Last month‘s consumer prices surged by 2 percent compared to the same month in the previous year, with livestock products showing the biggest increase at 11.6 percent, data by Statistics Korea showed Thursday.Consumer prices have been hovering around 2 percent since the first month of this year due to a sharp gain in oil prices. The latest upward trend in prices is also largely driven by higher meat and egg prices, with eggs surging 67.9 percent in the aftermath of an outbreak of avian inf

BACK TO WORK -- Flight attendants who have returned to work after taking maternity leave attend the Korean Air training center in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, Thursday. The airline, which has an 18,700-strong workforce that is 42 percent women, allows up to two years of continuous child care leave. (Yonhap)

Speculations have been raised that President Moon Jae-in could possibly exclude a group of South Korean business representatives on his maiden international trip to the US later this month, in the wake of increasing signs that the nation’s new leader is ill at ease with large businesses over his labor-friendly policy and chaebol reform initiatives. Chung Eui-yong, chief of the National Security Office, told reporters that the presidential office is still “reviewing” whether to take businessmen o

SAP’s subsidiary company specializing in management solutions for business trips, expenses and invoices, Concur, has entered the Korean market, the company said Thursday.“Concur is like a mobile secretary on your phone,” said CEO of SAP Korea Hyung Won-joon.“For instance, an employee does not have to file his receipt after using services such as Uber during his business trip as the report will be sent digitally to the company through Concur.” (Concur)He added that Concur has been released at the

Hyundai Steel has reached an agreement with Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, the country’s top two automotive companies, to raise the price of steel plates, which is widely expected to increase the steelmaker’s annual sales, an industry report said Thursday. The price of automotive steel sheets supplied by the country’s No. 2 steelmaker to the two car companies will be hiked 60,000 won ($53.40) per ton, according to local news and analyst reports. (Yonhap)A spokesperson of Hyundai Steel said it was

CHANGWON -- Every 11 seconds, newly assembled 24-inch heat-pump laundry dryers are wrapped in boxes and get ready for shipment at LG Electronics’ production hub in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. “Monthly production units of LG Tromm Dryer is about 40,000 this year, a 10-fold jump from a year earlier,” said a senior manager of the Factory No. 2 of the electronics provider. In preparation for rising demand for laundry dryers in Korea, LG, the leader in the garment care electronics market, do

As political and economic woes continue to unfold regarding the deployment of an anti-missile system here and US President Donald Trump’s pending renegotiation of the Korea-US free trade agreement, the US Congressional Research Service predicted continued uncertainty for the future economic and political bilateral alliance. “Between 2009 and the end of 2016, relations between the two countries arguably reached their most robust state in decades. Political changes in both countries in

Hyundai Heavy Industries won orders for 62 ships worth $3.8 billion during the January to May period of the year, achieving more than half of its annual ship order target of $7.5 billion, said the group Thursday.This is a fivefold increase compared to the same period last year when it won deals for 12 ships worth $1 billion.(Yonhap)HHI netted 20 ships worth $1.3 billion in May and these numbers may jump to 29 ships and $1.9 billion when options are included.According to a report by Clarksons, HH

South Korea’s Transport Ministry on Thursday ordered Mercedes-Benz Korea, Porsche Korea, BMW Korea and Ducati to recall a combined total of 2,014 units across 15 models.The recall ordered for Mercedes-Benz Korea, the local importer and distributor of the German luxury, affects 1,071 cars across 11 models, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. (Yonhap)The ministry said it found malfunctioning airbags installed in a total of 1,069 Mercedes-Benz vehicles across nine model

New Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Thursday moved to promote the communication between the administration and the legislature, thanking political parties who endorsed his appointment on the previous day and expressing hope for an improved relationship with the dissenting opposition.After paying his respects at Seoul National Cemetery in early morning as his first official schedule, Lee made his way to Yeouido to meet with the legislative chief and the leadership of key rival parties.“The presiden

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea said Thursday it will push for a parliamentary hearing on the unannounced introduction of additional THAAD batteries here, while opposition parties accused the presidential office of dereliction of duty and ulterior motives. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system was at the center of new controversy Tuesday when the presidential office confirmed that four launchers, in addition to the two deployed in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, had been brough

Lee Ji-hoon, 11, has fun watching makeup tutorials and looking up various kinds of cosmetics online. “My friends and I go to cosmetics shops sometimes for fun. I enjoy looking around and applying testers of makeup products,” said the fifth grader at a Seoul elementary school. “I feel like an idol star (after applying makeup).” Lee said she has secretly bought three cosmetic products -- a sunblock, lip stain and powder compact -- with what she saved from allowance money.In South Korea, where many

ULSAN -- The municipality of Ulju, southeastern South Korea, is set to form a pact with the Portuguese city of Sintra next week to seek friendship and cooperation in tourism, local officials said Thursday.Ulju chief Shin Jang-yeol and Sintra Mayor Bas?lio Horta will represent each side when the two towns sign the pact on Monday in the Portuguese city, southwest of Lisbon. This undated file photo shows Cape Ganjeol in Ulju on South Korea`s southeast coast, where sunrise can be viewed earliest on

In an effort to explore methods to utilize big data to achieve sustainable development, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and Statistics Korea have organized a forum on innovative data approaches from Wednesday to Friday in Songdo, Incheon.  “In the information age, data is our most valuable currency,” said Kilaparti Ramakrishna, director and head of the ESCAP East and North-East Asia Office, in a press release by ESCAP on Wednesday. &ldq

South Korea’s global competitiveness ranking remained low at 29 among 63 countries in 2017, hit by a political scandal that rocked the nation last year, weak exports and fine dust, a report by an international institute showed Thursday.According to the International Institute for Management Development, a Switzerland-based private business school, Korea’s global competitiveness ranked at No. 29 in 2017, the lowest since 2008 when the economy was 31st. Among 14 countries in the Asia-P