The ruling Grand National Party’s emergency leadership council braced for next year’s electoral battles by organizing its detailed tasks and appointing new key officials.In its meeting on Friday, the council appointed Rep. Kwon Young-se as its new secretary-general and allocated party lawmakers and non-party experts to four sectors ― political reform, policy design, public communication and recruiting.The third-term lawmaker is largely considered a non-faction figure and his selection is seen as

The New Year sees a wide range of changes in social welfare, immigration and other branches of government. Most of the changes to take effect were drawn up with priority on welfare expansion and environmental protection.Immigration1. Fingerprinting for foreigners: All foreigners entering Korea will be obliged to leave their fingerprints and have their photo taken at the immigration desk. Those exempt include minors under 17 years old, diplomats and those waivered by the central administration. F

Starting with Japan, firm moves to expand service in U.S., MideastKakao Talk, the country’s top mobile messenger, will expand its service in overseas markets, hoping to become a real-time global service platform, its chief executive said.With the number of Kakao Talk users surpassing the 30 million mark in November, the company is eyeing other markets like Japan, the U.S. and the Middle East with plans to introduce a service called “Plus Friend” in 50 different nations, CEO Lee Sir-goo said in a

Gold fell, capping the longest slump since October 2009, and silver tumbled to a three-month low as Europe’s deepening debt crisis drove commodities and stocks lower. The euro dropped to an 11-month low against the dollar as lending to financial institutions sent the European Central Bank’s balance sheet to a record high. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials and the MSCI World Index of equities were poised for the biggest declines in two weeks. Platinum approached the lowest sinc

Tourism industry pushes U.S. to allow more foreign visitors, move could help economyLAS VEGAS (AP) ― Agustina Ocampo is the kind of foreign traveler businesses salivate over.The 22-year-old Argentine recently dropped more than $5,000 on food, hotels and clothes in Las Vegas during a trip that also took her to Seattle’s Space Needle, Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo. But she doubts she will return soon.“It is a little bit of a headache,” said Ocampo, a student who waited months to find out whethe

Japan agreed to make $15 billion available to India in a currency swap arrangement as Europe’s deepening debt crisis threatens to curtail developing Asia’s access to dollar funding. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda renewed a bilateral swap agreement with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi Wednesday. The two nations had signed a $3 billion accord in June 2008 that has since expired. The agreement may help India battle this year’s more- than 16 percent decline in the rupee as

Cha Suk, chief executive of LG Household and Heath Care Ltd., was chosen as Korea’s best executive in an annual survey by Asiamoney, a monthly financial magazine published in Hong Kong. The sister magazine of U.K.’s Euromoney picked Cha as Korea’s top CEO three years in a row since 2009.Mentioning how the company “smartly” executed a share purchase agreement in October to acquire a cosmetics business, Asiamoney said that analysts agree that synergies exist for LG Household and Health Care to tak