A fourth baseball club admitted to giving money to an umpire in a rapidly-snowballing scandal on Thursday.The Nexen Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization issued an apology, saying one of its former executives wired 3 million won ($2,670) to the then umpire surnamed Choi on Nov. 22, 2013, after Choi had contacted him for cash."We'll accept any punishment that comes our way," the Seoul-based club said. "We'll cooperate with any future investigation by prosecutors."Financial transactions of any

A group of conservative opposition lawmakers on Thursday proposed a parliamentary resolution calling for South Korea's nuclear armament, saying it must not condone North Korea's nuclear "monopoly."The 26 lawmakers of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party stressed that in light of self-defense, Seoul has to seek its own nuclear arms should Pyongyang conduct another nuclear test. Their call is in line with the conservative party's professed pursuit of a "balance of nuclear power" with the North.

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday called for swift and multidimensional efforts to boost the country's slowing birthrate, which he warned could do "unrepairable" damage to the nation if left untouched.Meeting with officials from the labor, welfare and gender equality ministries for a policy discussion session, the president insisted the country must work to remove fundamental causes of the problem, including the high cost of child rearing."We spent 100 trillion won ($88.7 billion) over the past

Four F-35B stealth jets and two B-1B strategic bombers from the United States trained with South Korea's F-15K fighter jets over the Korean Peninsula on Thursday in response to North Korea's continued ballistic missile launches and nuclear weapons development, the South's Air Force announced.The unprecedented combined maneuver involved the F-35Bs from Japan and the long-range bombers based in Guam as well as a squadron of four F-15Ks, it said.They staged air-to-ground precision-strike drills aga

South Korean stocks finished lower Thursday, as foreign investors extended their selling binge into the fifth day. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 9.1 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 2,363.19.Trade volume was a moderate 256 million shares worth 5.12 trillion won ($4.54 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 442 to 329.The local stock market opened higher as market sentiment was boosted by overnight gains on Wall Street bu

The head of South Korea's central bank said Thursday that the North Korean risk factor has raised uncertainties for Asia's fourth-largest economy.Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been escalating over North Korea's long-range missile and nuclear programs.On Tuesday, North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan in what North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says was a prelude to containing the US Pacific territory of Guam.The missile launch drew strong UN condemnati

South Korean automaker Kia Motors Corp. will unveil its hatchback-style concept car at an international auto show next month, the company said Thursday.The "KED-12" will be presented at the 2017 Frankfurt Auto Show and its teaser image was unveiled to the public for the first time earlier in the day. (Yonhap)Kia Motors said its European Design Center, a creative research lab based in Europe, is responsible for the design that blends dynamic performance with sleek design.This year's International

South Korea remains unchanged in its commitment to a nuclear arms-free Korean Peninsula, the foreign ministry said Thursday, apparently dismissing speculation that Seoul might be interested in the redeployment of US tactical nuclear weapons on its soil in the face of a growing threat from North Korea. "Our basic stance is to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula through a complete nuclear disarmament in the North," Cho June-hyuck, foreign ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing. Foreign Mi

Hyundai Robotics Co. was officially launched on Thursday as the holding company of the Hyundai Heavy Industries Group with the aim to diversify its products and exports markets.The company started operations at its new headquarters in Daegu, 302 kilometers southeast of Seoul, where it completed a smart factory in April that converges information, communication and technology with production. Hyundai Robotics, established in 1984 as a team under Hyundai Heavy Industries, is South Korea's top manu

South Korea's top Air Force commander warned Thursday of the possibility of unexpected, sudden attacks by North Korea, with all eyes riveted on its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.During a visit to a local unit of the Air Defense Artillery Command, Gen. Lee Wang-keun, the Air Force chief of staff, called for a watertight aerospace surveillance and anti-ballistic missile posture. Gen. Lee Wang-keun (L), South Korea`s Air Force chief of staff, inspects the operation of an early warning syst

South Korea's financial regulator said Thursday it will consider adjusting banks' loan-to-deposit ratio requirement to help slow the growth of household lending. The idea was one of the topics being discussed at a meeting of government officials earlier in the day to revamp regulations on capital markets. The meeting was led by Kim Yong-beom, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission.In a statement, the FSC said it "will review the feasibility of changing the weight of the househol

South Korean tennis player Chung Hyeon has been eliminated in the second round at the US Open.　Chung, world No. 47, fell to the 15th-ranked American John Isner in straight sets at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Wednesday (local time). Isner dominated Chung in winning the match 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 45 minutes.　 In this EPA photo, Chung Hyeon of South Korea hits a return to John Isner of the United States during their second round men`s singles match at the US Open

Los Angeles Dodgers' starter Ryu Hyun-jin suffered his first loss in the second half after getting torched by the Arizona Diamondbacks.The South Korean left-hander allowed a season-high six earned runs on eight hits, including three home runs, in four innings against the D-Backs at Chase Field in Phoenix on Wednesday (local time).With the Dodgers down 6-0 in the top fifth, Ryu was lifted for pinch hitter Adrian Gonzalez. The Dodgers lost 6-4 as their late rally came up short.Ryu dropped to 5-7 a

South Korea aims to create 200,000 new jobs in the health care sector over the next five years in an effort to improve medical services, the health ministry said Thursday.The government forecast that some 100,000 new jobs will be created naturally over the next five years, with another 100,000 positions being made with the government's policy intervention. It said such growth is possible as health care is the country's next growth engine after information technology. The plan was announced durin