Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo logged 2 billion won ($1.7 million) in a single day’s sales on Nov. 11 when it opened Asia’s largest flagship store in central Seoul. The sales figure was the highest-ever set by a fashion outlet in Korea, industry sources said Thursday. The previous record was the 460 million won that French luxury brand Chanel earned last year at a new store in southern Seoul. Uniqlo said special deals offered for the first three days of opening likely played a pivotal role in

Public finance in Korea is healthy enough for the government to provide more stimulus without negative consequences for its sovereign debt rating, senior vice president of Moody’s Sovereign Risk Group for Asia said Thursday.Although Korea would remain relatively less vulnerable to the ongoing debt saga in Europe, its “modest” amount of public debt leaves Seoul more room for additional policy accommodation should growth stalls further, Tom Byrne told reporters in Seoul.“Korea has good financial g

Views differ over ordinance against corporal punishmentA third grade student at a middle school in Daegu hit his vice principal in the head and stomach several times on Nov. 1 because he confiscated his cigarette.On the same day, the father of a sixth grade elementary school student in Gwangju threw a chair at his daughter’s homeroom teacher after he was dissatisfied with the way the teacher disciplined his child.The two cases are the latest incidents in which students or parents have attacked t

Park Se-il moves to form a center-right political party ahead of next year’s electionsAmid moves to create alternative political parties ahead of general elections next year, a former right-wing lawmaker seeks to form a new party embracing both conservatives and moderate liberals.Park Se-il, president of the Hansun Foundation, who has spoken for right wing conservatives and often raised issues about North Korean human rights, drew attention last week by saying that he was preparing to create a n

The International Finance Center Seoul opened its doors Thursday after a nine-year wait.Construction of all three towers, which began in 2006 after three years of development, is expected to be finished by the end of 2012.According to Seoul Metropolitan Government, 16 global financial institutions have concluded contracts and begun moving into One IFC.Those attending the opening ceremony included AIG Global Real Estate Managing Director John Whitaker and AIG Korean Real Estate Development Presid

South Korea is not seeking North Korea’s collapse, a top Seoul official in charge of relations with Pyongyang said Thursday, in an apparent move aimed at dispelling North Korea’s distrust toward South Korea.North Korea has repeatedly accused South Korea of plotting to absorb its impoverished northern neighbor as a way to achieve unification of the Korean Peninsula.“Unification through absorption leads to war,” the Disarmament and Peace Institute of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statem