South Korea said Thursday it has decided not to accept a request by Japan's top envoy to South Korea to meet with the country's acting leader and two ministers for now.Amb. Yasumasa Nagamine has asked for the meeting with Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn, Defense Minister Han Min-koo and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo amid a diplomatic row over Japan's sexual slavery.South Korea's unification and defense ministries said that they have decided not to take Nagamine's request at the current stage

A Seoul court on Thursday held the first hearing on two former aides of ousted President Park Geun-hye accused of blacklisting cultural figures deemed critical of her administration.Ex-chief of staff Kim Ki-choon and former Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun were indicted in February for masterminding the creation and management of the list, which was allegedly used to exclude certain artists from state support. Former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon (left) and former Culture Minister Cho Yo

Gong Minzy, a former member of the now-disbanded girl group 2NE1, will put out her solo debut album this month, her agency said Thursday. (Yonhap)Gong will upload the EP album "Minzy Work 01 Uno" on local music streaming sites at 12 p.m. on April 17, Music Works said.This will be her first album since she bolted from 2NE1 in April last year, a month before her contract with YG Entertainment expired. 2NE1 ultimately broke up in November of that year following a successful eight-year run."Uno," th

A local retailer of China-based Xiaomi's products said Thursday it will start sales of the tech giant's MIX smartphone in South Korea, which is expected to bring major changes to the market largely dominated by homegrown Samsung and LG.G-Mobi Korea, an official local retailer of Xiaomi products, said it has kicked off preorders of the Mi MIX smartphone, which will be shipped to consumers starting April 28.A local advertisement of Xiaomi's Mi MIX smartphone (Yonhap)The retailer will sell the Mi M

Demand for fresh loans from major local lenders in South Korea is likely to rise in the second quarter, central bank data showed Thursday.The overall index measuring demand for bank loans came to 8 for the April-June quarter, compared with 12 a quarter earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.(Yonhap)A reading above zero means bank lending will continue to increase, while a reading below the benchmark means demand will likely shrink.The quarterly reading is based on a survey of 15 banks an

The South Korean economy has been seeing a modest recovery in recent months on the back of improvement in investment and exports, a state-run think tank said Thursday."The Korean economy continued to grow at a moderate pace on improving investment and exports," the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in its monthly evaluation of the country's economic conditions. "Both construction and facilities investment continued to grow fast, while exports trended up on the recovery of the global economy

South Korea's corporate watchdog said Thursday that it has slapped a nearly 1.5 billion won ($1.3 million) in fine on LS Corp. and LS Cable & System, the country's top cable maker, for giving illegal benefits to one of its units held by its owner family.The companies lent production facilities to Pountek, a company that manufactures cable covers, at lower prices between 2004 and 2011, so that the latter received an undue profit of 1.51 billion won, according to the Fair Trade Commission.(Yonhap)

Memebox, an online seller of Korean cosmetics, has raised the most investment among South Korean startups last year, industry data showed Wednesday. According to the data by startup platform Platum, the company attracted a total of 143 billion won ($127 million) from investors including major tech firms and venture capitals last year. (Yonhap)The company not only sells relatively cheap Korean beauty products ranging from cosmetics to facial masks but also recently launched in-house brands. Woowa

Semiconductor and equipment manufacturers are likely to make some 60 percent more in operational profit in the first quarter than the same period last year with demand outpacing supply, an industry analysis showed Thursday.According to FnGuide, a provider of financial information services, outlook on eight chip and related equipment producers from security companies indicated their first-quarter operational profit to reach some 11.71 trillion won ($10.38 billion), up 59.72 percent from 7.33 tril

Limiting tax exemptions on earned income would be effective in increasing the country's revenue, but when it comes to raising tax rates, applying the hike on businesses would have better results than applying it on people's earnings, a report said Thursday.Authored by professors Park Ki-baeg and Jun Byung-wook of the University of Seoul, the report measured the effects of different options in taxation revisions aimed at narrowing income inequality.(Yonhap)The report was requested by the National

South Korea is committed to improving accessibility for foreign investors, by encouraging its financial markets to meet global standards, the head of the nation's financial regulator said Thursday. Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remarks during a meeting to review the goal of establishing Korea as a regional financial hub.(Yonhap)So far, the government has put its priority on attracting branch offices of global financial firms to South Korea. But, Yim said

Seoul's government said Thursday it will financially reward motorists for reducing their driving mileage, staring this month, as part of efforts to fight fine dust pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the city's motorists will be paid a maximum of 70,000 won ($62) if they reduce their driving mileage by more than 3,000 km on an annual basis.(Yonhap)The reward will be given in the form of points, which can be used to pay local taxes or buy mobile

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 8.4 percent in March from a year earlier as the government's sales ban on Audi and Volkswagen cars continues following the German carmaker's emissions scandal, industry data showed Thursday. The number of newly registered foreign cars fell to 22,080 in March from 24,094 a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. In July, Seoul announced it will ban the sale of almost all Audi and Volkswag

South Korean stocks extended losses late Thursday morning as foreign investors and institutions offloaded local stocks.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 12.57 points, or 0.58 percent, to 2,148.28 as of 11:15 a.m.The decline followed overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.20 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.58 percent.Most large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.SK Telecom, the No. 1 mobile carrier in the cou

The South Korean government spent nearly 90 trillion won ($79.8 billion) of its state budget in the first three months of the year as part of its efforts to frontload spending to prop up the economy, the finance ministry said Thursday.Budget spending by the government and public institutions for the January-March period stood at 89.3 trillion won, up 1.8 trillion won from the earlier target of 87.4 trillion won, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. (Yonhap)It accounted for 31.7 per