North Korea is stepping up efforts to forge closer ties with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in a bid to weaken sanctions imposed against it by the international community, the government said Thursday.The unification ministry said Pyongyang has stepped up efforts this year to strengthen bonds with non-aligned nations and members of ASEAN, as well as to mend fences with neighbors such as China.Traditionally, the North has maintained cordial ties with Vietnam, Laos a

South Korea logged a trade surplus for the 21st straight month in October thanks to relatively robust exports growth, customs data showed Thursday.South Korea's exports came to $50.5 billion last month, up 7.2 percent from the same month a year earlier, while imports grew 5.2 percent on-year to $45.6 billion, according to the data provided by the Korea Customs Service. As a result, Korea logged $4.9 billion in trade surplus last month, marking the 21st month of a surplus in a row since February

South Korean stocks traded 0.18 percent higher late Thursday morning, led by gains in tech large-caps and textile firms, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 3.49 points to 1,967.05 as of 11:20 a.m.LG Electronics, South Korea's major home appliance maker, climbed 1.2 percent, with leading apparel firm LG Fashion soaring more than 2 percent. In contrast, shares of banking groups lost ground. No. 4 player Shinhan Financial fell 1.2 percent and its rival KB F

South Korean President Park Geun-hye suggested Thursday that making a joint history textbook among Northeast Asian nations is a good way to promote peace and cooperation in a region riven by history and territorial rows.Park made the remark in an address to an academic conference marking the 50th anniversary of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, saying Northeast Asia should learn from the way European nations tried to heal World War II wounds and bond closely together."As Germany and France,

South Korea’s trade negotiators plan to call for their Chinese counterpart not to discriminate against Korean firms operating in the country in of favor homegrown competitors, antirust regulatory officials said Thursday.According to the Fair Trade Commission, the request will likely be made during the second round of negotiations to conclude a bilateral free trade agreement, slated for next week.FTC officials said the negotiators are seeking to reach a consensus on nondiscrimination between Chin

North Korea could conduct its fourth nuclear weapons test as early as late this year in order to force countries to come to the negotiating table, a U.S. expert on the communist country and former White House security official said Wednesday.In a meeting with South Korean correspondents in Washington, Victor Cha said his prediction is based on set patterns followed by the North in the past that compels other countries to accept talks by first instigating provocations.The Georgetown University pr

Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo said Thursday that it was highly “inappropriate” to say that the country was able to achieve current account surpluses mainly due to its undervalued currency.The governor’s remarks to the press came after the BOK monetary policy committee unanimously decided to keep its key base rate unchanged at 2.5 percent for the sixth straight month.Gov. Kim said that Korea saw “surpluses mostly through trade with emerging economies, not with developed economies,” adding tha

The Obama administration revealed Wednesday that fewer than 27,000 people signed up for private health insurance last month in the 36 states relying on a problem-filled federal government website.States running their own enrollment systems did better, signing up more than 79,000, for a total enrollment of more than 106,000.Still, that was barely one-fifth of the nearly 500,000 people administration officials had projected would sign up the first month of President Barack Obama's signature progra

Secretary of State John Kerry warned Congress Wednesday against hurting a historic opportunity for a nuclear pact with Iran by pressing ahead with new sanctions while international negotiators seek to prevent Tehran from being able to assemble an atomic weapons arsenal.Kerry said the United States and other world powers are united behind an offer they presented to Iranian negotiators in Geneva last week. But he said new action now from U.S. lawmakers could shatter an international coalition made

How much does Samsung Electronics owe Apple for copying vital features of the iPhone and iPad, such as scrolling and the “bounce-back” function at the end of documents?Apple says $380 million. Samsung counters with $52 million.The companies made their demands Wednesday during opening statements of a patent trial in San Jose, Calif.At issue are 13 older products a previous jury found infringed several Apple patents. That previous jury awarded Apple $1.05 billion after determining 26 Samsung produ

Japan said Thursday that growth halved in the three months to September, a worrying sign for Tokyo's bid to kick-start the world's third-largest economy.Official data showed the economy expanded by 0.5 percent in the quarter, slightly higher than economists' expectations but a marked slowdown from 0.9 percent growth in the previous quarter.On an annualised basis, growth slumped to 1.9 percent from 3.8 percent in the previous three months -- showing the pace of growth if the data were stretched a

South Korea and the United States held an inaugural round of high-profile talks Wednesday aimed at promoting bilateral cooperation in the information and communication technology (ICT) field.The ICT Policy Forum is a fruit of summit talks between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington in May.The Park administration has concentrated efforts on boosting a creative economy."ROK (South Korea) and U.S. government and industry representatives held extensive

South Korea will host Switzerland on Friday in the last football friendly match of 2013 on home soil.The match between the 56th-ranked South Korea and the world No. 7 Switzerland will kick off at 8 p.m. at Seoul World Cup Stadium.After this match, South Korea will fly to Dubai to face Russia next Tuesday.This is the first clash between South Korea and Switzerland since 2006. At the FIFA World Cup that year in Germany, Switzerland blanked South Korea 2-0 in the last Group G match, knocking the As