South Korean stocks opened lower Friday as the United States Federal Reserve's remark on a possible cut in monetary easing continued to weigh down on investors' sentiment, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) nosedived 36.16 points, or 1.95 percent, to 1,814.33 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Blue-chip shares lost ground across the board, with tech giant Samsung Electronics falling 2.26 percent and chipmaker SK hynix moving down 1.93 percent. Top steelmaker PO

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest maker of smartphones and computer memory chips, said Friday that it was named the best computing brand by a Britain-based consumer advocacy group.Which?, a product testing and consumer campaigning charity, rated Samsung as the best brand in the areas of mobile phone, laptop PC, tablet PC and printer, praising its breadth of high performance models across the whole range, according to the company.The Which? Awards is an annual event that celebrates the

For investors, there was no place to go on Thursday.A day after the Federal Reserve roiled Wall Street when it said it could reduce its aggressive economic stimulus program later this year, financial markets around the world plunged. A slowdown in Chinese manufacturing and reports of a squeeze in the world's second-biggest economy heightened worries.The global sell-off began in Asia and quickly spread to Europe and then the U.S., where the Dow Jones industrial average fell 353 points, wiping out

Tahiti coach Eddy Etaeta isn't one to get distracted by small things, like being overwhelmed 10-0 by World Cup winner Spain on Thursday in the Confederations Cup.He's used to looking for the positive. He predicted Spain might score as many as 20 _ and they didn't. With that achievement, he's focused on another _ the World Cup. Tahiti has already been eliminated from qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.“But there's another one in 2018 and in 2022, so we have to be realistic and work to de

Police and protesters fought in the streets into the early hours Friday as an estimated 1 million Brazilians swarmed through more than 80 Brazilian cities in the biggest demonstrations yet against a government viewed as corrupt at all levels and unresponsive to its people.President Dilma Rousseff called an emergency meeting of her top Cabinet members for Friday morning, more than a week after the protests began. Rousseff, who has a standoffish governing style, has been almost entirely absent fro

Greece's prime minister said Friday he's determined to avoid early elections despite a deep rift with a coalition ally, which threatened new political instability in the bailed-out country and prompted warnings from international creditors. One year into his mandate, at the head of a three-party coalition formed to stave off financial collapse, Antonis Samaras said his overriding priority was to persevere with reforms demanded to keep the country's rescue loans flowing.“We have three years left,

서울지역 대학들 사이에서 국가정보원의 대선 개입 의혹을 성토하는 움직임이 확산되고 있다.서울대 총학생회는 20일 오전 서울 서초동 대검찰청 앞에서 기자회견을 열어 성명서를 내고 이번 사건을 통해 국정원의 선거개입, 수사기관의 축소수사, 법무부의 수사 간섭이 한번에 드러났다고 주장했다.총학생회는 “민주주의 기본원리를 국가권력의 이름으로 짓밟은 원세훈 전 국정원장, 김용판 전 서울청장 등 관계자들을 엄중 처벌해야 한다”며 권력기관을 통해 국민 기본권이 침해되는 일이 없도록 정부측에서 조치를 취해야 한다고 주장했다.검찰은 14일 국가정보원의 대선ㆍ정치 개입 의혹’ 사건과 관련해 원세훈 전 국정원장을 불구속 기소했으며, 경찰 수사 과정에서 사건의 축소ㆍ은폐를 지시했다는 의혹을 받고 있는 김용판 전 서울지방경찰청장 역시 불구속기소했다. 이화여대 역시 이날 학교 정문 앞에서 시국선언문을 발표하며 국정원이 선거를 “여당의 정권재창출을 위한 조직적 대응과 선거 개입의 계기로 삼았다”고 비판했다.

Asian stock markets plummeted Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it could start scaling back its huge economic stimulus program later this year.The announcement Wednesday in Washington drew sharp reaction in financial markets, showing just how dependent investors have become on the Fed's easy money policies.The Fed has been buying $85 billion worth of bonds each month to keep long-term interest rates low to boost borrowing and spending. On Wednesday, however, the Fed said the U.S. econ

The South Korean currency fell to the lowest level in almost 11 months against the U.S. dollar Thursday as the Federal Reserve's head said it would begin to taper its stimulus bond purchases later this year, dealers said.The local currency closed at 1,145.70 won to the greenback, down 14.9 won or 1.3 percent from Wednesday's close. It marked the lowest level since July 27, 2012 and the local currency hit an intra-day low of 1,146.60 won at one point during the afternoon trading."Emerging countri

South Korea's credit rating won't be affected by the impact from the unwinding of the U.S. monetary easing, as Washington's indication of an exit strategy means the world's No. 1 economy is improving, which will serve as a positive factor for Korea, a global credit appraiser said Thursday. "Withdrawing the quantitative easing (QE) can mean the United States is shifting to growth, which can lead to more fresh orders for some ailing industries like shipbuilding and shipping in Korea.It won't likel

South Korean football star Park Ji-sung on Thursday admitted to dating a local television personality, giving the public a rare peek into his personal life.At a press conference in his hometown of Suwon, south of Seoul, the 32-year-old said he has been dating announcer Kim Min-ji, 27, since the beginning of this summer.This was Park's first public appearance since photos were published by an online newspaper on Wednesday showing him and Kim out on a date in Seoul.Park, the midfielder for Queens

The U.N. committee on sanctioning North Korea plans to discuss as early as next month whether to impose further penalties against North Korea for carrying out its third nuclear test in February, sources with direct knowledge of the committee said Wednesday.During a meeting, the North Korean sanctions committee chaired by Luxembourg's Ambassador Sylvie Lucas put forth reports on its activities with regard to its latest sanctions and recommended blacklisting four more North Korean institutions and

South Korea's cell phone replacement rate is the highest among major OECD countries as local mobile carriers' fat subsidies and aggressive marketing lure customers to change their gadgets frequently, a report said Thursday.About 15 million South Koreans, or 28 percent of mobile phone users in the country, replace their handsets every year, according to the report compiled by DigiEco, a research unit of KT Corp.The mobile replacement rate is the highest among major OECD countries, the report said

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Thursday as the U.S Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted at a possible tapering of its monetary easing, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) nosedived 24.68 points, or 1.31 percent to 1,863.63 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Shares lost ground across the board, with tech giant Samsung Electronics falling 1.97 percent and No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor declining 0.24 percent. Top steelmaker POSCO moved down 1.4