surcharge on flights from China to Europe, excluding Russia and Turkey, to 1,000 yuan from 950 yuan per passenger, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The increase is effective from April 1, according to the report.Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd. raised its fuel surcharge from April 1 for flights from China to Hong Kong to $24.90 per passenger, Xinhua reported, without saying what the previou

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, is resuming normal operations at half the stores hampered by Japan’s strongest earthquake as residents struggle to find water, food and other necessities. A dozen of Wal-Mart’s Seiyu stores in the quake-hit Sendai area are restarting full operations Monday after being limited mostly to relief efforts for two weeks, Scott Price, Wal-Mart’s Asia ch

LG Display Co., the world's second-largest maker of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, said Monday that it has decided to accept an apology from a Samsung executive who insulted LG engineers in a public event.The company said it has received a letter of apology from Kim Hyun-sik, vice president of Samsung's visual display business, regretting his use of a swear word to insult engineers at the ri

   CHICAGO (AP) -- Add ``Facebook depression'' to potential harms linked with social media, an influential doctors' group warns, referring to a condition it says may affect troubled teens who obsess over the online site.   Researchers disagree on whether it's simply an extension of depression some kids feel in other circumstances, or a distinct condition linked with using the online site.   But th

Japanese investors have been putting their money into the South Korean financial market even after Japan's devastating quake, data showed Monday, easing speculation that they may repatriate overseas assets to finance Japan's post-quake rehabilitation.The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami hit the northeastern part of Japan on March 11, leaving more than 20,000 people dead or injured.Japa

   South Korea's construction sector contracted at the sharpest rate in more than a decade in the fourth quarter of last year due mainly to a protracted property market slump, data showed Monday.   The construction sector shrank 5.3 percent in the fourth quarter from three months earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea and Statistics Korea. The on-quarter decline is the steepest since

South Korean stocks began marginally higher on Monday but traded in a narrow range as investors opted to take a breather following last week's climb, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched up 0.51 points, or 0.02 percent, to 2,054.55 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Last week, the KOSPI finished up 3.68 percent from a week earlier.   Techs were bullish w

Major commercial banks should refrain from engaging in excessive competition to increase their assets as there is a possibility that they will face financial difficulties, a report said on Sunday.The Korea Institute of Finance likened the current situation to that of the period between 2005 and 2008, when banks saw their profitability continue to worsen due to heated competition.The cautionary adv

Decision on new international airport to be unveiled Wednesday, Busan, Miryang also in the runningThe government is poised to decide Wednesday whether a new international airport will be built in Busan or Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province.Yet it is still uncertain whether the Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs will choose between the two cities or select an alternative, such as

South Korea is moving to stem future cases of bird flu as foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks have been largely put under control, the government said Sunday.The farm ministry said it currently maintains poultry movement restrictions in 14 rural cities and counties across the country after quarantine authorities had to cull 6.27 million birds on 269 farms since Dec. 29, when the first case of bird fl

Retailer considers action against rival over using comparative advertisingTwo of Korea’s biggest supermarket chains are at loggerheads over advertisements for super-cheap chicken.Homeplus, the country’s second-biggest supermarket chain, began selling raw chicken for as low as 1,000 won ($0.89) Thursday. Securing a total of 200,000 raw chickens, its 122 branches nationwide are selling up to 250 chi