Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday it became a member of the board of directors for the 5G Automotive Association, in line with its move to tap deeper into the next-generation automobile industry.5GAA, which has carmakers and mobile carriers as members, focuses on developing and commercializing self-driving automobiles powered by fifth-generation network technology.An official from Samsung Electronics said it also plans to speed up cooperation with Harman International Industries, a US automoti

South Korea's top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. said Friday it has released Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy Wide 2 smartphone.The 5.5-inch smartphone comes with a detachable 3,300mAh battery, along with a 13-megapixel rear camera. The price tag on the device is 297,000 won ($263.48), which is slightly lower than that of its predecessor.(Yonhap)Local users will be able to purchase the device at the 100,000-won level considering discounts provided by the mobile carrier.The Galaxy Wide, released i

South Korean stocks closed nearly flat on Friday as investors remained cautious amid no fresh leads following a recent rally led by robust corporate earnings, analysts said. The local currency edged down against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 1.66 points, or 0.07 percent to close at 2,288.48. Trading volume was moderate at 415.2 million shares worth 5.78 trillion won ($5.12 billion) with gainers outnumbering decliners 598 to 230. "As the first-qua

South Korea decided to impose up to 10 percent anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made aluminum plates for offset printing, the trade commission here said Friday.The Korea Trade Commission said it will levy punitive duties of 5.86 to 10.21 percent on the Chinese products in the next five years for underselling Korean products and causing damage to the local market.The plate, a thin and flexible metal panel with light-sensitive chemicals applied, is used to transfer the image from original materials

Samyang Optics Co., which is set to be listed on the country's secondary bourse next month, said Friday it seeks to double its sales by 2020.The South Korean producer of lens said it plans to bolster its manual-focus products and also seek to expand its presence in the auto-focus sector. The company said its sales for 2020 are expected to reach 130 billion won ($115 million). (Yonhap)Established in 1972, the company has carved out a name for itself in the optical business. It produces lens for d

The government's dividend income from its stakes in public companies rose sharply this year on improved earnings of state-funded companies, the finance ministry said Friday.Public companies' dividend payments to the government totaled 1.56 trillion won ($1.38 billion) in 2017, up 27.4 percent from 1.2 trillion won a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The ministry said that the spike comes as the average dividend payout ratio, or the percentage of earnings paid to sh

President Moon Jae-in on Friday reaffirmed his campaign pledge to complete a constitutional revision by June next year, an opposition leader said, amid continuing calls to address the current concentration of power in a single state leader, a situation long blamed for corruption and political polarization.The new president made the remarks during a luncheon meeting with the floor leaders of the ruling Democratic Party, main opposition Liberty Korea Party, People's Party, Bareun Party and Justice

The US Navy confirmed Friday that two of its aircraft carriers are operating in the Western Pacific region amid unrelenting tensions on the Korean Peninsula over the North's provocation.The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and its Carrier Air Wing Five, featuring fighter jets and early warning aircraft, began its spring patrol earlier this week, according to the Pacific Fleet.They are currently focused on "flight deck and carrier qualifications," as the flattop, which has its homeport in Japan, resume

A hygiene grading system became available Friday, the food ministry said, offering benefits to those that earn high scores.Restaurants can apply to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to voluntarily get appraised for their sanitation conditions. For those that pass the inspection, the ministry will award hygiene grade certificates of three different levels -- good, very good and excellent. Establishments that receive the certificates will get a plaque showing the grade and become eligible for f

AhnLab Inc., South Korea's largest computer anti-virus service provider, said Friday that its latest smartphone security application has surpassed the 4 million mark in cumulative downloads.AhnLab said in a statement that the "V3 Mobile Security" app, which is designed for Android-based smartphones, reached the download milestone on Tuesday.The free-of-charge security app also placed fifth in the popularity rankings of overall applications available on Google Play, the company added. Launched in

Sales of cigarettes in South Korea rose for the second month in a row in April despite the government's push to print graphic health warning on the outside of packages, government data showed Friday.Some 305 million 20-pack cigarettes were sold last month, up from 282 million packs sold a month earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Cigarettes for sale at a convenience store (Yonhap)Monthly sales had been on a decline in the beginning of the year, with 2

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers has picked up his second win of the season, helping his own cause at the plate in the process.The South Korean left-hander kept the Miami Marlins to two runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings at Dodger Stadium on Thursday (local time), improving to 2-5 for the season. He also lowered his ERA from 4.99 to 4.75, while striking out three and walking one. The Dodgers won 7-2.Ryu also hit a double and scored a run himself in the Dodgers' three-run second inning.Ry

North Korea on Friday sent a critical message via its official media to the newly launched liberal South Korean government over its policy that pursues the North's denuclearization and seeks dialogue at the same time, claiming that dialogue can never be compatible with confrontation.  The criticism followed South Korean President Moon Jae-in's unexpectedly tough response to the North's latest test-fire of a new kind of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, called the Hwasong-12, the first mil

South Korea's chipmaker SK hynix said Friday it has joined the final bidding to take over the memory division of Japanese tech giant Toshiba Corp.Through a regulatory filing, the company said it has decided to join the final bidding with its consortium partner. Sources said earlier that SK hynix formed an alliance with Bain Capital.(Yonhap)According to the sources, SK hynix has conducted a study on the acquisition under a request from Toshiba. The South Korean company is widely expected to sugge

Nearly 90 percent of adult South Korean citizens have a positive outlook on President Moon Jae-in's handling of state affairs, a survey showed Friday, reflecting high public support for the new liberal leader.In the survey conducted from Tuesday through Thursday by local pollster Gallup Korea, 87 percent of the respondents said Moon will do well in his state management. Seven percent painted a negative outlook on his future performance, while 6 percent declined to provide an answer. This photo,

Hundreds of South Koreans flocked to a court in Seoul on Friday to take part in a drawing for the opportunity to watch former President Park Geun-hye's first hearing next week.Ahead of the hearing slated for Tuesday, the Seoul Central District Court held the drawing to randomly allocate spectator seats to prevent people from lining up for hours under the current first-come, first-served rule.Citizens form a long queue at a court in Seoul on May 19, 2017, to enter a random draw to watch former Pr

Opposition parties on Friday called for the resumption of parliamentary discussions on a constitutional revision, a day after President Moon Jae-in made the first mention of the divisive issue since his election last week.The parties urged Moon to deliver on his election pledge to hold a referendum on the revision in tandem with local elections slated for June 2018, while stressing the discussions on how to rewrite the decades-old basic law must be led by the National Assembly. Chung Woo-taik (C

South Korean stocks trading was nearly unchanged late Friday morning, with tech blue chips losing ground while auto large caps moved upward, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 1.59 points, or 0.07 percent, to hit 2,288.41 as of 11:20 a.m. Tech giant Samsung Electronics fell more than 2 percent, with chipmaker SK hynix shedding over 1 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor continued its bullish mode with a roughly 2-percent gain, and its affiliate Hyundai Mobis, an

Unionized workers at Korean Air Lines Co. will allow the company to decide on the wage increase for 2017 to better help the national flag carrier make a turnaround this year, the airline said Friday."We have delegated authority to the company for this year's wage negotiations not only for the company's sustainable growth and survival but also for the job security of workers," union leader Lee Jong-ho said in a statement.President and Chief Operating Officer Walter Cho (left) and the company's un

Former Finance Minister Kang Man-soo was sentenced to four years in prison Friday on multiple corruption charges. The Seoul Central District Court convicted Kang, also a former head of the state-run Korea Development Bank, of pressuring the government to designate a biotech firm run by his friend as a business partner and provide billions of won in subsidies in December 2009. The court ordered him to pay a fine of 50 million won ($44,000). Kang was the country's finance minister from 2008 to ear