The South Korean economy is beset by unfavorable factors including an unstable global supply of goods, surging prices of materials and “three highs” -- high interest rates, high inflation and high exchange rates -- plaguing the Korean currency. Then yet another issue looms large: an industrial strike. The Cargo Truckers Solidarity, affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, went on an indefinite general strike on Tuesday -- six months after their last strike. Genera

Tensions are mounting on the Korean Peninsula due largely to North Korea’s latest and biggest single missile test. Pyongyang’s new provocation is deeply worrisome, since it heralds an imminent nuclear test as well as the beginning of a firepower demonstrations race. On Monday, South Korea and the United States launched surface-to-surface Army Tactical Missile System missiles into the East Sea. The rare show of firepower came as a rare tit-for-tat response to North Korea’s lat

Consumer prices jumped 5.4 percent in May from a year ago. It was the highest figure in 13 years and nine months after August 2008 when prices rose 5.6 percent. Surging international prices of crude oil and grains among others pushed consumer prices up sharply. The future looks dismal. The Bank of Korea expected prices to keep climbing in a 5 percent range in June and July. The government has suppressed fees of public utilities such as electricity and gas but if they are readjusted to a reali