With a day left until the opening of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea, less than 30 percent of tickets have been sold, according to the organizers, although the tournament's opening match is likely to be sold out. South Korea will host the U-20 World Cup in six cities -- Suwon, Jeonju, Daejeon, Cheonan, Incheon and Jeju -- from Saturday to June 11. The young Taeguk Warriors are in Group A with Guinea, Argentina and England at the 24-team football competition.  South Korean under-20 nationa

The top organizer of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea has offered to open the land route for North Korean athletes if they decide to compete south of the tense border.In a meeting with journalists at the South Korean Embassy in London on Thursday (local time), Lee Hee-beom, head of the organizing committee for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, said South Korea will welcome North Korea with open arms.Lee has repeatedly stated that all peace-loving nations have an obligation to participate

BEIJING-- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that he hopes to get the ties with South Korea back on normal track, emphasizing the importance of the bilateral relations between the Asian neighbors. Xi made the remarks during his meeting with Lee Hae-chan, who was in Beijing as a special envoy that South Korean President Moon Jae-in sent to deliver his letter to the Chinese leader and lay the groundwork for future cooperation.Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with South Korea's p

South Korea needs to prepare for an influx of Chinese travelers again once the diplomatic tension over the US missile defense system deployment settles down, a local trade group said Friday.The Shanghai office of the Korea International Trade Association released a report projecting that the tourism business from China will more than recover once bilateral relations improve. (Yonhap)China has barred its travel agencies from selling package tours to South Korea since March 15 in protest against S

South Korea's acting justice minister offered to resign Friday, one day after the ministry and state prosecutors launched internal corruption investigations into their own officials, who are suspected of intentional negligence to afford leniency toward a former presidential secretary."I did my best to maintain law and order as acting justice minister amid a national crisis. But I decided to step down believing I must be the first one to give up what I have in order to win the people's trust in r

North Korea has celebrated the successful launch of a new type of intermediate-range ballistic missile, called the Hwasong-12, by inviting its developers to Pyongyang, the North's state-run newswire said Friday. On Sunday, the Hwasong-12 was fired from Kusong, North Pyongan Province, and dropped into the East Sea after flying 787 kilometers eastward, the North claimed. It said the newly developed missile can carry a large nuclear warhead, while threatening that the US mainland is within its stri

South Korea has invited more than 50 family members of American soldiers who were killed or missing in action during the Korean War, a related ministry said Friday.It is part of the Korea Revisit program organized by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs in recognition of the help and sacrifice of US-led UN forces in the South's fight against the invading North Korea in the 1950-53 conflict. A group of family members of U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War participate in the Ko

The record-setting performance by Tottenham Hotspur's winger Son Heung-min this week is also a welcoming sight for the South Korean national team trying to qualify for the next FIFA World Cup.Son scored twice against Leicester City in their Premier League match in Leicester on Thursday (local time), giving him 21 goals in all competitions this season. After a monthlong drought, Son finally moved past former star Cha Bum-kun as the top South Korean scorer in a European season. Cha scored 19 goals

South Korea's new Moon Jae-in government is expected to make only small changes to the current merit pay system for all public agency employees instead of scrapping it all together, analysts said Friday.During a campaign rally for the May 9 presidential election, Moon of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea promised to immediately abolish the performance-based wage system should he be elected as the nation's president. Experts, however, said the Moon administration will find it difficult t

South Korean stocks started marginally lower on Friday, as a drop in top-listed firms offset gains in cosmetics and food companies, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 2.04 points, or 0.09 percent, to trade at 2,284.78 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Top-cap Samsung Electronics lost almost 1 percent, with No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor sliding 1.6 percent. But top cosmetics maker AmorePacific gained around 1 percent and major food maker CJ Cheiljedang clim

Retailers are struggling with weak sales amid unfavorable market conditions industry data showed Friday, with prospects of new government regulations adding to their worries.According to the sales tally, April's numbers by major department stores shrank nearly 2 percent compared to same month last year. Lotte showed a 1.9-percent contraction while sales at Hyundai fell 1.6 percent. The lone increase in sales was in the home appliances sector from the wedding season in spring. Retailers had hoped

The revised guidelines for the 2018 state budget is designed to center around the pledges of the new government including job creation and a hike in household income, the finance ministry said Friday.Following the inauguration of President Moon Jae-in on May 10, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance revised the budget guidelines for next year to reflect the main policies of the liberal-focused president, who has put his policy priority on reviving the economy through job creation and increased in

For many old South Koreans, Japan has been an uncomfortable neighbor due to memories of Tokyo's harsh colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century.But lingering resentment toward Japan is no longer an obstacle for a growing number of young jobseekers who are hard pressed to find work at home.Ku Bon-su, a 30-year-old engineering graduate, had interviews with six Japanese companies in a job fair held in Ilsan, just northwest of Seoul, last week. He has turned to Ja

More than 7 in 10 South Korean listed companies are headquartered in Seoul and its vicinity, pointing to the excessive concentration of wealth in the capital area, data showed Friday.The overconcentration of economic power is feared to deepen the regional economic gap, necessitating the need for measures to induce companies to move their main offices out of the Seoul metropolitan area for balanced regional growth. (Yonhap)According to the data by the Korea Exchange, 72.3 percent of the 1,947 com

President Moon Jae-in is set to hold his first multilateral meeting with party leaders Friday, which could very well set the tone for his relations with an opposition-led parliament.The president is scheduled to host a luncheon with the floor leaders of five major political parties at his presidential office Cheong Wa Dae including Woo Won-shik of the ruling Democratic Party and Chung Woo-taik of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.  President Moon Jae-in (Yonhap)Kim Dong-cheol, the new floo

WASHINGTON -- A senior State Department official in charge of Asian affairs will travel to the Philippines and China next week, the department announced Thursday.Acting Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton will visit Manila on May 23-24 for a senior officials' meeting of the East Asia Summit and other sessions hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN, the department said in a statement.Thornton will then travel to Beijing on May 25-26 to discuss bilateral and regional

WASHINGTON -- A special envoy of South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a series of meetings with US congressional leaders on Thursday as he forged ahead with his mission to reaffirm and further strengthen the alliance between the two countries under the new government in Seoul.Special envoy Hong Seok-hyun arrived in Washington on Wednesday and paid a visit to President Donald Trump at the White House. During the meeting, Trump expressed hope for working closely together with Moon to strengthen

WASHINGTON -- The nominee for US ambassador to Japan said Thursday he will have no problem speaking up to Tokyo if the ally engages in acts contradicting American values, such as government leaders paying homage to a shrine honoring war criminals.William Hagerty made the remark during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing when ranking member Ben Cardin (D-MD) asked if he's willing to speak out against certain acts, such as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to a Tok

JEONJU -- South Korean football coach Shin Tae-yong said Thursday there will be no home field advantage at the FIFA U-20 World Cup with the introduction of a video review system.The U-20 World Cup will be staged in six South Korean cities from Saturday to June 11. The young Taeguk Warriors are in Group A, with Guinea, Argentina and England at the 24-team tournament.The 21st edition of the U-20 World Cup is the first youth event by FIFA with video assistant referees. They will be able to provide

JEONJU -- FC Barcelona prospect Paik Seung-ho said Thursday he hopes to score South Korea's opening goal at the FIFA U-20 World Cup on home soil.Host South Korea will face Guinea to start their Group A action at 8 p.m. Saturday at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. And the 20-year-old midfielder said he'd like to put his name on the score sheet before anyone else. South Korean midfielder Paik Seung-ho poses for photos during the men's under-20 national football team media