The Constitutional Court on Thursday upheld a law that restricts subsidies on the purchase of smartphones and other mobile devices. The regulation, which sets the legal limit of subsidies at 330,000 won ($295), was adopted to bring transparency and stability to the market long distorted by subsidies as telecom carriers vie for customers.  Kim Yi-su (center), nominee for chief justice of the Constitutional Court, and other justices are seated at the courthouse in Seoul on May 25, 2017, ahead of d

Tesla Motors Inc. has set up its first rapid-charging station in South Korea, the first of its planned 14 superchargers this year, the US electric carmaker said Thursday. The first supercharger was built at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel in southern Seoul. The company's luxury Model S 90D can run 270 kilometers on a 30-minute charge, Tesla said in an emailed statement. (Yonhap)Tesla customers are currently allowed to use the supercharger free of charge. But the policy may change, it said.  Tel

Hyundai Merchant Marine Co.'s cargo processing at the Busan Port, the largest sea gateway in the country, increased 72 percent last month from a year ago, helped by its shipping alliances, the company said Thursday.Hyundai Merchant processed 15,332 twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo through the port, 453 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in April, the second-largest volume after Maersk. The total includes 81,000 TEUs of imports and exports, an increase of 68 percent on-year, and 68,000 TEUs of t

The first official shop of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games will open in the South Korean capital this week, selling licensed merchandise associated with the international sporting event, local organizers said Thursday.The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games said the official merchandise store of the games will open to the public Friday at Lotte Department Store's Myeongdong branch in central Seoul. Licensed merchandise of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter

South Korea will face Iraq at a small stadium in the United Arab Emirates  next month for a tune-up ahead of a crucial FIFA World Cup qualifier. The Korea Football Association said Thursday that the venue and time for the South Korean men's national football team's friendly against Iraq have been confirmed. The match will take place at the 5,200-capacity Emirates Club Stadium in Ras al-Khaimah, northern UAE, and will kickoff at 9 p.m. on June 7, which will be 2 a.m. on June 8 in Seoul. (Yonhap)I

The head of Lotte Group promised Thursday he will bolster efforts to expand hiring down the road, in a step with the new government's key policy initiative to create more jobs to tackle alarming youth unemployment. "As there's a saying that 'employment is the best kind of welfare,' I will strive to expand recruitment," Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin said at the group's annual meeting with its labor union."The trust we have built, between the company and the union, has enabled us to come this

South Korea's income disparity widened significantly last year despite the government's efforts to narrow the gap between the rich and poor, government data showed Thursday.The Gini coefficient of total income of an average household stood at 0.353 in 2016, up from the previous year's 0.341, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The numbers for household's disposable income, which involves tax payments and government subsidies and pensions, was 0.304 in 2016, up from 0.295 a year e

South Korean shares traded higher late Thursday morning and are poised to close at a fresh record high, as foreign and institutional buyers scooped up market heavyweights amid upward momentum, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index sharply gained 21.88 points, or 0.94 percent, to 2,339.22 as of 11:20 a.m.Large caps on the Seoul bourse were mostly bullish, with telecom and steel shares leading the gains.Market behemoth Samsung Electronics increased 1.07 percent, and major c

Lotte's new beer brand has stirred debate with some claiming it copied the name of a chewing gum sold by the conglomerate's Japan unit, industry sources said Thursday.  The controversy is seen as throwing cold water on the launch of the product that targets the low to mid-end market.  (Yonhap)On Wednesday, Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., a key unit of South Korean retail giant Lotte Group, unveiled its new standard lagar Fitz Super Clear, in a push to gain an edge in the mid-end beer market followi

Cargo processed at South Korean seaports gained ground last month from a year earlier on brisk outbound shipments, government data showed Thursday.Cargo handled at the country's seaports came to 129.62 million tons in April, up 6.6 percent from 121.54 million tons tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. (Yonhap)Non-container cargo rose 4 percent on-year to 88.74 million tons last month, while container freight jumped 8.9 percent to 2.34 million twen

Posco ICT Co., a unit of South Korea's leading steelmaker Posco, said Thursday it plans to generate power from solar panels set up on rooftops of buildings and sell it to the state-run Korea Power Exchange. (Yonhap)The company said the project involves generating small-volume power of around 1 megawatt. Posco ICT plans to install infrastructure at its headquarters and factories, and gradually expand the production capacity."We have a bright outlook on the growth, as small-volume generation proje

Dividend payouts by South Korean listed firms to foreign investors rose 18.9 percent on year last year, data showed Thursday, in a move that could help offshore investors regain confidence in the nation's stock market. Companies whose fiscal year ends on Dec. 31 made a total of 8.79 trillion won ($7.78 billion) in dividend payments to foreign investors, according to the data by the Korea Securities Depository.  The Kospi market paid 8.64 trillion won in dividends to foreign investors, while

US Google Inc.'s smartphone operating system Android stood as the world's most popular platform in the first quarter, data showed Thursday, helped by robust sales of Chinese handsets.According to the data compiled by industry tracker Gartner Inc., the combined sales of smartphones running on the Android platform came to 327.1 million units in the January-March period, with its market share reaching 86.1 percent, rising from 84.1 percent posted a year earlier.  (Yonhap)Over the cited period, the

Online shopping malls are fast losing customer traffic, industry data showed Thursday, compounding their massive business losses last year.According to the data, the number of unique visitors to the six top online shopping sites totaled 84.86 million last month. This is 9.2 percent less than the same month last year, with each site losing between 2 to 19 percent. For Ticket Monster, the monthly tally for April was 9.91 million, the smallest among the six sites. (Yonhap)It is the first time that

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it has hosted a forum on its foundry business in the United States, showcasing its latest production solutions.The event marks the first of its kind since Samsung Electronics opened a new department under its chip division focusing on the foundry business, in line with the company's efforts to expand its market presence in the area. (Yonhap)Foundry business refers to making chip designs for other companies that do not have a semiconductor fabrication plant.

South Korea's central bank on Thursday held its key rate steady in May as the new government is pushing to expand fiscal spending to help revive Asia's fourth-largest economy.In a widely expected move, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea unanimously voted to keep the key rate at 1.25 percent, extending its wait-and-see approach for the 11th consecutive month. In June last year, South Korea's central bank made a surprise rate cut, citing a need to stimulate the lackluster economy amid

South Korea's dependency ratio is expected to spike over the next 60 years in line with its fast aging population, becoming the highest among major advanced economies, a report said Thursday.Asia's fourth-largest economy is forecast to have a dependency ratio of some 80 people in 2075, the highest among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the report by the National Assembly Research Service. That means that 1.25 working-age people should support the

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 6.71 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,324.05 in the first 15 minutes of trading.On Wednesday, US stocks rose to post a five-day winning streak on tech gains. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.4 percent to 21,012.42, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 percent to 6,163.02.  Large caps on the Seoul bourse were mostly bullish, with teleco

More than 200 listed companies in South Korea are unable to service their debt with earnings in what is widely seen as a time bomb for Asia's fourth-largest economy, a report showed Thursday.South Korea had 3,278 marginal companies as of 2015, of which 232 were listed corporations, according to the report from the office of Rep. Kim Jong-min of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.  (Yonhap)The report was based on data from the Financial Supervisory Service. A company failing to earn enough oper

Environment-friendly energy policies pledged by the Moon Jae-in administration are raising concerns among local builders, which fear power plant construction projects may take a hit, industry officials said Thursday.The chief executive said during his campaign that he will stop all new construction of coal-fired power plants and review from scratch those that are less than 10 percent complete. He also promised to cease and cancel nuclear power plant construction and shut down older reactors, whi