South Korea's credit default risk has reached a 19-month high on escalating tensions over North Korea's weapons programs, market sources said Wednesday. The credit default swap premium for South Korean foreign exchange stabilization bonds with a five-year maturity came to 74.09 basis points Tuesday, the highest since the 78.86 basis points recorded Feb. 11, 2016. The risk premium also marked a ...

The chief of South Korean conglomerate SK Group on Wednesday departed for Japan, fanning speculation that the consortium that includes its affiliate SK hynix Inc. is in the process of finalizing a deal to take over Toshiba Corp.'s memory business, a company official said. Earlier this month, Japanese Toshiba's board of directors decided to sell its chipmaking unit to the consortium, which also i...

In this age of advanced metrics in baseball, the number of wins for pitchers may not carry quite the same luster that it once did. But for starting pitchers, 20 is still a nice round number that represents overall excellence, consistency and durability -- not to mention a little bit of luck. This season in the Korea Baseball Organization, Yang Hyeon-jong is the only starter with a chance of ...

South Korean battery makers, such as LG Chem Ltd., showcased their latest battery products at a local trade fair Wednesday, with visitors having a chance to peek into the latest technologies being developed in the burgeoning sector. At the InterBattery 2017, which runs through Friday in Seoul, LG Chem rolled out "Free Form" batteries, which can be easily customized into various products, such as...

South Korea's tax office said Wednesday that it has launched a second round of investigations on real estate speculators who are suspected of not paying their dues as part of the government's drive to curb price hikes in the local property market. The National Tax Service said it is looking into 302 people who bought and sold lucrative reconstructed apartments in the Gangnam district of Seoul, w...

Cargo processed at South Korean seaports increased 8.1 percent last month from a year earlier, driven by brisk export of vehicles and imports of soft coal, government data showed Wednesday. The total amount of seaport cargo stood at 128.8 million tons in August, up from 119.1 million tons tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Shipments of automob...

A South Korean parliamentary panel endorsed a bill Wednesday aimed at designating a special day commemorating the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery. The revision to the law on support for the women forced to serve in frontline brothels by Japan's military during World War II calls for designating Aug. 14 as the day for remembering their suffering. On that day in 1991, Kim Hak-sun, a for...

South Korea's top diplomat has emphasized the importance of alliance with the United States in dealing with the evolving threat from North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and called for full support from the US parliament, the foreign ministry here said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held discussions with bipartisan groups of lawmakers from the Senate and the House of Representa...

The number of newborn babies in South Korea continued to fall by double digits in July amid rising concerns that the country will likely see record-low numbers in 2017, government data showed Wednesday. About 29,400 babies were born in the month, down 13.3 percent, or 4,500, from 33,900 tallied a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea. The July figure marks a slight increase fr...

Opening a coffee shop is one of the most popular businesses being pursued by young South Koreans in recent years, data showed Wednesday, in a sign of growing coffee consumption in the Northeast Asian country. The number of coffee shops run by people aged between 15 and 34 stood at 5,000 last year, compared to 2,000 in 2011, according to data compiled by the National Tax Service. The data unders...

Senior officials from South Korea and Kyrgyzstan have discussed their countries' cooperation to bring North Korea to the negotiating table during their meeting, South Korea's foreign ministry said Wednesday. The meeting between Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam and Deputy Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan Dinara Kemelova was held in the Central Asian country on Tuesday. Lim visited Kyrgyzstan to m...

An appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court's acquittal of a former energy firm head of causing losses to the state by making unsuccessful investment in mining projects. Kim Shin-jong, former CEO of the state-run Korea Resources Corp., was indicted in September 2015 on charges of breach of trust. This file photo, taken July 23, 2015, shows Kim Shin-jong, the former head of the state-run ...

Four people have been indicted for manipulating online search results to have their clients rank higher on Korea's top Internet portal, prosecutors said Wednesday. The investigators have busted two local companies that fixed the related keyword searches on Naver to maximize the advertising effect of their clients and received some 3.35 billion won ($2.94 million), according to the Seoul Central ...

South Korean stocks turned higher late Wednesday morning, despite increased selling by foreign investors amid heightened tensions between North Korea and the United States. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 1.16 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,375.48 as of 11:23 a.m. The KOSPI's gains followed overnight losses on Wall Street with the Dow Jones average backtracking 0.05 percen...

Chelsea Ladies attacker Ji So-yun will lead the way for South Korea in two friendly matches against the United States next month. South Korea, ranked No. 15 in the latest FIFA rankings, unveiled a 23-player roster on Wednesday. They will play two friendly matches with the top-ranked Americans: first at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Oct. 20 (Korean time), and again three days later at...