President Moon Jae-in was set to hold a special meeting Tuesday with leaders of the country's top labor organizations over his new economic and labor policies. The meeting will be held at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae. It was initially expected to involve officials from the country's two largest umbrella labor organizations -- the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confede...

Many people caught not paying taxes receive lenient punishment, parliamentary data showed Tuesday. Only 13,548 tax evaders have been indicted in the past five years, constituting 20.9 percent of total evaders in comparison to the average indictment ratio of 37.9 percent of other crime suspects, the findings by the National Assembly Research Service said. As many as 49.1 percent of those indicte...

The South Korean period drama "The Fortress" has been sold to 28 countries around the world, including the United States, Japan and Singapore, the film's local distributor said Tuesday. The film starring Lee Byung-hun, Kim Yoon-seok and Park Hae-il follows the 47 days spent by King Injo of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) and his officials in Namhan Mountain Fortress, on the southern outskirts of ...

WASHINGTON -- The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States reaffirmed Monday that their alliance is the "linchpin" of regional peace and security. The acknowledgment from South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis comes as tensions have heightened over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The two met on the sidelines of a regiona...

Twenty-four companies have newly joined the ranks of those with 10 trillion-won ($8.84 billion) market capitalization compared with 10 years ago, raising the number of such firms to a record high of 35, according to the Korea Exchange on Tuesday. Of the group, 34 were on the main bourse, including Samsung Electronics with a market cap of 352.32 trillion won as of Monday. SK hynix had 61.66 trill...

CJ CGV, South Korea's largest cinema chain, will advance to the Russian market for the first time as a foreign theater chain. CJ CGV signed a contract Monday with Russian land developer ADG Group in Seoul to set up a joint venture in Hong Kong with registered capital amounting to US$30 million. The South Korean company will acquire a 70 percent stake. Under the contract, the two companies will ...

INCHEON -- The development of Incheon Free Economic Zone, initially scheduled for completion by 2022, will be delayed to 2030 due to slowed investment in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and real estate market slump, officials said Tuesday. Known as IFEZ, the project was designated in August 2003 as South Korea's first such zone where foreign investors would receive tax and administr...

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, as investors expect strong earnings from major companies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 2.97 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,493.02 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Retail investors bought stocks worth more than 35 billion won ($31 million), offsetting 34 billion won sold by foreigners and institutions. Large-cap stocks were...

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday the organic light-emitting diode technology is not suitable for use on television sets, apparently targeting its main rival LG Electronics Inc. while promoting its own QLED screens. The statement follows a YouTube video posted by the South Korean giant earlier, which also criticized LG Electronics' OLED displays. Samsung and LG have been promoting QLED and OL...

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump is likely to visit American troops at a newly expanded US military base in South Korea next month, a senior White House official said Monday. The visit would take place during Trump's state visit to Seoul on Nov. 7-8 amid high tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. "The president is most likely going to be visiting Camp Humphr...

PARIS/SEOUL -- The foreign ministers of South Korea and France held talks Monday during which they agreed on strong sanctions that would lead North Korea to talks on denuclearization. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian also agreed that North Korea's nuclear and missile programs are one of the top threats for the global community. Kang said...

The nominee to head the newly created small and venture business ministry is a former Democratic Party lawmaker who served as a policy adviser on President Moon Jae-in's election campaign. Hong Jong-haak was tapped for the new head of Ministry of SMEs and Startups after Park Seong-jin, an engineering professor from Pohang University of Science and Technology, withdrew from his nomination last mo...

DAEJEON (Yonhap) -- South Korean football technical director Kim Ho-gon was grilled by lawmakers in a parliamentary audit session Monday over national team coaching issues regarding Guus Hiddink. Kim, who leads the Korea Football Association (KFA)'s technical committee, was called to the witness stand for the National Assembly's Education, Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee audit session at ...

President Moon Jae-in called for a thorough inspection Monday of all public enterprises, if necessary, to find out whether any jobs have been given out as favors to powerful political and economic figures. The order was made in a weekly meeting with the president's top aides held at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae. "The recent reports on illicit employment at some of our public organizati...

CLARK, Philippines -- South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo prepared Monday for a round of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy in Clark, the Philippines, on North Korea and other regional security issues. He's visiting the Clark Freeport Zone, northwest of Manila, to attend the 4th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus. The Philippines, the chair of ASEAN meetings this year, is hosting ...