Four male South Korean cross-country skiers have been suspended from the national team after they were caught drinking during the Asian Winter Games, the sport's national governing body said Thursday. The Korea Ski Association said the cross-country skiers who drank beer during the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, received six-month suspensions and were immediately dropped from the national team. Among the cross-country skiers who represented South Korea at the Asian Games in February, only

South Korea's economy grew at a faster pace in the first quarter than three months earlier due to increased construction investment and exports, central bank data showed Thursday.In the January-March period, the country's gross domestic product increased 0.9 percent from the previous quarter, improving from a 0.5 percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.The on-quarter growth is the fastest since the second quarter of last year.From a

WASHINGTON -- The United States should make clear to China that it will suffer "penalties" in its relations with Washington if it does not rein in North Korea, Sen. John McCain said Wednesday."Frankly, over the years, we've seen nothing from China. They have propped up North Korea. They could shut down their economy in a week or two if they wanted to, and they've had it both ways. And to think that a united Korea would somehow be a threat to China is just ridiculous and outrageous," the chairman

WASHINGTON -- For many years, one of the most frequently cited explanations for North Korea's bad behavior and saber-rattling, such as weapons tests and bellicose rhetoric, was that the communist nation was trying to grab US attention.The point was that the US was so preoccupied with Iran, Syria and other Middle Eastern problems that it could hardly afford to pay enough attention to the North and therefore Pyongyang was trying to use "shock therapy" to get Washington into negotiations where it c

WASHINGTON -- A US THAAD missile defense battery being installed in South Korea will become operational "in the coming days," the US Pacific commander said Wednesday.Adm. Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command, made the remark during a House Armed Services Committee hearing after the US military brought the radar and other equipment to the deployment site in southeastern South Korea earlier in the day.(Yonhap)"The ROK-US alliance decided last July to deploy THAAD, that's a Terminal Hi

WASHINGTON -- Top US officials were to provide all members of the Senate and the House of Representatives with highly unusual briefings on North Korea on Wednesday in a move that underlines the urgency President Donald Trump attaches to the problem.Trump was scheduled to stop by the briefing for all 100 senators set to take place at the White House, where Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other top officials are expected to outline the status of the problem and t

Samsung C&T Corp., a de facto holding company of Samsung Group, bounced back into the black in the first quarter from a year earlier largely thanks to cost-cutting efforts and a one-off factor, the company said Wednesday.Its net profit reached 186 billion won ($165 million) in the January-March period, shifting from a loss of 516 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. (Yonhap)It posted an operating income of 137 billion won in the first quarter, also swinging back f

South Korea's top tax official and his Indian counterpart agreed to avoid double taxation between the two countries, the government said Wednesday.National Tax Service chief Lim Hwan-soo and India's Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia also agreed to create stable tax conditions for investments during their meeting in Seoul, according to the NTS.The bilateral double taxation avoidance pact was reached in September last year, creating a mutual foundation to address double taxation issues facing South

Payouts by private pension savings accounts to investors significantly fell short of needs for post-retirement life, official data showed Wednesday.The average monthly payout by private pension savings stood at 260,000 won ($231) last year, down 20,000 won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Including an average monthly payout by the National Pension Service, an investor received a total of 600,000 won in pension last year.The payout is compared wit

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker by sales, on Wednesday posted a 21 percent drop in first-quarter net profit due to weak sales in China and emerging markets.For the three months that ended March 31, the company's net stood at 1.4 trillion won ($1.3 billion) from 1.77 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. (Yonhap)"Sharp sales declines in China and some Asian and Middle Eastern markets had an impact on the quarterly bottom line despite rises in such

With a recent history of injuries behind him, Nexen Heroes' first baseman Chae Tae-in is finally doing the things that many thought he was capable of all along.Through Tuesday's games, the 34-year-old veteran in the Korea Baseball Organization is leading the club with a .387/.433/.613 slash line, along with two homers and nine RBIs in 18 games. He's fifth in the KBO in batting average, and is also inside the top 10 in both on-base and slugging percentages.In this file photo taken on April 11, 20

The transport ministry said Wednesday it had notified Hyundai Motor Co. of its decision to have the carmaker recall tens of thousands of its Sonata sedans for parking brake light problems.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport made the decision after reviewing five cases of suspected faulty parts in the Sonata midsize sedan, the i30 hatchback and the Avante compact, a ministry official said. Hyundai's Sonata sedan (Yonhap)A former Hyundai employee tipped off the ministry about possib

The head of South Korea's central bank called Wednesday for efforts to better reflect the rapidly changing economic reality in the gross domestic product.GDP -- the broadest measure of an economy's performance -- is the total value of goods and services produced within the economy in a given period. It has been used as one of the major indicators in economic policy-making. Still, some critics say GDP does not properly reflect new activities such as digital or economic sharing. They also say GDP

South Korea launched an alliance of leading information and communication technology and construction firms on Wednesday to nurture the "smart home" industry that connects artificial intelligence and Internet of Things to home appliances."We can make the world's leading smart home industry with the combination of our home electronics industry, information technology, infrastructure and semiconductors," Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan said at a event to mark the launch at the Korea Electronics Tech

South Korea's corporate watchdog said Wednesday that it has slapped a combined 218.9 million won ($194,300) in fines on 54 affiliates of large business groups for regulatory filing violations last year.SK Group, the country's third-biggest conglomerate by assets, were fined 33.3 million won due to 17 offending cases, while affiliates of OCI Co., the top solar power panel maker, were booked(Yonhap)46.7 million won for not properly reporting to authorities about their intra-affiliate business deal

Bank lending rates on new household loans inched up in March and interest rates paid by banks on new deposits remained unchanged, central bank data showed Wednesday.The average interest rates on fresh household loans extended by local banks came to 3.43 percent in March, up 0.05 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The BOK data came amid South Korea's efforts to tackle rising household debt. South Korea's outstanding household credit -- which is composed of h

Exports of South Korea-made passenger cars dropped 2.7 percent in the first quarter of this year due mainly to increased production in overseas factories, customs data showed Wednesday.The total value of passenger car exports reached $8.7 billion over the January-March period, down from $8.9 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service. (Yonhap)Those of imports also sank 16.3 percent on-year to $1.8 billion from $2.1 billion over the cited period.From three

South Korean stocks traded at a six-year high early Wednesday morning, led by gains in tech companies, chemicals firms and automakers.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 10.01 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,206.86 as of 11:15 a.m.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was 0.09 percent down and SK hynix, a major chipmaker, surged 2.19 percent.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, moved up 0.69 percent, and AmorePacific, the country's top cosmetics maker, remained unchanged.SK Innovation

Exports of oil and related goods by South Korean refiners reached an all-time high in the first three months of the year on firm demand and higher oil prices, industry data showed on Wednesday.According to the data compiled by the Korea Petroleum Association, oil and petrochemical goods exported by SK Innovation Co., GS-Caltex Co., S-Oil Corp., Hyundai Oilbank Co. and others reached 117 million barrels in the first quarter of the year, rising 6.5 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)In terms of

A total of 642 listed firms in South Korea have sought the practice of shadow voting this year to meet quorum requirements for approval at their annual meetings of shareholders, sharply up 40 percent from a year ago, data showed Wednesday. Shadow voting, or mirror voting, is a practice under which companies can ask stocks registered with the Korea Securities Depository to vote in the same proportion as voters who participate in an annual shareholder meeting.Introduced in 1991, the practice is se