Ferguson marks 25 years at Manchester United with 1-0 win LONDON (AP) ― Manchester City defeated Queens Park Rangers 3-2 Saturday on Yaya Toure’s goal with 16 minutes left to stay in first place by five points in the English Premier League. Manchester United looked set to close the gap on its city rival. But goals by Edin Dzeko and David Silva were offset by Jay Bothroyd and Heidar Helguson, an...

Most of resources to come from budget cuts in construction projects The Seoul city administration’s welfare budget for next year is expected to increase by 300 billion won ($254 million) to 3.2 trillion won, city officials said Sunday. According to the municipal government, new mayor Park Won-soon directed a readjustment of the minimum cost of living. Once the cost is readjusted, an additional ...

Schmidt in Seoul to meet Samsung executives, CEOs of telecom carriers Attention is being paid to the visit by Google chairman Eric Schmidt to Seoul on Monday, which experts said is aimed at forging a stronger partnership with local electronics and telecommunication giants. Government officials and tech industry analysts are speculating that the Google founder may bring “gifts” for the nation’s ...

A presidential panel to promote shared growth on Friday released an updated list of 25 industry sectors where conglomerates will be advised to withdraw or have their business expansion restricted. The Commission on Shared Growth for Large and Small Companies said large companies will be banned from expanding into over-competitive sectors or those traditionally occupied by small businesses, inclu...

CANNES, France (Yonhap News) ― South Korean President Lee Myung-bak sharply criticized Greece’s prime minister for putting a bailout plan to a referendum, saying he was shocked the Greek leader made the decision without agreement with other European leaders, officials said Friday. Lee issued the unusually strong rebuke during the first day of discussions at the G20 summit in the southern French ...

One fifth of capital to be designated smoke-free zones by 2014 Smokers will find it harder to light up in Seoul, as smoking will be banned in a fifth of the capital’s total area by 2014, city officials said Friday. Seoul Metropolitan Government will expand non-smoking areas from the current 23 locations ― three squares and 20 parks ― to some 9,000 places covering 21 percent of the city within t...

South Korean stocks surged 3.13 percent on Friday, boosted by hopes Greece will abandon a controversial national vote on terms of a eurozone bailout package, analysts said. The local currency shot up against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index jumped 58.45 points to 1,928.41. Trading volume was heavy at 461.5 million shares worth 7.1 trillion won ($6.4 billion), with...

South Korea’s state-run Industrial Bank of Korea said Friday that its third-quarter earnings rose 12.5 percent from a year earlier due to an increase in interest income. Net income amounted to 410.3 billion won ($369.3 million) in the July-September period, compared with 366.3 billion won the previous year, the state-run bank, which mostly caters to small and medium enterprises, said in a regula...

Korea’s two financial regulatory bodies agreed to set up an agency aimed at protecting consumers after ironing out many of their differences. The new agency will be established early next year. The Financial Services Commission, whose primary role is to set financial policies, and the Financial Supervisory Service, an agency authorized to inspect and punish financial firms that fail to protect ...