South Korea's household credit growth accelerated on month in July, the financial regulator said Friday, despite tighter lending rules aimed at reining in household debt. Household debt grew by 9.5 trillion won ($8.3 billion) in July, when the tighter lending rules came into force, compared to growth of 7.6 trillion won in June, according to the Financial Services Commission. Compared to a year ago, however, household credit edged down 0.04 percent. Household loans by banks rose by 6.7 trillion

The ruling party on Friday called on the government to conduct an expansionary fiscal policy and stronger restructuring of its expenditures to secure the wherewithal for its key policy tasks, including enhancing public welfare and national security.During their policy coordination meeting, the Democratic Party also demanded a hefty pay raise for military draftees to deliver on the new administration's pledge to raise the pay to around 50 percent of the 2017 minimum wage -- 6,470 won ($5.66) per

The quarantine agency said Friday it has stepped up inspections at airports and seaports against the transfer of venomous fire ants that were turning up recently in South Korea. Foods and plants coming in from Japan, China and Indonesia have been closely watched since last month, and people visiting or working at storage sites of such products are being notified of potential dangers from contact with the ants, the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency said. (Yonhap)Red ants and tropical ants, which

South Korean shares opened weak Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street overnight on a deadly attack in Spain and political uncertainties in the United States. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index slipped 17.82 points, or 0.75 percent, to 2,343.85 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics falling 1.06 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.69 percent, and No. 1 steelmaker POSCO declined 0.75 percent.The local currency wa

Austria-based South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan showed he is in fine form ahead of his national team duty later this month, as he scored a goal in a playoff for a European club competition.Hwang struck the opening goal in Red Bull Salzburg's 3-1 win over Viitorul Constanta in their first leg of the UEFA Europa League playoff tie at Central Stadium Hagi Academy in Ovidiu, Romania, on Friday. The 21-year-old found the back of net with his right-footed shot just two minutes after the kickoff foll

A package of government anti-speculation measures targeting mainly Seoul has poured cold water on the apartment auction market in the South Korean capital, a market tracker said Friday.Early this month, the government designated all 25 wards in Seoul and two cities -- Sejong and Gwacheon, south of Seoul -- as "speculative or overheated speculative districts" in a desperate bid to cool the overheating housing market. In particular, 11 districts in Seoul and Sejong were designated "

Foreign ownership of stocks traded on South Korea's secondary stock market has hit a new high, data showed Friday, as offshore investors turn to undervalued tech firms there after exiting the main bourse. As of Thursday, offshore investors held 25.98 trillion won ($22.8 billion) worth of shares traded on the KOSDAQ market for tech and smaller firms, the highest level since the market opened in 1996, according to the data from the Korea Exchange.Foreign ownership came to nearly 12 percent of the

South Korea's major electronics firms -- Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. -- are expected to allocate a record-high investment to research and development projects this year, industry watchers said Friday.According to the sources, Samsung Electronics invested 7.9 trillion won ($6.9 billion) in research projects over the first half of 2017, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)As South Korea's No. 1 tech giant plans to maintain such investment to secure new growth engines, i

Air Busan Co. has added an A321-200 jet to strengthen its services, bringing the number of its fleet to 21, the company said Friday. The 220-seat plane will be mainly operated on the domestic routes to Jeju Island, with two planes scheduled to be added within this year, Air Busan said in a statement.  (Yonhap)On domestic routes, nearly 60 percent of customers opt to use low-cost carriers in the January-May period due to improved safety control and competitive prices. In 2016, the country's six b

St. Louis Cardinals reliever Oh Seung-hwan is expected to get more save opportunities following an injury to the club's incumbent closer.The South Korean right-hander, who started the season as the closer but was removed from the role last month, could be back in his old job after Trevor Rosenthal was placed on the 10-day disabled list with right posterior elbow irritation Thursday (local time).Rosenthal left Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox early. He'd converted seven consecutive save

WASHINGTON -- The United States should carry out a "massive cyber-attack" on North Korea to disable its capabilities to launch missiles, an American lawmaker said Thursday.Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats, made the case as tensions with North Korea have spiked over its two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July.Just last week US President Donald Trump threatened to rain "fire and fury" on Pyongyang

WASHINGTON -- The defense ministers of South Korea and the United States agreed to continue their close coordination in responding to North Korea's threats, the Pentagon said Thursday.South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke by phone Wednesday to discuss issues related to the countries' alliance, according to Pentagon chief spokesperson Dana White. South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo (Yonhap)Mattis congratulated Song on his confirmation as d

WASHINGTON -- South Korea and the United States will begin talks next week to discuss possible revisions to their bilateral free trade agreement, the US trade representative said Thursday.The special session will be held in Seoul on Tuesday upon Washington's request and address US concerns about a trade deficit with the Asian ally. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer made the request last month."Ambassador Lighthizer and Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong will open the meeting via a

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Japan agreed Thursday to bolster their alliance in the face an increasingly belligerent North Korea with growing nuclear and missile capabilities.The allies held so-called "2+2" talks involving their foreign and defense ministers amid a lull in tensions that spiked following North Korea's two tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles in July."The Ministers condemned in the strongest terms North Korea's recurring provocations and development of nuclear and b

North Korea's official media lambasted South Korea and the United States on Thursday, accusing them of driving the situation on the Korean Peninsula into a "catastrophe" by holding joint military exercises against it.South Korea and the US are set to hold annual military drills, dubbed "Ulchi-Freedom Guardian," from next week. They called the joint exercises defensive in nature, but North Korea has long denounced them as a rehearsal for a nuclear war against it.In a commentary, the North's Korea