President Moon Jae-in's approval rating slightly increased due in part to his efforts to enhance communication with citizens, a survey indicated Friday.In the survey conducted from Tuesday through Thursday by local pollster Gallup Korea, Moon's rating was tallied at 80 percent, up 1 percentage point from a week earlier.Those who disapproved of his job performance made up 13 percent, down one percentage point from the previous week, while 7 percent said they were unsure or refused to answer. Pres

WASHINGTON -- Two ancient Korean royal seals will be officially handed over to South Korea from the United States this week, decades after they were illegally shipped out of the country during the Korean War, officials said Thursday.The Royal Seal of Queen Munjeong and the Royal Seal of King Hyeonjong will be transferred to South Korea in a ceremony at South Korea's Embassy in Washington on Friday, officials said. The seals will be sent back home aboard the presidential jet when President Moon J

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Thursday his upcoming discussions with President Moon Jae-in will include South Korea buying more energy from the United States.Trump made the remark during an "Unleashing American Energy" event at the Department of Energy, noting that the US firm Sempra Energy signed an agreement earlier in the day to sell natural gas to South Korea."As you know, the leaders of South Korea are coming to the White House today. And we've got a lot of discussion to do,

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States blacklisted a small Chinese bank accused of illicit dealings with North Korea on Thursday, escalating the pressure on Beijing to rein in its wayward ally amid increased signs of frustration among President Donald Trump and his top advisers with China‘s diplomatic efforts.　 The Treasury Department declared the Bank of Dandong a “primary money-laundering concern,” proposing to sever it entirely from the US financial system, pending a 60-day review period. Altho

WASHINGTON -- The US Defense Department has put together revised military options for North Korea and is ready to present them to President Donald Trump, a news report said Thursday.The options will be presented if the North conducts an underground nuclear or ballistic missile test that indicates the regime has made significant progress towards developing a weapon that could attack the US, CNN reported, citing two unidentified military officials. (Yonhap)National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster a

WASHINGTON -- President Moon Jae-in has made "good strides" towards the United States and away from North Korea, and the communist nation is pushing the South Korean leader further away from it with a series of missile tests, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said.Haley made the remark during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing as she talked about the deployment of the US THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, which Moon has suspended pending an environmental assessment. US Ambassa

South Korea on Thursday regretted Japan's foot-dragging on its promise to make public information about its past industrial facilities which were added to the UNESCO heritage list though some of them used forced labor during World War II. A foreign ministry official said South Korea will demand Japan implement its promised steps during a UNESCO meeting next month.Hashima undersea coal mine off Nagasaki, known as “Battleship Island,” one of the 23 properties of “Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolutio

South Korea plans to increase its 2018 budget spending for science and technology R&D projects by 26 percent, stepping up efforts to secure new growth engines, the science ministry said Thursday. The Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning said it will spend 1.52 trillion won ($1.3 billion) in 2018 on various science and technology R&D projects, subject to parliamentary endorsement later this year, up from 1.26 trillion won allocated for this year.The planned allocations will assist in sec

South Korea's main stock index finished at a fresh record high Thursday, helped by gains in large-cap stocks amid optimism on global economic growth. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 13.1 points, or 0.55 percent, to close at 2,395.66. Trade volume was moderate at 433 million shares worth 5.38 trillion won ($4.71 billion). The local stock market opened higher, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. On the back of a buying spree

T'way Air Co., a South Korean low-cost carrier, said Thursday it will start services on profitable international routes to the United States and Europe in 2020. To serve on the long-haul routes, the country's fifth-biggest budget carrier by sales plans to purchase or lease 10 large passenger jets by 2025 from Airbus or Boeing to strengthen its fleet, T'way Air Co. CEO Jeong Hong-geun said in a press conference. T`way Air Co. CEO Jeong Hong-geun answers questions on the budget carrier`s business

The financial regulator said Thursday it will require second-tier banks to set aside more loan-loss provisions from the second quarter of this year, in a move to curb high-risk home lending. The tougher rules will be applied to home loans by savings banks, the Nonghyup and Suhyup banks, and other mutual savings banks that can charge more than 20 percent interest per annum, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement. For savings banks that make loans worth 10 million won ($8,767) with

The South Korean economy will likely grow at a faster pace this year than initially estimated on resilient exports and corporate capital spending, a private think tank said Thursday.In its second-quarter economic report, the Korea Economic Research Institute upgraded its 2017 growth outlook for Asia's fourth-largest economy to 2.9 percent from an earlier 2.5 percent.KERI, affiliated with the nation's big business lobby Federation of Korean Industries, attributed the upward revision to increased

South Korea's culture ministry announced Thursday that the slogan for Korea's national image introduced last year is no longer in use.The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it got rid of the slogan "Creative Korea" as it seems neither to have produced any positive effects in enhancing the country's national image abroad nor to have been supported by the public. This file photo shows a sign comparing two slogans: "Creative France" and "Creative Korea." (Yonhap)After the slogan was first

South Korea on Thursday strongly protested a Japanese diplomat's disparaging comments on the victims of Tokyo's sexual slavery during World War II. In a recent media interview, Takashi Shinozuka, the consul general of Japan in Atlanta, called them paid prostitutes saying there is no evidence that the nation mobilized women as sex slaves. South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck (Yonhap)"It was a very inappropriate remark inflicting a deep wound to the victims again who went through

Heatstroke has claimed 58 lives in South Korea over the past five years, government data showed Thursday.Those in their 70s accounted for the largest share with 18, followed by 11 each for people in their 50s and 80s and six in their 60s, according to the data by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Yonhap)The number of heatstroke patients, meanwhile, reached 5,910 from 2012 onwards.Most of the patients reported getting sick in August (3,029) and July (2,231).Those in their 50s

South Korea's Army has resumed the operation of more than 60 Surion multiple-purpose choppers after grounding them for nearly three weeks for new cracks found on the airframe, a state arms procurement agency said Thursday.The Army's central joint technology committee made the decision earlier this week to permit the continued service of the indigenous rotorcraft in accordance with its analysis of the cause and flight stability, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. A file

South Korea's ruling party leader will attend a memorial for late former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl this week, the foreign ministry said Thursday.Kohl, who played a key role in German unification in 1990, died on June 16 at the age of 87. He served as chancellor for West Germany and the first chancellor of unified Germany from 1982-1998. Democratic Party leader Choo Mi-ae (Yonhap)Democratic Party leader Choo Mi-ae will join the European Ceremony of Honor to be held at the European Parliament

South Korea sent home Thursday eight North Korean crewmen who were rescued in its waters last week, a unification ministry official said. South Korea's Coast Guard rescued a ship carrying the crewmen on June 23, which was drifting astray near Ulleung Island in the East Sea due to an engine breakdown. All the crew members expressed their wish to be repatriated. (Yonhap)"Around 9:20 a.m. today, the ship and the eight crewmen were transferred to the North Korean side across a transfer point in the

Iran's parliamentary speaker said Thursday that Tehran will seek to use its ties with North Korea to help improve inter-Korean relations for a "peaceful and political" solution.During an interview with Seoul-based reporters, Ali Larijani also cautioned against the two Koreas taking actions to trigger any military rivalry and threw his support behind South Korea's Moon Jae-in government pursuing dialogue with its provocative neighbor. Iran`s parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani attends a press conf

South Korean shares extended their rally late Thursday morning, with the main stock index breaking through the 2,400-point level for the first time. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 17.01 points, or 0.71 percent, to 2,399.57 as of 11:20 a.m. The index touched 2,402.80 at one point earlier in the day, marking its all-time intra-day high, on the back of net purchases by foreign and institutional investors. Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 0