South Korea ranked fifth among the 35 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries in the growth of food prices in the first quarter, OECD data showed Saturday. In the January-March period, Korean food prices jumped 3.9 percent from a quarter earlier, following Turkey with 9.7 percent growth, Latvia's 5.9 percent, the Czech Republic's 4.1 percent and Estonia's 4 percent, the data showed.  Local officials say the spread of avian influenza and the outbreak of foot-and-mouth

South Korea's rapidly aging society is expected to fuel growth in the country's agricultural and fisheries sector, and health care services, a local think tank said Sunday, calling on the country to better prepare for changes down the road.According to the report by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, the number of local households whose head is aged over 60 will jump from 28.7 percent as of last year to 40.7 percent in 2026 and reach 57.8 percent in 2045. The state-run

 South Korea is expected to become the world's 15th largest producer of rice this year, a report by the United Nations food organization showed Sunday.According to the Food Outlook by Food and Agriculture Organization, South Korea is set to produce 4.1 million tons of rice this year, down 3.1 percent from 4.2 million tons in 2016.The total should be equivalent to 0.8 percent of all rice to be harvested this year around the world that could reach 502.6 million tons, the report said. Numbers

Chey Tae-won, the head of South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate SK, will receive the Korea Society's James A. Van Fleet Award next month, the company said Sunday.Chey has been selected as this year's winner of the award in recognition of his contributions to business ties and industrial cooperation between South Korea and the United States, the society said. (Yonhap)An awards ceremony will be held in Seoul on July 18 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the nonprofit organization.Named after Gen. Jam

WASHINGTON (AP) -- So what‘s next for James Comey?The former FBI director boldly challenged the president who fired him, accused the Trump administration of lying and supplied material that could be used to build a case against President Donald Trump.But after stepping away from the Capitol Hill spotlight, where he’s always seemed comfortable, the 56-year-old veteran lawman now confronts the same question long faced by Washington officials after their government service.His dry quip at a rivetin

LG Uplus Corp., the country's smallest mobile carrier, said Sunday it has launched a spam-blocking application with its rival KT Corp."Whowho-Uplus" was co-developed by LG Uplus and Whowho&company Corp., the biggest spam blocker, with over 10 million downloads, which is operated by KT, the country's No. 2 mobile carrier. (Yonhap)The app provides users with detailed information on suspicious incoming calls and messages based on a database of 600 million numbers. The app can identify callers to bl

Samsung Electronics Co.'s second quarter operating profit is forecast to reach record high levels, with most estimates around the "low" 12 trillion won ($10.6 billion) to upwards of over 13 trillion won, local brokerages said Sunday.Reports coming out of securities firms showed market consensus for a very strong performance for the world's No. 1 smartphone and memory chip manufacturer, with keen interest even being shown on operating profits surpassing the 13 trillion-won mark. (Yonhap)The South

Nearly half of South Korean households have suffered some kind of crisis, with financial difficulties cited as the prime culprit, a poll showed Sunday.According to the survey of 1,500 people aged 20-64 taken by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs in July last year, some 46 percent said they have endured a family crisis during their lifetime.The state think tank carried the results of the telephone survey in a recently published report titled "Characteristics of Family Crises in a C

The diplomatic row between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of the US anti-missile system in the country that hurt sales of South Korean cars in China has benefited Japanese automakers, data showed Sunday.Numbers provided by local carmakers and the China Passenger Car Association showed that from March to May of this year, sales of vehicles made by Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister company Kia Motors Corp. reached 175,576 units, down 60.8 percent from 447,420 cars sold a year earlier. South

South Korea's unification ministry is mulling over how to name President Moon Jae-in's inter-Korean policy to better present his vision for solving North Korea's nuclear problems and promoting economic cooperation, government sources said Sunday.Moon's policy advisory panel has instructed the ministry to come up with the name of the president's policy, which would include key words of peace and economy based on his pledges made on his campaign trail, they said.The chief executive said that he wi

South Korea's power supply hovered above its demand for the past seven days after a temporary shutdown of eight old coal-fired power plants, government data showed Sunday, shaking off concerns over a possible shortage.Starting June 1, the aged thermal power plants, including four in central Chungcheong Province, went offline for a month in line with the government's efforts to cut the country's air pollution.Despite the shutdown, the country's electricity supply remained higher than its consumpt

There have no battery problems reported in Samsung Electronics Co.'s latest Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus smartphones since their launch in April, industry sources said Sunday.The company's new flagship went on sale on April 21 following the halt of the production and recall of the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 phablet due to some units catching fire while being recharged. The company admitted that faulty batteries were behind the problem. (Yonhap)The sources attributed the lack of any incidents so

Exports of South Korean cultural content rose 9.7 percent on-year in 2016 despite an economic slowdown and China's restriction on imports of Korean pop culture over a diplomatic row, data showed Sunday.Overseas shipments of cultural products reached 6.21 billion won ($5.52 million) in 2016, compared with 5.66 billion won the previous year, according to the data by the Korea Creative Content Agency.This photo taken on May 10, 2017, shows the 10th International Busan Contents Market, an event on b

Sony Corp.'s resurgence in the premium TV market is starting to threaten the lead enjoyed by South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., industry data showed Sunday.Data provided by the global market tracker IHS showed that in the first half of this year, Sony accounted for 39 percent of all TVs with a price tag exceeding $1,500, up more than twofold compared with 17.5 percent tallied by the Japanese company in the previous quarter. LG`s premium OLED TV on display (Yonhap)In t

The number of imported vehicles in South Korea's corporate car fleet has fallen to record-low levels this year after the government enforced stricter rules on non-business use, industry data showed Sunday.According to data provided by the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, the percentage of imported cars newly registered with companies in the January-May period stood at 34.5 percent. (Yonhap)"Of the 94,397 vehicles imported, 32,581 were bought by companies in the five-month

South Korea's trade surplus with the United States has been on a steady decline for the past 13 months amid the Seoul government's efforts to reduce the imbalance, customs data showed Sunday.A trade surplus with the world's largest economy reached $915 million last month, more than halving from $2 billion tallied a year ago, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. The monthly numbers have been falling since May last year when they backtracked 14.9 percent on-year to $1.78 bi

South Korea's top sports body decided on Thursday to begin the process for naming a candidate for International Olympic Committee membership.At its board of directors meeting, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee discussed the need for South Korea to have a full IOC member, especially with the country preparing to host the PyeongChang Winter Olympics next February. Lee Kee-heung (center), head of the KSOC, presides over the board of directors meeting in Seoul on June 8, 2017. (Korean Sport & Oly

The head of South Korea's presidential policy advisory panel said Thursday that he will put the highest priority on tackling the country's chronic low birthrate in order to bolster growth potential."Solving the sluggish birthrate is the pressing task that will decide the future of South Korea," Kim Jin-pyo, chairman of the State Affairs Policy Planning Committee, said before being briefed by related ministries including the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe voiced hope Thursday for a new and future-oriented relationship with South Korea under new President Moon Jae-in.The premier made the remark during a meeting with South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun at his official residence in Tokyo. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (AP-Yonhap)"Together with the new Moon Jae-in government, I would like to build a future-oriented new relationship between South Korea and Japan," he said, noting that

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday dismissed the government's existing plans to fight the spread of avian influenza as a formality, calling for "real and fundamental" solutions, the presidential office said.The proposed measures to fight the spread of bird flu came one day after the country reported a suspected case on the southern resort island of Jeju.The president's senior aides reported the measures. (Yonhap)Details of the reported measures could not be confirmed immediately, but the governme