Some egg products in Korea have been contaminated with a potentially harmful pesticide, the government said Tuesday, amid a growing health scare in Europe over tainted egg products. Some eggs at a farm with 80,000 hens in Namyangju, east of Seoul, were found to contain the pesticide fipronil on Monday, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said. The ministry temporarily banned farms with more than 3,000 hens from producing eggs from Tuesday so it can carry out an inspection. (Yonha

South Korea's trade surplus remained in the black for the 66th month in a row in July amid brisk outbound shipments, customs data showed Tuesday.The country's trade surplus came to $10.3 billion last month, slightly down from a surplus of $10.7 billion tallied a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.Asia's fourth-largest economy has posted a monthly trade surplus since February 2012. It logged $6.7 billion in trade surplus with Southeast Asian countries in July, inc

South Korean stocks are expected to experience some corrections over the next couple of months due to the geopolitical risks coming from North Korea and the recent bull market, local observers said Tuesday.The prediction follows the war of words between Washington and Pyongyang over the latest UN sanctions and threats by the North to fire off missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam. Observers also said that some sort of adjustment is inevitable following eight straight months of stock

The United States and South Korea are "moving forward" on the deployment of a US missile defense system in the Asian ally as tensions soar over North Korea's missile programs, the Pentagon said Monday.Last week, the South Korean government determined that noise and radiation levels were negligible near the site of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in Seongju, southeastern South Korea."They're moving forward," Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters. "In early

A Seoul court on Monday backed a police ban on progressive activists' plan to circle the US and Japanese embassies in central Seoul as part of their Liberation Day rally. The Seoul Administrative Court turned down the injunction request from a coalition of civic groups seeking to suspend the police's decision not to allow their events slated for Tuesday. They had planned to form human chains around the embassies near Gwanghwamun Square in commemoration of the country's independence from the 1910

The Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival, a major summer music festival in South Korea, saw a slight drop in the number of visitors from last year, according to organizers Monday.Industry watchers attribute the drop to a growing competition from other music events held in the summer.   (Yescom Entertainment-Yonhap)The festival was held at Songdo Moonlight Festival Park in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, from Friday to Sunday, featuring a total of 70 international and domestic artists, including

The United States is ready to make a "decisive" response to North Korea's possible attack near its territory of Guam, but its focus in dealing with the recalcitrant regime is placed on diplomatic efforts and economic pressure, its top military officer said Monday.Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the US is seeking a peaceful resolution to the North Korea's nuclear and missile issue, according to a pool report."Our job is to make sure our leadership has

HyunA, a former member of the now-disbanded girl group 4minute, will put out a new album late this month, sources in the music scene said Monday.The sources said the idol singer will release her sixth EP led by a song composed by Sinsadong Tiger on Aug. 29. It will be her first album after "A'wesome," her fifth EP out in August last year.HyunA had a "fan meeting" tour of Seoul and eight North American cities in February to mark the 10th anniversary of her debut as a 4minute member. In May, she f

The United States congratulated South Korea Monday ahead of an anniversary of the Asian ally's independence from Japanese colonial rule.Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued a congratulatory message to mark Liberation Day, Aug. 15, the day Korea won independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonization."We reaffirm the ironclad alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea and honor our strong and historic people-to-people ties," he said. "This holiday also marks the bond our nations s

The United States will go to war with North Korea if it fires missiles at Guam, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday, issuing another strong warning to the nuclear armed regime.Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, has emerged as a major security issue following North Korea's threats to shoot ballistic missiles into nearby waters.That threat came last week, escalating already high tensions between Washington and Pyongyang."We'll know if it's going towards Guam within moments," Mattis said of

China said Monday it will enforce the latest United Nations sanctions on North Korea this week, banning the imports of resources and seafood from the country. The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2371 on Aug. 5 in response the North's two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July. The new measures are aimed at slashing its annual export revenue of US$3 billion by a third. China's Ministry of Commerce said the embargo will be imposed on coal, iron, iron ore, lead and seaf

Air Busan Co. said Friday it will launch charter flights to Vientiane later in the day.The budget carrier, which is an affiliate of Asiana Airlines Inc., will fly flights to the Laotian capital from Gimhae International Airport at 10:05 p.m. every Friday and Monday until Aug. 29.(Yonhap)The Busan-based low-cost carrier also began flying charter flights to Hanoi from Daegu on Thursday.The charter flights to the Vietnamese capital will be flown at 10:20 p.m. every Thursday and Sunday until Aug. 28

The South Korean military said Friday that it has found a wooden-box land mine presumed to have been swept away from North Korea due to the latest heavy rains.A South Korean Navy unit found it on an islet near the de facto western maritime border with North Korea on Thursday during its search operation for such weapons, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.In the summer, wooden-box land mines sometimes make their way south due to elevated water levels during the heavy rainy season.The North Ko

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., a troubled shipbuilder here, said Monday that it posted a profit for the second straight quarter in the second quarter, largely thanks to cost-cutting measures and increased delivery of offshore facilities.Net profit reached 1.26 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in the April-June period, following a profit of 234 billion won the previous quarter, it said in a regulatory filing.The shipbuilder logged an operating income of 665 billion won in the second qua

Kwon Oh-hyun, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., was the country's highest-paid corporate executive, receiving some 14 billion won ($12.3 million) in the first half of the year, and is once again to become the top wage-earner this year, data showed on Monday.According to the semi-annual business report compiled by Samsung, Kwon received a paycheck totaling 13.9 billion won in the first six months of the year, a whopping increase from 2.9 billion won a year earlier.Kwon, who is in charge o