 2015, when the total stood at 3,511 trillion won, value of homes were up 6.3 percent. The market

Shinsegae Department Store, a major South Korean department store, said Thursday it will open a shop on China's largest online shopping mall next week in an effort to cope with the decrease in the number of Chinese tourists amid a diplomatic row over the deployment of a US missile defense system here. The department store said its cosmetics and fashion items will be available on Tmall from Sunday. It plans to sell more various items, including home appliances and products for children, within th

The firing of Uli Stielike as the South Korea men's football head coach Thursday completed a rather precipitous fall from grace for a man once hailed as "god."The Korea Football Association made the decision in its technical committee meeting, held barely two days after South Korea lost to Qatar 3-2 in Doha in the final Asian qualification round for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.Uli Stielike, former head coach of the South Korean men's football team, listens to a reporter's question at Incheon Interna

The ship that is the South Korean men's national football team has now been left without its navigator, and the onus will fall as much on the players as on the new boss to make sure it doesn't sink further.Uli Stielike was fired Thursday as the men's bench boss, a decision reached by the Korea Football Association (KFA) barely two days after the country's 3-2 loss to Qatar in a World Cup qualifier.South Korea remained stuck at 13 points with four wins, a draw and three losses to stay in second p

South Korea sacked Uli Stielike as their men's football head coach Thursday in the wake of their World Cup qualifying loss to Qatar.The Korea Football Association said it decided to part ways with Stielike following a technical committee meeting at the National Football Center in Paju, north of Seoul. The announcement was made just a day after Stielike and the South Korean squad returned home from Doha, where they fell to Qatar 3-2 in the final Asian qualifying round for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

A Seoul court ruled Thursday against an appeal filed by a former state-run bank chief found guilty of slandering the head of a South Korean retail conglomerate. The appeals division of the Seoul Central District Court upheld the prior verdict on Min Euoo-sung, former chief of Korea Development Bank, that he defamed Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin by making false statements about him and his father.This file photo, taken on September 2016, shows Min Euoo-sung, former chief of Korea Development

South Korean stocks traded lower late Wednesday morning as institutions offloaded large-cap tech stocks in an apparent move to lock in profits, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 13.27 points, or 0.56 percent, to 2,359.06 as of 11:20 a.m. Most large caps traded mixed with tech shares bolstering the market.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics added 0.31 percent after opening higher. SK hynix, a major chipmaker, meanwhile, was up 1.35 percent.The local currency was tr

The founder of South Korean retail giant Lotte Group is expected to lose his seat in the boardroom of a crucial affiliate in the conglomerate's governance structure, media reports said Thursday.The board of directors of Tokyo-based Lotte Holdings Co. is known to have decided not to propose the extension of Shin Kyuk-ho's tenure as a board member for their meeting later this week, according to local media reports.  In this file photo taken March 20, 2017, Shin Kyuk-ho, founder of South Korea's fi

South Korean and US business groups on Thursday held a forum to discuss pending economic issues and cooperative measures amid concerns Washington may become more protectionist going forward, organizers said.At the gathering arranged by the Federation of Korean Industries and the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, experts and business leaders from the two countries analyzed the Korea-US free-trade agreement as a "reciprocal and win-win" deal. "The United States and South Korea

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., South Korea's top power equipment maker, said Thursday that its British affiliate has clinched a 87.5 billion-won ($77.8 million) deal to build a water purification facility.Doosan Enpure has signed the deal with Severn Trent Water, a British water supplier, Doosan Heavy said. (Yonhap)The facility will be able to process 320,000 tons of water on a daily basis. Its construction will be completed in 2020, according to Doosan Heavy.In 2012, Doosan Heavy a

Eastar Jet, a South Korean low-cost carrier, said Thursday it will strengthen services on international routes to absorb growing low-cost air travel demand. On Thursday, Eastar Jet began services on the Incheon-Da Nang route, with a plan to start services on the Incheon-Sapporo route from July 1, the budget carrier said in a statement.  (Yonhap)The airline currently operates flights on 25 international routes which connect South Korea to eight countries -- Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam

Foreign currency deposits held by banks operating in South Korea rose in May as exporters increased their deposits of dollar-denominated earnings, central bank data showed Thursday.Outstanding foreign currency deposits held by local banks, domestic and foreign, reached $69.94 billion in May, up $2.55 billion from a month earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. Broken down, foreign currency deposits held by domestic lenders came to $59.87 billion in May, up from 57.98 billion in April. Th

South Korean companies' combined sales jumped 7.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier helped by recovering oil prices and improved exports, central bank data showed Thursday.The on-year sales growth rate for domestic companies -- an indicator of a company's growth -- turned around from a 2 percent contraction in the first quarter of last year, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. The quarterly growth rate marked the highest since the first quarter of 2012, when it stood at 10.4 pe

The national football chief Chung Mong-gyu said Thursday host South Korea sold more tickets than expected at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, adding that the recently concluded event was successful.South Korea staged the 21st edition of the U-20 World Cup from May 20 to June 11 in six cities. England won the 24-team tournament last Sunday by beating Venezuela 1-0 in the final. Hosts South Korea were eliminated in the round of 16. England's under-20 national football team players celebrate at Suwon World

Samsung Electronics Co. is set to face hurdles in drawing up business strategies as its top executive Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has remained behind bars for nearly four months, industry watchers said Thursday.Lee has been imprisoned since February amid his alleged connection to a political scandal which led to the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye.  (Yonhap)The heir to South Korea's largest family-run conglomerate Samsung Group, which encompasses the world's largest smartphone manufactur

South Korea's trade surplus extended its winning streak for the 64th month in a row in May as the country has been basking in brisk outbound shipments on an upturn in global demand, customs data showed Thursday.The country's trade surplus came to $5.68 billion last month, down sharply from a surplus of $12.9 billion tallied a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.  Asia's fourth-largest economy has posted the consecutive monthly trade surplus since February 201

Foreign investors have taken up more than half of the combined market capitalization of tech shares listed on the main bourse, data showed Thursday, apparently as local companies are expanding their presence on the global arena.According to the data compiled by the bourse operator Korea Exchange, foreigners took up 228 trillion won ($202 billion), or 52.01 percent of the combined market capitalization of 439 trillion won posted by tech firms as of Wednesday. It marked the highest figure since 52