South Korea's jobless rate stayed unchanged in August, but the number of newly employed people dropped to a 4 1/2-year low amid weak signs of economic recovery, government data showed Wednesday. The unemployment rate stood at 3.6 percent last month, staying flat from the same month last year, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, it gained 0.1 percentage poi...

South Korea's export prices rose slightly in August from a month earlier due to the hike in prices of coal and petrochemical products, the central bank said Wednesday. In local currency terms, overall export prices rose 0.5 percent month-on-month in August, according to preliminary data provided by the Bank of Korea. Year-on-year, export prices rose 10.7 percent last month, marking the 10th con...

WASHINGTON -- A ranking Democratic congressman on Tuesday accused current and past US administrations of holding back on applying real pressure on North Korea to prevent harm to their political interests. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) issued scathing criticism of US policy toward the regime over the last 20 years during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the issue. In attendance were two w...

The heads of the central banks of South Korea, China and Japan are set to begin an annual meeting later Wednesday, the Bank of Korea said, amid keen interest on a currency swap deal between Seoul and Beijing. Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol is scheduled to host a banquet for his Chinese counterpart Zhou Xiaochuan and Japanese central banker Haruhiko Kuroda in Songdo, west of Seoul. The three "wi...

North Korea on Wednesday condemned new sanctions approved by the UN Security Council following its sixth nuclear test, vowing to strengthen its nuclear program at a faster pace. North Korea's foreign ministry said that it "categorically" rejected the UN sanctions, which it says are aimed at "completely suffocating its state and people through a full-scale economic blockade." The adoption of the...

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump played down the new United Nations sanctions against North Korea on Tuesday, saying they are "just another very small step" and "not a big deal." The Trump administration pushed for a complete oil embargo and an asset freeze for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after the regime conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3. But on Monday, t...

WASHINGTON -- The United States on Tuesday threatened to impose additional sanctions on China if it fails to implement the new United Nations sanctions against North Korea. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin explicitly mentioned China, saying the US would be willing to block North Korea's main ally and trade partner from accessing the global financial system. "If China doesn't follow these sanct...

GANGNEUNG -- Two of three teenagers were arrested Tuesday on charges of attacking a peer in the eastern seaside city of Gangneung in July. The two, whose identities have been withheld, were put behind bars after a district court issued warrants to detain them. A warrant for the third suspect has been denied. The suspects are accused of repeatedly assaulting the victim on July 17 after school. ...

North Korea on Tuesday condemned the U.N. Security Council's new sanctions resolution and warned the United States that it will face the "greatest pain" for leading the action, according to a news report. In its first reaction to new sanctions the UNSC adopted the previous day, North Korean Ambassador to Geneva Han Tae-song was quoted as saying that it "condemns in the strongest terms and catego...

Kumho Asiana Group, South Korea's airline-to-construction conglomerate, said Tuesday it has submitted a self-rescue plan for its tire unit to creditors. The move comes as the creditors asked the group to prepare a self-help program for Kumho Tire Co. by 6:00 p.m. following the collapse of a deal to sell the tire company to China's Qingdao Doublestar. Main creditor Korea Development Bank (KDB) c...

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder advised South Korea Tuesday to continue efforts to bring North Korea to dialogue and resolve the nuclear issues peacefully and diplomatically. "North Korea is clearly a criminal regime. It thinks it can victimize its own people and continues to develop and test nuclear weapons," he said in a press conference held on the occasion of the publication of th...

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Tuesday that he has no immediate plan to raise property ownership tax as a tool to cool down the speculative movement in the local real estate market. The government earlier announced a series of strong measures to curb price hikes in the capital city and its surrounding areas. It designated Seoul and other cities, including the administrative city of ...

South Korean organizers for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games on Tuesday unveiled the official promotional posters for the Olympics and Paralympics. The organizers introduced three posters each for the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games next year. They added that the posters for South Korea's first ever Winter Games will be distributed to 2,000 government organizations, schools, train statio...