President Moon Jae-in continued to surprise many Friday, at least to the liking of many liberals, ordering the official playing and singing of a controversial protest song shunned over the past decade at an annual ceremony marking a democratic uprising.The president signed an executive order, allowing the official use of "March for the Beloved" at the annual ceremony held May 18, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said. President Moon Jae-in (Yonhap)It marked only the second executive order s

South Korea's unification ministry said Friday that North Korea appears to be paying much attention to the launch of liberal President Moon Jae-in's administration, citing a lengthy media report by its official media on his election.North Korea's state media reported the results of South Korea's presidential election and other information in detail Thursday, one day after he was sworn in as president. (Yonhap)Moon is widely expected to seek engagement with North Korea to improve long-strained ti

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers got rocked by the Colorado Rockies in his return from the disabled list.Ryu was touched for 10 runs -- five of them unearned -- on eight hits and six walks in four innings at Coors Field in Denver on Thursday (local time). The South Korean left-hander left the game with the Dodgers down 10-0. (Yonhap)The 10 totals runs and six walks issued were both single-game highs for Ryu in his major league career. Ryu dropped to 1-5 on the season, and his ERA rose fro

Hyundai Wia Corp., an auto parts affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, said Friday it will produce in-house turbo chargers after years of joint production with its Japanese partner.  Hyundai Wia IHI Turbo, a 51-49 joint venture set up between Hyundai Wia and Japanese auto parts maker IHI, has produced turbo chargers since late 2015 for vehicles made by Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. at its plant in Seosan, 151 kilometers southwest of Seoul, a Hyundai Wia spokesman said. Hyundai Wia's turbo c

South Korea's defense ministry said Friday it has started working-level preparations for the implementation of reform measures proposed by President Moon Jae-in during his campaign."With regard to the presidential campaign pledges on the defense sector, of course, we are reviewing conditions and ways for implementation," Moon Sang-gyun, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, told reporters. (Yonhap)Moon's promises include shortening the service period for conscripted soldiers to 18 mo

The ruling Democratic Party said Friday that it will push for a parliamentary hearing on the deployment of a US missile defense system on the peninsula to address "national suspicions" surrounding it.The party's special panel on the ongoing controversy over a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense  battery also called on the government to suspend the deployment and prepare for a parliamentary ratification.Key THAAD components, such as a powerful radar system, have already been delivered to the depl

South Korean stocks extended losses late Friday morning as foreign investors offloaded large-cap stocks.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 8.25 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,288.12 as of 11:15 a.m.The decline followed overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.11 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.22 percent.Kim Ye-eun, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities, said foreign selling of large-cap stocks worth nearly

Malaysia, which has been at serious diplomatic odds over the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half brother Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport early this year, is studying the issuance of a North Korea travel warning in order to change the venue of its upcoming Asian Cup preliminary against the North from Pyongyang to a neutral area, a US broadcaster said Friday. The Malaysian government will notify the Football Association of Malaysia of its decision on the trav

North Korea's state radio station on Friday carried out its broadcast of mysterious numbers for the first time since liberal politician Moon Jae-in won South Korea's presidential election earlier this week.North Korea resumed its encrypted numbers broadcasts, a Cold War-era campaign to send coded messages to its agents in South Korea, in June last year. Pyongyang suspended them in 2000 when the two Koreas held a historic summit. (Yonhap)A female announcer at Radio Pyongyang read numbers for minu

China has invited South Korea to join a forum on Beijing's regional economic development plan in what appears to be a move to mend the bilateral relationship following the inauguration of new President Moon Jae-in in Seoul, a government official said Friday.The delegation to be led by Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the Democratic Party will leave for Beijing on Saturday to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that will kick off on Sunday for a two-day run, according to the offi

The finance ministry said Friday that it will set aside a supplementary budget to help create jobs, a key campaign pledge of Presidential Moon Jae-in."We will create jobs through aggressive macroeconomic policies, including a supplementary budget," the ministry said in its monthly economy assessment report called the "Green Book." The ministry also vowed to revitalize Asia's fourth-largest economy, which is showing signs of a recovery on increased exports.It marked the first

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party on Friday reinstated a group of lawmakers who had left it or been disciplined in the fallout of the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.The group includes 13 lawmakers who defected to create the splinter Bareun Party and three lawmakers whose memberships were suspended as punishment for the internal crisis after a parliamentary vote to oust Park in December. The logo of the Liberty Korea Party (Yonhap)Their reinstatement comes as the party is str

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday that it has promoted 42 employees to senior management posts at its chipmaking business as part of its latest regular personnel appointment, five months later than usually, as its vice chairman has been arrested for alleged graft charges.On Thursday, the world's largest manufacturer of smartphones also carried out a partial personnel appointment, which affected 54 executive level posts at its consumer electronics and smartphone business

A request for a parliamentary confirmation hearing on Prime Minister-designate Lee Nak-yon will be submitted to the National Assembly as early as Friday, multiple government sources said.Once the written request is submitted under the name of new President Moon Jae-in, the legislature is to complete the confirmation process within 20 days. This photo, taken on May 11, 2017, shows Prime Minister-designate Lee Nak-yon speaking during a press conference in Muan, 385 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonh

Audi Volkswagen's recall of its Tiguan compact SUV in South Korea has been going without a hitch with the recall rate reaching more than 30 percent for the first three months, industry sources said Friday.In January, the Seoul government allowed Audi Volkswagen Korea, the local importer and distributor of the German brands, to recall some 27,000 Volkswagen Tiguan cars sold here for fabricating test results of emissions, noise and fuel efficiency. (Yonhap)As of May 6, Audi Volkswagen Korea recall

South Korean mobile carriers' Internet-based TV businesses have emerged as their stable source of profit on the back of an increase in the number of subscribers, data by the companies showed Friday.The country's three mobile carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- saw sales from their Internet protocol television business jump 10 percent to 20 percent in the first quarter of this year from a year ago, according to the data based on their first-quarter earnings reports. (Yonhap

The management and union of Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, an affiliate of Hyundai Heavy Industries, said Friday they agreed to arrange paid leave for the shipyard's workers idled by a lack of orders.The agreement is a compromise for the management, which last month had proposed up to one month of unpaid leave to deal with falling orders and an industrywide slump in the shipbuilding business. The company had also suggested a temporary suspension of fringe benefits but was rejected by the union, official

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 5.48 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,290.89 in the first 15 minutes of trading.The decline followed overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.11 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.22 percent.Most large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. gained 1.01 percent, and

President Moon Jae-in has accepted the resignation of the chief prosecutor, a presidential spokesman said Friday."President Moon, this afternoon, accepted Prosecutor-General Kim Soo-nam's resignation," Moon's chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan said at a press briefing, adding the resignation will be effective as of Monday. (Yonhap)The three-day pause was apparently aimed at affording him enough time for a departure ceremony.Yoon said the president had agonized over Kim's resignation. He had s

South Korea, a thriving hub of technology in Northeast Asia, is also second to none when it comes to the gaming industry, with the size of the local market estimated at 11.3 trillion won ($9.9 billion) as of last year.According to data compiled by Korea Creative Content Agency, the country's game market is expected to continue growing and reach 11.6 trillion won in 2017. The venue of the Indie Game Festival 2017 held in Seoul on April 22, 2017. (Yonhap)The growth is especially faster for mobile