Ministries are in talks on putting new sanctions on Iran for its nuclear development program, likely to include a ban on petrochemicals trade. The ministries of foreign affairs, finance, and commerce, and the Financial Supervisory Commission are reviewing the level of additional sanctions on Tehran, an official said Friday. South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are expected to discuss the sanctions when they meet in Busan on Wednesday. “Several g

The government on Friday announced a 70 percent cut in the size of the Yellow Sea Free Economic Zone as it unveils measures to rejuvenate the region’s stagnant project to court foreign investment and boost local economy.Designated in 2008, the Yellow Sea FEZ is one of the country’s six tariff-free industrial areas but has been regarded as the most infeasible. Its five districts cover 55 square kilometers in Gyeonggi Province and South Chungcheong Province.Under the plan, the government said it h

South Korean stocks closed 1.04 percent lower on Friday as persistent concerns over the eurozone debt crisis and fears over credit downgrades spooked investors, analysts said. The local currency dropped against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index slumped 18.66 points to 1,776,4. Trading volume was moderate at 301.2 million shares worth 4.16 trillion won ($3.58 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 592 to 238.“The lackluster results of a summit between Germany,

South Korea will expand preferential tariff benefits for poorly developed countries as part of its international commitment to helping developing economies and promote global balanced growth, the Finance Ministry said Friday.The government will add 253 products from 48 poorly developed countries to the list of goods exempted from import duties starting next year, according to the ministry. It now offers such tax benefits to a total of 4,549 products.The move will raise the tax-free ratio for pro

South Korea has already spent about 27 percent of its budget assigned to help farmers whose business might suffer due to the influx of cheaper produce from the U.S. under the recently approved free trade agreement (FTA) between the two nations, the Finance Ministry said Friday.The ruling Grand National Party here rammed the long-pending FTA through parliament on Tuesday against fierce objection by opposition lawmakers, who claim that it favors the U.S. The accord was signed in 2007 and was modif

Samsung Electronics Co. sold more than 300,000 units of smartphones running on long-term evolution networks, the high-speed wireless data service, in about one month of their debut, according to industry data released Friday. Since sales began on Oct. 27, Samsung’s Galaxy S2 LTE smartphone accounted for around half of South Korea’s burgeoning LTE phone market that is estimated at 600,000 units, according to data from South Korea’s three mobile operators. The data was gathered up until Nov. 22.Tw

Myeong-dong and Mount Nam have been chosen as Seoul’s biggest tourist attractions, according to a survey released Friday.Through the survey, Seoul Metropolitan Government found that Mount Nam’s tradition of hanging a lock with a significant other on the lookout platform fence was the most popular activity for foreigners.Of the 1,849 tourists surveyed in the study, 16 percent voted Mount Nam as Seoul’s most attractive location for its romantic ambience.Another 13.4 percent of the foreigners found

A South Korean official and four civilians left for North Korea on Friday on a rare mission to ensure that recent aid from Seoul had reached its intended beneficiaries, an official said.The trip comes a day after North Korea threatened to turn South Korea‘s presidential office into “a sea of fire” in anger over Seoul’s massive military maneuvers near the tense sea border.The show of force near Yeonpyeong Island was timed to mark the first anniversary of the North‘s shelling of the South Korean b

Public prosecutors on Friday moved to begin an investigation into Rep. Kim Sun-dong, who set off tear gas inside the parliamentary chamber, following a complaint filed by civic groups. “The probe will soon begin, centering on allegations stated in the complaint,” an official at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said. Rightist civic groups, including Right Korea, filed a complaint against Rep. Kim, accusing the lawmaker of the far-left Democratic Labor Party of committing several crimes, including

Standard and Poor’s said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s administration hasn’t made progress in tackling the public debt burden, an indication it may be preparing to lower the nation’s sovereign grade. “Japan’s finances are getting worse and worse every day, every second,” Takahira Ogawa, Singapore-based director of sovereign ratings at S&P, said in an interview Thursday. Asked if this means he’s closer to cutting Japan, he said it “may be right in saying that we’re closer to a downgrad