Six out of South Korea's 10 largest-cap companies have seen their rankings change this year in step with fluctuating business conditions, data showed Thursday.According to the data from the bourse operator Korea Exchange, Naver Corp., the operator of the country's top Internet portal, rose to fourth in terms of market value as of Wednesday from sixth at the end of last year.Naver's ranking got a boost from solid growth in the Internet ad market, the main source of revenue for the company.(Yonhap

South Korean stocks opened mildly higher Thursday, largely helped by bullish tech large caps, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched up 1.05 points, or 0.04 percent, to reach 2,373.69 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Large-cap stocks on the bourse were mixed across the board, with tech shares pushing up the market.Market behemoth Samsung Electronics gained 1.6 percent, and global chipmaker SK hynix advanced 1.35 percent.The local currency was trading at 1,11

South Korea said Thursday that it will tighten monitoring of the local financial market and take immediate measures to stave off any fallout from the latest US rate increase."We will get fully prepared to minimize the adverse impact of the US rate hike," Vice Finance Minister Ko Hyoung-kwon said at a financial policy meeting in Seoul. "The government will keep close tabs on the market and take stabilizing measures in a timely manner." The US Federal Reserve raised key interes

South Korea's Navy said Thursday that it has kicked off an exercise on defending the country's easternmost islets of Dokdo, rebutting Japan's routine protest.The two-day training is part of efforts to defend Dokdo from the possible aggression of "outside forces," the Navy announced.It was apparently referring to Japan, which claims sovereignty over the Seoul-controlled islets in the East Sea.(Yonhap)This week's drill involves the 3,200-ton Gwanggaeto the Great-class destroyer and six other ships

The US Federal Reserve raised key interest rates by 0.25 percentage point Wednesday, and said it plans to reduce its securities holdings, a move that could spur rates to rise further.The Fed raised the target range for the federal funds rate from 1 to 1.25 percent, a level that's on par with South Korea's. It was the second time the Fed has raised rates this year after the first hike in March."The labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been rising moderately

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae was set to ask the National Assembly to once again try and approve the president's pick for new foreign minister, officials said Thursday, in what will likely be the last step before appointing the nominee.The move comes as the opposition-led parliament failed to issue a report on the outcome of a confirmation hearing for Foreign Minister-nominee Kang Kyung-wha, held last Wednesday. (Yonhap)The parliamentary hearing committee had until this Wednesday to issu

South Korea's pilot project for a coinless society has gained momentum as it enhances convenience for ordinary people, the central bank said Thursday.Under the project that began in mid-April, consumers can deposit small change left from purchases of goods into their prepaid or mobile cards at convenience stores, discount stores and department stores, according to the Bank of Korea. It means that consumers won't have to carry coins in their pockets after making cash payments.The number of deposi

WASHINGTON -- The rare secret meetings the United States and North Korea held about a long-detained American student are unlikely to lead to resumption of broader nuclear talks as long as three other US citizens are held in the communist nation, experts said Wednesday.Amb. Joseph Yun, US special representative for North Korea policy, held a meeting in Oslo with senior North Korean diplomats last month and another in New York over the detained American citizens in what is believed to be the first

South Korea hopes to use the upcoming summit between President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump to win US backing for Seoul playing a leading role in efforts to bring permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, a special presidential adviser said Wednesday.Moon Chung-in, an honorary Yonsei University professor who serves as special presidential adviser for unification, foreign and security affairs, made the remark upon arrival in Washington on a mission to improve understanding among Ameri

WASHINGTON -- The comatose American college student released from North Korea must have gone through "horrendous mistreatment" in the communist nation, the Washington Post said Wednesday, calling for stronger sanctions on Pyongyang.University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier, 22, returned to his Ohio home in a coma after spending 17 months in the North on charges of stealing a political propaganda poster from a hotel.(Yonhap)North Korean officials claimed Warmbier fell into a coma in March last

WASHINGTON -- The US pointman on North Korea, Amb. Joseph Yun, held secret meetings with North Korean diplomats in Oslo and New York before flying to Pyongyang to bring home a long-detained comatose American college student, a news report said Wednesday.The Olso meeting took place last month after Yun, special representative for North Korea policy, persuaded Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to approve the rare contact by assuring him that the agenda would focus only on the status of Americans de

A group of South Korean scientists have developed an adhesive patch inspired by protuberances in the suction cups of octopuses, the ICT ministry said Thursday, a finding that can have various electronic and medical applications.The team led by Bang Chang-hyun at Sungkyunkwan University developed the world's first patch that can be attached and detached up to 1,000 times without the need for any adhesive material, even in wet conditions. (Yonhap)"This study was to develop the material of a highly

The US business lobby in South Korea floated the idea Wednesday that Asia's fourth-largest economy should create a "Buy American Fund" ahead of crucial summit talks between leaders set for later this month.President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to hold his first summit with US President Donald Trump in Washington, a meeting that could set the tone of bilateral relations going forward. The American Chamber of Commerce said if Moon announces a $10 billion "Buy American Fund” meant

South Korean stocks ended mildly lower Wednesday as investors took a wait-and-see stance to check the results of the US Federal Reserve's policy rate-setting meeting, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 2.06 points, or 0.09 percent, to close at 2,372.64. Trade volume was moderate at 386 million shares worth 6.63 trillion won ($5.89 billion), with losers slightly outnumbering gainers 418 to 407.Institutional investors and f

Paraguay's state-run news agency IP (Agencia de Informacion Paraguaya) on Wednesday joined a content-sharing platform to be run by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. With the latest entry, the total number of overseas news agencies confirmed as subscribers to the PyeongChang News Service Network came to 44. Fabrizio Caligaris, Paraguay's minister of information and communication, shakes hand with Park No-hwang, president and CEO of South Korea's Yonhap New

South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. said Wednesday that it will help the upcoming annual conference of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank by providing 110 transport vehicles.The second annual meeting of AIIB's board of governors is slated to be held on the country's southern resort island of Jeju from Friday to Sunday under the theme of "sustainable infrastructure," bringing together some 2,000 officials and businessmen from 77 countries, including finance ministers and central b

This year's taekwondo world championships to be held in South Korea will be the largest in the competition's history, organizers said Wednesday.The World Taekwondo Federation said 917 athletes from 183 nations have signed up for the June 24-30 WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Muju, some 240 kilometers south of Seoul. This undated photo, provided by the North Jeolla Provincial Government, shows Taekwondowon in Muju, North Jeolla Province, the venue for the 2017 World Taekwondo Federation Worl

South Korea's total assets rose 5.8 percent in 2016 from a year earlier on a large increase in nonfinancial assets, central bank data showed Wednesday.The country's national assets came to 13,078 trillion won ($11.6 trillion) at the end of 2016, up 715 trillion won from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The 2016 tally is eight times higher than the country's nominal gross domestic product for the same year.The increase came mostly from a rise in nonfinancial a

INCHEON -- South Korean football's technical director on Wednesday hinted at firing beleaguered men's head coach Uli Stielike this week in light of the team's shocking loss to Qatar.Lee Yong-soo, head of the technical committee at the Korea Football Association, will preside over a meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday at the National Football Center in Paju, just north of Seoul. It will come after 43rd-ranked South Korea dropped to No. 88 after losing to Qatar 3-2 in Doha in the final Asian qualifying rou

Financial authorities said Wednesday the credit card commission charged on small merchants will be cut from August to help ease the financial burdens of mom-and-pop stores. The commission rate for small merchants with annual revenue of 500 million won ($444,168) or less will be reduced by 0.64 percentage point to 1.3 percent, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement.  Currently, credit card firms charge small merchants with annual revenue of 300 million won or less a commission