A 2-ton military vehicle was unloaded from a C-130 Hercules transport plane flying over the southern region and landed at a targeted zone safely in air-drop training on Tuesday, South Korea's Air Force said.The 5th Tactical Airlift Wing staged the exercise in the vicinity of Uiryeong, South Gyeongsang Province, to hone its capability of delivering heavy equipment using cargo parachutes to areas where land transportation is restricted.The drill started with the unit's aerial delivery rigging team

South Korea's major shipbuilders and steelmakers have been in talks over a steel price hike for weeks, but they still face difficulties narrowing their differences, industry sources said Tuesday.Last week, the Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Association urged top steel producer POSCO and No. 2 player Hyundai Steel Co. to cut the prices of thick steel plates used for shipbuilding, adding that local shipyards are struggling with falling prices for their products and increased competition.The associa

YEONGJONGDO -- Gyeonggi Province Gov. Nam Kyung-pil apologized to the public Tuesday after his son was detained on drug charges. "I express my apology as the governor to Gyeonggi residents and the public for another unsavory incident," he told reporters at the Incheon International Airport. He flew home from Paris after cutting his trip short on the news of the incident. "I feel responsible and also miserable at the same time as a father. I do apologize," he said.  Gyeonggi Province Gov. Nam Kyu

The US plans to send F-22 Raptor and F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter jets to the Seoul air show to be held next month, South Korea's defense ministry said Tuesday.The Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition, or Seoul ADEX, will open Oct. 17 for a six-day run at Seoul Air Base, just south of the capital. More than 400 defense firms from 33 countries plan to participate in the biennial event, a combination of flying demonstrations, trade fair and expo, said the ministry. It is expect

Sales of China's Tsingtao beer have risen sharply in South Korea in recent months despite South Korean firms being hit by Beijing's retaliation against Seoul for the deployment of a US missile defense system on its soil, industry sources said Tuesday.Beijing insists the installation of the Terminal Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) will undermine China's security interests, although Seoul says it is to defend against North Korean provocations, not aimed at China. (123RF)The Chinese government has sh

Samsung Electronics Co.'s reputation plunged in 2017 compared with the year before, industry data showed Tuesday, apparently due to the arrest of its de facto head coupled with the Galaxy Note 7 debacle.According to the US-based Reputation Institute, Samsung's ranking in terms of corporate social responsibility plunged 69 notches from 2016 to the 89th spot. The research covers companies' governance structure, social influences and treatment of workers.Samsung posted the sharpest on-year decline

South Korea's smaller firms have lost nearly 86 percent of patent suits against large businesses this year due mainly to their lack of legal expertise and resources to protect their intellectual properties, a lawmaker said Tuesday.Citing data from the Korea Intellectual Property Office, Rep. Kim Jung-hoon of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party said small and medium enterprises lodged 21 patent lawsuits against larger firms in the first eight months of the year, losing 18 cases. Korea Intelle

Prices of agricultural products rose 14.2 percent in August from a month earlier as rains and a heat wave have reduced the output of agricultural products, central bank data showed Tuesday.The monthly figure marked the highest tallied since September 2010 when it stood at 18.8 percent, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.Prices of cabbage -- a key ingredient of the Korean traditional side dish of kimchi -- jumped 55.3 percent in August from a month earlier, the BOK said.&nbs

WASHINGTON -- The United States has military options for North Korea that do not put Seoul at grave risk, Washington's top defense official said Monday.The remark by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis marks a departure from the popular argument that there is no viable military option that would not leave thousands of South Koreans and US service members dead."Yes, there are," Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon when asked whether there were military options that would not seriously endanger Seoul. "

Russia's top envoy to Pyongyang has met with a senior North Korean official in charge of North American affairs to discuss situations on the Korean Peninsula, Moscow's embassy in the North said Tuesday.Russia's Ambassador Alexander Matsegora and Choe Son-hui, director-general of the North American department at North Korea's foreign ministry, exchanged frank views on the issue Monday, according to the Russian embassy's Facebook page.They agreed to continue such mutually beneficial meetings to he

WASHINGTON -- The United States Senate on Monday passed a bill that calls for boosting missile defenses and providing greater security assurances to its ally South Korea amid North Korea's growing threats.The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 passed 89-8 to inject $700 billion into the Pentagon budget, including some $8.5 billion toward strengthening US missile and defense systems. That was $630 million more than what the Donald Trump administration reportedly sought.The de

NEW YORK -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday called for coordinated efforts by the international community to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, stressing the need to implement UN sanctions against the communist state to bring Pyongyang back to the dialogue table.The call came in a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The South Korean leader arrived here earlier in the day on a four-day visit to attend the UN General Assembly."While saying he highly eva

NEW YORK -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived in New York on Monday for the upcoming UN General Assembly and talks with other global leaders that will likely focus on ways to rein in North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile technologies.Moon's four-day visit here follows North Korea's sixth and apparently most powerful nuclear test so far staged Sept. 3.The South Korean president will attend a UN General Assembly meeting, set to start Tuesday, and also deliver a keynote speech to the

WASHINGTON -- US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Monday that a renegotiation is in order for trade agreements that lead to growing trade deficits, a remark indicative of his stance on the US free trade deal with South Korea."We are looking at all of our trade agreements to determine if they are working to our benefit," he told a forum here. "The basic notion in a free trade agreement is that one grants preferential treatment to a trading partner in return for an approx

The nation's top financial regulator on Tuesday urged banks to tighten their screening of home loan applications to help slow the growth of household debt. South Korea tightened lending rules for mortgages last month, but critics say loopholes give some people room for borrowing money in excess of the lending limits to buy homes. Kim Yong-beom, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, told representatives from banks that the growth of household debt could pick up during the second hal