South Korea's state financial watchdog said Wednesday it is looking into a recent surge in personal loans by some credit card firms amid concerns about massive household debt here.The Financial Supervisory Service said the move is meant to check the exact reason for the credit loan growth and whether the loan procedures were appropriate.Two major card issuers -- Kookmin and Hana -- are the first targets of the inspection, with other firms expected to be affected as well."It's intended to see whe

대한민국 헌정 사상 첫 대통령 탄핵이라는 초유의 사태를 불러온 ‘최순실 게이트’ 사건이 영화화된다. 신재호 감독이 메가폰을 잡고 캐스팅엔 배우 임창정, 이경영과 함께 정려원이 출연을 놓고 긍정 검토 중이라고 전해졌다.이경영은 국내 영화와 드라마에서 몇 년간 맹활약 중인 배우로, 특히 지난 11월 국정농단 사태가 불거지면서 네티즌들이 제시한 ‘최순실 게이트 영화화 가상 캐스팅’에서 여러번 손꼽히기도 했다.사진=연합뉴스영화는 청와대 비선실세를 수사하던 촉망 받는 엘리트 검사가 의문의 교통사고를 당하면서 기억 상실증에 걸려 동네 바보가 되면서 벌어지는 일을 그릴 것으로 전해지며, 액션과 코믹, 가족애를 버무린 블랙코미디가 될 전망이다.(khnews@heraldcorp.com)

South Korea has lifted a special travel warning imposed on Guinea for years as fear of the deadly Ebola virus has eased in the African country, the foreign ministry here said Wednesday.The highest-level travel advisory calling for immediate evacuation was issued for the entire region in the west African country in August 2014 amid worries over the spread of the Ebola virus.The ministry said that it lifted the travel warning as of Tuesday, as "the Ebola epidemic in Guinea came to an end in effect

The number of countries that North Koreans can travel to visa-free has been reduced to 39 this year, a US broadcaster said Wednesday. The comparable figure showed an upward trend in recent years with 36 in 2010, 39 in 2014 and 41 in 2016, but declined to 39 as Malaysia and Singapore recently revoked visa-free benefits for North Koreans this year, Radio Free Asia said, citing Henley & Partners's 2017 Visa Restrictions Index. The British law firm annually issues the index ranking countries accordi

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday launched a new line-up of its high-tech televisions using quantum dot technology, as it seeks to strengthen its market share in the global premium TV market. Quantum dot TVs offer better picture quality and cheaper manufacturing costs than organic light-emitting diode TVs.Samsung unveiled the 55-inch and 65-inch ultra-high-definition quantum dot TVs at the annual Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year. At a global launch event for the premium TVs in Pari

Three of South Korea's four major parties, except the majority party, agreed on Wednesday to hold a referendum on the potential revision of the Constitution in tandem with the presidential polls in May, a lawmaker said.The agreement was reached during a meeting of floor leaders of the Liberty Korea Party, People's Party and Bareun Party at the National Assembly, said Rep. Kim Dong-cheol of the People's Party, who leads a parliamentary committee on constitutional reform.Chung Woo-taik of the Libe

South Korea posted a trade surplus for 61 straight months in February on a sharp upturn in outbound shipments, customs data showed Wednesday.The country's trade surplus came to $7.06 billion last month, up sharply from a surplus of $2.79 billion tallied a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.It enjoyed a $5.82 billion in trade surplus with Southeast Asian countries, followed by China with a surplus of $4.54 billion.But trade with Middle East nations and Japan recor

Former President Park Geun-hye's legal representative said Wednesday she will fully cooperate with the investigation, as prosecutors summoned her over multiple corruption allegations that led to her ouster last week.A prosecution team looking into the influence-peddling scandal centered on Park and her close friend sent a summons to the ex-leader for questioning on Tuesday, as the Constitutional Court's decision to dismiss her on Friday stripped her of immunity from criminal prosecution.Ousted P

Creditors of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. are looking at an option to map out another rescue package worth up to 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) for the cash-strapped shipbuilder, as the company is feared to face a deepening liquidity shortage amid a plunge in new orders, industry sources said Wednesday.In late 2015, the creditors, led by the state-run Korea Development Bank, announced a rescue package worth 4.2 trillion won, a huge chunk of which has already been spent to salvage

Drizzle and strong winds greeted reporters as they stepped onto the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier Tuesday to cover the ongoing joint exercises by South Korea and the United States.Ninety minutes of flight aboard a C-2A Greyhound cargo plane brought them from Osan Air Base, a US installation near Seoul, to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, nearly 500 kilometers away in seas east of the Korean Peninsula. In this photo provided by Joint Press Corps of South Korea's Defense

The State Department on Tuesday urged North Korea to free an American college student detained in the communist nation for more than a year. The University of Virginia student, Otto Warmbier, was arrested in January 2016 while on trip to the North for allegedly stealing a political propaganda sign from a hotel. He has since been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. The State Department (Yonhap)"We believe that he's being held unjustly. He's gone through the criminal process, and he's been detain

The United States should not rush to re-designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism because the move could deteriorate the already-high tensions on the Korean Peninsula to spin out of control, a former senior US diplomat said Tuesday.Calls for adding Pyongyang back to the State Department's list of terrorism sponsoring nations have gained significant traction in the wake of the killing in Malaysia of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. An image of Kim Jon

South Korean actor Lee Joon-gi will hold another concert in Seoul next month to wrap up his four-month-long Asian tour, his management agency said Wednesday.The concert will take place at Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul on April 15, Namoo Actors said. (Namoo Actors)Since December last year, Lee has been on an Asian tour of seven cities in five countries, including South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. He recently appeared on the hit TV series "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo." "The Asia concert tour

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson embarked on his first trip to Asia Tuesday, seeking to come up with better ways to deal with North Korea and defuse tensions with China over the ongoing deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea.Other key objectives of the trip to Japan, South Korea and China include bolstering alliances with Seoul and Tokyo in the face of North Korean threats, especially at a time when the South is gearing up to elect a new leader after former President Pa

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday, as investors took a cue from overnight losses on Wall Street and attempted to lock in recent gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 2.65 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,131.13 in the first 15 minutes of trading.On Tuesday, the KOSPI closed at an almost two-year high on the back of continued foreign buying.Most large caps traded mixed, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics rising 0.05 percent.POSCO, the country's leading steelmaker,