South Korean stocks still appear undervalued despite some 9 percent gain in the benchmark index this year, according to market data and a local brokerage on Friday. The Kospi index closed at a near six-year high of 2,209.46 points on Thursday, supported by healthy earnings by Samsung Electronics Co. and foreign inflows.  From Jan. 2 to Wednesday, the index gained 8.95 percent from the end of last year, but the gain lagged behind an average rise of 10.51 percent among the world's 40 stock ma

Joint countermeasures against trade protectionism will be a central agenda item at an economic ministerial meeting of Asian and European countries in Seoul later this year, trade ministry officials said Friday.Senior officials from member states of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) met in Seoul on Friday to discuss topics for the ASEM Economic Ministers' Meeting, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. The ministerial meeting is scheduled in Seoul on Sept. 21-22.Officials said participants

South Korea said Friday it has begun the construction of another large-scale amphibious landing ship to be used by the country's Navy.A keel-laying ceremony for the 14,500-ton vessel was held the day at the shipyard of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. in Busan, according to the state arms procurement agency. The ship, 199.4 meters long and 31 meters wide, is scheduled to be launched in April next year. It will be delivered to the Navy in 2020 after a trial operation, said the Defense A

The government said Friday it plans to spend 64 trillion won ($56.4 billion) this year to make sure a more comprehensive social safety net is provided for vulnerable people and the elderly. The Social Security Committee, a government body affiliated with the Prime Minister's Office, unveiled a plan which outlines some 177 tasks and measures that will be carried out by the government to bolster the local social security system.  (Yonhap)Seoul has vowed to improve the social safety net for differe

Lee Eun-hee, a 38-year-old lawyer, decided to visit Osaka in Japan with a friend in early November last year and set a new motto for this trip: spend less money on sleeping and focus more on eating and shopping.She downloaded the Airbnb application on her smartphone and searched for a suitable room close to a subway station and the large shopping districts of Dotonbori and Namba. On the app, it shows a list of apartments and guest houses uploaded by homeowners who have spare rooms or houses to s

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower on Friday, as investors attempted to cash in recent gains, but top market cap Samsung Electronics continued to build up gains.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 0.76 point, or 0.03 percent, to 2,208.70 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was 2.65 percent up on its strong first-quarter earnings and shareholder-friendly policies.SK hynix, a major chipmaker, also rose 1.12 percent.In contrast, Hyundai Moto

South Korea's industrial output rebounded to rise 1 percent last month from a month earlier on a rise in the production of automobiles and electronics parts, government data showed Friday.Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries rose 1 percent on-month in March, turning around from a 3.3 percent on-month drop in February, according to the data by Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)From a year earlier, the figure rose 3 percent on-year in March on the back of a sharp increas

South Korean companies' business environment outlook soured for next month due to fewer work days and concerns about protectionism by major trading partners, a local think tank said Friday. The business survey index for May fell to 91.7, down from 102.3 tallied a year ago and 93.3 a month earlier, according to the Korea Economic Research Institute, the think tank unit of the Federation of Korean Industries.  (Yonhap)"The outcome was mainly due to fewer working days, political uncertainties in re

Cargo processed at South Korean seaports rose slightly during the first three months of 2017 from a year earlier amid a steady increase in exports, government data showed Friday.Cargo handled at the country's seaports came to 389.92 million tons in the January-March period, up from 375.64 million tons tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Non-container cargo rose 3.1 percent on-year to 278.54 million tons during the three-month period, while conta

South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment for next month improved slightly as local companies expect steady gains in domestic demand and exports, data by the central bank showed Friday.The business survey index of manufacturing firms came to 84 for May, up from 82 for April, according to the Bank of Korea.A reading over 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists, while a reading below the benchmark means the opposite. An index measuring local firms' sentiments toward exports came to 93 for ne

The United States plans to raise the need for diplomatic isolation of North Korea, including shutting down diplomatic missions around the world, when it hosts a special U.N. Security Council meeting later this week, an official said.Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to chair the special ministerial meeting of the Security Council on Friday to discuss North Korea in an effort to drum up international support for its push to increase pressure on North Korea over its nuclear and missile

South Korea has suffered its first loss of the men's hockey world championship in Ukraine.South Korea, ranked 23rd, dropped to 17th-ranked Austria 5-0 on Thursday (local time) at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship Division I Group A at the Palace of Sports in Kiev, Ukraine. Austria scored three goals in the first period and tacked on two more for good measure. In this photo provided by Hockey Photo, South Korean forward Ahn Jin-hui (L) battles Martin Schumnig of Au

US Pacific Commander Adm. Harry Harris said Thursday that it is only a matter of time until North Korean leader Kim Jong-un perfects his intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities."KJU is not a leader who's afraid to fail in public. And so, you know, I talked about Thomas Edison. He tried 1,000 times before he got the lightbulb to work. KJU is going to continue to try ... until he gets his ICBMs to work," Harris said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. (Yonhap)He said the Nort

A rare White House briefing on North Korea for the entire Senate this week gave no indication that US military action against the communist nation was imminent, Sen. John McCain said Thursday.The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said on CBS "This Morning," however, that a military option shouldn't be taken off the table as a last resort that can be used when a North Korean nuclear missile launch was impending. (Yonhap)"No," McCain said when asked if there was any indication of imm

President Donald Trump's policy on North Korea is different from that of his predecessor, Barack Obama, mainly in the point that the current administration is taking on the problem as the No. 1 national security priority, a senior official said Thursday.Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made the remark during a think tank discussion, a day after the administration unveiled its North Korea policy centering on increasing pressure on Pyongyang w

United Asset Management Company, South Korea's biggest bad loan investment firm, said Thursday it will invest 500 billion won ($442.6 million) into a private-public fund that will help restructure small and medium-sized enterprises.The 8-trillion-won fund will be financed over the next five years from stat banks and other investors with the aim of restructuring SMEs, the nation's financial regulator said earlier this month. State-run financial institutions, including the National Pension Service

The number of egg-laying hens in South Korea fell to the lowest level in 12 years in the first quarter, data showed Thursday, sparking concerns that egg prices could go up further.The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed that the number of hens came to 51.6 million as of March 1, down 26.5 percent from a year earlier.(Yonhap)The decline came as South Korea slaughtered more than 37.8 million poultry -- 25.2 million of those being egg-laying hens -- in recent months to contain the bird flu tha

Hyundai Steel Co., South Korea's second-biggest steelmaker by sales, said Thursday that its first-quarter earnings more than doubled on robust sales of high-end products and cost reduction efforts. Net profit for the three months ended March 31 jumped to 341.11 billion won ($302 million) from 158.58 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.(Yonhap)"To offset lower demand from carmakers and shipbuilders, the company increased sales of value-added products such as high-intensity

South Korea plans to sell a combined 7.75 trillion won ($6.84 billion) in state bonds next month, the finance ministry said Thursday.The government will issue 1.8 trillion won in bonds with a maturity of three years and 1.9 trillion won in five-year bonds.It also plans to sell 1.8 trillion won worth of 10-year Treasurys and a combined 2.25 trillion won of bonds with a maturity of between 20 and 30 years.For June, the ministry said it is planning to issue a total 8 trillion won worth of state bon

More than 600 small and medium-sized companies in South Korea have clinched deals with partners based abroad over the past year through a trade convention for overseas Korean entrepreneurs and smaller firms, expanding their foothold outside the country, its organizing body said Thursday. The World Federation for Overseas Korean Traders Association said a total of 661 small and medium-sized companies signed a total of 1,227 trade deals with some 374 World-OKTA members, consisting of Korean entrep