Home Affairs Minister Chong Jong-sup offered to resign Sunday, indicating he may run in the general elections in April.Media speculation has continued over his political ambition.The former law professor said he made the decision in order to not burden state affairs.He left the door open to seeking a parliamentary seat."I will decide prudently after listening to the opinions of many people," Chong said.He is expected to continue the ministerial work until his successor is chosen.Last month, Pres

Korean banks' lending to self-employed people have hit a record high this year, central bank data showed Sunday, prompting financial authorities to move to tighten loan screening procedures.Outstanding bank loans to the self-employed reached 232.6 trillion won ($203.7 billion) as of end-September, accounting for 42 percent of total bank lending to small and medium enterprises, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK).In the first nine months of the year, such loans rose 23.3 trillion won

북한의 김정은 국방위원회 제1위원장이 헬기까지 동원해 미국 유명 패스트푸드점의 햄버거 등을 공수한다는 주장이 보도돼 화제다. 영국 일간지 데일리스타 등에 따르면, 김정은은 스위스 유학시절부터 패스트푸드를 좋아했고, 현재는 중국에서 들여오고 있다고 한다. 이를 위해, 김정은의 패스트푸드 공급을 맡은 관계자는 신의주까지 헬기로 이동하고, 국경 넘어 중국에 있는 패스트푸드 체인점에서 실어나르고 있다고.외신은 중국과 북한의 접경지역에서 사업하고 있는 익명의 사업가의 말을 빌려, 김정은은 햄버거뿐만 아니라 피자와 치킨 등을 중국에서 조달하고 있다고 전했다. 외신은 또, 북한주민 대부분은 최저소득도 벌지 못한다며 김정은 등 북한지도층의 호화생활을 비판했다. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)　

Korea's leading state think tank will likely revise down the country's growth estimate to below 3 percent for the year, following earlier downgrades by local and overseas institutions, a source said Sunday.The Korea Development Institute (KDI) plans to unveil a revised version of its gross domestic product growth forecast for 2015 and 2016 on Nov. 23, according to the source who asked not to be named.In its earlier outlook released on May 20, the KDI said Asia's fourth-largest economy will likel

Korea's automobile exports rose solidly in October from a year earlier on growing demand for popular new models, the government said Sunday.Outbound shipments of vehicles came to 259,306 units in October, up 7.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Shipments by Kia Motors Corp., the No. 2 car manufacturer and one of the flagships of Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-largest automotive conglomerate, soared 40.1 percent on-year on strong demand

Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. is poised to showcase its first self-driving vehicle in December, industry sources said Sunday, heralding the full-fledged commercialization of the novel technology in the country.Hyundai plans to roll out the latest version of its Genesis luxury sedan equipped with the so-called highway driving assist (HDA) system, according to the sources.The HDA system is designed to keep a car within the lane, maintain a safe distance from the car ahead and provide a n

The number of Korean subscribers to Internet of Things (IoT) networks has exceeded the 4 million mark, buoyed by a jump in wearable device users, government data showed Sunday.As of end-September, the number of IoT subscribers reached 4.08 million, compared with 3.96 million two months earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.IoT is a concept in which all tangible objects are connected to the Internet and can identify themselves to other devices in order

South Korea and Iran have agreed to strengthen political and economic partnerships as Seoul's top diplomat made a highly rare trip to the Middle Eastern nation, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se held talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran on Saturday (local time). Yun also met with President Hassan Rouhani.Yun is the first South Korean foreign minister to make an official visit to Iran in 14 years.The two sides agreed that an "important cha

A large number of South Korean companies have suffered credit rating downgrades this year due to poor performances stemming from protracted sluggish demand, despite an upgrade in the country's sovereign rating, market data showed Sunday.According to the data compiled by Korea Investors Service Inc., one of the three leading local credit rating agencies, it downgraded the ratings of 45 companies during the January-October period, marking the largest number since 1998, when it hit 61 in the afterm

Korean tech behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. became the top smartphone seller in five major regions of the world in the third quarter of the year except in North America, where its archrival Apple Inc. dominated, a report showed Sunday.In the July-September period, Samsung posted the largest smartphone sales in Western Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Central and Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, according to the report by market tracker Strategy Analytics. Samsung's feat was attributed to bri

Ri Ul-sol, an iconic North Korean politician and military official, died of lung cancer last week, the country's state media reported Sunday.The North announced that it will hold a state funeral for Ri, who was 94, and that leader Kim Jong-un will lead a preparatory committee.He was an anti-Japanese guerrilla in the early 1900s, working with Kim Il-sung, who later founded the communist nation."He dedicated his all to the sacred cause of liberating the country by participating in the glorious ant

Korean companies' share of the global mobile dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip market hit an all-time high in the third quarter of the year, far outpacing their rivals, data showed Sunday.Samsung Electronics Co. accounted for 56.9 percent of global mobile DRAM sales in the July-September period, with Samsung's smaller domestic rival SK hynix Inc. taking up 26.4 percent, according to the data by industry tracker DRAMeXchange. The combined market share of Samsung and SK hynix was also 1.8 p