South Korea's exports to Vietnam surged nearly 50 percent in the first seven months of 2017, customs data showed Wednesday, an increase that is likely to put the Southeast Asian country among the top three shipment destinations for locally made goods.According to Korea Customs Service, exports to Vietnam for the January-July period totaled $26.95 billion, up a sharp 49.8 percent from the same period a year ago and roughly three-times higher than the 16.3 percent increase for South Korean exports

Non-performing loans at South Korean banks fell 0.13 percentage point in June from three months earlier, as banks bolstered efforts to clear bad debt, official data showed Wednesday. Bad loans held by local banks reached 21.8 trillion won ($19.2 billion) at the end of June, or 1.25 percent of total lending, according to the quarterly data by the Financial Supervisory Service.  Bad loans extended to businesses reached 20 trillion won at the end of June, accounting for 91.7 percent of total n

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday he is pleased North Korea has refrained from provocations and hopes it is a signal of the regime's willingness to hold talks "sometime in the near future."Tillerson took time out of a press briefing on the US strategy for Afghanistan to acknowledge that North Korea has exercised restraint since the UN Security Council imposed new sanctions on the regime early this month."I want to take note of that. I want to acknowledge it," he said

WASHINGTON -- The United States on Tuesday announced new sanctions on 16 entities and individuals, mainly from China and Russia, for their alleged ties to North Korea's nuclear weapons program.The designations complement a recent UN Security Council resolution sanctioning North Korea for its two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July.They are all based in China and Russia with the exception of one individual from North Korea, one Namibian company under North Korean control, one Namibia

   ROME -- North Korea said it won't cease developing nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles as they were "justifiable" choices for self-defense, a North Korean envoy said on Tuesday. North Korea leader Kim Jong-un. Yonhap   "The measures taken by the DPRK to strengthen its nuclear deterrence and develop intercontinental rockets is justifiable and a legitimate option for self-defense in the face of such apparent and real threats,” North Korean diplomat Ju Yong-chol said at the United Nati

South Korea and the United States reached no agreement on possible amendments to their free trade pact, Seoul's top negotiator said Tuesday.   The U.S. demanded that Seoul and Washington quickly begin negotiations on amending the free trade agreement (FTA), citing a spike in its goods trade deficit with South Korea after the pact went into effect, Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong said.   Still, South Korea did not agree with the unilateral U.S. proposal, Kim said, noting any dec

Some chicken meat has been found to carry more anthelmintic residue than the permissible level, an opposition lawmaker said Tuesday, adding to escalating food safety concerns caused by a contaminated egg scandal.Citing data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Hwang Ju-hong of the People's Party said that of 60 chicken products examined from April to May, two were found to contain the anthelmintic toltrazuril at concentrations of up to six times greater than the permissible level of 0.1 mi

The number of Chinese tourists in South Korea declined nearly 70 percent on-year last month, marking a drop for five straight months following China's ban on sales of Korea-bound trips amid a diplomatic row over the deployment of a US anti-missile system here, government data showed Tuesday.The tally of Chinese visitors came to 281,263 last month, down 69.3 percent from 917,519 recorded the previous year, according to the data by the Korea Tourism Organization. The number of Chinese visitor

South Korean stocks closed higher Tuesday as institutions helped offset net selling by foreigners and individuals. The won traded higher against the dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 10.33 points, or 0.44 percent, to close at 2,365.33. Trade volume was moderate at 245.76 million shares worth 3.827 trillion won ($3.3 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 437 to 364.Institutions scooped up a net 90 billion won worth of stocks. But foreigners and individuals dumped a

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday called on government officials and public workers to step up their efforts to actively lead the ongoing national reforms."I believe the people have come to want a different type of public official as they witnessed the influence-peddling scandal," the president said in a meeting with officials from the science ministry and the Korea Communications Commission, referring to the corruption scandal that led to the ouster of his conservative predecessor Park Geun-hye

Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., the country's top shipping firm, said Tuesday that its cargo processing at Busan Port, the largest sea gateway in the country, jumped 93 percent in July from a year earlier, hitting a record high.Hyundai Merchant processed 167,018 twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo through the port, 453 kilometers southeast of Seoul, last month, the second-largest volume after Maersk. The total includes 81,300 TEUs of imports and exports, an increase of 64 percent on-year, and 85,

The government claimed credit Tuesday for its latest real estate policy bringing down housing prices in Seoul.The price of a home in Seoul was up 0.33 percent in the fifth week of July, just ahead of the government announcement of the new policy on Aug. 2, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in its report to the parliament. Immediately after the announcement, prices fell 0.03 percent in the first week of August and 0.04 percent in the second week, it said. "The overheate

Creditors of Kumho Tire Co. on Tuesday postponed their meeting after China's Qingdao Doublestar Co. demanded a cut in its bidding price for the South Korean tiremaker. The creditors, led by the Korea Development Bank, had been scheduled to hold the meeting earlier in the day to discuss Doublestar's demands. Doublestar signed a deal with the creditors in March to buy a 42.01-percent stake in Kumho Tire for 955 billion won ($841.7 million). After months of a bitter dispute over the use of Kumho Ti

South Korea will send a vice foreign minister to the Chinese Embassy's event this week to celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, amid a row over the ongoing installation of a US missile defense system in South Korea."Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam will join the South Korean-based Chinese Embassy's reception in place of the foreign minister and give a celebratory speech there," ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said in a press briefing."Vice Mini