President Moon Jae-in's first 100 days in office got mixed scorecards Wednesday as opposition parties denounced his appointment mishaps, policy disputes and cross-border tensions, while the ruling party touted his push for reform and peace.A day before the 100th day since Moon's inauguration, the conservative parties accused the president of unilaterally pushing for the liberal agenda dear to his heart on the back of public support that has been hovering well above 70 percent.The governing Democ

A batch of 446 international students on scholarships invited by the government are set to graduate from 57 universities in South Korea this month, the Education Ministry said Wednesday.The students hailing from 107 countries are split up into 32 students in undergraduate courses and 414 in graduate courses.Asian students topped the list with 199, followed by European students with 93, African students with 87 and Central and South American students with 42.Since 1967, South Korea has implemente

Nongshim Co., the country's top instant noodle maker, said Wednesday its best-selling instant noodles are now sold at every Walmart store in the United States, as it attempts to expand its presence in the global market.Nongshim said its Shin Ramyun is now being sold at 4,692 Walmart stores throughout the North American country, becoming the first South Korean product available at every store of the US hypermarket chain. This undated photo provided by Nongshim Co., the country`s top instant noodl

President Moon Jae-in offered an emotional apology Wednesday for the tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry that took place long before he came into office, also pledging to get to the bottom of the incident that he said was partly caused by a government failure.Moon's apology on behalf of the government came at a meeting with some 200 victims of the 2014 sinking and their families at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae."Even now, the people do not know why such an absurd accident took place, why t

South Korean stocks closed higher Wednesday, led by retail investors buying into the market, as tension between the United States and North Korea shows signs of easing. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 14.04 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 2,348.26. Trade volume was moderate at 265 million shares worth 6.08 trillion won ($5.32 billion). The local stock market opened higher on positive economic data from the US and an easing of ten

South Koreans are expected to jack up their spending on sports and tours in the third quarter of this year, a survey showed Wednesday, as the country's key consumer sentiment index reached a six-year high last month.According to the survey conducted by the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute, the expected consumer sentiment index in the culture, sports and tourism sector for the July-September period came to 110.1, up 3.2 points from a year earlier.  A reading above 100 means optimists ou

Prosecutors cleared a Catholic priest of pro-North Korea charges Wednesday, nearly four years after he made remarks some accused of sympathizing with the communist nation's deadly shelling in 2010 of a South Korean island. Park Chang-shin, a senior priest at the diocese in the southwestern city of Jeonju, made the controversial remarks at an event in November 2013, saying it is natural for the North to shell the western border island of Yeonpyeong because the South and the US held military exerc

Kakao Bank, South Korea's second Internet-only bank, has emerged as the leading provider of household loans this month, far outpacing its sole competitor and traditional lenders, data showed Wednesday.According to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service, Kakao Bank saw its household lending increase by 540 billion won ($473 million) in the first 11 days of this month, the largest amount among 19 lenders in the country.It accounted for 24.9 percent of the 19 lenders' combined household le

South Korean police comedy-action film "Midnight Runners" will be shown in 12 regions overseas, its local distributor said Wednesday.Beginning in Indonesia on Aug. 23, the movie will open in North America on Aug. 25, Australia on Aug. 31 and later in New Zealand, Hong Kong, Britain, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam, Lotte Entertainment said. (Lotte Entertainment)Directed by Jason Kim, the film starring Park Seo-jun and Kang Ha-neul revolves around two students at t

Private-label products distributed by large retailers have experienced sharp growth over recent years in the South Korean market on rising consumer demand for cheaper price tags, a report said Wednesday.The market of such "store brand" products reached 9.3 trillion won in 2013, up from 3.6 trillion won tallied in 2008, according to the report by the state-run Korea Development Institute.Industry leaders of Lotte, E-mart and Home Plus earned some 20 percent of their sales from their private brand

South Korea's finance minister and central bank governor pledged Wednesday to take measures to stabilize financial markets, if necessary, amid lingering tensions between North Korea and the United States."The government and the Bank of Korea plan to make aggressive efforts to stabilize financial markets by closely monitoring domestic and foreign financial markets," BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a meeting with Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon in Seoul.Kim also said the government will take

WONJU -- There is no rest for the weary, as PGA Tour golfer Bae Sang-moon vowed on Wednesday to get to work right away after his discharge from the South Korean Army.Bae completed his 21-month, mandatory military service here in Wonju, some 130 kilometers east of Seoul, and said he'll hit the range later in the day.Bae, 31, is scheduled to make his return to competitive golf at Shinhan Donghae Open on the Korean Tour on Sept. 14.Prior to his discharge, Bae had said earlier this month he'd done p

A senior ruling party official Wednesday rejected conservatives' growing calls for the redeployment of US tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea, saying it would amount to recognizing the North as a nuclear power.During a radio interview, Woo Won-shik, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, also warned that the redeployment could also provoke China and Russia, spark an arms race in Northeast Asia and thus destabilize the Korean Peninsula.Amid heightened tensions triggered by the North's repe

South Korea has proposed holding three-way discussions with the United States and China over the deployment of the US missile shield THAAD here that is strongly opposed by Beijing, an informed source said Wednesday.The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the proposal was made at a bilateral summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, held on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, early last month.Xi did not offer any immedi

Senior diplomats of South Korea and the United States have held telephone talks to discuss bilateral ties and policy coordination in dealing with North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile capabilities, the foreign ministry here said Wednesday.Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam spoke with his US counterpart John Sullivan on Tuesday night for about 15 minutes, according to the ministry. The talks were the first of their kind since Sullivan took office as US deputy secretary of state in May.The tw