SEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ A possible South Korean presidential contender said Thursday his country should reconsider plans to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system to cope with North Korean threats, a move Washington is likely to see as disruptive. Liberal opposition politician Moon Jae-in said the security benefits of having Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, would be curtailed by worsened relations with neighbors China and Russia. He downplayed concerns that South Korea ba

NAGATO, Japan (AP) _ The leaders of Russia and Japan met at a hot springs resort in western Japan on Thursday for talks on a territorial dispute that has divided their countries for 70 years.For Russian President Vladimir Putin, the summit meeting marks his first official visit to a G-7 country since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.In brief remarks to reporters before the meeting, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe referred to the famous hot springs waters of Nagato, the city where they are m

New allegations surrounding an influence-peddling scandal involving South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her confidante emerged during a parliamentary hearing on Thursday, ranging from a cover-up attempt to spying on a top justice and bribery involving a deputy premier-level official. The National Assembly held the fourth round of inquiries into the case focusing on alleged wrongdoing by Park's friend Choi Soon-sil and her ex-husband Chung Yun-hoi, who was an aide to Park when the president

South Koreans tuned into the parliamentary hearing of the country’s nine biggest corporations with shame and embarrassment, as the nation’s business leaders looked solemn and agitated.The owners of conglomerates attended a public hearing by the National Assembly to be grilled about suspicious connections between them and President Park Geun-hye’s confidante Choi Soon-sil. Many young Koreans watched the hearing on social networking sites including the Facebook Live service and expressed their dis

South Korea’s financial watchdog on Tuesday designated 176 small and medium-sized enterprises to undergo restructuring, the largest number of firms since 2010.The Financial Supervisory Service evaluated credit risks of a total of 2,035 SMEs with credit ceilings of less than 50 billion won ($42.8 million) and graded them in levels from A to D. The annual evaluation is conducted by the watchdog in order to reduce risks of corporate bankruptcies. A total of 71 firms were given a grade of C, while 1

South Korean investors are making aggressive investments in overseas funds in diverse forms of stocks, bonds and derivatives while avoiding local securities, figures showed Wednesday. According to data from Korea Financial Investment Association, the accumulated amount of money invested in foreign funds stood at 78.9 trillion won ($67.5 billion), as of Wednesday. The figure hit 88.2 trillion won last Friday, the largest since 2007. At the same time, the balance of cash management accounts hit a

South Korea’s financial watchdog will enhance its monitoring of changes in stocks linked to political figures over the next three months, amid growing uncertainty about President Park Geun-hye’s term in office.The Financial Supervisory Service said Wednesday it would more closely monitor online postings, messages via mobile messengers and other social networking sites for rumors concerning about 60 publicly traded stocks. “For the particular stocks, uncertainties have been spiking regardless of

Backed by expanding fiscal spending in advanced economies, global investors are highly likely to hunt for riskier assets that would boost stock markets around the world next year, said a securities brokerage firm based in Seoul. Hanwha Investment & Securities forecast the global economy would have a modest but stable growth next year due to huge investments in infrastructure and fiscal spending by governments, despite high political uncertainties remaining in many parts of the world. “At least,