South Korea's state-run atomic energy institute said Monday it has signed contracts with several local firms for the development of the technology to dismantle the country's first decommissioned nuclear reactor.The Moon Jae-in government announced the shutdown of the Kori-1 nuclear power plant in the southeastern port city of Busan in June amid concerns over possible power shortages and increases in electricity bills.The chief executive, who took office in May, has pledged to close several aged

South Korea's top security officials are beginning to lean towards strengthening military measures rather than dialogue with North Korea in response to the wayward regime's latest nuclear test, Seoul's defense minister said Monday.His remarks came amid growing calls for President Moon Jae-in to make a course correction of his rapprochement policy that seeks to address the decadeslong nuclear standoff through a delicate mixture of sanctions and dialogue."During a National Security Council meeting

Prosecutors said Monday they launched an investigation into allegations that the head of the conservative opposition Bareun Party received kickbacks from a businesswoman in return for favors. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it will look into the suspicions raised against Rep. Lee Hye-hoon by a 65-year-old surnamed Oak, who claims to have given her cash and gifts worth about 60 million won ($53,000) from October 2015 to March this year.  Rep. Lee Hye-hoon, the leader of the mi

South Korean builders' business confidence touched a 19-month low in August due mainly to government measures to cool the housing market, a poll showed Monday.The construction business survey index stood at 74.2 last month, down 11.2 points from the previous month and at its lowest level since January 2016, according to the survey by the Construction and Economy Research Institute of Korea.A reading hovering below 100 indicates that builders pessimistic about the current state of the constructio

The United States has confirmed in an official letter that there is no gap between Washington and Seoul on how to denuclearize North Korea, Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Monday, partly dismissing concerns of what many view as an imminent US attack on the communist North."We received a reply from the US National Security Council last night, and it noted there was no difference of view between South Korea and the United States," a ranking Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters, whi

Corporate mergers and acquisitions by South Korean firms more than tripled in the first half of this year as a global economic recovery encouraged companies to expand their business spheres, the antitrust watchdog said Monday.The value of reported M&As reached 41.5 trillion won ($36.6 billion) in the January-June period, up sharply from 13 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the Fair Trade Commission. The number of merger cases also edged up to 215 from 209 over the cited period. F

Purchases made through mobile devices in South Korea hit a fresh record high in July as smartphones are widening their presence in the world's most wired country, government data showed Monday.Mobile transactions through smartphones and tablets reached a record 4.01 trillion won ($3.6 billion) in July, up 35.1 percent from a year earlier, according to data from Statistics Korea.The total amount of mobile transactions accounted for an all-time high of 62 percent of all online purchases made in Ju

INCHEON -- An annual event to reenact "Operation Chromite," a US-led operation during the Korean War, has been called off in the aftermath of the latest North Korean missile and nuclear tests, the event's host city said Monday. Since 2008, the port city of Incheon, west of Seoul, and the Navy have jointly reproduced the event by mobilizing military troops and equipment to mark the historic amphibious operation led by US Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Conducted on Sept. 15, 1950, what is also called the

T'way Air Co., one of South Korea's six budget carriers, said Monday it has opened the second route from Jeju Island to Japan, a move to strengthen services on its non-Chinese routes. Using the 189-seat B737-800 passenger jet, T'way Air began services on the Jeju Island-Tokyo route Saturday, the low-cost carrier said in a statement. In late June, the company kicked off flights between the resort island and Osaka. This photo provided by T`way Air shows one of its B737-800 jets. (Yonhap)T'way Air

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed Monday to bring the toughest measures possible against North Korea on "an entirely different level" in response to its latest nuclear test deemed the most powerful so far, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said. Moon had a 20-minute telephone conversation with Abe earlier in the day to discuss ways to respond to Pyongyang's latest nuclear test on Sunday, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun told reporters. It i

South Korea's parliament on Monday passed a resolution strongly condemning North Korea for its latest nuclear test and urging the government to craft "strong, effective measures" in response.The National Assembly endorsed the resolution with 163 votes and seven abstentions a day after Pyongyang conducted a test of what it claims is a hydrogen bomb mountable on an intercontinental ballistic missile."The Republic of Korea's National Assembly will never tolerate any attempt to escalate tensions on

South Korea's top financial regulator said Monday it will cut the interest on overdue debt and the premiums of indemnity medical insurance in line with the government's policy of easing the financial burdens for low-income earners. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, also said the FSC will actively encourage insurance firms to return unclaimed insurance benefits worth 7.6 trillion won ($6.71 billion) to customers. Interest on overdue debt will be lowered by the end of th

South Korean stocks traded lower late Monday morning apparently as investors sought after safer assets on Pyongyang's sixth nuclear test staged over the weekend.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 16.47 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,341.22 as of 11:20 a.m.On Sunday, Pyongyang announced it had successfully conducted a test of a hydrogen bomb that can be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile. Market behemoth Samsung Electronics shed 0.56 percent, and top chipmaker S

South Korea's parliament failed Monday to set up a vote on the disputed Constitutional Court Chief nominee amid an opposition party's legislative boycott over an arrest warrant against the head of a local broadcaster.Under a cross-party understanding last week, the National Assembly was set to vote on Kim Yi-su on the day. But the main opposition Liberty Korea Party opposed the vote with the splinter Bareun Party following suit. The People's Party, in turn, demanded the vote be postponed.On Satu

The Ministry of Environment said Monday it has given conditional consent to the deployment of a US missile defense system, removing the last administrative hurdle for its full operation fiercely opposed by local residents and activists.The ministry said it found the adverse environmental impact from deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense on the designated region of Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, to be limited, after reviewing the results of the Ministry of National Defense's surv