A global anti-money laundering task force kept North Korea blacklisted as Pyongyang defiantly pursues its nuclear and missile development programs, South Korea's financial regulator said Monday. The Financial Action Task Force, at its annual meeting of 37 members in Spain last week, also called on member countries to apply effective countermeasures against North Korea's attempts to finance illicit weapons programs, Seoul's Financial Services Commission said in a statement. North Korea has been u

China's imports of shipbuilding parts and equipment produced by South Korean firms surged this year, aided by the neighboring country's drive to nurture key industrial sectors, a report showed Monday.According to the report compiled by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), China's imports of South Korean shipbuilding parts and equipment reached $28.3 million in the first four months of the year, sharply up 37.6 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)During the cited period, China's

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to announce a plan to build a new production facility in the United States during President Moon Jae-in's visit to Washington this week, industry sources said Monday."As Samsung's plan to build a factory for home appliances is virtually fixed, it is likely the company will make it official when Moon is visiting the United States," an insider said. (Yonhap)Moon will hold the two-day talks in Washington on Thursday and Friday (US time) to touch on a host of outs

The national football governing body named a new technical director Monday.The Korea Football Association said its Vice President Kim Ho-gon has been named the head of its technical committee.Kim, 66, replaces Lee Yong-soo, who stepped down June 15, the same day that the men's national team head coach Uli Stielike was sacked.(Yonhap)Kim's first job as the technical chief will be to name Stielike's successor, with South Korea clinging to the last automatic berth in the final Asian qualifying roun

South Korea will launch a project later this year to provide 300,000 rental homes to jobseekers that can help ease the financial burden of young people, the land and infrastructure ministry said Monday. The rental homes will be supplied gradually during the President Moon Jae-in's five-year term that began May 10.  This undated Yonhap News TV graphic image shows Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee, a real estate contract and a pile of cash. (Yonhap)In a move to fulfill one of the chief executive's m

South Korea said Monday it is expecting North Korea to accept President Moon Jae-in's proposal that the two Koreas create a unified team for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics to be held next year.Moon made the proposal at an opening ceremony for the World Taekwondo Championships held on Saturday.  South Korean President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with a North Korean Taekwondo player. (Yonhap)"If the North accepts the president's offer, there will be many tasks to be done at the working level. We are

Eggs imported from Thailand are expected to arrive in South Korea this week, industry sources said Monday, as the government seeks to ease a domestic supply shortage caused by the outbreak of bird flu.Local distributors completed the shipment of some 1 million eggs bound for South Korea on Friday and Saturday, which are likely to reach consumers early next month at the latest, sources said.Local importers originally planned to import 2 million eggs that were expected to arrive in South Korea las

More than three out of five South Koreans expect that the relations between South Korea and the United States will improve under the President Moon Jae-in government, a survey showed Monday.The survey disclosed by the Asan Institute showed that 67 percent of those polled said that South Korea-US relations will get better going forward, with 20.7 percent saying the opposite. (EPA-Yonhap)The survey was conducted via phone on 1,000 adults aged 19 or older during June 1-3. It was unveiled days befor

An international human rights agency on Monday urged China not to repatriate five North Korean defectors who were detained by Chinese authorities earlier this month.Human Rights Watch said that it has sent a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, which says China should protect them and let the refugees travel to a third country for safety.In late June, the Chinese military detained a group of the five defectors near Yanji city in the northeast province of Jilin, it said, quoting a North Korean

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is expected to pitch for the benefits of the two countries' bilateral free trade pact during his upcoming trip to the US, but may face some tough challenges in talks with his counterpart Donald Trump who has been calling for the renegotiation of the landmark deal, industry watchers said Sunday.There have been growing concerns here over a possible renegotiation of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, dubbed KORUS FTA, as Trump has denounced the free trade agreemen

North Korea's top envoy to India on Wednesday offered a conditional moratorium on his country's nuclear and missile tests in an apparent bid to hold talks with the United States.North Korea Ambassador to India Kye Chun-yong said Pyongyang is willing to talk in terms of freezing its nuclear and missile tests under certain circumstances."If our demands is met, we can negotiate in terms of the moratorium of such as weapons testing," Kye said in English in an interview posted on the website of India

President Moon Jae-in appointed three new ministers Friday, bringing to five the total number of new Cabinet members appointed so far.　Reps. Kim Boo-kyum and Do Jong-hwan of the ruling Democratic Party were appointed the new interior minister and minister of culture, sports and tourism, respectively. Kim Boo-kyum (Yonhap) Do Jong-hwan (Yonhap)　Kim Young-choon, also a ruling party lawmaker, was appointed the minister of oceans and fisheries in a ceremony held at the presidential office Cheong Wa