South Korea is planning to reduce the electricity reserve rate by up to 2 percent in 2030 amid its new energy policy to phase out nuclear power plants, the government said Friday.A government panel to outline the country's biennial power supply road map said that it determined the reasonable electricity reserve rate to be 20-22 percent in the cited year, compared with 22 percent estimated two years earlier.A 1 percentage-point drop in the reserve rate can allow the government not to build a powe

Korea's overseas direct investment fell slightly in the second quarter from a year earlier due to a drop in investments to China and Vietnam, government data showed Friday.Investment made by South Korean companies in other countries totaled $8.47 billion in the April-June period, down 3.2 percent from $8.74 billion tallied a year ago, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.It also marked a 37-percent on-quarter slump from a record $13.45 billion tallied in the pre

K-pop group TWICE’s Japanese debut album has sold more than 250,000 copies in less than two months, its agency said Friday.“#TWICE” has sold over 260,000 copies since its release on June 28 and has been certified “Platinum” by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, according to JYP Entertainment. Platinum certification is given to records with sales of over 250,000. (JYP Entertainment)TWICE is the first South Korean artist to be certified as Platinum in Japan.The album, which contains TWIC

The 2017 French Open women's singles champion Jelena Ostapenko will compete in a Women's Tennis Association tournament in Seoul this fall, the event's organizers said Friday.Ostapenko, the world No. 12 from Latvia, will headline the field at the KEB HanaBank•Incheon Airport Korea Open, which will open at Olympic Park in Seoul on Sept. 18.Ostapenko defeated Simona Halep in the French Open final to win her first Grand Slam title and also her first WTA win. The unheralded 20-year-old had ranked jus

South Korea on Friday rejected North Korea's claim that 12 North Korean women, who defected to the South en masse last year, were forced to be married in the South to give a false impression of better settlement.North Korea on Thursday said that South Korea staged a "sordid and mean operation" to avoid the repatriation of the women who used to work at a North Korea-run restaurant in China. It claimed that they were lured and abducted by South Korea.Seoul's unification ministry dismissed the Nort

Top security advisers of South Korea and the United States agreed Friday to discuss in advance any steps they could take to contain provocative North Korea, Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, apparently suggesting the US will not pre-emptively strike the communist North without informing Seoul beforehand.The agreement came at a telephone conversation between Chung Eui-yong, the head of South Korea's Presidential National Security Office, and his US counterpart H.R. McMaster.The two

Women landed a record number of jobs in July, according to statistics Friday that also showed they were working in low-quality jobs and suspending their careers to raise a family.Statistics Korea said 11.48 million women were employed as of July, up 181,000 from the same month last year. This is the highest figure since the agency started to produce separate employment data for men and women in 1982.By comparison, 15.43 million men had jobs in July, up 131,000.The increase in employment for wome

Having embarked on South Korean baseball's first retirement tour, Samsung Lions slugger Lee Seung-yuop just wants to keep a low profile.Modest to a fault, the career home run leader in the Korea Baseball Organization, who will retire this year after 15 seasons here, says he doesn't want to get in the way of his teammates or his opponents -- literally and figuratively.Nine other KBO clubs have planned ceremonies for Lee's final visits to their ballparks. The Hanwha Eagles, based in Daejeon, some

An international football tournament for players aged under 16 will kick off this weekend on South Korea's Jeju Island with 16 teams, officials said Friday.The 2017 Jeju International Youth Football Tournament will start Saturday and will be staged at four football stadiums in Seogwipo, featuring European clubs like Galatasaray, Newcastle United, Schalke04 and Sporting CP. Three Japanese clubs -- Kashima Antlers, Yokohama Marinos, and Cerezo Osaka -- and Chinese outfit Yanbian Fude will also joi

South Korean venture firms' exports jumped 16 percent on-year in the first half of 2017 on strong shipments to major markets, a local trade body said Friday.According to the Korea International Trade Association, outbound shipments by local venture firms came to $9.86 billion in the January-June period.With the current pace, venture companies' full-year exports are expected to expand at a double-digit rate for the first time since the 50.7 percent spike in 2010.Venture firms' outbound shipments

South Korea's top two tech firms, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, swept the chart for the week's most viral video ads, according to an advertising industry website Friday.LG's "Nano Cell Super Match," featuring a shooting match between Steven Gerrard and Adam Lallana of Liverpool, scored over 33 million clicks this week to top the Viral Video Chart released by Ad Age for the second week of August. The ad was posted at the start of the month on YouTube.The former No. 1 ad for Apple Inc.'s

More than 60 Democratic lawmakers urged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday to rein in President Donald Trump's aggressive rhetoric against North Korea, saying the risks of military conflict are too high.In a letter organized by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), 62 Democrats of the House of Representatives expressed "profound concern" over Trump's statements, apparently referring to his threat to unleash "fire and fury" in response to the North's vows to attack the United States."These state

US President Donald Trump doubled down on his warnings to North Korea Thursday, saying his recent threat to unleash "fire and fury" on Pyongyang may not have been tough enough.Speaking to reporters at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump made clear he will respond forcefully to any North Korean attack on the US or its allies."They've been doing this to our country for a long time, for many years, and it's about time that somebody stuck up for the people of this country and for the peop

A North Korean defected to South Korea on Friday after crossing the western sea border, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.The defector was rescued on Gyodong Island, near the Yellow Sea border, around 1 a.m., according to the JCS.Questioning is under way to determine why and how the person fled the North, it added.The investigation has yet to reveal how the man in his 20s crossed the sea border into the southern side. While monitoring the border area, a South Korean Marine spotted the defec

South Korean baseball's rookie sensation Lee Jung-hoo knew he'd never be able to play with his famous father, Lee Jong-beom, who retired in 2012 when his son was just 13.But this year, the junior Lee has a chance to play for his father -- on the national team, at that.Earlier Thursday, Lee Jong-beom, a former MVP and Rookie of the Year in the Korea Baseball Organization, was named a base running coach for South Korea at the inaugural Asia Professional Baseball Championship in Tokyo. The Nov. 16-