South Korea - The Korea Times

Seoul to take preemptive steps to stabilize markets

South Korea will take swift and bold steps if necessary to help stabilize the financial markets, the country's finance minister said Wednesday, assuring that the country's economic fundamentals remain strong despite what he called "temporary risks."In an emergency meeting with other top financial officials, including the head of the Bank of Korea, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the increased volatility in the market was the result of "short-term risks" that happened to overlap.He vowed "bold and swift" measures to help stabilize the market when necessary."Under the contingency plan that has already been devised, (the government) will take swift and bold steps through all available means, such as stock market stabilization measures and easing regulations on buybacks and short selling, at a suitable time," Hong said before the meeting.Wednesday's meeting came in the face of an apparent stock market crash amid the escalating trade tension between the United States and China, and more recently, another looming trade spat between Seoul and Tokyo.On Tuesday, the benchmark Korea Composit

Aug 7, 2019

Seoul to take preemptive steps to stabilize markets

Removing boycott banners

Workers remove “Boycott Japan” banners on a street in Jung-gu, central Seoul, Tuesday. Jung-gu Office installed the banners to protest Japan's removal of Korea from its “whitelist” of countries with trade benefits last week, but decided to remove them amid criticism that boycott campaigns should be left in the hands of the public. Yonhap

Aug 6, 2019By Bahk Eun-ji

'Seoul will not pursue US mediation'

Figure Presidential Chief of Staff Noh Young-min, center, speaks during a session of the National Assembly Steering Committee on Aug. 6. YonhapBy Do Je-hae, Park Ji-won South Korea will not look to the United States to be a de facto peacemaker to ease tension between Korea and Japan, a key presidential aide told lawmakers, Tuesday. In his appearance before the National Assembly steering committee, Presidential Chief of Staff Noh Young-min said “mediation” was not the “right expression” to describe the role Seoul expected from Washington in the Korea-Japan feud over trade and historical issues. “We have not requested the U.S. mediate in the trade friction between the neighboring countries,” Noh told lawmakers at the Assembly. “And we do not have plans to request a mediation also in the future. Rather than seeking mediation, it would be more suitable to say we are looking for 'involvement' or 'interest' from the U.S.”This is an adjustment from Cheong Wa Dae's initial position to use U.S. mediation to ease the rising tension with Japan fol

Aug 6, 2019By Do Je-hae

North Korea fires missiles as US-South Korea drill begins

In this Aug. 2 file photo, people at Seoul Station stand by a TV screen showing footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a news program. North Korea on Tuesday continued to ramp up its weapons demonstrations by firing two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea while lashing out at the United States and South Korea for continuing their joint military exercises that the North says could derail fragile nuclear diplomacy. AP-YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulNorth Korea fired two “short-range ballistic missiles” into the sea from North Hwanghae Province early Tuesday morning, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, Tuesday.The launches came a day after President Moon Jae-in issued a rather “nationalistic request” for closer economic cooperation with the North as his apparent leverage against Japan. Also, this year's joint military drill between the United States and South Korea had de facto begun, Monday, to verify the South Korean military's basic combat readiness for the transfer of wartime operational control.“The South Korean military detected t

Aug 6, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul

North Korea fires missiles as US-South Korea drill begins

North Korean leader says missile launches were 'warning' against allies' joint exercise

US revokes visa-free entry for visitors to North Korea

Seen above is the screen capture of a notification stating that South Korean nationals who have visited North Korea since March 2011 will not be able to enter the United States via the current Visa Waiver Program. Screen capture from U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionBy Lee Min-hyungSouth Koreans who have visited North Korea since March 2011 are no longer allowed to enter the United States via a visa waiver procedure.As of Tuesday, travelers from 38 countries, including the South, are not allowed to visit the U.S. under the current Visa Waiver Program (VWP), the U.S. Department of State said. So far, South Korean nationals have been able to travel to the U.S. more easily by using an automated visa waiver system, called the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) under the VWP.From now on, however, those who have entered the North or stayed there during the aforementioned period need to visit the U.S. Embassy in Seoul and get a relevant visa, depending on the purpose of their U.S. trip, according to Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The South Korean government granted perm

Aug 6, 2019By Lee Min-hyung

US revokes visa-free entry for visitors to North Korea

'Not right time to send envoy to Japan'

South Korea's First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Sei-young, right, speaks with Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee while participating in a ministerial meeting to discuss countermeasures against Japan's export curbs, at the Government Complex in Seoul, Monday. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungSouth Korea's vice foreign minister said Monday “now is not a good time” to send Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon as a special envoy to Japan to resolve the escalating trade feud between the neighboring countries.“In some cases, sending a special envoy brings very productive and substantial outcomes. That scenario looks feasible but only after interested parties finish narrowing their stark differences at working-level negotiations,” Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young said in a local radio interview.Diplomatic discussions are underway and the vice minister stressed sending PM Lee as an envoy to Tokyo would come when relations between the two countries have reached a deadlock without any communication, according to Cho.Last week, PM Lee was in the spotlight as a possible candidate for th

Aug 5, 2019By Lee Min-hyung

Moon urges efforts to outdo Japan

High-rise buildings a death zone for birds

A bird lies dead in front of a roadside noise barrier. Courtesy of National Institute of EcologyBy Ko Dong-hwanAs more high-rise apartments and skyscrapers compete to fill space, more birds are fatally colliding with windows.The issue has become a significant concern to the environment ministry. Authorities on Monday launched a contest to raise public awareness of the issue with a prize money pool totaling 20 million won ($16,500). Entrants must submit related user creative content or exemplary cases of anti-collision ideas by next October.The National Institute of Ecology (NIR) said recently that about 8 million birds died annually from crashing into high-rise buildings. Only a very few survived collisions. Wildlife Rescue Center offices across the country collated received reports of birds saved between 2014 and 2017. The data, including the species and locations of death, was used to estimate how many birds died nationwide and whether there were more deaths of particular species during certain seasons.The data, gathered by 11 local wildlife rescue offices, revealed that people sav

Aug 5, 2019By Ko Dong-hwan

High-rise buildings a death zone for birds

Moon urges efforts to outdo Japan

President Moon Jae-in presides over a meeting with his senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. YonhapBy Do Je-hae President Moon Jae-in continued to hit back at Japan's growing trade offensive against South Korea, stressing that attempts to impede the country's growth will fail. “Japan can never get in the way of our economic leap,” Moon said at the start of a weekly meeting with senior presidential secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, according to a press pool report, Monday afternoon. “If anything, it will only stimulate our determination to become an economic superpower.”The President said South Korea will use Tokyo's export restrictions as an opportunity to reduce the country's reliance on Japan in some business sectors. For this, the President urged businesses and the South Korean public to shift their focus to not just “overcoming” Tokyo's “economic retaliation,” but “outdoing” Japan. “We need a larger perspective and an exceptional determination,” Moon said. The removal of Korea from the so-called whitelist

Aug 5, 2019By Do Je-hae

'Not right time to send envoy to Japan'

State policy chief to meet Samsung, LG, SK execs

Presidential chief of staff for policy Kim Sang-jo, right, talks with the country's ruling Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Lee In-young during a meeting with senior party officials, ministers and presidential aides at the National Assembly, Aug. 4. YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulA senior presidential aide said Monday he will meet with high-profile executives at Samsung, Hyundai, SK, LG and Lotte conglomerates on Thursday, Aug. 8, for talks concerning the potential disruptions to South Korea's manufacturing supply chain as a result of Seoul being dropped from Japan's “whitelist.”“A meeting with senior executives at the country's top-five business conglomerates has been scheduled for Aug. 8. Although the meeting agenda is subject to change, the key point is to discuss the response to Tokyo's decision to remove Seoul from its list of trusted trading partners,” Kim Sang-jo, presidential chief of staff for policy, told reporters in a briefing at Cheong Wa Dae.At the meeting, Samsung Vice Chairman Yoon Boo-keun and LG Vice Chairman Kwon Young-soo will assess the potent

Aug 5, 2019By Kim Yoo-chul

State policy chief to meet Samsung, LG, SK execs

S. Korea to spend W7.8 trillion to reduce economic reliance on Japan

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, second from left, speaks during a meeting with ministers at the government complex in Seoul, Monday. He said the government will spend 7.8 trillion won ($6.47 billion) over the next five years to trim the nation's economic dependence on Japanese imports. YonhapSouth Korea said Monday it will spend 7.8 trillion won ($6.47 billion) over the next five years to nurture its materials, parts and equipment sectors and trim its dependence on Japanese imports in the latest move to cope with the neighbor's economic retaliation. The move to boost R&D for the sector came after Japan decided last week to remove South Korea from a list of countries subject to preferential trade status in apparent anger against last year's South Korean Supreme Court rulings ordering Japanese firms to compensate South Korean victims of forced labor.The massive spending is also aimed at promoting R&D activities for 100 key strategic items, according to the industry ministry."We will upgrade the competitiveness of the materials, parts and equipment industries," Hong Nam-ki, minist

Aug 5, 2019

Politics