The United States and Australia held high-level security talks Monday and agreed to work together to "impose greater costs" on North Korea for its provocative behavior, officials said.The so-called "two plus two" talks in Sydney, which brought together the foreign and defense ministers of the two countries, came after a series of missile tests by the North that demonstrated steady progress in Pyongyang's nuclear missile development. (Yonhap)"We discussed challenges on the Korean Peninsula, in pa

North Korean coal exports dropped to zero in April, a United Nations report showed Sunday, as the international community puts pressure on the reclusive regime to give up its nuclear and long-range missile programs.The sanctions committee under the United Nations Security Council that oversees the enforcement of penalties slapped against Pyongyang, said there was no trade of the fossil fuel in the one month period. (Yonhap)The UNSC passed Resolution 2321 after the isolationist regime detonated i

South Korean businesses posted modest sales growth in 2016 after coping with two straight years of falling numbers, a local report said Sunday.The findings by the Korea Economic Research Institute showed sales edging up 0.27 percent on-year after contracting 0.31 percent and 3.04 percent in 2014 and 2015, respectively. (KERI)It said that while sales did move up, sales totaling 2,250 trillion won ($2 trillion) are smaller than the 2,291 trillion won tallied in 2012, a clear sign of difficult time

SEOUL/JEJU ISLAND -- South Korea's agricultural ministry said Sunday it has confirmed a case of a highly pathogenic avian flu in the southern port city of Busan.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it reached the conclusion after conducting detailed tests on a poultry farm with 6,000 birds.(Yonhap)The farm had purchased 650 Korean Ogol Chickens last month from Gunsan in the country's southwestern region. Some of the birds died off suddenly, which caused quarantine officials t

SINGAPORE -- A top Russian defense official on Sunday accused South Korea and the US of escalating tensions in Northeast Asia by deploying the powerful Terminal High Altitude Area Defense on the Korean Peninsula.Deputy Defense Minster Lt. Gen. Alexander Fomin claimed the missile system can be used for launching "long-distance attack missiles," and should not be viewed exclusively as a defensive system."That's why we are alarmed. It's a direct threat to Russia," he said, speaking at a plenary ses

South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun is working to invite his North Korean counterpart to an upcoming meeting to be held in Seoul involving the parliamentary leaders of many countries, official sources said Sunday.Chung's office insiders said the second Eurasia Parliamentary Speakers' meeting will be held in Seoul on June 26-28 and involve parliamentary leaders and speakers from 41 countries in the region. (Yonhap)The annual event was jointly established by South Korean and Rus

North Korea has been in the spotlight at the forum here of top defense officials from around the world, reflecting increased global concern about its military threats, officials here said Sunday."The biggest characteristics of the session this time is that more attention has been paid to the North Korean nuclear and missile issue than in the previous ones," said South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo. This photo provided by the Seoul defense ministry shows Han Min-koo, South Korea's defense m

The cancellation of the free trade agreement between Seoul and Washington will be more detrimental to US companies than their South Korean counterparts, a local think tank said Sunday.According to the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, if the South Korea-US pact is nullified by the Donald Trump administration, American companies that ship goods to South Korea will be required to pay more import duties, while local companies will be affected less. "If the two-way FTA is scra

South Korea said Sunday it has agreed to intensify military cooperation with New Zealand, especially on North Korea.The agreement came at a meeting between Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his New Zealand counterpart Mark Mitchell held on the sidelines of the 16th Asia Security Summit here. South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo (right) shakes hands with his New Zealand counterpart Mark Mitchell in Singapore talks on June 4, 2017, in this photo provided by Han's ministry. (Yonhap)The minsters

A group of South Korean scientists have developed a new eco-friendly method to chemically produce terephthalic acid, which is largely used for polyethylene terephthalate, the science ministry said Sunday, a development that could be a boon in the mass production of next-generation industrial plastic.TPA is a large-volume commodity chemical used principally as a monomer precursor in the manufacture of polyethylene terephthalate, which finds a broad range of applications in making beverage contain

South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Sunday he has conveyed President Moon Jae-in's message on the THAAD missile defense system to US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.Han said his "talking points" in the discussion with Mattis held in Singapore a day earlier were decided in "consultations" with Moon's office Cheong Wa Dae. South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo (L) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis in their meeting held on the sidelines of the 16th Asia Security

South Korea's latest economic gains do not indicate that the country's financial condition is on a firm track, as the increases can be attributed to investment in the construction sector and not improvements in private consumption, a research showed Sunday.Hyundai Research Institute said in a report that South Korea's economic growth depends excessively on construction, while private consumption, which takes up 50 percent of the country's gross domestic product, only had a limited impact on the

South Korea is one of the nations in which the least amount of video is watched in the world, industrial sources said Sunday, citing global research agency Kantar Millward Brown.Of the 41 countries and Hong Kong covered in the agency's report titled "AD Reaction: Video Creative in a Digital World," South Korea came in 35th in the average amount of video watched by its citizens, with total TV, on-demand TV, computer, tablet and smartphone video consumption averaging 166 minutes daily per capita.

South Korea strongly condemned the apparent terrorist attack in London on Sunday, calling it a barbarous act that is uncivilized and inhumane."We pray for those killed in the terrorist attack and offer our deepest condolences to the bereaved families of the victims and the people of Britain," Cho June-hyuck, spokesman for Seoul's foreign ministry, said in a released statement. (Yonhap)The attack took place late Saturday on London Bridge where a vehicle veered off the road and ran over dozens of

LG Electronics Inc. said Sunday it will release a new smartphone with a 4,500 mAh battery this week, which would top all mobile phones in South Korea in terms of power capacity. The South Korean tech giant said the budget LG X500 will be available to users through the country's three mobile carriers starting Friday. A model poses with the LG X500 smartphone in this photo released by LG Electronics Inc. on June 4, 2017. (Yonhap)The company said the battery would allow users to play videos for 20

Samsung Electronics Co. is set to make 700 billion won ($623 million) worth of investment in India to expand the production of smartphones in the large South Asian country, industry sources said Sunday.According to governmental and industry sources in India, Samsung is planning to expand its existing 120,000-square-meter production line in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in the northern part of the country, to 240,000 square meters. (Yonhap)If the expansion is completed, the factory will be capable of pro

CHEONGJU -- Cheongju International Airport, which serves air traffic in central South Korea, has resumed flights to China that were suspended after the US missile defense deployment row, the regional government said Sunday.According to North Chungcheong Province, China Southern Airlines resumed the Cheongju-Yanji route on May 3 and is operating three weekly flights.(Yonhap)The airline had halted flights out of Cheongju on March 26, days after Beijing requested its travel agencies halt the sales

The ruling and opposition parties were again set to clash this week in three separate confirmation hearings for top government and judicial officials, including a vice prime minister and the chief of the constitutional court, observers noted Sunday.The three confirmation hearings are for Finance Minister-nominee Kim Dong-yeon, who will double as vice prime minister; Foreign Minister-nominee Kang Kyong-hwa; and the nominee for Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Kim Yi-su. (Yonhap)The heari

South Korea's shipbuilders are expected to recover this year after suffering from a global industrywide slump in 2016, observers here said Sunday.Industry watchers said Samsung Heavy Industries Co. clinched deals worth $4.8 billion coming into this year, which accounts for 74 percent of its annual target of $6.5 billion. The latest performance marks a sharp turnaround from last year, when Samsung failed to win a single contract in the first five months. (Yonhap)Samsung won a deal worth 2.9 trill

One out of four affiliates under South Korea's top 30 conglomerates is suffering from poor financial health, data showed Sunday, casting concern over the country's industries.According to the data compiled by Chaebul.com, a local industry tracker, 324 of 1,255 affiliates under the country's top 30 business groups suffered from impaired capital or held a debt ratio hovering beyond 200 percent as of end-2016. (Yonhap)Of 14 affiliates under the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering group, one of