A group of Korean iPhone users on Thursday filed a class action lawsuit against U.S. telecom giant Apple Inc. and its Korean unit over the firm's allegedly illegal collection of users' location data.It will be the first such case in the country."We learned that our whereabouts over the past six months were entirely revealed. It's a privacy violation," said legal representatives of 29 plaintiffs in

Korea's industrial output grew for the 21st straight month in March, indicating that the nation's economy continued to expand, a government report showed Friday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining and manufacturing industries rose 8.7 percent last month from a year earlier. Output has increased every month since July 2009. The expansion was fueled mainly by increa

The Korea Communications Commission said Thursday that it plans on sending a questionnaire to Google Inc. involving the collection of location information of its smartphone users here.The event takes place a few days after the state media and telecommunications regulator launched an investigation against Apple Inc. on Monday over collection of information of its smartphone users.In a questionnaire

The country’s corporate giants appeared to be inwardly seething over the latest remarks from a presidential aide who said public funds should play a bigger role in promoting corporate governance by more proactively exercising their shareholder rights.Samsung Electronics, which Kwak Seung-jun mentioned as one company that needs to see more of its shareholders taking control, refused to comment, say

South Korea’s business sentiment for May rose from a month ago on expectations about solid economic growth at home and abroad, a poll showed Wednesday.The monthly Business Survey Index (BSI) for the upcoming month came in at 104.3, compared with 98.4 a month earlier, according to the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the country’s leading business lobby.A reading below 100 means pessimists ou

By Choi He-suk Ulleung Island in the East Sea will be established as a zero-carbon island where most energy requirements are met by renewable sources, according to a government plan released Wednesday.As such, the government will draw up comprehensive plans to turn Ulleung Island into a “green island” that surpasses Denmark’s Samso Island in terms of renewable energy uses, the Ministry of Knowledg

By Cho Ji-hyunThe government has approved a plan to relax the regulations on cellphone location-based services amid rising public calls for better state privacy protection measures.The Cabinet endorsed Tuesday a revised regulation on protection and use of location information, which aims to give more room and flexibility for location-based service operators. According to the bill, service provider

The South Korean economy grew 1.4 percent in the first quarter from three months earlier on sustained exports and improving domestic demand, the central bank said Wednesday.The first-quarter growth accelerated from a 0.5 percent on-quarter expansion seen in the fourth quarter of last year, according to an advance estimate by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The country's gross domestic product (GDP), the

A presidential aide Tuesday urged the national pension and other public funds to avidly exercise their shareholder rights in order to keep larger companies in check.“Public funds exercising their shareholder rights (in large companies) are the most effective way to keep the large companies and their power in check,” said Kwak Seung-jun, head of the Presidential Council for Future and Vision at a p

South Korea and China have agreed to provide flight services between Seoul and Beijing in a move to reduce overall travel time, the transportation ministry said Tuesday.The two nations recently signed a memorandum of understanding to allow their airlines to offer direct flights between Gimpo International Airport, west of Seoul, and Beijing International Airport starting in July, the ministry said

The number of South Korean travelers going overseas fell to a 16-month low in March, apparently due to the recent earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, the top destination for outbound tourists, data showed Tuesday.According to the data released by the Justice Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of South Koreans going overseas came to 868,694 last month, down 8.6 percent from

The number of passengers using international air flights grew about 6 percent during the first quarter as people were bolstered to travel by the ongoing economic recovery, the transportation ministry said Tuesday.Passengers using international flights in and out of South Korea’s airports came to 10.13 million during the January-March period, up 5.8 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, the

South Korea’s consumer co nfidence rebounded for the first time in five months in April on the back of optimism about the economic recovery, the central bank said Tuesday.The consumer sentiment index (CSI) ― a gauge of consumers’ overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending ― stood at 100 for April, up from 98 in March, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a monthly report.The April

About one month has passed since the government rolled out measures to boost the sluggish real estate market. The centerpiece of the policy was to offer tax benefits and ease financing limits.Despite the policy and such positive economic indexes as soaring stock prices, however, the market has no signs of rebounding. Moreover, there are growing concerns of a further contraction in housing sales, d

KCC sends inquiries to Apple over data of smartphone usersThe state media regulator said Monday it launched an investigation against Apple Inc. over collection of information of its smartphone users in Korea.The Korea Communications Commission said it requested Apple to promptly answer a questionnaire and return it by “the earliest date.”State authorities asked the company to clarify the duration