South Korean consumers' confidence rose to the highest level in 13 months in June as the government's fiscal stimulus and the central bank's latest rate cut raised hopes for economic recovery, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Tuesday.The consumer sentiment index (CSI) -- a gauge of consumers' overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending -- came in at 105 for June, up from 104 tallied for the previous month, according to the BOK.It marked the highest level since the index hit 106 i

South Korea and Japan have decided not to extend the soon-to-be-expired won-yen swap facility worth $3 billion in currency, officials said Monday.Korea's central bank said that it and its counterpart in Japan have reached a decision to end the bilateral swap line, which is due to expire on July 3.South Korea and Japan signed a swap deal worth $13 billion in 2008 to better prepare for the global financial crisis. They expanded the swap line temporarily to $70 billion in 2011. Under the deal, Seou

South Korea on Monday raised the possibility of holding a bilateral meeting with North Korea on the sidelines of a regional security conference in Brunei early next week, a senior Seoul official said Monday.The ASEAN Regional Forum, which will be hosted by Brunei on July 2, has traditionally brought together foreign ministers and key officials of all the countries participating in the six-way talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear ambitions. The multilateral forum involves the two Koreas, the

South Korean stocks closed 1.31 percent lower Monday, as lingering angst over a gradual end of the U.S. easy-money policy continued to sap investor sentiment, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) sank 23.82 points to finish at 1,799.01. Trading volume was light at 216.6 million shares worth 3.11 trillion won ($2.69 billion) with decliners far outstripping gainers 613 to 203. "Foreigners again opted to offlo

The chief of CJ Group, a local food and entertainment conglomerate, will be summoned over suspicions that he created massive secret funds and evaded taxes in the process, prosecutors said Monday.Chairman Lee Jae-hyun has been notified to show up for questioning at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Tuesday, they said.Prosecutors suspect that Lee evaded 51 billion won ($44.5 million) in taxes by stashing secret funds offshore. Lee also alle

Florida aerialist Nik Wallenda completed a tightrope walk that took him a quarter mile over the Little Colorado River Gorge in northeastern Arizona on Sunday.Wallenda performed the stunt on a 2-inch (50.8-millimeter)-thick steel cable, 1,500 feet (457.2 meters) above the river on the Navajo Nation near the Grand Canyon. He took just more than 22 minutes, pausing and crouching twice as winds whipped around him so that he could get “the rhythm out of the rope.”“Thank you Lord. Thank you for calmin

South Korean stocks traded 0.61 percent lower late Monday morning, led by large-cap auto and tech losses, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 11.19 points to 1,811.64 as of 11:20 a.m.Kia Motors, the smaller affiliate of Hyundai Motor, shed 0.7 percent, with auto-parts maker Hyundai Mobis losing nearly 2 percent. SK hynix, a leading chipmaker, also dipped more than 2 percent. But shares of Samsung Electronics, the top-listed firm, continued to trade in posi

China has agreed to a plan to beef up a U.N. sanctions committee on North Korea and unveil the panel’s new blacklist in another apparent swipe at Pyongyang, a news report said Monday. With its veto power, Beijing has long strived to dilute international calls for tougher penalties against its defiant ally in the face of missile launches and nuclear tests. Yonhap News cited an unnamed U.N. source as saying that there had been a “very meaningful shift” in China’s position toward sanctions against

Seven out of 10 South Korean students see North Korea as the biggest threat to national security, with half of them feeling reunification of the Korean Peninsula is a necessity, a poll showed Monday.According to the survey of 1,489 primary and middle school students in Seoul, 71 percent said North Korea is the No. 1 entity that poses a threat to national security, followed by 11.3 percent citing Japan and 5 percent pointing to the United States.A majority of the respondents had knowledge of the

South Korean stocks began lower Monday as lingering policy woes from a possible end of the U.S. monetary easing dampened investor sentiment, analyst said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.32 points, or 0.46 percent to 1,814.51 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Domestic-driven shares lost ground, with top mobile carrier SK Telecom slumping more than 3 percent and state-run gas provider Korea Gas dipping nearly 3.5 percent. Top-cap Samsung Electronics bucked up gain

South Korea and Saudi Arabia sought to boost their cooperation in nuclear energy Monday in a meeting attended by their energy ministers."The nuclear technology advanced by South Korea will be of a great help to Saudi Arabia in its project to build nuclear power plants," Seoul's Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick said, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Saudi Arabia, the world's largest supplier of petroleum, plans to build up to 16 nuclear reactors by 2032 as a way of diversifyi