The South Korean government said Monday it recovered 709.1 billion won ($633 million) of bailout funds in the second quarter, mostly used to help financial institutions hit by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The retrieval of taxpayers' money mainly derived from dividends from stake investments, the sale of shares in Woori Bank, and interest income, the Financial Services Commission said in a st...

South Korean stocks finished lower on Monday, as foreign investors cashed in recent gains due to the local currency's strength against the US dollar and a decline in Samsung affiliates, analysts said. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 8.21 points, or 0.35 percent, to close at 2,370.30. Trade volume was light at 224 million shares wor...

The Korea International Cooperation Agency, the nation's official development assistance agency, is investigating the allegation that a head of its branch office in a Middle Eastern country sexually harassed a female subordinate. "A female employee at the Middle Eastern office claimed that she was sexually harassed by the branch head in May and August and asked the KOICA headquarters to summon h...

A North Korean woman, who fled back to the North after living in South Korea, on Monday condemned Seoul's TV programs featuring former North Koreans for fabricating false North Korean images. The woman, known as Lim Ji-hyun in South Korea, showed up in a 30-minute video uploaded by North Korea's propaganda outlet Uriminzokkiri, her third such appearance since defecting back to Pyongyang in June ...

The message "It's not Pyongyang but PyeongChang" has been appearing in promotional materials for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, according to officials at the state-run Korean Culture and Information Service. For the South Korean service tasked with the mission of promoting Korean culture overseas and helping to upgrade the country's national image, the message has been necessary to help s...

South Korean teen golfer Choi Hye-jin signed a lucrative endorsement deal Monday, just days after turning professional. Choi, runner-up at the US Women's Open last month, signed a two-year deal with Lotte Group. While exact financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Choi reportedly signed for the biggest contract ever handed to a rookie by a Korean conglomerate. One Lotte official said Cho...

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Monday that it has found additional documents from the former administration, some of which were related to the alleged blacklist of cultural figures critical of the former conservative administration. Over 9,000 computer files have been found in shared folders on computers used by officials from the former administration, according to Cheong Wa Dae spo...

South Korea's military said Monday it will push for a paradigm shift in its war concept in order to play an "aggressive" role in resolving armed conflicts on the peninsula. In a report to President Moon Jae-in for discussions on the reform and future role of the country's armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense presented its own vision. Among the key tasks is to establish the concept tha...

Another South Korean woman who was forced into sexual servitude by Japan during World War II died Monday, a civic group said, reducing the total number of the country's surviving victims to 36. The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan said that Ha Sang-sook died of sepsis at 9:10 a.m. at the age of 89. Her memorial altar is set up at Kyung Hee University Hosp...

South Korea on Monday revised its assessment of what North Korea fired on the weekend, saying they were likely short-range ballistic missiles. The North launched three projectiles into the East Sea from an eastern region on Saturday morning, a month after the firing of another intercontinental ballistic missile, according to South Korean and US defense authorities. "Chances are high that they w...

Tickets to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics will be available for purchase online starting Sept. 5. The organizing committee for the 2018 Winter Games said Monday online sales will commence at 2 p.m. Sept. 5 at its website, www.pyeongchang2018.com/en . PyeongChang will print 1.18 million tickets in total, with 70 percent of them expected to be sold in South Korea. Payments for tickets can...

The central bank said Monday it will issue 2,000 won ($1.77) denominated paper notes to commemorate South Korea's hosting of its first Winter Olympics. The Bank of Korea will issue 2.3 million notes of the bill on Nov. 17, according to officials. While big events have often been celebrated with commemorative coins, this is the first time that paper money will be issued. Officials said the Pyeong...

ULSAN -- A state commission to decide the fate of the construction of two nuclear power reactors made a visit to the work site in southern South Korea on Monday. The visit, the first of its kind since the commission was formed nearly one month ago, is aimed at helping experts come up with a recommendation on whether the construction of the Shin-Kori 5 and 6 reactors in Ulsan city should continue...

Two foreign-born coaches for South Korean professional hockey clubs on Monday predicted a difficult road ahead for the host country at next year's PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Upstart South Korea, ranked 21st in the world, will make its Olympic debut in the men's tournament next February. It has earned a spot as the host nation and will go up against Canada, world No. 1 and two-time defending ch...

Former National Hockey League coach Kevin Constantine was hired by a South Korean club, Daemyung Killer Whales, two months ago, and the learning process hasn't stopped for the American. And he wouldn't have it any other way. "For me, the opportunity to coach the game and experience a new culture would be two of the favorite things I can do in life," Constantine said at a preseason media confer...