BEIJING (AP) ― China’s leadership is promising to steer the economy in a new direction in its blueprint for the next five years that would empower consumers and narrow a yawning wealth gap but require politically contentious reforms. The latest Five-Year Plan ― a throwback to central planning but a useful roadmap of party goals ― calls for creating self-sustaining growth based on domestic consum...

Korea will expand the amount of powdered milk and frozen pork belly subject to no import taxes as part of efforts to ease price hikes sparked by the massive slaughter of livestock amid the spreading foot-and-mouth disease, the finance ministry said Monday. The measure, finalized during a Cabinet meeting held earlier in the day, will go into effect from early March under the government’s quota ta...

A group of unionized teachers have asked the Constitutional Court to review the law that bans teachers from joining political activities, court officials said Monday, challenging the long debated law that causes any teacher who wages an anti-government campaign to face disciplinary action. The Seoul Administrative Court has accepted the appeal by three teachers, affiliated with the liberal Korea...

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The international community should not expect North Korea to collapse soon through popular uprisings but instead seek an incremental approach to build trust with the nuclear-armed communist state, an expert said Sunday. Andray Abrahamian, a freelance writer on Korea issues who teaches at Social Science College of the University of Ulsan, South Korea, dismissed chances ...

The government is reportedly considering raising the average retirement age to 60 from the current average of 57 to lessen the impact of the retirement of 7.1 million baby boomers born between 1955 and 1963. However, the plan is expected to face fierce opposition from both employers and employees. The “Baby Boomer Committee,” an affiliate of the Economic and Social Development Commission, a gro...

Seoul’s education office plans to completely revamp the principal evaluation system, hoping that straightening out principals will lead to positive changes in schools. Officials said Monday that, once passed through review, headmasters will undergo management skill evaluations starting this school semester, monitoring their schools’ curriculum and its results, as well as 13 other criteria. A go...

The sister of an alleged former business partner of Lee Myung-bak has been questioned by the prosecution over a long-dormant scandal which engulfed the 2007 presidential election. Erica Kim, sister of Kim Kyung-joon, returned to Seoul over the weekend to help the prosecution wrap up an investigation into the scandal involving stock manipulation. With her brother Kyung-joon now serving an eight-...

The government spent nearly 34 trillion won ($30 billion) on health insurance cover last year. The medical costs covered by the nation’s obligatory health insurance scheme were 33.7 trillion won last year, a 12.9 percent increase from 2009, the National Health Insurance Cooperation said Monday. When considering those shared by individuals, the total amount reached 43.6 trillion won, up 4.2 tril...

Korea’s recent failure to legislate tax benefits for sukuk, or Islamic bonds, is seen to begin taking a toll on the country’s access to one of the world’s fastest growing financial sources. The Malaysian government is said to have declined requests by Korean companies to grant issuance of corporate bonds in the country, spurring concerns that it may be the first reaction to Korea’s reluctance to...

The Financial Services Commission is expected to approve Hana Financial Group’s takeover of Korea Exchange Bank in March, an official said on Monday. “There seems to be no major problem with its funding plans,” said an FSC official. He said the regulatory body is likely to approve Hana’s request at a meeting on March 16. His remark came after several securities firms raised the possibility tha...

LG Electronics said Monday it will hire 1,100 new employees for the first half of this year, up 83 percent from the number recruited during the same period last year. The world’s No. 3 handset maker said that 80 percent of its newly hired workforce in four different business units will be involved in research and development activities. The company will also employ more software developers so t...

Ssangyong Motors Co. on Friday posted net profits of 8.1 billion won ($7.2 million) for 2010, marking a return to profit after two years in the red. The company, which recorded net loss of 346 billion won in 2009 and 710 billion won in 2008, said that rising sales and cost-cutting efforts allowed it to return to profit. Last year, the company’s domestic and overseas sales increased by 131.6 per...