South Korean President Moon Jae-in has tapped new chiefs of missions to the United States, Japan and China, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday, the world's most powerful countries that are also considered Seoul's key partners in efforts to rein in North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile technologies.The president named Cho Yoon-je the country's new ambassador to Washington, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun.Cho, 64, served as a key adviser on Moon's election

K-pop band BTS’ upcoming new album became the most sought-after record among music preorders on Amazon, according to the online retailer’s website Wednesday. The EP “Love Yourself Seung ‘Her’” stood at No. 1 in Amazon’s CDs & Vinyl category, according to Amazon’s website and Big Hit Entertainment, which is BTS’ management agency. A screen grab of Amazon’s CDs & Vinyl category (Big Hit Entertainment)Amazon started accepting preorders for the album Tuesday at 7 a.m., a first for the US retail gian

The government said Wednesday that it plans to provide more free wireless Internet access zones across the country in an effort to become a "Wifi mecca." According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, a panel comprised of some 25 officials from the government, academia and telecom industry will discuss ways to build more free WiFi zones, giving citizens better access to the Internet for their portable devices. (Yonhap)The ministry said it plans to add such zones in various public locations, inclu

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a major shipyard in South Korea, has clinched a deal to build an offshore facility for an Indian firm, industry sources said Wednesday.According to the sources, Hyundai Heavy won the deal from Triumph Offshore Private, a unit of India's Swan Energy, to build the floating storage and regasification unit with a capacity of 180,000 cubic meters. (Yonhap)The deal marks the shipbuilder's second deal of the year to build a FSRU. The value of the deal was not disclosed, bu

Renault Samsung Motors Corp.'s union has tentatively agreed on this year's wage terms, after staging no strikes for the third year in a row, the company said Wednesday. In wage negotiations that began in May, the Renault Samsung Motors offered to raise basic salaries by 62,400 won ($56) a month and provide 150 percent of basic pay plus cash of 6 million won in bonuses per worker.  (Yonhap)On Friday, some 2,500 union members will vote to decide on whether to accept the terms or not. If more than

A recent expansion of market economy in North Korea has helped the reclusive country build shopping malls, parks and sports centers in big cities where the country's rich spend their spare time, a report said Wednesday.Since 2011 when Kim Jong-un took the helm of North Korea after his father's death, there has been a boom in the construction of parks, sports and cultural centers and shopping malls, as well as apartments and roads, in the capital city of Pyongyang, according to the monthly report

The number of Internet and smartphone banking service users in South Korea rose 1.4 percent in the second quarter from three months earlier, central bank data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign that a growing number of people do their banking on their computers or smartphones without visiting bank branches.In the three months that ended June 30, the number of Internet and smartphone banking service users came to 127.05 million, compared with 125.32 million in the first quarter, according to th

The growth of retail sales in South Korea slowed down last month due to weak performance by online malls amid fierce market competition, government data showed Wednesday. The combined revenue of 26 offline and online retailers reached 10.22 trillion won ($9 billion) in July, up 3.6 percent from 9.87 trillion won tallied the previous year, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The on-year gain in July marks a deceleration from 7.2 percent, 6.3 percent and 7.2 perce

The amount of foreign securities held by major South Korean institutions rose 41.4 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier due to an increase in South Korean investment in foreign bonds and stocks, central bank data showed Wednesday.As of the end of June, the value of foreign securities held by South Korea's institutional investors came to $210.1 billion, compared with $148.52 billion from the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea.Quarter-on-quarter, th

South Korea's fertility rate fell to a seven-year low in 2016 despite all efforts to tackle fewer babies being born in the country and the rapid population aging, government data showed Wednesday.The total fertility rate, or the average number of babies that a woman is projected to have during her lifetime, reached 1.17 in 2016, down from 1.24 tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.The 2016 figure marked the lowest ebb since 2009 when it stood at 1.15. The fer

South Korean stocks traded slightly higher Wednesday morning as concerns over North Korea's latest missile launch abated.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 1.31 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,366.05 as of 11:15 a.m.On Tuesday, North Korea lobbed a ballistic missile over Japan in a move that could pose serious security challenges for Northeast Asia.Market heavyweights traded mixed, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics down 0.17 percent. SK hynix, a major chipmaker, rose 1.18 p

The rising pile of household debt is the biggest risk facing South Korea's economy, and it is putting the nation's economic growth at risk, the head of the top financial regulator said Wednesday. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, told a forum that the government will unveil a fresh package of measures next month to rein in the growth of household debt.  Household debt stood at 1,388.3 trillion won ($1.25 trillion) at the end of June, up 10.4 percent from a year ea

A South Korean baseball club owner has been questioned in connection with a money scandal involving a retired umpire, a source said Wednesday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office recently summoned Lee Chang-suk, the owner and former CEO of the Nexen Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization, to investigate his connection with a former umpire surnamed Choi, who had allegedly contacted multiple team officials for quick cash, according to the source.Also on Wednesday, prosecutors said th

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha called for strong support from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for South Korea's policy vision toward North Korea in a conference on two-way cooperation Wednesday.Kang said she wants ASEAN to continue to be a "strong supporter" of the "Berlin initiative," President Moon Jae-in's new North Korea policy vision, during her keynote speech at the International Conference on ASEAN-Korea Partnership, hosted by the Seoul-based ASEAN-Korea Centre.She also apprec

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed Wednesday to further increase pressure on North Korea to an "extreme" level, also vowing to push for new and stronger sanctions by the UN Security Council.The agreement came in a telephone conversation, one day after the communist North fired an intermediate range ballistic missile that flew over Japan."In their telephone conversation, the two leaders highly evaluated their countries' close cooperation in dealing wi