South Korea's exports of food and agricultural products reached a fresh record high in the first three months of the year on rising demand in the United States and China, government data showed Wednesday.Outbound shipments of foodstuffs and farm products rose 11.3 percent on-year to $1.64 billion in the January-March period according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. (Yonhap)It marked the largest exports tallied in the first quarter since the government

A lower court on Wednesday fined the local unit of app-based ride service provider Uber 10 million won ($8,900) for running an illegal taxi business.Travis Kalanick, founder and CEO of the US-based ride-sharing service Uber Technologies Inc., and its local unit were indicted in December 2014 for offering taxi services in collaboration with a rental-car service operator in violation of the Passenger Transport Service Act.  (Yonhap)Uber, designed to connect customers with private drivers without t

The average annual paycheck at the country's largest 500 local companies rose 2 percent from the previous year to 74 million won ($65,457) in 2016, with petrochemical companies dominating the upper rankings, analysis showed Wednesday.Corporate tracker CEO Score looked into salaries of 334 of the 500 top firms that submitted financial statements last year. The top payer was Yeochun NCC, a naphtha cracking center company, whose yearly average salary was 119.9 million won. Hanwha total, another pet

South Korea's No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. said Wednesday its first-quarter net profit increased nearly 2 percent from a year earlier.Net profit came to 583.48 billion won ($517.2 million) in the January-March period, the mobile carrier said in a regulatory filing. This represents an on-year gain of 1.95 percent.(Yonhap)Operating profit came to 410 million won, also up 2.08 percent over the cited period. Sales inched up 0.14 percent to reach 4.2 trillion won.Net profit hovered above the e

Consumer sentiment had generally improved in April, but it worsened for those under 40, a detailed index from the central bank indicated Wednesday. The Bank of Korea said overall the consumer sentiment index for the month rose to 101.2 from 96.7 in the previous month. A reading above 100 means there are more optimists than pessimists. However, a separate index for the under-40 age group measuring their sentiment on current economic conditions fell 1 percentage point from 94 in March. This contra

South Korea's three major shipyards -- Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. -- stayed at the top of the list in terms of order backlog, industry data showed on Wednesday.According to the data compiled by industry tracker Clarkson Research, Daewoo Shipbuilding's Okpo shipyard stood at 88 ships representing 6.24 million compensated gross tons (CGTs) in early April, followed by Hyundai Heavy's Ulsan shipyard with 65 vessels or 3

South Korea's residential mortgage-backed securitizations slightly rose in the first quarter of this year, but the pace of quarterly growth slowed because of the government's efforts to curb mounting household debt, official data showed Wednesday. State-run Korea Housing Finance Corp. issued 9 trillion won ($8 billion) in mortgage-backed securities during the January-March period, up 300 billion won from the same period a year ago, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a statement.The s

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday led by gains in tech companies, chemicals firms and automakers.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 7.91 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,204.76 in the first 15 minutes of trading.On Tuesday, the KOSPI closed at a six-year high, driven by continued foreign buying.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was 0.09 percent down and SK hynix, a major chipmaker, surged 2.48 percent.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, moved up 0.36 percent, and AmoreP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observed a major live-fire drill on its latest military anniversary, state media reported Wednesday, an exercise seen as targeting a US aircraft carrier and South Korea's capital.The North's leader watched the largest-ever combined firing "demonstration" of the Korean People's Army's servicemen to mark the 85th founding anniversary of the armed forces on Tuesday near an airfield in the eastern front, according to the Korean Central News Agency.This photo, carried

South Korea's next president shouldn't hurriedly seek softer-line measures toward North Korea, such as reopening a jointly run industrial complex in the North, because it would put Seoul out of sync with the United States, an expert said Tuesday."A new South Korean government cannot afford ideological indulgences in a renewed engagement or sunshine policy," Victor Cha, Korea chairman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.(Yon

China is unlikely to exercise enough pressure on North Korea to make it rethink its weapons programs, and the US should aggressively pursue "secondary sanctions" on Chinese firms doing business with the North in order to get Beijing moving, US experts said Tuesday."I think there are going to be limits to what they're going to be willing to do. Their biggest fear, of course, is destabilizing the peninsula. Now is the time to try to make China understand that the status quo is worse for them than

North Korea should not underestimate US President Donald Trump's resolve to stop the communist regime from developing a nuclear missile capable of striking the US, a ranking Republican senator said Tuesday after dinner with Trump the previous day."If I were North Korea, I would not underestimate President Trump's resolve to stop them from getting a missile to hit our homeland," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told reporters, a day after he and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) had dinner with Trump at the Whit

South Korea defeated Hungary 3-1 for its third straight victory at the men's hockey world championship in Ukraine, moving a step closer to a promotion to the sport's top-tier competition.The 23rd-ranked South Korean team erased a 1-0 deficit against No. 19 Hungary with three unanswered goals on Monday (local time) at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship Division I Group A at the Palace of Sports in Kiev.Brothers Shin Sang-hoon and Sin Sang-woo each netted a goal in the thir

The top five presidential candidates on Tuesday clashed over national security, job creation and economic polarization during their fourth televised debate with the election just two weeks away.During the nearly three-hour roundtable discussion hosted by local daily Joong-Ang Ilbo, its cable TV network JTBC and the Korean Political Science Association, the candidates converged on the need to bolster defense against a provocative North Korea, but remained different on the origins of the security

US President Donald Trump said that Chinese President Xi Jinping should be rewarded for helping lower tensions with North Korea.Trump also said during a White House reception with reporters Monday afternoon that Xi has "real power" over North Korea, according to the Washington Examiner. (Yonhap)"I like him and I believe he likes me a lot," Trump was quoted as saying.Since his first summit meetings with Xi earlier this month, Trump has repeatedly praised China for trying to increase pressure on t

US electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc. said on Tuesday it will set up 14 rapid-charging stations in South Korea this year.In its webpage, the 14 supercharger sites include five in Seoul, one in Bundang, just south of the capital city, and seven in major cities such as Busan, Daegu, Gwangju and Jeju Island.   This photo taken on March 17, 2017, shows the Model S displayed in Tesla's showroom in Cheongdam-dong in southern Seoul. (Yonhap)Fast chargers are able to provide 80 percent of battery capac

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker by sales, on Tuesday unveiled the high-performance features of its Stinger sports sedan ahead of the planned launch next month.The car will be domestically available in three trims fitted with a 2.0 twin-turbo, a 3.3 twin-turbo, and a 2.2 diesel engine all mated to eight-speed automatic gear box, the company said. The 3.3 turbo with 370 horsepower on tap and 52.0 kilogram-force meter of torque can push the car from naught to 100 kilometers

The application of patents for social robots that can interact and communicate with humans has risen sharply in South Korea in recent years with the advances being made in robotics and artificial intelligence, government data showed Tuesday.Social robot patent applications have surged more than 20 percent annually since 2013, and the figure climbed by 75 percent over the past couple of years, according to statistics released by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). (Yonhap)Private firm

The chief of South Korea's largest flagship carrier has been appointed as the new leader of the nation's professional volleyball league, officials here said Tuesday.The Korea Volleyball Federation, the operator of the V-League, said that Cho Won-tae, the CEO of Korean Air Lines Co., will be its new commissioner. The KOVO added its board members unanimously approved Cho's appointment.This photo provided by the Korea Volleyball Federation on April 25, 2017, shows Cho Won-tae, who will lead South K

South Korea's stock market for venture firms and start-ups plans to ease its listing rules, allowing more small firms to raise funds via the market, the nation's financial regulator said Tuesday. The Korea New Exchange (KONEX) market opened in 2013 for fledgling businesses to raise funds easier via stock sales rather than having to borrow from banks. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) decided to ease listing rules for the KONEX market as the average daily transaction value for the market ha