Bank lending rates on new household loans inched up in July and interest rates paid by banks on new deposits slightly fell, central bank data showed Tuesday.The average interest rates on fresh household loans extended by local banks came to 3.46 percent in July, up 0.05 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The BOK data came amid South Korea's efforts to tackle rising household debt.  South Korea's overall household debt came to 1,388.3 trillion won

Former major league first baseman James Loney has cut his South Korean stint short after just 23 games, having returned to the United States in response to a demotion to the minors.The LG Twins in the Korea Baseball Organization said on Tuesday they have also placed Loney, 33, on the voluntarily retired list. Players on the list are ineligible to perform anywhere in the KBO without permission from their original club.The Twins signed Loney in July to replace injured infielder Luis Jimenez. A fir

South Korean automakers paint a much dimmer picture of their business outlook for September than firms in other sectors due to global protectionism and concerns over strikes and ordinary wages, a think tank said Tuesday.The Korea Economic Research Institute said its business survey index for the auto-related sector came to 77.6 for September, well below the benchmark 100 and the lowest among 23 industrial sectors.A reading below 100 means that pessimists outnumber optimists. The survey was taken

Cargo processed at South Korean seaports rose last month from a year earlier on the increase in export and import traffic, government data showed Tuesday.The total amount of seaport cargo came to 132.3 million tons in July, up 3.7 percent from 127.7 million tons tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.Non-container cargo climbed 2.2 percent on-year to 91.3 million tons last month, while container freight also added 3.1 percent to 2.3 million twenty-f

South Korea's financial regulator said Tuesday it will curb existing bonus policies for senior executives at financial firms from December. Starting Dec. 4, a financial executive will be given an annual bonus equal to 60 percent of the total with the rest to be paid over the next three years, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement.  If the financial executive incurs a loss during the three-year period, the rest of the executive's annual bonus will be cut. If the loss is huge,

South Korean stocks traded sharply lower Tuesday morning as market sentiment was spooked by North Korea's latest missile launch that could further escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 34.32 points, or 1.45 percent, to 2,335.98 as of 11:15 a.m.North Korea lobbed a ballistic missile over Japan earlier in the day in a move that could pose serious security challenges for Northeast Asia. Reflecting the concern, market kingpin Samsung Electroni

Fresh off her second career LPGA victory, rookie sensation Park Sung-hyun has achieved a new career-high in the world rankings.The 23-year-old South Korean rose a spot to No. 3 in the latest world rankings announced Tuesday. She won the most recent LPGA event, Canadian Pacific Women's Open, last Sunday in Ottawa for her second win of the season.Park also leads the LPGA money list with a little over $1.87 million, and is a virtual lock to win the Rookie of the Year points race. She has earned 1,2

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss North Korea's ballistic missile launch at the request of South Korea, the United States and Japan, the foreign ministry here said."South Korea, the US and Japan jointly requested the convening of an emergency UNSC meeting and the meeting is scheduled to open on Tuesday afternoon in New York time," Cho June-hyuck, spokesman at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a press briefing.He stressed North Korea's

South Korea's political parties on Tuesday condemned North Korea's missile launch, warning the communist regime that it would only face deeper isolation and stronger sanctions unless it halts its saber-rattling.Pyongyang fired off another ballistic missile from the vicinity of Sunan in Pyongyang at around 5:57 a.m. The latest provocation came only three days after the North launched three short-range missiles into the East Sea.The recent spate of provocations has posed a tricky challenge to Pres

JAKARTA -- A South Korean-made submarine has arrived at a port of the Indonesian Navy's Eastern Fleet in Surabaya after 16 days of sailing from South Korea, the country's Navy said Tuesday.The arrival of the new submarine, the KRI Nagapasa 403, on the previous day came after South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering handed over the 1,400-ton submarine to the Indonesian Navy at the shipbuilder's Okpo shipyard on Aug. 2.During a ceremony Monday at the Indonesian port to mark the sub

Samsung Display Co. said Tuesday the recently unveiled Galaxy Note 8, won top marks from US industry tracker DisplayMate, for its stunning performance and high-end features.The display producer for Samsung Electronics Co. said the phablet became the first smartphone to win "Excellent A+" grade from DisplayMate."The Galaxy Note 8 is the latest in a new generation of OLED Smartphones that have a Full Screen Display design like the Galaxy S8. It has many major and important state-of-the-art display

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Tuesday that North Korea's latest missile launch is "a whole new level of grave provocation" because the missile flew over Japan for the first time."The situation is very grave. North Korea fired a missile again in just two days. This missile lauch is a whole new level of grave provocation as it passed Japanese skies for the first time," Lee said at the start of a Cabinet meeting, according to his office."We should carry out our duties in a more serious manner," h

TOKYO -- US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed Tuesday that now is not the right time for dialogue with North Korea during their phone conversation held after North Korea's provocative launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, Kyodo News reported. "The latest launch makes it clear" the time is not right for dialogue with the North and increased pressure is instead necessary, the Japanese news agency said, quoting a senior Japanese official.  (AP file ph

South Korea said Tuesday it will take measures to stabilize the financial market, if needed following the latest North Korean missile launch that has further spiked tensions in the region.The Finance Ministry said it is monitoring financial markets at home and abroad and the South Korea's economy around-the-clock to effectively cope with risks posed by Pyongyang.The government "will take necessary steps in a timely manner" in case of financial volatility, the ministry said after a join

South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered his country's military Tuesday to display its capabilities that can overwhelm North Korea should the communist state decide to attack, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.The order came hours after Pyongyang launched what appeared to be an intermediate range ballistic missile that flew over Japan, according to Cheong Wa Dae officials.The show of overwhelming force involved the dropping of eight Mark 84 or MK84 multipurpose bombs by four F15K figh