President Park Geun-hye's lawyers and allies reacted angrily Monday to the independent prosecution's final report on its 70-day investigation which reaffirmed her as a suspect in multiple corruption cases. Independent Counsel Park Young-soo's team announced the results of its probe into the massive presidential scandal, claiming Park is a suspected accomplice to her friend Choi Soon-sil in taking bribes from Samsung Group's de facto leader Lee Jae-yong. The investigators also linked her to an al

Police said Monday they have launched an internal investigation into recent violent and possibly illegal activities by a group of diehard supporters of impeached President Park Geun-hye.The investigation is aimed at determining whether the group of pro-Park activists violated the law by wielding baseball bats outside the house of Independent Counsel Park Young-soo, who last week concluded a probe into the president's alleged corruption, Kim Jung-hoon, chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agenc

South Korea will begin a global campaign this week to promote the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games worldwide with the events a mere 11 months away in the eastern South Korean town of PyeongChang, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it will soon set up a comprehensive and organized plan for international promotion of the PyeongChang Olympics in cooperation with its subsidiary agency -- the Korean Culture and Information Service -- and Korean cultura

After ending a bilateral visa-waiver deal and expelling the top envoy, Malaysia hinted it would take additional steps against North Korea in an escalating spat over the death of leader Kim Jong-un's half brother, a media report said Monday. On Saturday, Malaysia gave 48 hours to North Korean Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur Kang Chol to leave the country. Earlier last week Malaysia canceled a visa-free travel deal with Pyongyang in response to the North's criticism that Malaysia colluded with South Ko

Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Monday that South Korea is capable of defending itself from any missiles launched by North Korea, after Pyongyang fired four projectiles earlier in the day.During his meeting with lawmakers, Han said North Korean missiles targeting the (southern part of) Korean Peninsula can be blocked with the South's defense systems under development, such as long-range surface-to-air missiles, mid-range surface-to-air missiles, or the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense batte

South Korea's chief economic policymaker on Monday held a meeting with local experts to discuss ways to deal with China's measures taken on some South Korean firms, in an apparent retaliation for Seoul's plan to deploy a US-led missile system.At the round-table meeting in Seoul, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho and 11 professors and researchers including Hyun Jung-taik, president of the state-run Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, reviewed the current pending trade and economic issues

China stood at the bottom in terms of market openness, a global report showed Monday, spawning concerns over its protectionist stance amid heightening tension with South Korea over the deployment of a US missile defense system. China ranked 126th out of a total of 136 countries in terms of market accessibility, according to the latest Global Enabling Trade Report, a biennial finding published in November by the World Economic Forum. Image representing the Chinese economy (123RF)It stood 61st in

South Korean actor Lee Joon-gi received a feverish response from Singaporean fans by singing more than 20 songs during a concert there, his management company said Monday. (Yonhap)Namoo Actors said Lee, who recently appeared in the hit TV series "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo," performed at the concert "Thank You" on Saturday, organized as part of a music festival for the HSBC Women's Champions that took place on March 2-5.The actor arrived at Changi Airport on Friday night and was greeted by

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a major shipyard here, said Monday that it has secured a deal to build a LNG carrier, the latest in a series of its shipbuilding contracts.Hyundai Heavy did not reveal the terms of the contract, but a deal to build a 180,000-cubic meter LNG ship is valued at some $193 million, according to industry sources. (Yonhap)With the latest deal, Hyundai Heavy has received deals so far this year, valued at a combined $800 million to build a total of six ships, including two v

South Korea plans to bring up North Korea's recent use of the lethal VX nerve agent in the assassination of its leader's half brother in a bid to draw international attention to the North's chemical weapons threat during an international meeting this week, the foreign ministry said Monday.The foreign ministry's Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Choi Jong-moon plans to shed light on the case in his keynote speech to be delivered on Tuesday at an executive council session of the

The chief of the Supreme Court on Monday named a female lawyer to succeed the outgoing acting chief of the Constitutional Court, which is currently reviewing the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.Lee Seon-ae of law firm Hwawoo was tapped by Yang Seung-tae to replace Lee Jung-mi, who is set to retire next Monday upon completing her six-year term, the Supreme Court said. (Yonhap)"We thoroughly reviewed the candidates' preparedness to serve the people, their ethics, as well as the basic qualit

South Korea's public financial service firms will aggressively write off nonperforming loans extended to low-income people in a bid to facilitate their debt rescheduling, a public agency said Monday.The decision came at a meeting of the nation's regulators and the heads of such organizations as Korea Housing Finance Corp. and Korea Asset Management Corp.  South Korea's financial regulators meet with the head of the nation's public financial firms in Seoul on March 6, 2017. (Yonhap)KHFC, KAMCO an

f(x) 전 멤버 가수 겸 연기자 설리와 다이나믹 듀오 랩퍼 최자가 결별설을 인정했다.(사진=연합뉴스)6일 최자, 설리 양측은 "최근 설리와 최자가 결별하고 각자의 길을 가기로 했다"며 "좋은 선후배로 남기로 했다"고 밝혔다.최자 측은 또한 "두 사람은 바쁜 스케줄과 서로 다른 삶의 방식으로 인해 자연스럽게 소원해지게 되었습니다"라고 전했다. 결별 시기에 대해서는 구체적으로 언급된 바는 없다.설리와 최자는 지난 2014년 8월 열애를 인정한 후 공개 연애를 시작했다.두 사람은 14살이라는 나이차를 무색하게 만드는 다정한 모습을 SNS에 과감하게 공개하며 많은 관심을 받았다.코리아헤럴드 지예은 인턴기자 (yeeunjie@heraldcorp.com)

The head of South Korea's central bank said Monday that Seoul should brace for a possible rate hike this month in the United States.Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol called on officials to come up with countermeasures over a rate hike, noting the US Federal Reserve could quicken the pace of monetary policy normalization. Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol (Yonhap)His comments came days after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said an improving job market and rising inflation could prompt the US central

South Korea's major duty-free shops have been operating in the black in recent months despite the number of Chinese tourists declining over the country's plans to deploy an advanced US missile defense system, indtry sources said Monday. Chinese travel agencies in recent weeks spended sales of tour packages to South Korea as part of the Beijing government's retaliation against Seoul's decision in July to have the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system deployed on South Korean soil later this