A 500-member jury was formed Monday to deliberate on President Moon Jae-in's proposal to scrap the construction of two atomic power reactors in the southeastern city of Ulsan to lessen the country's dependence on nuclear energy, officials said.The members were selected from a pool of 5,981 people who expressed willingness to take part in the process to determine the fate of the Shingori-5 and Shingori-6 reactors. They were among a total of 20,000 respondents in an initial survey conducted to sel

President Moon Jae-in said Monday it is important to collect sufficient public views before revising the law on juvenile crimes, after increasingly loud calls for tougher punishment in the wake of a series of brutal peer violence cases.Recent weeks have seen a spike in calls for rewriting a set of legal codes that give young criminals impunity or limit their punishment amid public uproar over shocking cases of violence committed by teenagers against their peers.During a meeting with senior secre

Top Army officers from Indo-Asia-Pacific countries will gather in Seoul next week for a biennial meeting on North Korea and other security threats, South Korea's Army said Monday.The four-day Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference will open Monday under the theme "Unity of Effort: Building Civil-Military Partnerships in Land Force Response to Non-Traditional Security Threats." It will bring together army chiefs of staff and senior commanders from 29 nations, the Army said. It will be co-hosted by Sout

South Korean stocks closed higher Monday as institutional buyers scooped up large-cap tech shares, recouping last week's losses sparked by concerns over North Korea's nuclear provocations. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 15.36 points, or 0.66 percent, to close at 2,359.08. Trade volume was low at 238 million shares worth 4.8 trillion won ($4.3 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 416 to 396.Institutions purchased a net 345.

SHENYANG, China -- China has strengthened its smuggling crackdowns in areas bordering North Korea in response to its wayward ally's latest ballistic missile and nuclear tests, sources said Monday. According to the sources, China made customs clearance procedures for trade with the North harder in the wake of the North's Hwasong-14 ballistic missile launches on July 4 and 28, and is intensively cracking down even on small-scale contraband trade between the two countries after Pyongyang carried ou

Renault Samsung Motors Corp. has launched an upgraded SM5 sedan but didn't raise the price in order to boost sales, the company said Monday.The SM5 midsize sedan powered by a 2.0-liter gasoline engine has been a long-running best seller for the South Korean unit of French carmaker Renault S.A. in the past 20 years. The SM5 is priced at 22 million won ($19,500) in the domestic market.  Renault Samsung Motor`s upgraded SM5 sedan (Photo courtesy of Renault Samsung) (Yonhap)Last week, Renault Samsun

Hyundai Motor Co. unveiled an advanced safety feature Monday that will be incorporated in its upcoming luxury G70 model ahead of the sedan's planned launch in South Korea this week.The car, part of the Genesis sub-brand, is a midsize sedan that will go on sale in its home market Friday. It will be exported to Europe this year and the United States next year.The G70 can detect a bicycle in front of it and automatically bring the vehicle to a halt if the driver fails to brake, the carmaker said in

The United Nations Security Council is set to vote on a new resolution on Monday in New York, which puts caps on exports of crude oil and petroleum products to North Korea in response to the country's defiant nuclear test earlier in the month, news reports said.A revised resolution to be put for a vote on Monday afternoon (New York time) does not include an oil embargo, but instead limits the yearly exports of refined petroleum products to 2 million barrels and the exports to crude oil not to ex

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon met with the chairman of Oman's lower house of parliament Monday, and discussed ways to bolster economic and other ties between the two countries, his office said.Khalid Al-Maawali, chairman of the Consultative Assembly of Oman, arrived in South Korea on Sunday for a five-day trip at the invitation of South Korean National Assembly Speaker Chung Se-kyun. It was his first trip to South Korea.Lee welcomed Al-Maawali, saying relations between the two countries have moved

Only half of South Korean office workers are expected to take the 10-consecutive day Chuseok holiday that is scheduled to kick off next month, a survey showed Monday.Earlier, the government designated Oct. 2 as a one-off holiday to bridge the weekend and Chuseok holiday which starts on Oct. 3.  (Yonhap)The survey by JobKorea showed that 52.9 percent of 1,231 office workers surveyed will take days off on Oct. 2 and Oct. 6. The survey showed that 25 percent of the respondents will work both days.T

"Memoir of a Murderer," starring actor Seol Kyung-gu, got off to a promising start over the weekend, data showed Monday.The Showbox crime-thriller, which received mostly positive reviews, attracted a solid audience of 899,986 on its opening weekend, according to real-time box office figures from the Korean Film Council. The movie's accumulated number of views reached 1.191 million.Based on Kim Young-ha's best-selling novel of the same name, the Won Shin-yun-directed film has topped the daily cha

South Korea's parliament failed to approve the controversial Constitutional Court chief nominee in a long-delayed vote Monday, dealing a dispiriting blow to President Moon Jae-in and prolonging the leadership void at the top of the judiciary. Among 293 lawmakers present, 145 voted for Kim Yi-su, with another 145 against him. One abstained and two votes were listed as invalid. Kim's approval required the backing of a majority of lawmakers participating in the vote.It is the first time a court chi

President Moon Jae-in said Monday he aims to realize "income-led" economic growth that spreads its benefits across all sectors.Moon made the remark as he outlined his economic policy during a meeting with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, saying the policy is in line with the IMF's call for a balance between domestic demand and exports, according to spokesman Park Soo-hyun."President Moon Jae-in explained that the South Korean government has made a h

Foreign luxury brands raised the prices of their products early this month, industry sources said Monday, amid the arrival of the fall wedding season that fuels demand.French luxury brand Chanel said it began lifting the prices of it products by up to 17 percent as of Sept. 1.Prices of Classic 2.55 Medium and Mademoiselle Vintage bags have been jacked up to 6.94 million won ($6,133) from 6.77 million won and to 3.86 million won from 3.80 million won each.The price of Chanel Moccasin shoes also i

South Korea was one of the smallest investors in families among member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2013, a report showed Monday.The country allocated 1.13 percent of its gross domestic product to family benefits spending, and therefore ranks 32nd among 35 OECD member states surveyed, according to the OECD report.The family benefits cited by the report consist of public money allocated to enhance family units, including financial support that is exclusiv