South Korean stocks turned lower after starting higher on Friday, led by losses in insurers and oil refiners, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slipped 2.16 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,881.81 in the first 15 minutes of trading.   Leading nonlife insurer Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance fell 1.6 percent, with SK Innovation, a major oil refiner, dipping 1.4 percent.    But top-listed firms went up. Samsung Electronics climbed 1.2 percent, and Hyundai Motor r

Officials in Kenya investigating the massive airport fire that gutted the arrival hall at Nairobi's main airport said Thursday that first responders looted  electronics, a bank and an ATM during and after the blaze. The officials said first responders stole electronics and money from an ATM. Another official said that police guarding the site overnight attempted to a take a safe from a bank in the burned-out arrivals hall, which also houses several foreign currency exchange shops.   All four off

A senior North Korean foreign ministry official had a rare meeting with Joel Wit, a former State Department official, in Geneva early this week, a diplomatic source here said Thursday.   An Myong-hun, deputy director-general of North Korea's foreign ministry, led the nation's delegation to a "Track II" meeting with a group of American academics headed by Wit, according to the source.   Wit, a visiting scholar at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced Internatio

 Palestinian and Israeli negotiators will resume talks on ending their long-standing conflict on August 14 in Jerusalem, the US State Department said Thursday.   The talks restarted last month in Washington under US mediation, and both sides agreed to try to resolve their differences within nine months.   State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that US mediator Martin Indyk would attend the next round of talks, which will be followed by a meeting in Jericho.   She added that US Sec

People earning more than 100 million won (US$89,847) a year will see their effective tax rate rise faster than other income brackets next year under the government's latest tax code overhaul plan, the finance ministry said Friday.   The ministry unveiled its 2013 tax code overhaul proposal on Thursday in which it plans to phase out most of the income deduction programs and replace them with tax deductions in a bid to provide more benefits to low- and middle-income earners.   The government estim

North Korea's food procurement effort has been inadequate to cover the expected shortfall for this year, a media report based on data provided by an international agriculture agency said Friday.   The quarterly report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations showed Pyongyang has been able to secure 290,600 tons of various grains from abroad from November 2012 through June of this year, the Voice of America (VOA) said.   The Washington-based media outlet said the total is eq

Daum Communications Corp., the operator of South Korea's second-most visited portal, said Friday its second-quarter profit sank 23 percent on declines in its display advertising.Net profit came to 178 billion won (US$160 million) in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 230 billion won a year earlier, Daum said in a regulatory filing.Revenue gained 15.2 percent on-year to 127 billion won in the second quarter, while operating profit dropped 22.5 percent to 243 billion won over the cit

South Korean stocks traded 0.53 percent higher late Thursday morning, led by gains in state-run companies and shipyards, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shot up 9.93 points to 1,888.26 as of 11:20 a.m.   The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. soared nearly 5 percent, with Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's biggest shipyard, jumping more than 3 percent.   In contrast, telecom shares fell. Top player SK Telecom lost 1 percent, and LG Uplus slumped 3.5

South Korea's health authority said Sunday it has confirmed 63 patients have been infected with a super bacterial infection that cannot be easily treated by antibiotics, raising concerns over a possible contagion.   The number of patients infected with OXA-232-type carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae (CPE), also known as a super bacteria, came to 63 at 13 local hospitals as of Thursday, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.   It marked the first time for this

스스로 항생제에 반응하지 않을 뿐 아니라 몸 속에서 다른 균에도 내성을 전달할 수 있는 새로운 형태의 항생제 내성균이 국내 10 여개 병원에서 집단적으로 발견됐다.    현재 이 균에 감염된 환자만 60여명에 이르는 상황으로, 보건 당국이 서둘러 환자 격리와 전파 차단 작업에 들어갔다.    4일 질병관리본부에 따르면 국립보건연구원과 함께 지난 4월 이후 200병상 이상 의료기관에 대해 항생제 내성균 현장 점검을 진행하던 중 B병원 중환자실 환자 31명 가운데 23명에서 '카바페넴내성 장내세균(CRE)'을 확인했다.    CRE는 장 속 세균류 가운데 카바페넴계열 항생제에 내성을 가진 균주를 통틀어 이르는 것이다.    더구나 이번 CRE를 정밀 분석한 결과, 이전에 국내에서 보고된 적이 없는  종류의 '카바페넴계열 항생제 분해 효소 생성 장내세균(CPE)'이었다. CPE는 CRE  중에서도 항생제를 직접 분해할 수 있는 효소를 생성하는 것들로, 다른 균주에까지 내성을 전달하는 능력

South Korean pharmaceutical companies are looking to overseas markets in order to seek new profit engines, industry sources said Sunday.   According to data by the Korea Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, the combined exports of local drug makers rose 46.7 percent on-year to 1.37 trillion won (US$1.2 billion) in 2012, compared with 930 billion won in 2011, surpassing the 1-trillion mark for the first time.   The industry sources attributed the rise in the drug makers' exports to the gover

미국 버락 오바마 행정부는  3일(현지시간) 애플의 구형 스마트폰 제품 등에 대해 수입을 금지한  국제무역위원회(ITC)의 결정에 거부권을 행사했다.    마이클 프로먼 무역대표부(USTR) 대표는 이날 어빙 윌리엄슨 ITC 위원장에게 보낸 서한에서 "무역정책실무협의회(TPSC), 무역정책검토그룹(TPRG), 관련 당국 및 당사자들과의 심도있는 협의를 거친 결과 ITC의 수입금지 결정을 승인하지 않기로  결정했다"고 밝혔다.    프로먼 대표는 그러면서 "이번 결정은 미국 경제의 경쟁 여건에 미칠 영향과 미국 소비자들에게 미칠 영향 등 다양한 정책적 고려에 대한 검토 내용을 기반으로 한 것"이라고 설명했다.    그는 특히 준사법적 독립기구인 ITC의 권고를 거부한 데 대한 부담을 감안한 듯"이번 정책결정은 ITC의 결정이나 분석에 대한 동의나 비판은 아니다"면서 "또 특허 보유권자가 구제방법을 찾을 수 없다는 것을 의미하는 것이 아니며, 법원을 통해 권리를 주장할 수 있다"고 강조