President Moon Jae-in said on August 17, "The denuclearization bid by the current government is not so radical. It will take more than 60 years for us to reach that goal." In an interview in celebration of the 100th day since taking power, President Moon said, "The design life of nuclear reactors that were launched recently or under construction is 60 years. We plan to close reactors one by one as soon as their design life expires." His remarks are in reponse to criticism that his government'...

This year's tourism balance of payments is estimated to surpass US$15 billion. This is up more than 40 percent of $10.8 billion recorded in 2007 in the wake of the global financial crisis. According to the Bank of Korea, the tourism balance of payments in the month of June this year was a deficit of $1.39 billion. The cumulative deficit for the first six months of the year has been $7.74 billion, the second all-time highest after the second half of 2007. Last year, the tourism spending by K...

The government will create 200,000 new jobs in the healthcare sector by 2022. Vice-Minister of Health Kwon Deok-cheol said on August 25 in a healthcare industry jobs discussion sponsored by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute and the Korea Economic Daily that the government plans to create 168,000 public sector jobs and 32,000 private sector jobs within five years from now. As for the public sector, he explained, the government will expand jobs in nursing and elderly care, as well...

A government study said it had injected a total of 168.7 trillion won (US$150.8 billion) since the 1997 Asian financial crisis as part of an effort to clean up insolvent financial services firms and has only recouped 115 trillion won as of the end of the second quarter of this year. This is the recovery ratio of 68.3 percent in 20 years' time. Even though it looks good in appearance, there is a big difference from that of the U.S. government. The U.S. government had spent $426.4 billion for...

The negotiation to sell off Kumho Tire to China's Double Star Tire broke apart. The creditors including Korea Development Bank held a shareholders meeting and decided not to accept a request by Double Star to lower the price. A Korea Development Bank official explained, "As Double Star made demands we can't accept including an additional 10-percent discount from the original price of 800 billion won, we had to say no to the offer." In July this year, the Chinese tire maker began making dem...

Moon Jae-in South Korean President and Vladimir Putin Russian President met on September 6 in Far Eastern Federal University in Russia's Vladivostok to discuss issues including the current North Korea nuclear crisis and economic cooperation between Russia and South Korea for 2 hours and 40 minutes. The two leaders agreed that the North's nuclear tests are "unacceptable" but differed in how it must be handled including cutting crude oil supplies to North Korea. President Moon said, "When ...

POSCO Daewoo has opened Lotte Hotel Yangon on September 8 in Myanmar's capital Yangon. The five-star hotel, located near Inya Lake in the central business district of the city, consists of a 15-story hotel building (343 rooms) and a 29-story long-term serviced apartment building (315 rooms). POSCO Daewoo is responsible for the overall management while Lotte Hotels and Resorts taking charge of daily management. On the opening day, Myanmar Minister of Hotels and Tourism Ohn Maung, Chief Ministe...

Central bank governors of three East Asian countries including China, Japan, and Korea will get together and discuss issues such as debt and macroeconomic soundness. But the issue of the Korea-China currency swap deal which will expire on October 10 won't be one of the official agendas in the meeting. Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol, People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will meet in Incheon's Songdo for two days on September 13-14 in th...

The government is pushing forward with a plan worth US$8 million to help out vulnerable people in North Korea. Meanwhile it won't raise a lawsuit against China with the World Trade Organization in relation to the latter country's retaliatory measures after Korea's decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile defense system in its soil. Baek Tae-hyun, spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification, said on September 14, "We are reviewing a plan to give $8 milli...

Private-sector power generators are complaining mightily about the government's pressure on them to switch coal-fired power plants they are building into ones based on liquefied natural gas. That's largely because the government is mum about the sunk cost and other costs to retrofit the plants estimated to be as high as 2.6 trillion won. According to private-sector power generation industry sources on September 17, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy requested to POSCO Energy, SK Gas,...

The approval rating of the Moon Jae-in government has hit a low of 67.1 percent largely due to North Korea nuclear issues. The rating has fallen for three consecutive weeks. As for the approval rating of the ruling Minjoo Party has declined for four weeks in a row to 49.3 percent. Pollster Realmeter said on September 18 that a survey commissioned by CBS-TV revealed that the ratio of those who thought positively about the way the current government has performed was 67.1 percent, down by 2.0 p...

MBI, a Korean manufacturer specializing in making transmissions, will build an electric car plant in Hanoi, Vietnam, jointly with local firm N&G Group. The two companies will invest a total of US$1 billion for the next seven years. The companies said on September 21 that the heads of the two companies signed an agreement to establish a joint venture called Viko Motors in South Hanoi next month. Earlier in June this year, MBI was promised by the Vietnamese government and the Hanoi city gov...

The government has decided to give support to North Korea worth US$8 million in programs helping its vulnerable people including children and pregnant women indirectly through international organizations. It, however, has not decided when to start sending money and exactly how. This is interpreted as a choice to deflect criticism that it is undertaking an aid project at a time when North Korea is causing an international storm by launching a series of missile tests. On September 21, the gover...

In May 2017, David Webb, an activist investor and former director of the Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Limited, issued a report titled "The Enigma Network: 50 stocks not to own". This report mapped out a complex web of cross-shareholdings between ...

After nine years pursuing her claim against her employer, Michelle Alabaster walked away with an award of just £204.53.  However, the impact of the decisions of the ECJ, and now the Court of Appeal in the maternity pay case of Ala...

December to April is bonus season. According to the latest annual report from the Office for National Statistics, bonuses for UK staff have reached a record £19 billion, a rise of £2.5 billion since last year. The forthcoming months will...

In a somewhat timely judgment, bearing in mind the May bank holidays, the Court of Session (the Scottish Court of Appeal) has clarified that it is not necessarily unlawful for an employer to not provide alternative leave days for part-time workers w...

Gordon Brown has announced that the Government plans to introduce legislation giving new rights to agency workers and working parents in the next parliamentary session.  In addition, all workers are to be given the right to ask for time off wor...

The Ukrainian government promised that all medical personnel would be tested for COVID-19 once every five days, but doctors have told RFE/RL that has not happened. Medics also said that there were shortages of protective gear and that government promises of increased pay have not been met.

Together with the German Marshall Fund and its Frontlines of Democracy Initiative, RFE/RL experts spoke about the amplified challenges now facing Putin and the Kremlin and the potential consequences for Russia’s future.

Russia registered more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases for the sixth day in a row -- an indication the spread of the virus inside the country remains serious despite a stringent lockdown-- as the Communist party leader called for the release of non-violent criminals from prison .

The top members of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee say an increase in violence in Afghanistan has raised questions about the Taliban’s commitment to an agreement it signed with the United States in February.

A 97-year-old Russian World War II veteran has been inspired by the fund-raising efforts of Captain Tom Moore. She says she can't walk around a garden to gather donations like the 100-year-old British veteran did, but she is posting war stories online every day to raise money for the families of Russian medics who have died fighting COVID-19.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has ordered a probe into the drowning of several Afghan migrants last week after reports that Iranian border guards allegedly forced them into a river.

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 275,000 with almost 4 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.

Thousands of people jammed the center of the Belarusian capital to watch soldiers and military units march as part of celebrations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, celebrations that took place despite serious concerns about the coronavirus.

The Serbian government has protested to the European Union after one of the bloc's educational websites described inventor and electricity trailblazer Nikola Tesla as a "famous Croatian."

Thousands of people came out on May 9 to watch soldiers, military vehicles, and aircraft on display in central Minsk as part of celebrations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany 75 years ago. The televised event took place despite concerns about the coronavirus. While most other former Soviet republics, including Russia, canceled their Victory Day parades due to spiking infection and death rates, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has downplayed the pandemic as a "psychosis." In a speech during the event, he said the country “had no other choice” but to go ahead with the celebrations as thousands of war victims were watching, adding that none of today’s hardships can compare to the horrors the country endured during the war.

By RNZ The cost of mandatory quarantine on both sides of the Tasman means a New Zealander living in Brisbane will not be reunited with his dying mother in Auckland.A close friend of the man - both of whom RNZ has agreed not...

As New Zealand approaches the end of its strictest lockdown period, a debate has begun about whether it was legal in the first place. This is important because people are being prosecuted for breaching the lockdown. Naturally, lawyers...

A "mass of surfers" have converged on one of Wellington's most popular surf beaches.A Wellington local, who wanted to be known only as Brendan, said he was in the area for work when he decided to stop and see what was happening...

A man involved in a $2.5 million meth bust in Hawke's Bay has had his three and a half year prison sentence dropped to 12 months of home detention.Uriah Whetu Monty Wirihana received a prison sentence of three years and seven months...

The Warehouse is advising customers on its website deliveries could take up to two weeks to arrive.It said while it was trying to get through orders as quickly as possible, because of the high number of orders it was struggling...

COMMENT: Want to know how the PM felt about the idea of making the lockdown even tougher on the back of surveys indicating public support for such measures? Or why the Finance Minister lost the battle to open the wage subsidy...

There are two new cases of Covid-19 today, one confirmed and one probable, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.Both cases are linked to the St Margaret's Hospital & Rest Home in Auckland.The confirmed case is a household...

Covid-19 has tipped some struggling and startup businesses over already - but the real toll will emerge in the coming months. READ MORE:• Receiver says wage subsidy propping up a walking-dead army of 'zombie firms' John...

Close contacts of Covid-infected people are now being checked on every day to ensure compliance and see if they have developed any symptoms, Health Minister David Clark says.But an app to complement contact-tracing work was still...

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SIGN UP TO OUR COVID-19 NEWSLETTER.SIGN IN OR REGISTER, THEN SELECT TOP NEWS STORIES The father of a New Zealand woman living in Los Angeles seeking a quarantine exemption so she could see him again has died.Rachel Henderson...