Private and state-run think tanks have lowered their 2014 economic growth forecasts, according to reports out Sunday, citing a protracted slump in consumption in the aftermath of a ferry disaster.The Hyundai Research Institute had earlier expected South Korea's gross domestic product to grow 4 percent in 2014.The latest HRI report lowered the outlook by 0.4 percentage point to 3.6 percent, saying the slow recovery in private consumption and construction will drag down the domestic demand.The gro

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to tour a main Samsung Electronics facility when he visits South Korea early next month, industry sources said Sunday.Xi will be guided by the company's vice chairman Lee Jay-yong, the heir-apparent of Samsung Group, and they will also hold talks, the sources said. The tour was arranged at Samsung's request, they said.Xi is expected in South Korea in the first week of July.Japanese media reports said he will visit on July 3-4. The Chinese president will t

A Seoul court ruled Friday that the state tax office refund Lone Star Funds 119 billion won ($117 million) in taxes collected from the U.S. buyout fund in its sale of a stake in Korea Exchange Bank.In June 2007, Lone Star, which bought KEB in 2003, sold part of its stake in the lender for 1.19 trillion won via a block sale.Local tax authorities withheld 10 percent of the sale proceeds in capital gains taxes. Challenging the taxation, LSF-KEB Holdings, Lone Star's subsidiary, filed a lawsuit.The

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid an inspection visit to a front-line east coast military detachment, the country's official news wire said Friday."Kim inspected the Ryo Islet Defense Detachment standing guard over a forward post off the East Coast of Korea," the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, without disclosing the date of the visit, as it often does.The detachment is part of the Large Combined Unit 287 near the country's eastern front line and is responsible for defending the is

South Korea logged a trade surplus for the 28th consecutive month in May, despite sluggish exports growth, customs data showed Friday.South Korea's exports came to $47.8 billion last month, down 1 percent from a year earlier, while imports rose 0.3 percent on-year to $42.5 billion, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Earlier, the trade ministry said that exports declined 0.9 percent and imports increased 3 percent over the same period. Korea logged a trade surplus of $5.3 billi

The Navy is set to complete construction of a new base near the tense Yellow Sea border with North Korea this year in a move expected to significantly upgrade South Korea's capability to cope with North Korean maritime provocations, officials said Friday.The base on Baengnyeong Island, just south of the sea border known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), is designed to accommodate advanced patrol boats, such as a 570-ton guarded-missile patrol killer, or PKG, and a 170-ton patrol killer medium ve

The Obama administration is expected to replace Glyn Davies, its top point man on North Korea, in the second half of this year, multiple diplomatic sources said Thursday, as Washington's push for the denuclearization of North Korea shows no signs of moving forward.Chances seem high that Davies, a career diplomat, will be named ambassador to Thailand, according to the sources.He was appointed to the post of special representative for North Korea policy in January 2012 to succeed Stephen Bosworth.

South Korea and Canada have initialed their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), the South Korean government said Friday, with the official signing due in the second half of this year.The trade pact was initialed by South Korean Deputy Trade Minister Choi Kyong-lim and his Canadian counterpart, Ian Burney, in Seoul on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.With the FTA, South Korea will immediately eliminate its 8 percent import tariffs on all automobiles and auto par

Argentina legend Diego Maradona lashed out at "bribes" within FIFA, demanding action against those involved in corruption claims linked to Qatar's World Cup bid, in remarks published Sunday."There are huge bribes" in the world football governing body, UAE-based Maradona told Abu Dhabi daily, Al-Ittihad. "Those behind them must be held accountable, especially in regards to the latest events related to awarding Qatar the 2022 World Cup."Where has this money gone, who received it, and why," must al

Rescuers scrambled Sunday to deliver food and medical supplies to Afghan families marooned on mountaintops after flash floods killed 80 people in a remote northern district, washing away hundreds of homes and forcing thousands to flee.The death toll was expected to rise, with scores of people said to be missing in the mountainous district of Baghlan province after torrential rains unleashed the floods on Friday.The floods come a month after a landslide triggered by heavy rains buried a village a

A car bomb attack followed quickly by a suicide blast Sunday killed 17 people at a Kurdish political party's office north of Baghdad, as nine died in violence elsewhere in Iraq.Militants have launched major operations in multiple provinces in recent days, killing scores of people and highlighting both their long reach and the weakness of Iraqi security forces.Iraq is suffering its worst violence in years, and with none of the myriad problems that contribute to the heightened unrest headed for qu

Vatican officials insist no political agenda is lurking behind Pope Francis' invitation to the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to pray for peace together in the Vatican gardens. They say no concrete initiatives are expected.But Sunday's unusual summit _ with Jewish, Christian and Muslim prayers intoned in the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica _ could take on great significance on the ground. And it will certainly enhance Francis' reputation as a leader unhindered by diplomatic and theological pr