South Korea's tax agency will closely look into suspicions of tax evasion by conglomerates and their families, among others, suspected of stashing away money by using offshore tax havens, its top official said Thursday.On Wednesday, a non-profit organization set up by former journalists disclosed three names of heads of family-owned conglomerates who have allegedly set up paper companies in the British Virgin Islands and the Cook Islands to conceal secretive money or avoid paying taxes.The list

North Korea has yet to finish developing 300-millimeter-caliber multiple rocket launchers, South Korea's defense ministry said Monday, following the North's provocative launches of missiles and artillery shells over the weekend. North Korea fired a short-range projectile into the East Sea on Sunday, a day after shooting three other similar projectiles, presumed by Seoul to be missiles or rockets, off the Korean Peninsula's east coast in defiance of the international community's warnings against

South Korea's unification minister called on North Korea Monday to drop provocative actions and come to the bargaining table to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula.The North fired a short-range missile into the East Sea on Sunday, a day after shooting three short-range projectiles, presumed by Seoul to be missiles or artillery shells, off the Korean Peninsula's east coast in defiance of the international community's warnings against hostile actions."North Korea should end its repetition of c

A large majority of Japanese people disagree with a high-profile politician who said women forced to provide sex during World War II were a military necessity, polls issued Monday said.Up to 200,000 "comfort women" from Korea, China, the Philippines and elsewhere were forcibly drafted into brothels catering to the Japanese military during WWII, according to mainstream historians.Outspoken Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto said last week these women served a "necessary" role keeping soldiers in line, sp

이명박 전임 정부의 역점 사업 중 하나였던 한식세계화 사업에 대해 재검토가 필요하다는 조사 결과가 나왔다. 국회예산청책처는 19일 부실한 사전 준비 탓에 세부 프로그램이 중단되며 예산을 낭비하는 사례가 발생했다는 내용을 담은 '농식품 수출지원사업의 문제점 및 개선과제' 보고서를 발간했다. 예산정책처는 한식세계화 사업의 대표 프로그램 중 하나인 해외 한식당 개설사업과 관련, 2009년 60억원의 예산이 배정됐으며 이미 27억2천만원의 예산이 투입됐으나 융자기관들의 투자 포기사례가 속출하며 현재 사업이 중단됐다고 지적했다. 미국 뉴욕 맨해튼에 한국을 대표하는 한식당인 '플래그십 한식당'을 개설하는 사업도 애초 50억원의 예산을 배정하고 실제로 4천만원을 투입했으나 민간투자자 공 모에서 응찰자가 나타나지 않으며 사업을 폐지했다고 예산정책처는 전했다. 예산정책처는 "신규 사업에 대한 사전 검토 부족 탓에 1∼2년만에 사업이 중단된 사례"라며 "1∼2년 만에 사업이 중단되며 예산•인력•조직

North Korea on Sunday fired a short-range missile into the East Sea, a Seoul military official said, a day after firing three short-range guided missiles off the Korean Peninsula's east coast. North Korea fired the missile Sunday afternoon, the official said on the condition of anonymity, adding that the missile was fired in a northeasterly direction, away from South Korea. "Following yesterday, North Korea launched one short-range missile into the East Sea this afternoon," the official said.Sho

South Korea's corporate debt is expected to approach US$2 trillion in 2017, a level similar to 2009 when the country just pulled out of a foreign exchange crisis, global ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) said Sunday.According to an S&P report, the amount of debt owed by the country's nonfinancial companies is estimated to reach $1.98 trillion in 2017, up from $1.36 trillion at the end of September.The ratio of South Korea's corporate debt to its nominal gross domestic product (GDP) will lik

Japan’s economic growth rate is expected to surpass that of Korea for the first time in 15 years as the world’s third-largest economy gains momentum on the yen’s rapid depreciation.South Korea is estimated to grow at an annual rate of 2.6 percent this year from a year earlier, while Japan is forecast to advance 2.9 percent, according to the data by the Bank of Korea and the Bank of Japan. If the estimates come true, South Korea's economic growth rate would fall behind that of Tokyo for the first

South Korea has placed Israeli precision-guided missiles capable of striking North Korean coastal artillery on its Yellow Sea border islands, a military official said Sunday."Dozens of Spike missiles and their launchers have recently been deployed on Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands," an official for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. "They can destroy (North Korea's) underground facilities and can pursue and strike moving targets."The satellite-guided Spike missile has a range of about 20

Nam Duck-woo, a former prime minister and finance minister who led the country's rapid economic development in the 1970s, died of complications from testicular cancer at a Seoul hospital late Saturday, his family said. He was 89.Nam had been battling testicular cancer for the past few years and his condition had worsened with age, his family added.Nam, who earned a doctorate in economics at Oklahoma State University, was appointed finance minister by President Park Chung-hee in 1969 and served i

The country's largest law firm is preparing to draft legislation aimed at compensating companies that have taken a hit from the suspension of an inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea, a law firm official said Sunday.The factory complex in the North's border city of Gaeseong has remained idle since early April as Pyongyang pulled all its workers from 123 South Korean companies there, citing South Korea's provocations."A task force of lawyers has started its research on the special compen