North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is currently suffering from insomnia, as well as diseases caused by obesity, South Korea's intelligence agency said Friday, adding he has gained 40 kilograms over the past four years.The National Intelligence Service said in its report to a meeting of the parliament's intelligence committee that Kim is presumed to weigh 130 kilograms, a jump from 90 kilograms when he took office in 2012. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (Yonhap)Rep. Lee Cheol-woo of the ruling Saen

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- Former U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio said Friday that he "wholeheartedly" rejects claims that the free trade agreement with South Korea brought no benefits to the U.S. Senator Marco Rubio attends a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on global efforts to defeat ISIS on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., on June 28. AFP-YonhapRubio (R-FL) made the remark in a statement on his meeting Thursday with South Korean Ambassador Ahn Ho-young, just days after Re

SAO PAULO (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top automaker, stayed at No. 4 in Brazil's auto market in the first half of this year, according to Brazil's main internet portal.Hyundai sold a cumulative 95,965 units in Brazil during the January-June period, accounting for 10.1 percent of Brazil's auto market, said UOL, the main internet portal in the South American country.U.S. carmaker General Motors Co. took the first spot with a 16.6-percent market share, followed by Fiat Chrysler Aut

DHAKA (AFP) -- Gunmen stormed a crowded restaurant popular with foreigners in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Friday night, taking dozens of people hostage and triggering a deadly firefight with police, witnesses and officials said.The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant in Dhaka's upmarket Gulshan diplomatic quarter in which two police officers were killed.Bangladeshi security forces stand guard as they seal off the streets close to

 The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that Korea’s economic growth in 2016 would be 0.2 percentage point lower than it had previously forecast, as waning global trade continues to drag down the export-driven economy. It now expects Korea’s economy to expand 2.7 percent this year, down from 2.9 percent projected in January and 3.2 percent in October last year. The revised outlook is lower than the Korean government’s prediction of 3.1 percent and Bank of Korea’s forecast of 3 percent, but

The eponymous “Abenomics,” a set of reform plans named after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, frequently turns up in the world’s media. But nobody ever refers to “Geunhyenomics” for South Korean President Park Geun-hye, and it’s not just because it’s hard to pronounce. It’s because nothing has changed from the ancient government policies of the 20th century despite almost every aspect of the economy changing.Consequently, companies are faltering, foreign reserves are down, stock markets are o

Korea will pump an additional 21 trillion won ($17.4 billion) of fiscal stimulus into the economy until March to combat sagging exports and revitalize growth, the government said Wednesday.  The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said that public spending in the January-March period would rise by 6 trillion won to 144 trillion won, with 2 trillion won of the amount to come from the central government. The government’s total budget for 2016 stays unchanged at 386.4 trillion won. Containers are seen

Korea will introduce an omnibus account system for foreign investors and explore ways to improve the local currency’s convertibility in order to help get its stock market upgraded by MSCI global equity indexes, the Financial Services Commission said Wednesday. MSCI indexes are some of the world’s most widely tracked benchmarks and serve as the basis for over 500 exchange-traded funds. Financial Services Commission chief Yim Jong-yong attends a meeting in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap)“Given the re

KB Financial Group chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo (center) and Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Zhin Woong-seob (right, front row) at a visit to a traditional market in Seoul on Tuesday. The visit was part of efforts to revive business in conventional markets ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays.  KB Financial Group

On Nov. 11, 2010, with just 10 minutes for the stock market to close in Seoul, three traders in Hong Kong dumped 2.4 trillion won ($2 billion) worth of Korean shares, triggering a 2.7 percent drop on the country’s main KOSPI index. The massive and coordinated sell-off by Deutsche Bank employees wiped out 28 trillion won in value from Korea’s equity market, but those involved in the transaction made a combined profit of 44.9 billion won through derivative positions they had arranged in advance. M

Korea is moving to encourage local banks to lend more to mid-credit borrowers, a segment typically underserved in Korea’s retail loan market, polarized between cheap, but hard-to-get, bank loans and expensive nonbank loans. According to industry sources and multiple local reports, the Financial Services Commission is currently devising measures to bolster retail banks’ middle-market lending, with its sights set on borrowers with credit scores just below levels that would qualify them for a bank

Following the lifting of international sanctions on Iran, Korean companies are expected to rush to explore business opportunities in the resources-rich country, with constructors and oil refineries at the vanguard.  The Korean government is also moving swiftly to respond, scrapping Sunday a local rule that forced Koreans to seek prior central bank permission for any financial transaction with Iran. Tehran-based Mellat Bank's branch office in Seoul (Yonhap)Korea, in September 2010, joined world p

Another rout on the Chinese stock market sent Korean shares and currency tumbling Thursday, even as they were reeling from the repercussions of a purported hydrogen bomb test by North Korea the previous day. The country’s main stock index KOSPI slipped 1.1 percent to close at 1,904.33 points, as a second market crash in China in a week rattled already shaky investor sentiment. The won-dollar exchange rate crashed through the psychologically important 1,200 won-per-dollar mark. Extending its loss

North Korea’s purported hydrogen bomb test rocked financial markets in South Korea on Wednesday, bringing down local stocks and currency and putting Seoul authorities on emergency footing again just two days after China’s stock market crash triggered a global market rout.The South’s benchmark stock index KOSPI dipped 0.26 percent to close at 1,925.43. In the morning, shortly after the news broke, the gauge slid to as low as 1,911.61, but recovered some of the losses in the afternoon. Foreigners