The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs on Wednesday designated 2.43 square kilometers of the land currently occupied by the U.S. Army’s Yongsan Garrison to be converted into a park.Central government agencies and the Seoul city government have been reviewing plans to convert the land occupied by the Yongsan Garrison into a park since 2008 once control of the land is returned to the K

 The free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) that was ratified by South Korea's parliament can boost exports of products made by local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a state-run trade promotion agency said Thursday.   The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said it has selected 10 products that local companies enjoy global competitiveness in and that could m

One out of four workers prefers doing something more productive during lunch time than just eating, according to a survey.In a research conducted by Saramin, an online recruitment website in Korea, about quarter of participants said they were “lunch tourists.” The term refers to those who spend lunch break just for themselves, rather than having a long meal or interacting with colleagues.Out of th

 WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor America announced all-time record April sales on Tuesday as the world's biggest economy continues to stabilize after the worst recession in decades.   HMA sold 61,754 units, up 40 percent from a year earlier. The figure for the first four months of this year is 204,374 vehicles, up 31 percent from 155,532 during the same period last year.   Hyundai's sister co

Foreign ownership of South Korean stocks exceeded the 400 trillion won ($374 billion) mark for the first time ever in April on their brisk buying spurred by strong corporate earnings, the financial regulator said Wednesday.   Foreign investors' holdings of local shares amounted to 412.51 trillion won as of the end of April, or 30.8 percent of the total market cap, according to the monthly report b

An official of South Korea's financial regulator apparently jumped to his death on Tuesday, but the incident does not appear to be related to a scandal involving a local savings bank, police and the Financial Supervisory Service said, according to Yonhap News.  The official, identified only by his surname Kim, was bleeding when he was found by a security guard at the entrance of an apartment on Tu

South Korea's central bank says the country's foreign reserves have topped $300 billion for the first time as the nation's key buffer against potential financial turmoil surged to its fourth straight record high.The Bank of Korea said in a statement Tuesday that the nation's official foreign reserves totaled $307.20 billion at the end of April. That was $8.58 billion higher than the previous recor

Korea's consumer prices grew at a slower pace in April, but they still remained relatively high, raising concerns price hikes might undercut the overall momentum of the economic recovery, a report showed Monday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the country's consumer price index jumped 4.2 percent last month from a year earlier. It was slower than the previous month's 4.7 percent gain b

The South Korea government is considering lowering its projection of economic growth in 2011 to around the upper range of 4 percent while upping its inflation projection to the upper range of 3 percent due to the rising oil prices, sources said Sunday.The Korean government has been targeting around 5 percent economic growth this year while containing inflation at 3 percent, but mounting inflationa

South Korea's trade surplus reached $5.82 billion in April up sharply from US$2.78 billion the previous month amid brisk exports, a government report showed Sunday.April marks the 15th straight month that the country has posted a favorable balance. Exports rose 26.6 percent on-year to $49.77 billion last month, with imports rising 23.7 percent to $43.95 billion, according to the report by the Mini