BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) – South Korea, China, and Japan will hold a fourth round of negotiations this week aimed at forging a trilateral free trade agreement, a Seoul diplomat said Monday, despite a diplomatic impasse over Tokyo’s nationalist moves regarding historical and territorial issues.The t

SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) – South Korea and China remain divided over a number of issues, such as illegal fishing, that may prevent early conclusion of their negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA), officials here said Sunday.“We are hoping to include a provision that can effectively prevent ill

SEJONG, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) – The South Korean government is set to announce a new three-year economic innovation plan that will include a negative list system for deregulation to help encourage investment, officials said Sunday.The plan, expected to be announced later this month, will see that regulat

SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) – South Korea and Australia have initialed their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) while agreeing to formally sign the trade pact within the next four months, the South Korean government said Thursday.“Assistant Minister Woo Tae-hee and Deputy Secretary Jan Adams initialed

SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) – President Park Geun-hye called for fundamental changes in the way English is taught in South Korea on Thursday, saying families spend too much money on English education, as the current system requires all students to learn high levels of the language.Park made the remark d

Feb. 11 (Yonhap) – Disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk’s controversial NT-1 “embryonic stem cell line” officially received a United States patent on Tuesday, in a development that could reignite debate surrounding his research.The US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) public notification si

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s Second Vice Minister in Command Han Jin-Hyun said that public companies must make tough decisions and unload any assets that are not part of the core business of the company, even if it means getting rid of assets that are profit-making, in a discussion r

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and the ruling Saenuri Party are planning to pass amendments to the Electronic Financial Transaction Act and the Act on the Use and Protection of Credit Information through the provisional session of the National Assem

Deputy Prime Minister Hyun Oh-seok is grappling with the new three-year plan for national economic reform.Scheduled to be announced late this month, the plan carries significant weight in that it will continue until the final year of the current administration. For the Deputy Prime Minister himself,

SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) – Officials from South Korean companies set to participate in an economic project between Pyongyang and Moscow will visit North Korea this week for an on-site inspection, the government said Sunday.The unification ministry said 18 officials from three South Korean firms will v

SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) – South and North Korea will open a small business center with Internet connectivity in the joint industrial park of Kaesong as a first step in bringing the complex online, officials here said Sunday.“We are planning to launch the basic level of Internet services at the Kaeson

SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Yonhap) -- South and North Korea launched a working-level meeting Friday about Internet connectivity at their joint industrial park in the North’s border city of Kaesong, Seoul’s unification ministry said.Inter-Korean discussions have been under way to boost the Kaesong Industrial Com

South Korea plans to have a series of bilateral talks with countries taking part in negotiations for a US-led regional free trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Deputy Trade Minister Choi Kyong-lim and his Canadian cou

Britain’s defense consulting and analysis company IHS Jane’s warned that the old 5 MW reactor located in Yongbyon, North Korea, could result in an accidental explosion that could affect South Korea and all of Northeast Asia. “Even the old Soviet Union, which had more advanced technology than North K

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) announced the Dream Island development project plan on February 5 during a Ministry of Economy meeting.Dream Island will consist of a water park, an aquarium, luxury hotels, shopping malls, marina resorts, theme parks, and golf courses. The park will be bui

Kim Ki-moon, chairman of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, commented on the second Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) during the February 4 meeting with reporters at the 63 Building in Seoul. He said, “The Najin-Sonbong Special Economic Zone that North Korea recommended has shortcomin

SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Yonhap) -- South and North Korea agreed Wednesday to stage reunions later this month for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, an official said, a move that could help ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.The reunions -- the first since October 2010 -- will be held at Mount K

NLCS Jeju, an international school in Jeju Global Education City, will produce its first class of graduates this year. The school has been established and run by Haewul Incorporated, a corporate body that runs international schools in Jeju, and was 100% financed by Jeju Free International City Devel

Social networking services (SNS) have many strong and positive aspects, including the power to spread information and its ripple effect on society. However, the openness and speed of SNS can be harmful in some cases. For instance, it is used in scams such as spam and phishing, based on mutual trust

SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Ukraine held their first joint anti-piracy drills in waters off the Somali coast to improve interoperability of the two nations' navies, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) here said Tuesday.South Korea's 4,400-ton destroyer and Ukraine's 3,500-ton naval escort