South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in London on Monday for a four-day state visit that includes an elaborate ceremonial welcome at Buckingham Palace, meetings with Queen Elizabeth II and summit talks with Prime Minister David Cameron.Park is the second South Korean president to make a state visit to Britain after the late President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004. Britain invites only about two foreign leaders for state visits to the country a year, officials said.A slew of events are set for Tue

North Korea's trade with China gained 4.4 percent from a year ago in the first nine months of this year, new data showed Tuesday, raising questions about the effectiveness of sanctions put in place to punish the North for conducting its third nuclear test earlier this year.Trade volume rose to US$4.69 billion between January and September from $4.49 billion for the same period last year, according to the data released by the China Customs Information Center. The data, seen by Yonhap News Agency,

South Korea's foreign-exchange reserves rose to a fresh record high in October, aided by a weak U.S. dollar and an increase in investment profit, the central bank said Tuesday.The country's foreign reserves totaled a record $343.23 billion as of end-October, up $6.3 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).The October gain also marked the largest monthly growth since October 2011 when the FX reserves rose by $7.59 billion.The foreign reserves rose for the fourth stra

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will travel to South Korea early next month as part of his Northeast Asia swing, the White House announced Monday."The Vice President will travel to Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea the first week of December," it said in a press release. The Republic of Korea is the formal name for South Korea.In Seoul, he will meet with key leaders to "address bilateral, regional and global challenges, including in particular our close cooperation and coordination to addres

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Tuesday led by gains in blue-chip auto- and steelmakers, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 1.67 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,026.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Hyundai Mobis, an auto parts maker, shot up 2 percent, with leading steelmaker POSCO climbing 1.4 percent. Analysts expected the main index to move in a tight range with institutions opting to take profit from recent rallies. The local currency w

Amid growing media speculation that the resumption of nuclear talks with North Korea may be in the offing, top South Korean and U.S. officials had a four-hour meeting here Monday aimed at "fine-tuning" a strategy on North Korea demanding dialogue without pre-conditions attached. Cho Tae-yong, Seoul's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security, said he had "very productive and useful" discussions with his American counterpart Glyn Davies."We reaffirmed that our line of thinkin

Home buyers who signed a contract from Aug. 28 will pay a less property acquisition tax, as the government and the ruling party agreed Monday on the timeline for the implementation of the tax benefit.The property tax cut measure was announced by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Aug. 28 in a bid to encourage property transactions in the sluggish real estate market, but the measure floated without a fixed timeline for its implementation due to concerns by local governments over a fall in th

Park Byung-ho of the Nexen Heroes was voted the most valuable player in the top South Korean baseball league for the second straight year on Monday.Park earned 84 out of 98 possible votes to pick up his second MVP trophy in a row in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). The slugging first baseman led the league in five offensive categories, including home runs and RBIs.Park became just the fourth player to repeat as the MVP in the KBO, and the first since Lee Seung-yeop of the Samsung Lions won

Streaking domestic league striker Kim Shin-wook made it back on the national football team on Monday for two friendly matches set for later this month.Much-maligned forward Park Chu-young, meanwhile, remained on the outside looking in, despite making his long-awaited appearance for Arsenal in the English Premier League last week.Head coach Hong Myung-bo announced the team of 23 players for the Nov. 15 match against Switzerland at home and the Nov. 19 contest against Russia in Dubai.Kim, a toweri

Independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo called for bipartisan support on Monday to launch a special investigation into several government bodies and the military embroiled in an online campaign scandal in connection with last year's presidential election."I think a comprehensive investigation by an independent counsel can clear up the allegations," Ahn said in a press briefing held at the National Assembly. "I doubt the ongoing probes separately conducted by state prosecutors and military prosecutors

South Korean stocks traded 0.36 percent lower late Monday morning, led by bearish builders and telecoms, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 7.43 points to 2,031.99 as of 11:20 a.m.Builders continued to lose ground, with Hyundai Engineering & Construction falling 0.33 percent and Daewoo Engineering & Construction losing 2.14 percent. Daelim Industrial edged down 0.1 percent.Mobile carriers also traded lower, with leading SK Telecom falling 1.5 percent

North Korea lambasted South Korea Monday for pursuing an inter-Korean trust-building policy that it claims will only fuel tensions on the Korean Peninsula.An article carried by the Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party of (North) Korea, said the Korean Peninsula trust-building process is a plot to spark confrontation between different political systems and is based solely on hostile intent.The North has opposed all forms of political unity and said unification should be achieved w