Seoul shares closed almost 1 percent lower Tuesday as investors became more cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's rate decision and earnings releases from global big techs this week. The local currency lost ground against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 27.34 points, or 0.99 percent, to close at 2,738.19. Trade volume was slim at 376.4 million shares worth 9.9 trillion won ($7.1 billion), with losers far outnumbering winners 664 to 225. Insti

The National Assembly confirmed the appointment of Cho Ji-ho as the country's new police chief Tuesday. The parliamentary committee on public administration and security adopted a confirmation hearing report on Cho's nomination as the commissioner-general of the Korean National Police Agency after holding a hearing the previous day. Adoption of the report is seen as parliamentary consent to the appointment, though the National Assembly has no power to reject the nomination and the pres

The amount of container cargo processed at South Korean seaports increased 6.4 percent in the second quarter, data showed Tuesday, driven by stronger shipments to the United States and China. The container cargo handled at the country's ports nationwide amounted to 8.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the April-June period, up from 7.61 million TEUs recorded a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The volume of container cargo handled for exports and

Seoul shares opened lower Tuesday, following a mixed close on Wall Street, as investors await the Federal Reserve's rate decision and earnings from major tech firms. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 19.99 points, or 0.72 percent, to 2,745.54 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1 percent to 40,539.93 points, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.07 percent to 17,370.20. This week, all eyes are on the Fed's policy

North Korea's recent campaign of launching trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea has disrupted operations of Incheon International Airport, the South's main gateway, on 12 occasions, a lawmaker said Tuesday, citing government data. According to data from the Seoul Regional Aviation Administration submitted to Rep. Yang Bu-nam of the main opposition Democratic Party, runways at the airport have been shut down for a total of 265 minutes across 12 occasions due to the balloons sent f

Huh Mimi grabbed the silver medal in the women's -57-kilogram judo competition at the Paris Olympics on Monday, giving South Korea its first medal in her sport in the French capital. Huh lost to Christa Deguchi of Canada in the final at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris. The two needed an extra period to determine the winner on a sudden-death, golden score. Huh and Deguchi each had two "shidos," or warnings, with a third shido ending the match in favor of the opponent. Huh was the more

PARIS (Yonhap) -- South Korea claimed its third straight gold medal in the men's archery team event in Paris on Monday, after defeating the home team France in the final. The trio of Kim Woo-jin, Kim Je-deok and Lee Woo-seok secured a 5-1 victory in the set score at Invalides in the French capital. This is the third straight team gold medal for Kim Woo-jin, second straight for Kim Je-deok, and first for Lee. As the third day of competition winds down at these Olympic Games, South Korea ha

CHATEAUROUX, France, July 29 (Yonhap) - While dabbling at different sports growing up, Ban Hyo-jin switched from taekwondo to shooting three years ago, at age 13. It only took her a couple of weeks to realize she could be good at this new sport. And on Monday at the Paris Olympics, the rest of the world found out just how good Ban could really be. Ban, 16, captured the gold medal in the women's 10-meter air rifle event at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, south of Paris. She

  TMON and WeMakePrice, e-commerce platforms of the Singapore-based Qoo10, filed for court receivership Monday, officials said, amid continuing liquidity woes due to the firms' delays in repaying vendors operating on their platforms. The two South Korean marketplaces have been in crisis after failing to make payments to their vendors amid the liquidity issues of their owner, Qoo10, reportedly due to aggressive merger deals. Their unpaid bills came to around 210 billion won (US$151.7 million

Teen shooter Ban Hyo-jin captured the gold medal in the women's 10-meter air rifle at the Paris Olympics on Monday, becoming South Korea's youngest shooting medalist ever at age 16. Ban edged out Huang Yuting of China in a shoot-off, 10.4 points to 10.3 points, after the two teens tied the Olympic record with 251.8 points in the final at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, south of Paris. This was South Korea's fourth gold medal of the Paris Olympics and its 100th gold

Seoul shares ended higher for a second straight session Monday amid hopes that the US Federal Reserve will hint at a potential rate cut in September. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 33.63 points, or 1.23 percent, to close at 2,765.53. Trading volume was moderate at 449.64 million shares worth 10.78 trillion won ($7.8 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 634 to 244. Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 522 billion won

Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun on Monday pledged to make efforts to secure additional free trade agreements with more partners to achieve the annual export target of $700 billion, and offer tailored support for key products including chips and automobiles. Ahn made the remarks during a meeting of the parliamentary committee on trade, industry, energy, SMEs and startups, noting that such measures will help the country enhance its economic security. "We will expand the export market for South

The main opposition Democratic Party on Monday criticized the government for failing to prevent a Japanese gold mine associated with Korea's wartime forced labor from being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On Saturday, the UNESCO World Heritage committee decided to add the controversial mine as a cultural heritage site after South Korea, which had initially opposed Tokyo's bid, gave last-minute consent to the listing. "The Sado mine was listed as World Heritage, backed by t

The opposition-controlled National Assembly passed one of the four contentious broadcasting bills aimed at reducing the government's influence over public broadcasters Monday, with lawmakers of the ruling party walking out in protest. The main opposition Democratic Party led the bill's passage in a 187-0 vote after passing a motion to forcefully end a filibuster by the ruling People Power Party (PPP). The revision to the Foundation for Broadcast Culture Act aims to increase the number

Seoul shares opened higher Monday on hope for the US Federal Reserve's rate cut and earnings releases of major tech firms this week. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 27.62 points, or 1.01 percent, to 2,759.52 in the first 15 minutes of trading. All eyes are on the US central bank's policy decision and earnings results by Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. The Fed is expected to cut rates as early as in September. In Seoul, tech and auto stocks l