UNITED NATIONS (AFP) ― Global consumption of natural resources could almost triple to 140 billion tons a year by 2050 unless nations take drastic steps, the United Nations warned Thursday.A U.N. environment panel said the world cannot sustain the tearaway rate of use of minerals, ores and fossil and plant fuels. It called on governments to “decouple” economic growth from natural resource consumpti

 

The Bank of Korea should be given rights to supervise financial institutions independent of other financial authorities, BOK Governor Kim Choong-soo said Friday.Speaking after the monthly rate review meeting, Kim said that the central bank should be able to conduct independent supervision under “special circumstances.”“(The BOK) means to conduct (independent investigations) when a particular finan

The intense rivalry between Facebook and Google just got juicier.In a twist seemingly out of a Hollywood thriller, Facebook hired a prominent public relations firm to try to plant stories harshly criticizing Google's privacy practices in leading news outlets. The efforts backfired when the firm approached a blogger who not only declined the assignment, but also went public with the offer.The lates

BOK freezes key rate at 3 % South Korea's central bank unexpectedly froze the key interest rate on Friday for the second straight month as economic uncertainty such as the eurozone debt crisis persists even in the face of inflation risks.   Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his fellow policymakers held steady the benchmark seven-day repo rate, dubbed the base rate, at 3 percent for May. 

South Korea's central bank unexpectedly froze the key interest rate on Friday for the second straight month as economic uncertainty such as the eurozone debt crisis persists even in the face of inflation risks.Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his fellow policymakers held steady the benchmark seven-day repo rate, dubbed the base rate, at 3 percent for May.The decision came as a surprise

Prosecutors have uncovered additional alleged ethical breaches by former and incumbent staff at the Financial Supervisory Service.The further allegations of corruption by FSS officials are adding to public criticism the regulatory body is facing for its irregularities in supervising savings banks.The alleged scandals mostly involve FSS staff overlooking illegitimate practices in the market in retu

South Korea plans to considerably decelerate the growth in greenhouse gases emitted by the country’s farming sector as part of its broader efforts to help stem global warming, the government said Thursday.The plan also calls for increasing the country’s overall greenhouse gas absorption capabilities by around 6 percent over the next decade, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisherie

Korean Air, the country’s No. 1 air carrier, said Thursday that it will recruit an additional 500 flight attendants this month.The recruitment, which is on the largest scale ever, comes shortly after the company hired a total of 500 employees in February and March, company officials said.The air carrier also said that it will hire another group of 500 in the latter half of this year, which means 1

Recent research has found that more than three in 10 wireless gadget users own an electronic device that runs on Google’s Android mobile operating system, putting strong emphasis on its openness.According to a market research firm Strategy Analytics’ data, the Android OS garnered a 35.9 percent share in the global OS market, followed by Nokia’s Symbian and Apple’s iOS with 26.3 percent and 18.1 pe

Korea’s money supply grew at the weakest pace in nearly seven years in March as payments of corporate tax drained money circulation, the central bank said Thursday. The country’s M2, a narrow measure of its money supply, reached 1,677.5 trillion won ($1.55 billion) in March, marking a 4.3 percent increase from the figure posted a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. The March reading was