FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Monday South Korea hosted a successful Under-20 World Cup, congratulating local organizers and thanking people for their support for the men's youth football tournament.South Korea staged the U-20 World Cup from May 20 to last Sunday in six cities and welcomed 24 teams. Infantino landed in South Korea on Saturday to watch the final between England and Venezuela, and to meet with football officials here."It was fantastic," Infantino said of South Korea's first

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., a major shipyard here, said Monday that it has delivered a fixed offshore platform worth $2.7 billion to a multinational oil firm.In December 2012, Daewoo Shipbuilding won a $1.8 billion deal to build the offshore facility from Norwegian Statoil ASA, but the project's value has swollen due to changes in its design and options, according to the company. (Yonhap)The offshore platform is capable of producing 2.5 million barrels of oil per month, which i

Top economic policymakers of South Korea and India will hold talks later this week to discuss ways to enhance bilateral economic cooperation, the finance ministry here said Monday.In the fifth Seoul-New Delhi finance ministers' meeting to be held on Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea's Kim Dong-yeon and his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley will share views on current macroeconomic situations facing both countries and economic policies being pursued to fuel growth. They will also talk about issues li

South Korea has acceded to a single privacy framework for the corporate transfer of data across Pacific Rim border nations, known as the Cross-Border Privacy Rules system, government officials said Monday.The CBPR system, endorsed by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in 2011, is aimed at facilitating e-commerce among the APEC countries and making the safe transfer of privacy data involving e-commerce and free movement of data. Under the system, participating businesses are required to implem

North Korea has yet to ask South Korea to approve a plan by a North Korean taekwondo demonstration team to visit the South for an international competition, Seoul's unification ministry said Monday.The North Korea-led International Taekwondo Federation will bring its demonstration team to South Korea for the World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo Championships in Muju, some 240 kilometers south of Seoul, to be held from June 24-30.This photo carried by North Korea's state news agency on June

GM Korea Co. on Monday added upgraded versions of the compact Trax sport-utility vehicle to its lineup to boost lackluster sales here.The South Korean unit of General Motors Co. has begun to take preorders of the 1.4-liter gasoline turbo-engine Trax SUV with a six-speed manual gearbox and the 1.6-liter diesel-powered model, GM Korea said in a statement.  (GM Korea)The manual-based model has been added to offer the "fun of driving" to its customers who prefer recreational vehicles, the company sa

South Korean shares retreated late Monday morning from the previous session, tracking an overnight decline on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 19.98 points, or 0.84 percent, to 2,361.71 as of 11:20 a.m.Most large caps traded lower, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics falling 1.61 percent and global chipmaker SK hynix losing 1.03 percent. Naver, the operator of the country's top Internet portal, slipped 5.31 percent.Financial and steel shares, however, were in

South Korea will extend a soft loan of $1 billion to a massive infrastructure development plan in the Philippines over the coming six years, industry sources said Monday.The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) will provide lower-interest, long-term loans under the state-run economic development cooperation fund  President Rodrigo Duterte is planning to spend $168 billion on big-ticket items such as railways and ports over the next six years as part of his ambitious socioeconomic ag

Air Busan, a South Korea budget carrier, said Monday the number of passengers it served has exceeded the 30 million mark nearly nine years after it started operations. Air Busan, launched in October 2008, became the third low-cost carrier to reach the milestone after Jeju Air Co. and Jin Air Co., which reported the achievement in January 2016 and May 2017, respectively.  Air Busan A321 passenger jet approaching an airport. (Yonhap)The number shows that the airline has served an increasing number

South Korea's top 30 business groups saw their cash reserves hit an all-time high in March as they remained reluctant to invest or hire amid the country's sluggish economy, data showed Monday.The combined retained earnings of 178 listed companies affiliated with the leading family-controlled conglomerates reached 691.5 trillion won ($615 billion) as of end-March, up nearly 10 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the data from conglomerate tracker Chaebul.com.Over the past five ye

South Korea is unlikely to achieve economic growth of 3 percent this year, according to analysts and foreign brokerages on Monday, as mounting household debt crimps private consumption. The Bank of Korea has predicted that the economy would grow 2.6 percent this year, compared to a 2.8-percent expansion last year.Japanese investment bank Nomura Securities, in a research note released last Tuesday, raised its forecast for South Korea's economic growth this year to 2.7 percent, from a previous for

South Korea's 10 most valuable companies account for nearly 37 percent of the country's stock market capitalization, but the portion has inched down this year, data showed Monday.The combined market value of Samsung Electronics Co. and the nine other largest-cap firms came to 569 trillion won ($506 billion) as of last Monday, up 14.7 percent from the end of last year, according to the data by the Korea Exchange. Over the cited period, the total market capitalization jumped 17.2 percent to 1,534

Government ministries and other public entities are hoping to boost their annual spending by 6 percent next year to better meet social welfare, education, and research and development outlays, the finance ministry said Monday.According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, government offices have submitted preliminary requests for their 2018 budget that totaled 424.5 trillion won ($377.1 billion), compared with 400.5 trillion won earmarked for this year. The request, if finalized, will mark t

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday as investors continued to take a breather amid the recent rally on the main bourse.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dipped 10.66 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,371.03 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Large cap stocks were mixed across the board.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was down 1.48 percent, and SK hynix, a major chipmaker, lost 1.54 percent. Top IT service firm Naver dipped 4.17 percent.Medical and financial shares, however, star

Princess Astrid of Belgium has been granted honorary citizenship by the city of Seoul, the city government said Monday. Princess Astrid arrived in Seoul on Saturday for a weeklong visit as a special envoy of the current monarch and her brother, King Philippe, with a group of 258 delegates to foster economic ties with South Korea. This file photo shows Princess Astrid of Belgium at Ewha Womans University on June 9, 2017. (Yonhap)She was presented with the certificate of honorary citizenship from

Hurt by long balls yet again, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers has barely avoided a loss in a shaky start.Ryu gave up three home runs against the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday (local time). Ryu was lifted for pinch hitter Franklin Gutierrez in the bottom fourth with the Dodgers trailing 4-2.The Dodgers' offense came alive after Ryu left the game and rallied for a 9-7 victory thanks to a six-run eighth.(Yonhap)The four innings matched Ryu's shortest start of th

WASHINGTON -- North Korea could carry out a missile test every 2.1 weeks if the communist regime continues with such banned launches at the same pace it has done so far this year, a US expert said.Troy Stangarone, senior director for congressional affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America, came up with the statistical estimate after analyzing the number of North Korean missile launches since 2012 following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's rise to power.(Yonhap)"Since assuming leadershi

South Korean Chun In-gee has posted her fourth runner-up finish of the 2017 LPGA season, as her search for her first win of the year continues.Chun lost in the first playoff hole to Ariya Jutanugarn at the Manulife LPGA Classic in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, on Sunday (local time). Lexi Thompson was another player involved in the sudden-death affair, and Jutanugarn beat both with a long birdie putt.(Yonhap)The three players finished the regulation tied at 17-under 271 at the par-72 Whistle Bear

South Korean Kim Meen-whee has set a new career high on the PGA Tour with a runner-up finish.Kim tied for second with Charl Schwartzel at the FedEx St. Jude Classic at the par-70 TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, on Sunday (local time). At nine-under 271, the two finished one stroke back of the champion, Daniel Berger.(Yonhap)Kim, who has been playing on the tour since 2015, previously had a pair of third-place finishes that year. For 2017, he had just one top-10 finish -- a tie for fifth at

Building a nuclear warhead and a re-entry vehicle durable enough to withstand the extreme heat during a missile's re-entry into the atmosphere is the last-remaining major question North Korea faces in developing a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile, a US expert said.Jeffrey Lewis, a top expert on North Korean missiles, also said in an article in the Foreign Affairs magazine that the North's Hwasong-12 missile, test-fired last month, showed that its warhead experienced heat loads s