President Moon Jae-in will hold a press conference this week to personally answer questions on various issues that will likely include North Korea's recent provocations and military threats that are causing serious concerns of a possible armed conflict in the region, officials from the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday.Moon's first press conference as president will start at 11 a.m. Thursday. It is expected to involve some 300 journalists from local and foreign news outlets here,

South Korea's credit default risk has hit an 18-month high amid saber-rattling between the United States and North Korea over the latter's weapons program, data showed Wednesday.The credit default swap (CDS) premium for South Korean foreign exchange stabilization bonds with a five-year maturity reached 70 basis points as of Monday, the highest level since 71 basis points on Feb. 25, 2016, according to the data by the Korea Center for International Finance.The CDS premium jumped 13 basis points o

Offshore investors remained net buyers of South Korean stocks for the eighth consecutive month in July, with their stock holdings exceeding 600 trillion won ($526.4 billion) for the first time, official data showed Wednesday. Foreign investors boosted their holdings of local stocks by a net 579 billion won in July to 605.7 trillion won, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. For the first seven months of this year, offshore investors bought a net 11.4 trillion won worth of s

The North Korean government continued to punish those engaging in religious practices last year, with executions, torture and other abuse, the US State Department said in an annual report Tuesday.In the 2016 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, the department reconfirmed human rights abuses the North has long been accused of, including its denial of the right to religious freedom."The government continued to deal harshly with those who engaged in almost any religious practices throu

 The United States continues to be interested in dialogue with North Korea, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday, as the two sides appeared to tamp down escalating tensions over the regime's nuclear and missile programs.Tillerson made clear, however, that the ball is in North Korea's court. "We continue to be interested in finding a way to get to a dialogue but that's up to him," he told reporters at the State Department, referring to the North's leader, Kim Jong-un, after announcing th

North Korea's foreign ministry said Tuesday that now is not the appropriate time to discuss the fate of US citizens the country is holding.The ministry announcement, released by the Korean Central News Agency, stressed the circumstances surrounding the present North Korea-US relations as not conducive to negotiations. Both countries have been ratcheting up their war of words, with Pyongyang and Washington both threatening military action against the other side. (Yonhap)The statement also comes a

South Korea's government said Tuesday that it will provide 100 billion won ($87.6 million) in special credit guarantees to young entrepreneurs that are setting up new companies and hiring workers.The plan made possible by the passage of the extra budget through parliament last month, is being pushed forward by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and aims to create good jobs by launching competitive venture businesses. The ministry said business owners who are 39 years old and younger, and have hi

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a symbolic offering Tuesday to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo to mark the 72th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, according to Japanese media reports.But he is likely to refrain from visiting the Yasukuni Shrine apparently in consideration of diplomatic relations with neighboring countries, especially South Korea and China, Kyodo News reported. Masahiko Shibayama, a lawmaker from Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, delivered the "tamagushi"

South Korean artificial intelligence speaker manufacturers are scrambling to lock in consumers that are critical for boosting their competitiveness moving forward, industry watchers said Tuesday.SK Telecom, the country's largest mobile operators, and Naver Corp., the top Internet portal operator here, have recently unveiled half-price and free speakers as part of a promotional event to win over users.AI speakers interact with users by engaging in audio searches and other functions through voice

South Korea's top two carmakers said Tuesday that they have set up an advanced vehicle-road communication system as part of their broader plan to advance autonomous driving technology.Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. said they have incorporated the so-called vehicle to everything system on a 14-kilometer stretch of road with seven intersections in Hwaseong, south of Seoul.The companies said they will carry out detailed research to verify the validity, effectiveness and soundness of the sys

South Korea's life and nonlife insurance firms saw their combined net profit rise 28.3 percent in the first six months of this year, thanks to robust gain in dividend income and a decline in the loss ratio, the country's financial regulator said Tuesday. Life insurance firms operating in South Korea reported a combined net profit of a preliminary 2.97 trillion won ($2.6 billion) for the January-June period, up 31.1 percent on year, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a statement.  (Yonhap)

The toll for cars using the Incheon Bridge that services South Korea's main air transportation terminal has been lowered as of midnight, which will reduce the burden for users, the government said Tuesday.The transportation ministry said that the toll for regular passenger cars over the bridge has been reduced from 6,200 won ($5.40) to 5,500 won. For small city cars that generally pay lower tolls on highways, the rates have been set at 2,750 won, down from 3,100 won. Rates have also been lowered

The United Nations has decided to provide North Korea with $5.9 million to help the country's recovery efforts from severe droughts, according to a news report Tuesday.The UN Central Emergency Response Fund has decided to channel the fund to five UN agencies in the North, Voice of America reported, citing a press release from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.Of the total, $2.8 million and $2.5 million will be given to UNICEF and WFP, respectively, to address health conc

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that the country will expand its diplomatic efforts to peacefully resolve North Korea's nuclear and missile issues, vowing to prevent a war from breaking out on the Korean Peninsula."The government will prevent a war at all cost. We must peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue no matter how many ups and downs there are," Moon said in a ceremony marking the 72nd anniversary of the country's liberation from the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial r

The world's top three manufacturers of memory chips saw their combined revenue from server chips gain about 30 percent for the second quarter of this year, helped by a surging demand for high-end servers, according to industry data on Tuesday. The combined server DRAM revenue of three suppliers -- Samsung Electronics Co., SK hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. -- stood at US$4.43 billion for the second quarter, up 30.1 percent from a quarter ago, the data by industry tracker DRAMeXchange showe