The number of South Korean recipients of "early state pension" decreased in 2016, data showed Monday, as more senior citizens opted for the regular benefit program to ensure they get a meaningful income later on in life.According to the data by the National Pension Service, the number of people receiving the early pension came to 36,614 in 2016, compared to 43,447 in 2015. The early state pension program was introduced to guarantee income for senior citizens up to five years earlier th

LG Electronics Inc. on Monday ruled out the rumor that the company is considering the acquisition of South Korea's No. 3 smartphone manufacturer, Pantech Co.Through a regulatory filing made after getting the request from the Korea Exchange, the main bourse operator, South Korea's No. 2 tech giant said it has never considered purchasing Pantech. (Yonhap)After facing financial troubles, Pantech was normalized in late 2015 after Solid Inc. listed the company on the secondary bourse Kosdaq acquired

South Korean volleyball star Kim Yeon-koung said Monday she will either stay in Turkey or move to China for next season.Kim, considered one of the world's best attackers today, returned home after leading Fenerbahce to the Turkish league championship for the 2016-17 season. She has been playing with Fenerbahce since 2011. South Korean volleyball player Kim Yeon-koung poses for a photo during a press conference at Incheon International Airport in Incheon on May 8, 2017. (Yonhap)Speculation has be

OCON Inc., the animation studio that created the computer-animated TV series "Pororo the Little Penguin," plans to launch an initial public offering next year, company officials said Monday. First aired in 2005, Pororo is one of the most popular cartoon characters for children in South Korea.(Yonhap)OCON holds a 27 percent stake in the copyright of the TV series, with another studio, Iconix Entertainment, holding another 27 percent. The remaining 46 percent is equally owned by SK Broadband and b

South Korea has the highest employment rate of seniors among advanced countries due to the rapid aging and insufficient social welfare system, data said Monday.The employment rate of South Koreans aged 75 or older reached 17.9 percent in 2015, ranking first among 25 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the data compiled by the Paris-based agency. It is far higher than the OECD average of 4.8 percent. Mexico came next with 17 percent, followed by Japa

South Korean shares extended a rally late Monday morning amid hopes for economic stimulus a day before voters go to the polls to choose their president. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 13.85 points, or 0.62 percent, to a record intra-day high of 2,255.09 as of 11:20 a.m.The Kospi index touched its highest-ever close of 2,241.24 points last week, helped by foreign buying and healthy corporate earnings. Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics remainin

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a major South Korean shipbuilder, said Monday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with a Saudi shipping firm to work together to develop technologies needed for a 'smart ship' platform.Under the deal with the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, better known as Bahri, Hyundai Heavy will develop smart ship technologies and use them with Bahri's fleet. (Yonhap)Hyundai Heavy unveiled the world's first smart ship system in 2011, and some 300 ships cur

Two South Korean clubs will try to claim knockout berths in the top Asian club football tournament this week by winning their last respective group matches.Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Jeju United will aim to grab the round of 16 spots in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League on Tuesday. Two other K League Classic clubs -- FC Seoul and Ulsan Hyundai -- will play their final matches on Wednesday, but they are already out of the contention for the knockout stage.The players of the Suwon

Delinquencies at South Korea's five credit card companies rose 4.7 percent on-quarter in the first three months of this year as low interest rates pushed them to make more card loans, industry data showed Monday. Overall card loans overdue by more than 30 days rose to 955.2 billion won ($842.1 million) at the end of March, up 42.5 billion won from the end of last year.  The five credit card companies are Shinhan, KB, Woori, Hana and Samsung. Excluding Shinhan, the other four companies saw t

Former Olympic swimming champion Park Tae-hwan has capped off his first competition of the season with yet another victory.Park won the men's 1,500-meter freestyle gold at Arena Pro Swim Series at McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta on Sunday (local time), with the time of 15:06.38.Park Tae-hwan of South Korea celebrates his victory in the men's 200-meter freestyle final at the FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, on Dec. 7, 2016. (EPA-Yonh

US direct investment in South Korea fell last year for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, central bank data showed Monday.The US direct investment in South Korea totaled $33.9 billion last year, down 1 percent from $34.2 billion a year ago, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea. It marked the first time that the US direct investment here decreased since 2008, when it plunged 8.1 percent.In comparison, outstanding foreign investments in Asia's fourth-biggest economy cam

The Doosan Bears, two-time defending champions in South Korean baseball, aren't quite out of woods yet, heading into the second week of May.And what a difference a year makes. After Sunday's loss to the LG Twins in the Korea Baseball Organization, the Bears are 14-17-1 (wins-losses-ties), good for only seventh place in the 10-team league. They're 8.5 games behind the first-place Kia Tigers.On May 8 last year, the Bears were in first place at 19-10-1.Yoo Hee-kwan of the Doosan Bears reacts after

South Korean shares extended a rally Monday morning after touching an all-time high last week, amid hopes for an economic stimulus a day before voters go to the polls to choose their president. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 4.15 points, or 0.19 percent, to 2,245.39 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics gaining 0.53 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.66 percent, and No. 1 steelmaker Posco declined 1

WASHINGTON -- The deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea could raise cost-sharing questions in the United States despite Washington's agreement to pay for it, a congressional report has said.The Congressional Research Service report, dated April 4, came a few weeks before US President Donald Trump began demanding that South Korea pay for THAAD because it's designed to protect the country from North Korean threats.That shows that Trump's demand is not an isolated view and m

South Korean Kim Sei-young has collected her sixth career LPGA victory at a match play event in Mexico.Kim defeated Ariya Jutanugarn 1-up to take the Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Match Play in Mexico City on Sunday (local time).It was Kim's first win of 2017. The 24-year-old won three times as a rookie in 2015 and added two more wins in 2016. She took home a winner's check of $205,000.Kim Sei-young of South Korea poses with the champion's trophy after winning the Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Match Play

Unofficial "Track 2" meetings are routinely held "independent of US government involvement," the State Department said Sunday after reports that a senior North Korean diplomat is set to hold talks with former US officials.Japanese media reported that Choe Son-hui, director-general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's bureau handling relations with the United States, headed to Europe via Beijing for talks with unidentified former US government officials.Choe Son-hui, director-general at the Nor

Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo on Sunday announced a package of campaign pledges for senior citizens centered on raising the basic pension and ensuring lifetime education for them ahead of Parents' Day which falls this week."Parents were unable to save up for their own retirement, because they were too busy supporting their own parents and helping to educate children," the nominee of the center-left People's Party said in a press release. "I'll help relieve their sense of anxiety through t

The number of people who switched their mobile carriers in the first six days of May reached just shy of 120,000, industry data showed Sunday.The total who transferred to a new service provider in the six-day period that ended Saturday represents a 30 percent increase compared with the year before. This translates to a daily average of 19,000 people changing their carriers. (Yonhap)The spike in so-called number portability comes as local service providers offered hefty incentives to customers to

Wind-fed forest fires that broke out in Gangneung and Sangju have been almost put out, but firefighters are struggling to contain another blaze in the mountainous region of Gangwon Province, the government said Sunday.The Korea Forest Service said firefighters were hosing down the remaining flames from the blaze that broke out in Gangneung on the east coast and Sangju in North Gyeongsang.  (Yonhap)"While winds have picked up coming into the afternoon, most of the fires have come under control in

The latest webOS smart TV by LG Electronics Inc. has been certified for its effective security capability and sustainability by a local agency, the company said Sunday.The tech giant said its latest version of the webOS smart TV platform received the Evaluation Assurance Level 2 by the IT Security Certification Center, becoming the first smart TV in the world to receive the cybersecurity level. (Yonhap)LG said the smart TV adopts a slew of the latest cybersecurity technologies to reduce malware