South Korean stocks plunged 1.24 percent Thursday as hawkish remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and weaker-than-expected data from China sapped investor sentiment here, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 24.64 points to finish at 1,969.19. Trading volume was low at 337.4 million shares worth 4.54 trillion won ($4.05 billion) with losers far outstripping gainers 599 to 235."Invest

The European Aerospace Defense and Space Company (EADS) on Thursday offered to invest US$2 billion in South Korea's long-delayed fighter jet development project if it wins Seoul's jet procurement deal.The multinational defense firm made the offer as its Eurofighter Tranche 3 has been competing with Lockheed Martin'sF-35 stealth jet and Boeing's F-15 Silent Eagle for the 8.3 trillion won ($7.3 billion) contract to replace the South Korean Air Force's aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s.The EADS also pro

South Korean stocks traded 0.67 percent lower late Thursday morning due to losses in techs and logistics, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 13.39 points to 1,980.44 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech shares traded bearish, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics losing 0.93 percent and its smaller rival LG Electronics falling 0.84 percent. Samsung SDI, the leading maker of plasma display panels, shed 0.39 percent.Logistics firms also lost ground, with Hyundai Gl

South Korea's trade deficit with Japan soared in April from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, as the weak Japanese currency dented local exports.Asia's fourth-largest economy saw its trade deficit with Japan reach 248.2 billion yen ($2.39 billion) in April, up 45.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Japan's finance ministry.It marked the fourth shortfall South Korea has registered with Japan this year since January, when the deficit came to 88.8 billion yen.By cou

The Federal Reserve is torn over when to slow its aggressive efforts to stimulate the economy.Its uncertainty burst into view Wednesday, when Chairman Ben Bernanke testified to Congress in the morning and the Fed in the afternoon released the minutes of its last policy meeting.Stock prices gyrated through the day as investors struggled to determine whether the Fed might soon pull back _ even gradually _ on its extraordinary efforts.At one point, the Dow Jones industrial average had jumped more t

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street sparked by concerns over a possible reduction in the United States' quantitative easing moves, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,989.83 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares traded bearish across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 0.73 percent and leading builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction losing 99 percen

The U.N. atomic agency on Wednesday detailed rapid Iranian progress in two programs that the West fears are geared toward making nuclear weapons, saying Tehran has upgraded its uranium enrichment facilities and advanced in building a plutonium-producing reactor.In a confidential report obtained by The Associated Press, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tehran had installed close to 700 high-tech centrifuges used for uranium enrichment, which can produce the core of nuclear weapons. It

The country's trade commission said Thursday that it has recommended yet another extension of punitive duties on choline chloride imports from four countries, including the United States and China.The country has been imposing anti-dumping duties of between 22.19 percent and 27.32 percent since October 2004 on shipments of choline chloride from the U.S., Canada, China and India.Choline chloride is an organic compound often used as an additive in feed for animals.The Korea Trade Commission said i

China gave prior notice to the United States on a high-profile North Korean envoy's trip this week to Beijing, according to a U.S. official Wednesday. The notification was seen as unusual for China, which has traditionally kept mum on its top-level diplomatic exchanges with its communist ally.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's special envoy, Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, flew into Beijing on Wednesday (local time), the first known visit by a top North Korean official to China this year.Choe is one

British police on Wednesday arrested two people as they tried to quell anti-Islamist disorder following the brutal murder in London of a man, believed to be a soldier.A 43-year-old man was arrested in Braintree, east of London, after reportedly walking into a mosque with a knife shortly after news broke of the London murder.Local lawmaker Brooks Newmark wrote on Twitter: "Local mosque in Braintree attacked by man with knives and incendiary device. Man arrested. No one injured."Elsewhere, a man w

In a brutal daylight attack which raised fears that terrorism had returned to London, two men with butcher knives hacked another man to death near a military barracks Wednesday before police wounded them in a shootout.In a shocking video broadcast on British TV, one man gestured with bloodied hands, waving a butcher knife in the air and shouting political statements against the British government as pedestrians milled about a body lying motionless on the street. Bloodstains coated the street.Bri

수만 명이 방문하는 일명 ‘파워블로그’를 운영하는 한 네티즌이 식당 음식을 비판했다가 결국 법적 분쟁에 휘말리게 되었다.이 블로거는 지난 2월, 자신의 블로그에 올린 평을 통해 서울에 있는 한식당 집에서 등심불고기에 등심을 이용하지 않는다고 주장한 바 있다. 이 식당은 리뷰가 올라간 후 이 블로거가 ‘허위사실을 유표했다’며 명예훼손혐의로 그를 형사 고소했다. 언론 보도에 따르면 이 음식점은 리뷰 이후 매출이 급감했다고 한다.한편 블로거 역시 해당 음식점이 자신을 명예훼손했다고 고소장을 제출할 것이라 밝혀 둘 사이의 갈등은 법정 분쟁으로 이어지게 되었다.일각에서는 수만 명의 방문자를 거느리고 있는 이러한 블로거들의 영향력이 지나치다는 시각도 있다. 해당 블로그를 정기적으로 찾는 사람들은 수만에 달하는데 이 정도로 파급력이 있는 매체라면 한 사업장에 실제로 큰 영향을 미칠 수도 있다는 것.한국 소비자원의 블로그 현황 분석에 따르면 매일 블로그를 이용하는 사용자는 조사 대상인 성인 1천명