South Korea's government computer systems have not been affected by the crippling ransomware WannaCry, which hit hundreds of thousands of computers around the world last week, a government official said Monday. "We've taken necessary measures against WannaCry, and no damage has been reported as of Monday morning," the official at the Interior Ministry's integrated government computer center said.This is a CJ CGV screen in Seoul that has been crippled by WannaCry ransomware on May 15, 2017. (Yonh

A Seoul court preparing former President Park Geun-hye's trial said Monday it will hold a random draw to allocate spectator seats for her first open hearing to be held next week.The Seoul Central District Court plans to hold the official hearing on May 23 after a second preparatory session Tuesday.  In this file photo taken on March 21, 2017, people watch live TV news reports at Seoul Station on former President Park Geun-hye arriving at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to undergo

White House officials handling Korea affairs are to visit South Korea later Monday to make preparations for a summit between new President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart Donald Trump, government sources said Monday.The delegation led by Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council, will arrive in Seoul in the evening for a two-day stay. Allison Hooker, director for Korea at the NSC, will accompany him, according to the sources. Matt Pottinger (Yonhap)This wi

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will continue to seek dialogue with North Korea despite the communist state's latest provocation this week that he himself has personally condemned, a presidential adviser said Monday.Also, the new government under Moon may soon announce measures to restore the country's official and unofficial dialogue channels with Pyongyang, according to Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.(Yonhap)"President Moon has three main policy objectiv

The ruling Democratic Party on Monday carried out a major personnel shake-up as part of its post-election reform efforts, which it said aim to better support new President Moon Jae-in.It appointed third-term lawmaker Lee Choon-suak secretary-general and another third-term lawmaker Kim Tae-nyeon policy chief. Former lawmaker Kim Min-seok became the chief of the party's think tank, the Institute for Democracy.Rep. Lee Choon-suak speaks during a parliamentary session at the National Assembly in Seo

All new homes and buildings that have more than 200 square meters in floor space will be required to have earthquake-resistant designs, the land ministry said Monday in a preview of a new law that could take effect later this year.The law is stricter than measures announced at the end of last year, when such requirements for buildings were for those with over 500-square-meter floor space. The rule for wooden structures, comparatively safer against earthquakes, will remain at 500 square meters, t

GOYANG -- South Korea played to a 2-2 draw with Senegal on Sunday in their final tune-up match for the FIFA U-20 World Cup at home.Cho Young-wook scored a goal and set up another for U-20 World Cup host, but the African opponents earned their equalizer in the late second half to avoid a defeat at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, just north of Seoul. This was South Korea's last tune-up match before entering the U-20 World Cup. The 24-team FIFA tournament will be staged in six local cities from Saturday

South Korean presidential officials will meet a US delegation on Monday to discuss details for a summit between their leaders, according to a Cheong Wa Dae official.The official told reporters Sunday that the US delegation, led by Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council, and Allison Hooker, director for Korea at the NSC, will arrive in Seoul on Monday for a two-day visit. Matt Pottinger, senior director for East Asia at the White House's National Security C

GOYANG -- South Korea's football chief said Sunday he believes the country can co-host the FIFA World Cup with three neighboring nations in 2030.Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association (KFA), said South Korea plans to launch a joint World Cup bid with North Korea, China and Japan, although details have not been discussed yet.  Chung Mong-gyu, head of the Korea Football Association, speaks to reporters ahead of the South Korean under-20 national football team's friendly match

South Korea's delegation to an international economic forum in Beijing said Sunday it held a brief meeting with its North Korean counterpart and expressed concern over Pyongyang's latest missile provocation.Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the ruling Democratic Party, who leads the delegation, said he had a short conversation with Kim Yong-jae, Pyongyang's minister of external economic relations, at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that runs in Beijing through Monday. Rep. Park Byeo

Facility investments by listed companies showed signs of recovery in the first quarter this year, increasing 25.9 percent from the same period last year, a tally from the Korea Exchange on Sunday showed.Total facility investments by firms on the main and secondary bourses were logged at 1.308 trillion won ($1.158 billion) during the three months, up from 1.039 trillion won for the same months a year ago. The number of companies that increased their investments also rose from 19 last year to 30.T

Sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles have yet to pick up in South Korea, mostly due to high prices and lack of consumer recognition, industry officials said Sunday.Hyundai Motor sold 37 units of its Ioniq plug-ins in April, the best monthly sales since the model's launch in February but still in the low double digits. Its competitor Prius Prime from Toyota Korea, launched last month, sold 17 units.BMW Korea's sole PHEV model i8 sold 14 so far this year. (Yonhap)In yearly terms, Hyundai sold 117 of i

North Korea's state media reiterated its position to enhance its self-defense capabilities Sunday as it test-fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile in defiance of the international community's repeated warnings to stop provocations.The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party, said the regime will continue building up its military for stronger self-defense as "the imperialist US and its followers are notching up pressure on us" and "driving the situation of the K

Government officials and experts gathered at a forum to seek ways to expand exports of local digital content, the ICT ministry said Sunday. The forum, hosted by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, was held in Seoul on Friday with participants from the government, academia and the content industry. (Yonhap)The participants gathered to discuss ways to bolster overseas demand for homegrown digital content in the face of changes brought on by the fourth industrial revolution, the scien

South Korean political parties condemned North Korea's missile firing on Sunday morning just four days after South Korea's new liberal president was sworn in. The ruling Democratic Party warned of a strong punishment if the regime continued its provocative behaviors that might hamper the new leader Moon Jae-in's engagement policy. The ruling Democratic Party's spokesman Youn Kwan-suk (Yonhap)"If North Korea doesn't accept the united request by the international community and continues its provoc

US businesses based in South Korea said Sunday they will send a delegation to the White House this month to promote the benefits of the free trade agreement between Seoul and Washington as the Donald Trump administration is reviewing the five-year deal for a possible renegotiation. The delegation of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea will visit Washington from Monday to Thursday and meet high-ranking officials at the White House.  The visit came as US President Donald Trump has been

South Korean oil refiners, led by top player SK Innovation Co., logged decent earnings in the first quarter of the year on the back of robust petrochemical business, and expect their bottom line to remain firm under the current quarter thanks to the recovery of their refining margin, industry sources said Sunday.SK Innovation posted a net profit of 859 billion won ($757 million) in the first quarter, sharply up from 566 billion won profit a year earlier, thanks to better-than-expected results fr

South Koreans' medical expenditures spent a year before death jumped more than threefold over the past decade, data showed Sunday, reflecting the rising need to beef up the country's hospice facilities and services.According to the National Health Insurance Service, South Koreans aged 40 and above on average spent 15.9 million won ($14,127) over the one-year period before death in 2015, soaring from 4.7 million won posted in 2005. (Yonhap)The organization said while the increase came as hospital

NEW YORK/SEOUL -- North Korea's mission to the United Nations on Friday appealed to UN member states to reconsider implementing sanctions on the communist regime.In a press statement, the North's mission also accused the United States of trying to intimidate countries into fully implementing UN sanctions by "openly threatening that they would be faced with 'strong measures of sanction' by the US." (Yonhap)"The US raises its voice before the member states, claiming that many countries are not ful

Around a third of workers at South Korea's public organizations are irregular employees, data showed Sunday, with President Moon Jae-in vowing to turn them into full-time positions within his five-year term. President Moon Jae-in (Yonhap)According to the government's All Public Information in One information portal, irregular employees numbered 144,205, 33.6 percent of the 429,402 workers at 335 public organizations under the government as of end-March. In 89 organizations, irregulars took up mo