Fraudulent insurance claims caught by South Korea's authorities hit a record high in the first half of this year amid a tougher crackdown, data showed Tuesday.The related authorities caught insurance fraud cases worth 348 billion won ($314 million) during the period, up 12.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service.The figure marks an all-time high in the biannual statistics.But the number of scammers caught declined 2.2 percent to 40,054.T

The new head of South Korea's main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea on Tuesday said the government's security and economic programs have failed to provide a sound environment for the people, adding major changes are needed in President Park Geun-hye's policies. Specifically, Choo Mi-ae criticized South Korea's plans to deploy an advanced US missile defense system during her parliamentary speech, adding that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery is "useless.""The THAAD cannot protect th

North Korea held a meeting of officials in charge of the economy and policy planning to better carry out its leader's five-year development vision, Pyongyang's state media said Tuesday.On Monday, North Korea held a national meeting of senior officials in Pyongyang to encourage them to implement economic policy lines set forth by the congress of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea held in May, according to the Korean Central News Agency. (Yonhap)It marked the first time since 2006 that such a gath

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea dropped sharply from a year earlier in August, industry data showed Tuesday, following the government ban on sales of 80 Audi and Volkswagen vehicle models in the worst emissions scandal in the country's history.According to the data compiled by the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, 15,932 imported cars were registered here in August, down 12.5 percent from the same month last year.From a month earlier, the August tally marked a 1.

South Korean households' overseas spending hit a record high in the first half of 2016 from a year earlier on increased outbound travel to neighboring countries, the central bank said Tuesday.South Korean households spent 13.6 trillion won ($12 billion) overseas in the January-June period, up 10.7 percent from the same period last year, the Bank of Korea said.The figure accounts for 3.7 percent of households' total spending in the first half.The first-half data does not include local households'

President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday called the economic community of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations a "growth engine" for East Asia, pledging to further deepen cooperation with the 10-member bloc.In an interview with Laos's English daily, Vientiane Times, Park also expressed her hope that her visit to Laos would help bring Seoul's cooperative relations with the Southeast Asian country to a "new level."The interview was carried out before Park arrived in Vientiane to attend a series of

 Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Tuesday said he is considering running in next year's presidential election, adding there must be a change in the regime in order to overcome the economic and security challenges."Next year's presidential race is very important. There must be a change in power," Park said during a meeting with the Korean-American community in New York.When asked if Park plans to run for presidency, the mayor declined to give a direct answer but said he is deliberating on the matter.

A set of passengers have taken Korean Air Lines Co. to court for an incident aboard a foreign carrier with which it has a codeshare agreement, a case that may set the boundary of responsibilities between the actual operator of a flight and its partner, aviation industry officials said Tuesday.The plaintiffs were headed to the Czech Republic on a Czech Airlines flight on Sept. 12, 2014, out of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. The flight was a codeshare with Korean Air, with Czech Air

필리핀 대통령 로드리고 두테르테가 5일(현지시각) 미국 대통령 바락 오바마를 향해 욕설을 섞어가며 맹비난 했다. 　　두테르테는 6일 개최되는 동남아국가연합(아세안) 정상회의에 참석하기 위해 라오스로 출발하기에 앞서 기자들에게 “오바마는 자신이 뭐라고 생각하느냐? 나는 미국의 꼭두각시가 아니다”고 작심발언을 쏟아냈다. 　(유튜브 캡쳐)　이어 그는 “(오바마가 마약과의 전쟁을 언급한다면) ‘개XX’라고 욕을 해줄 것”이라고 말해 논란을 일으켰다.　　한편, 이 같은 발언이 알려지자 오바마 대통령도 같은 날 열린 기자회견에서 “생산적이고, 뭔가를 이룰 수 있는 정상회담만 한다는 점을 확실히 하고 싶다”고 밝혀 두테르테와의 회담이 취소될 가능성을 언급했다.　　이후 양국 정상회담은 취소됐고 오바마는 대신 화요일 박근혜 대통령과의 회담 일정을 새로 잡았다. 　　　오바마와 두테르테는 이번 주 내로 라오스에서 만남을 가지기로 예정되어 있었으나 두테르테의 연설 이후 일정을 취소했다. 　　(khnews

Over 5,000 South Korean citizens have filed a suit against the state-run electric power supplier over its controversial electricity rate system which critics say excessively charges users, their legal representative said Monday.Lawyer Kwak Sang-eon said he filed the suit against the Korea Electric Power Corp. with the Seoul Central District Court earlier on the day, representing a total of 5,368 plaintiffs who seek 500,000 won ($452) in compensation each. The plaintiffs said the power supplier m

South Korea's National Assembly said Monday Samsung Electronics Co. has produced 490,000 units of the Galaxy Note 7 phablet since last month in the country, adding it has identified only 35 devices with faulty batteries worldwide so far.The announcement came after Samsung announced a global recall of the Note 7 smartphones on Friday as some of their batteries caught fire while being charged. Samsung also decided to replace all Note 7 smartphones sold to customers with new ones.The Trade, Industr