South Korea said Tuesday that it will toughen its criteria used to determine whether to provide tax exemptions and other benefits as part of efforts to reduce excessive tax expenditure.Under the 2014 tax expenditure plan, which was approved by a Cabinet meeting, the finance ministry said that it will not approve any new tax exemption or cut whose value exceeds about 10 billion won ($9.29 million) if it fails to pass a feasibility test. The exact threshold will be decided later.The ministry will

South Korea's No. 2 tech player, LG Electronics Inc., said Tuesday it plans to apply its latest "Knock Code" feature to its earlier devices, further promoting its new unlocking technology.The company said the feature, first introduced in February with the launch of the 5.9-inch phablet G Pro 2, will also be available for the G2 and the G Flex models through updates, and will gradually expand to other previous lineup as well.LG said users can update their devices with the feature through download

South Korea and the European Union added a protocol to their free trade agreement Tuesday to account for Croatia's recent accession to the political and economic union, the South Korean government said.The revision of the South Korea-EU FTA, enacted in July 2011, was officially signed in Brussels, Belgium, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The same amendment was initialed in November 2011, about three months after Croatia's accession to the EU.Under the change, South Korea

South Korea has joined hands with Japan and the European Union in drafting a resolution on North Korea's human rights situation, calling on the United Nations to refer the case to an "appropriate" international justice mechanism, officials here said Tuesday.The resolution led by Japan and the EU was presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Sunday, with member states working on details for possible revisions.It condemned the communist country "in the strongest terms" for its "systematic, wid

The number of sex crimes on subways in Seoul jumped more than 20 percent in 2013 from a year earlier, government data showed Tuesday.According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the number of sexual offenses committed on subway trains and in stations in the capital came to 1,026 last year, up 20.1 percent from a year earlier.The number of people arrested on suspicion of committing related crimes on the subway system also s

North Korea has completed two statues of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, according to a news report, in Pyongyang's latest lucrative project in Africa.The $5 million project is to mark the 90th birthday of the long-time leader of the southern African nation, the Telescope News reported last month.The two statues, which began being crafted by Pyongyang in 2009, are believed to be ready for delivery, said the online news website, which specializes in African news.The bigger bronze statue, wort

Lower back pain causes more disability around the world than any other single condition, and accounts for a third of work-related handicaps, a specialist journal reported on Monday.Nearly a tenth -- 9.4 percent -- of the world's population has lower back pain, with the prevalence highest in Western Europe, followed by North Africa and the Middle East, and the lowest in the Caribbean and Latin America, a study found. The figure includes children.Lower back pain also accounts for a third of all wo

South Korean pitcher Lim Chang-yong has been released by the Chicago Cubs, the Major League Baseball team announced Tuesday.The Cubs' official website stated that Lim was "granted his unconditional release" on Monday local time. The 37-year-old is now a free agent.The right-hander with a sidearm delivery made his MLB debut last September, after a call-up from the minors. He had Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ligament in his pitching elbow in July 2012 and spent the first half of 2013 in reh

Sales of books related to the entrance exam of South Korea's biggest conglomerate Samsung Group soared in March, one of the nation's largest booksellers said Tuesday, ahead of a change in its recruitment system later this year.Yes 24 said its shipments of textbooks for the Samsung Aptitude Test jumped more than three-fold from a month earlier.While sales of such books usually soar in March ahead of the exam at the end of the month, this year's growth hovered above the 158.2 percent and 60.6 perc

China's military told South Korea last week that Beijing is willing to increase "multi-level, multi-field" defense exchanges with Seoul, the Chinese defense ministry said Tuesday.Wang Guanzhong, deputy chief of general staff of China's People's Liberation Army, made the remarks at a meeting in Beijing last Friday with Park Sam-duck, president of the Korea National Defense University."China is willing to make joint efforts with the ROK (South Korea) to keep promoting multi-level and multi-field m

South Korea's credit card spending grew at a slower pace in February than a month earlier due to a one-time effect, data showed on Tuesday.Purchases made with credit cards reached 41.48 trillion won ($38.52 billion) in February, growing 2.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association. The February figure is compared with 46.9 trillion won worth of credit card spending a month earlier and also marks a slowdown from a 9-percent on-year gain in Janu

State prosecutors sought an arrest warrant Tuesday for the head of a local mine developer on charges of reaping massive profits from a stock price manipulation scheme linked to a diamond mining project in Cameroon.CNK International President Oh Deok-gyun allegedly pocketed about 90 billion won ($83.24 million) by exaggerating the volume of diamond reserves in a Cameroon mine through a press release that inflated the KOSDAQ-listed company's stock prices.Oh was apprehended at Incheon International

Asia's largest aerospace museum is set to open on South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju next month to provide visitors with a chance to learn about aviation and space, its operator said Monday.  The Jeju Aerospace Museum in the southwestern part of the island will showcase exhibitions on aviation, space exploration and planetary science, according to the Jeju Free International City Development Center.After some six years of construction with funding of 115 billion won ($106.7 million), t