[THE INVESTOR] The location of a new airport in the country’s southeast will be announced at 3 p.m. on June 21, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.The location of the new airport has been narrowed down to Miryang and Busan’s Gadeokdo Island, with the former considered to be the more likely choice. A bird's eye view of Gadekdo new airport.With the project estimated to require as much as 10 trillion won (US$ 8.6 billion), the project has been at the center of heated debate and

Nine in 10 South Korean seniors are expected to live on the state pension in 2060, when the country's national pension fund is estimated to dry up, a report said Tuesday.According to the report by the National Pension Research Institute, 91.3 percent of 17.62 million South Koreans aged 65 and older are projected to receive various state pensions in 2060.Last year, 36.4 percent of 6.78 million senior South Koreans received state pensions, but the ratio will likely soar to 41 percent in 2020, 50.2

South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party on Tuesday urged the government to provide a "significant" amount of extra budget to bolster the country's economy that is struggling with a prolonged slump."The country is facing challenges in the job market due to youth unemployment and corporate restructuring issues," the party said during its special meeting arranged to find solutions to the country's employment issues. Ministry of Strategy and Finance in Sejong City (Yonhap)"As the central bank is rolling

[THE INVESTOR] The French cultural platform Pompidou Centre is set to open a Seoul branch in March 2017 in a move that could help revitalize the Korean economy that is increasingly becoming more diverse. However, there are also doubts and concerns surrounding the plan due to the rumored royalty payment, which is expected to reach 1.5 million euros (2 billion won). The amount would be paid annually to the Paris Pompidou Centre. The Korean art industry is questioning whether the branch’s contribut

KFS Director Lee Yong-seok briefs President Park Geun-hye about urban forest policies during the 2016 Government 3.0 Fair at Coex, southern Seoul, Monday. (Cheong Wa Dae)The Park Geun-hye administration opened the 2016 Government 3.0 Fair for a three-day run at Coex in southern Seoul on Monday, as part of efforts to enhance communication between government agencies and the public.With the slogan “Government at Your Fingertips,” the fair is displaying 100 booths in seven different categories, exh

Korea’s coal consumption rose 11 percent over the five years from 2010 to 2015, in contrast to the U.S. and U.K., which have reduced use of the fuel by nearly 25 percent, a recent study shows. China saw a 10.2 percent increase in the cited period, while India logged a 39 percent jump, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy. In 2010, Korea consumed 75.9 million tons of coal, which peaked at 84.6 million in 2014, falling slightly to 84.5 million in 2015. That accounted for 2.2 perc

Ahn In-bae, the head of a South Korean production company, says he has trouble sleeping because of a very common problem his peers are facing: Chinese networks that plagiarize, and massively benefit from, their shows."In plain sight, they're stealing my ideas, but there's nothing I can do to stop or punish them," the CEO of Koen Group, the creator of the popular South Korean reality series "The Return of Superman," said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Sunday. Still from the "Return of

[THE INVESTOR] Mergers and acquisitions among midsized brokerages will continue to shape the securities industry in the second half of 2016, following mega deals signed by top local players earlier.After the big merger deals of Daewoo Securities and Hyundai Securities earlier this year and last year, M&A activities in the industry are expected to pick up due to deteriorating balance sheets. “Brokerage houses will come under growing pressure to drive growth through M&As as their growth woe worsen

South Korea's minister on ICT policy will brief the international community this week on the nation's digital vision and its efforts to foster a "creative economy," his ministry said Monday.Choi Yang-hee, minister of science, ICT and future planning, is scheduled to attend an OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy, and deliver a speech.Under the theme of "Innovation, Growth and Social Prosperity," it will open in Cancun, Mexico, on Wednesday for a two-day run. The upcoming session will

The Park Geun-hye administration opened the 2016 Government 3.0 Fair for a three-day run in Coex in southern Seoul on Monday, as part of its efforts to enhance communication between government agencies and the public.With the slogan “Government at Your Fingertips,” the fair is displaying 100 booths in seven different categories, exhibiting various services provided by government ministries and agencies to widen public access to administrative data to improve people’s daily lives, officials said.

South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party said Monday it will make efforts to bring fair competition to the country's business realm, adding it will also root out irregularities among conglomerates."A country that is not run fairly cannot stand up straight,"said Chung Jin-suk, the floor leader of Saenuri, adding the country must make efforts to withhold unnecessary privileges from the high-income bracket.The lawmaker claimed South Korea's economy is effectively run by the upper 10 percent. He said this

In the 1960s and '70s, stamp collecting was arguably the most popular hobby among adolescents in South Korea. When new stamps went on sale, hundreds of students formed long queues in front of post offices in large cities from the early morning hours, prompting even police to send officers to maintain order. Scores of students got called on the carpet for being late.However, South Korea's oldest hobby related to information and communications has become "an endangered interest" as the advent of t

[THE INVESTOR] The new anticorruption act set to take effect in September will cost local businesses 11.6 trillion won (US$9.96 billion) on an annual basis, a think tank claimed.Commonly known as the Kim Young-ran act, it will place a ceiling on the value of gifts -- cash and goods -- and meals individuals in selected professions can have in their professional capacities. The government announced its enforcement in May. According to a report compiled by the Korea Economic Research Institute, if

South Korea's ratio of income tax revenue to gross domestic product has been rising at a fast pace over the past years due largely to the increased number of taxpayers, a report showed Monday.The country's revenue from earned income and global income taxes came to 36.8 trillion won ($31.4 billion) in 2014, accounting for 2.48 percent of the overall tax revenue of 1,485.1 trillion won, according to the report based on data from the finance ministry and the National Tax Service. National Tax Servi