The Korea Development Bank, a major South Korean policy lender, plans to provide 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) to 200 promising small and medium-sized companies, a senior bank official said Tuesday.Kim Keon-yeol, an executive director of the KDB, said in a seminar at the National Assembly that the proposed injection of the funds will begin next year and is meant to nurture small and medium-sized companies.Kim said nurturing small and medium-sized companies into intermediate ones has gained urg

South Korea allowed its coast guards to engage more aggressively with foreign fishing boats operating illegally in its waters under new guidelines released Tuesday. The Ministry of Public Safety and Security announced a set of revised rules regarding the Coast Guard's use of weapons, under which the on-site commanders will exercise the authority to decide whether to fire crew-served weapons in case the foreign boats violently resist crackdown operations. The new guidelines also allow the command

Britain on Tuesday sent its fighter jets to South Korea for the first time since the Korean War to join the first-ever trilateral combined air exercise with the US amid growing threats from North Korea. Four Eurofighter Typhoons arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, Tuesday morning along with a Voyager tanker aircraft, a C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft and around 200 British airmen as part of the weeklong "Invincible Shield" drill that ends Thursday, the A

연예인, 항공사 승무원, 폭력조직원 등이 인터넷 사이트와 채팅 애플리케이션을 통해 필로폰이나 대마 등을 사서 투약했다가 무더기로 경찰에 적발됐다.인천 연수경찰서는 마약류 관리에 관한 법률 위반 혐의 등으로 탤런트 A(33)씨와 모 항공사 승무원 B(23·여)씨 등 90명을 적발해 이들 중 6명을 구속하고 나머지 84명을 불구속 입건했다고 8일 밝혔다.A씨 등은 올해 3월부터 10월 말까지 인터넷 사이트에 올라온 마약 판매 글을 보고 연락해 필로폰이나 대마를 산 뒤 투약한 혐의를 받고 있다.이들은 목재 회사 등 관리되지 않은 인터넷 사이트나 포털 사이트 게시판 등지에 올라온 "아이스(마약) 팝니다"는 글을 보고 판매자와 접촉했다.이후 수사망을 피하기 위해 텔레그램이나 위챗 등 외국 애플리케이션을 통해 연락을 주고받았다.A씨는 경찰에서 "호기심에 대마를 구입해 흡입했다"고 진술했다.A씨는 2008년 SBS 드라마 '타짜'와 '온에어'를 비롯해 2012년 SBS '부탁해요 캡틴', 올해

The "Korea Sale Festa," a government-led monthlong shopping festival in October, contributed to the nation's economic performance to some degree, a government report said Tuesday, estimating the event will raise the fourth-quarter gross domestic product by 0.13 percentage point.The "Korea Sale Festa," which was held from Sept. 29 through Oct. 31 to boost domestic spending and draw more foreign tourists, is also projected to have boosted the quarterly growth in private consumption expenditures by

South Korea launched its eighth 1,800-ton submarine on Tuesday in an effort to reinforce its maritime combat capability in the face of North Korea’s growing threat including its submarine-launched missiles. The Lee Beom-seok submarine, named after a renowned independence fighter, was unveiled in the shipyard of its manufacturer Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) in Geojedo, 333 kilometers (207 miles) south of Seoul. It is scheduled to be deployed in late 2018 after a test and re

The issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) in South Korea shrank considerably in the third quarter of 2016 from a year earlier on less issuance of mortgage-related products, government data showed Tuesday.The amount of ABS issued during the July-September period totaled 15.2 trillion won ($ 13.3 billion), down 25.2 percent on-year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).The decline came as the state-funded Korea Housing Finance Corp. (KHFC) scaled down its issuance of mortgage-b

South Korea's Army on Tuesday conducted an air infiltration drill with the support of US helicopters in a move to better counter growing nuclear and missile threats posed by North Korea. The latest maneuver is part of the broader Hoguk combined drill, which the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force have carried out every year since 1996. The two-weeklong Hoguk combined exercise will run through Nov. 11.Some 250 South Korean soldiers from the 30th Mechanized Infantry Division boarded helicopters

Business representatives of South Korea and Japan gathered Tuesday to discuss ways to step up cooperation in emerging technology sectors, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). Chairmen of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), as well as 30 other regional chamber chiefs of the two nations, held a meeting in Songdo, west of Seoul.  "As the global trade market remains in the doldrums, emerging econom

North Korea will not feel safe about the results of the US presidential election as Washington is surely to place top priority on its security whoever wins the White House, a government official in Seoul said Tuesday.The assessment comes as US voters are heading to the polls Tuesday (local time) to elect Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump as their next chief executive.The official, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that while North Korea seems to think Republican candidate Trump will be less hos