South Korean oil refiners, led by SK Innovation Co., traded higher Wednesday, after some small corrections in the past few days, on hopes that margin spreads on key products still run high and oil prices will remain high, industry sources said.SK Innovation, the No. 1 oil refiner, traded at 195,500 won ($177) on the Seoul bourse as of 1:40 p.m., up 2.09 percent, after touching a record high of 197,500 won at one point. No. 3 player S-Oil Corp. was quoted at 123,000 won, up 0.15 percent."The

K-pop band BTS' music video for "Fire" surpassed 200 million views on YouTube, its agency said Wednesday.Released on May 1, 2016, the video reached the milestone at around 1 a.m., becoming its fifth video to hit the mark according to Big Hit Entertainment. (Big Hit Entertainment)"Fire" is the title track of its "Epilogue: Young Forever" album. It was No. 3 on YouTube's 2016 list for the world's most-viewed K-pop music videos.BTS will release a new album titled "Love Yourself: Her" next Monday. T

Foreign investors offloaded South Korean stocks and bonds worth $3.25 billion in August due to security jitters and profit-taking, the central bank said Wednesday.Foreign investors sold local stocks and bonds worth $1.33 billion and $1.91 billion, respectively, the Bank of Korea said.It marked the first sell-off by foreign investors since November 2016, when foreign investors offloaded South Korean stocks and bonds worth $490 million.Tensions spiked on the Korean Peninsula in August as North Kor

South Korea's Air Force said Wednesday it has successfully conducted its first live-fire exercise for Taurus, a long-range air-to-surface missile introduced from Germany for precision bombing of key facilities in North Korea.In the exercise, which took place in the air over Taean, South Chungcheong Province, on Tuesday, the Air Force's F-15K fighter jet fired a Taurus missile, which flew some 400 kilometers and precisely hit an intended target in the coastal waters off Gunsan, North Jeolla Provi

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party's reform panel recommended Wednesday that the party ask corruption-tainted former President Park Geun-hye and two of her close allies to leave it as part of its personnel revamp drive aimed at regaining public support.The panel made the decision after weeks of intense debate that laid bare a deep fissure between the reformists and those still sympathetic to Park who is currently on trial for a massive corruption scandal that led to her ouster in March.The

South Korea plans to return to North Korea next week a body presumed to be that of a North Korean man who drifted over to the South Korean side of the inter-Korean maritime border last month, the Ministry of Unification said Wednesday.The body was found in the waters near South Korea's front-line island of Yeonpyeong in the Yellow Sea by the Coast Guard on Aug. 30, Baik Tae-hyun, ministry spokesman, said.  (Yonhap)Upon the decision to send it home, South Korea tried to inform the North of the pl

South Korean shares traded slightly higher late Wednesday morning as institutional buyers scooped up big cap stocks amid a massive selling spree by foreigners.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched up 1.73 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,367.2 as of 11:20 a.m.The index initially opened lower on losses in market heavyweights despite overnight Wall Street gains. However, the local index pared earlier losses as most market heavyweights turned higher. Top cap Samsung Electronics a

South Korean officials will hold a meeting Wednesday to discuss plans to implement new UN sanctions on North Korea, a government source said.The meeting will involve senior officials from the foreign, unification, justice and finance ministries and will be presided over by Choi Jong-moon, deputy foreign minister for multilateral and global affairs, according to the official. (Yonhap)On Monday (local time), the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2375 that includes a freeze on its

Lotte Duty Free, South Korea's top duty-free operator, said Wednesday it has asked the operator of Incheon International Airport to adjust its rental fees, as the local duty-free industry is struggling to cope with fallout from a diplomatic row between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of a U.S. missile system here. Last week, Lotte said it was reviewing the option of withdrawing from the country's main gateway, located west of Seoul, if the airport operator refuses to cut the rent to help i

South Korea's semiconductor exports are expected to exceed $90 billion this year due to increased overseas chip demand and higher prices, an international traders organization said Wednesday.In the January-August period, outbound shipments of computer chips surged 52 percent on-year to $59.5 billion, the Korea International Trade Association said in a statement. "If the country reports an average of $8 billion a month in semiconductor exports for the rest of the year, the overall value (of

South Korean exports of information and communication technology products increased for the seventh month to hit an all-time high in August on brisk overseas sales of semiconductors and displays, government data showed Wednesday.A total of $17.4 billion worth of ICT products were shipped overseas, up 23.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT.The monthly overseas shipments of ICT products is a new high surpassing the previous $16.53 billio

LG Electronics Co. said Wednesday that it plans to start accepting preorders for its new flagship smartphone, the V30, ahead of the official release slated for later this month.Customers who make preorders through the country's mobile phone operators from Thursday to next Wednesday will get the new smartphone starting Sept. 21, the consumer electronics giant said.The company finalized the price tag of the base 64 gigabyte V30 at 949,000 won ($841) and the 128 gigabyte version at 998,000 won.Late

South Korea's single household income fell for the third consecutive quarter in the April-June period this year due to a drop in temporary jobs for the elderly and young people amid a sluggish pace of economic recovery, government data showed Wednesday.The average monthly income of a single household shrank 2 percent to 1,642,540 won ($1,455) in the second quarter from 1,676,003 won a year earlier, according to the figures provided by Statistics Korea.The number represents about 45 percent of th

South Korea's top financial regulator said Wednesday it will swiftly map out plans to loosen restrictions on financial firms, allowing them to easily make inroads into new businesses.Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remarks at a job fair for the financial industry. The official said the FSC will "fully review financial firms' business restrictions by sector and swiftly draw up measures for improvement."  By revamping a system of granting licens

South Korea, the United States and Japan are in talks about holding a trilateral summit in New York later this month when their leaders gather for the UN General Assembly, a presidential official said Wednesday.Earlier in the day, a Japanese newspaper reported that fine-tuning is under way to set up a meeting among President Moon Jae-in, US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the UN session.Asked to confirm the report, an official at Seoul's presiden