South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Tuesday despite an overnight Wall Street rally as investors sought to lock in recent gains, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched down 1.8 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,416.41 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Monday (local time), the major US indexes hit record highs as investors were awaiting a Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for later this week. The Dow added 0.28 percent, and the S&P 500 was up 0.15 perc

South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed to seek ways to fundamentally resolve the North Korean nuclear issue at the upcoming UN General Assembly and pledged his country's leading role in dealing with other global issues such as climate change."I believe you may have held great concerns and worries due to North Korea's repeated missile provocations and nuclear test that took place recently," the South Korean leader said while meeting with a group of South Korean residents and expatriates here. S

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed in a phone conversation Monday to exert maximum pressure on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile program, the White House said.The two leaders discussed "North Korea's continued defiance of the international community and its efforts to destabilize Northeast Asia," it said in a summary of the call that followed North Korea's launch of another ballistic missile over Japan on Friday. This image sh

North Korea on Monday blasted the United Nations Security Council's statement that condemned yet another firing of a mid-range missile late last week, warning that beefing up international pressure will only accelerate its move toward the "completion of nuclear force.""The increased moves of US and its vassal forces to impose sanctions and pressure on the DPRK will only increase our pace towards the ultimate completion of the state nuclear force," the North's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in

Entering the Olympic season in a few days, South Korean short track speed skaters said Monday they'll focus more on the process than the end results.The national team skaters will compete at the 2017-2018 International Skating Union World Cup Short Track Speed Skating season starting Sept. 28 in Budapest, Hungary. Three more World Cups will take place in Dordrecht in the Netherlands, Shanghai and Seoul through mid-November, collectively serving as a prelude to the PyeongChang Winter Games next F

With the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics less than five months away, South Korea is accelerating its public diplomacy to promote the South Korea-hosted international sports event where the cultural allure of Korea could be illuminated globally.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recently named Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun to head its special team tasked with supporting hosting of the Winter Olympics and the following Paralympic Winter Games scheduled from February to March in the alpine city.

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Monday mourned the passing of two firefighters killed when a burning building collapsed a day earlier, saying the government will honor their sacrifice with maximum respect and support, including decorating them with state medals."I pray for the souls of the two firefighters," Lee said in a Facebook posting, promising to treat them with maximum respect, including designating them as state heroes, which makes bereaved family members eligible for various state benefit

South Korea's household debt jumped 9 percent in July from a year earlier, a lawmaker said Tuesday, despite the government's tightened lending rules.The country's overall household debt came to 1,439 trillion won ($1.27 trillion) as of end-July, said Chae Yi-bai, a lawmaker of the opposition People's Party, citing the Korea Credit Information Services, the public agency responsible for managing the country's credit information. He said household loans extended by credit card firms and other

South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. said Monday its artificial intelligence speaker was sold out on the first day of the preorder.Kakao, which also operates the country's No. 2 portal, said it sold all of the 3,000 units of the Kakao Mini allocated for preorders in 38 minutes.The company earlier said the Kakao Mini will come with its AI platform, Kakao I, along with voice recognition and software that can understand natural language. (Yonhap)While the official price of the Ka

South Korea's airlines will impose fuel surcharges on international passengers next month to reflect an increase in jet fuel prices, industry sources said Monday. In the past five months through September, local airlines didn't impose fuel surcharges, as the average price of jet fuel remained below $1.50 per gallon. But the jet fuel, measured through Sept. 15 this month and the benchmark for fuel surcharges in October, averaged $1.54 per gallon, according to airline officials. South Korean passe

South Korea will investigate a nuclear reactor on the southwest coast to check its safety following the discovery of its faulty parts and conduct detailed inspections on all atomic energy plants to address safety issues, the government said Monday.  The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it will look into the nation's 24 nuclear reactors in the next four months to check whether there are irregularities in regard to their operation and construction process. The move comes after several r

South Korean stocks rallied more than 1 percent Monday, finishing at their highest level in more than six weeks, as Samsung Electronics, the country's top market cap, surged on the back of an upbeat earnings forecast. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 32.14 points, or 1.35 percent, to close at 2,418.21, after soaring to as high as 2,418.24 at one point. Trade volume was moderate at 231.8 million shares worth 5.1 trillion won ($4.52 b

Days from his senior international debut, South Korean short track speed skater Lim Hyo-jun said Monday he's got butterflies in his stomach.In April, the 21-year-old stunned former Olympic gold medalists and world champions to earn a spot on the national team for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. In tune-ups for the Olympics on home ice, Lim will compete in the International Skating Union World Cup Short Track Speed Skating season.The first leg will open in Budapest, Hungary, on Sept. 28. So

A culture ministry task force looking into the former Park Geun-hye government's blacklisting of artists critical of the government said Monday it will expand its probe into similar cases that allegedly happened under Park's conservative predecessor.Since its launch on July 31, the fact-finding committee has been working to find the truth about allegations that the Park administration had created and managed an extensive list of cultural figures deemed critical of the government and who were to

South Korean President Moon Jae-in left Seoul on Monday to head for New York where he will attend the UN General Assembly and call for international efforts to stop North Korea from making any more nuclear or missile provocations.The South Korean leader will arrive in New York late Monday (New York time) to begin his four-day visit, according to his presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.He will attend the UN General Assembly, set to start Tuesday, and also deliver a keynote speech to the UN gatherin