On the national level, there are a total of 378 thousand pensioners, 60 percent of whom are in debt of credit with 18 percent annual interest. To relieve the financial burden on the shoulders of those pensioners, the Ministry has talked down the annual interest rate of pension credits and established agreements with State Bank and Khan Bank, through which 91 percent of all pensioners are provided services.

With the decision, the pensioners will enjoy 15 percent annual interest credits with 1-6 months of duration from the moment of enforcement of the agreements with the banks. The outstanding credits will continue to be paid in formerly agreed terms, in other words, with 18 percent annual interest.

Pensioners gained access to free choice of banks, through which they receive benefits, pursuant to the decision made at the last month’s meeting of the National Council of Social Insurance. Before this, all pensioners received pensions through Khan and State banks. The decision has also been made in the best interest of the pensioners, so that the commercial banks would be willing to lower their credit and savings' interests to attract more customers, said the Minister.

When asked if the pension credit interest rate will decrease again, Minister N.Nomtoibayar answered that "The Prime Minister has given obligations to gradually decrease the interest rate. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and the General Authority of Health and Social Insurances have been working together on this issue.

Funding is being allocated from the Social Insurance Fund to the banks, with consideration of the banks’ credit flow. As of today, MNT 45 billion has been distributed to the State Bank and the Khan Bank.

Rio had dropped a hint about the breakup on Tuesday by saying it had discontinued exploration work in China, India and Mexico, with no further details.
A Chinalco spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg that the partnership, named Chinalco Rio Tinto Exploration Co, was being disbanded, but did not provide further details.

Rio had dropped a hint about the breakup on Tuesday by saying it had discontinued exploration work in China, India and Mexico, as part of a quarterly update on its operations. The miner, however, did not give any further information on such decisions at the time.

Chinalco Rio Tinto Exploration Co., majority owned by the Chinese miner (with a 51% stake), had plans to expand the scope of its exploration targets to coal and potash. Since launched in 2011, it had mostly focused on the northern Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang provinces.

In October, Rio Tinto decided to sell its stake in the giant Simandou iron ore project in Guinea to Chinalco. The deal gave the Chinese group access to the world’s largest untapped resource of the steelmaking ingredient.

A special prosecutor's team looking into a political scandal involving President Park Geun-hye requested the arrest warrant on Monday for Samsung Electronics' vice chairman Lee Jae-yong. It is accusing Lee of bribery, embezzlement, and other charges.

The Seoul Central District Court summoned Lee for questioning on Wednesday, which lasted 4 hours.

South Korean media report that the court denied the request early Thursday.

The court reportedly judged there was not enough reason to issue the arrest warrant for Lee at this point.

Lee returned home from a detention house where he was awaiting the court decision.

The prosecutors say Lee paid about 36 million dollars to 2 foundations closely linked to the president's confidante Choi Soon-sil, in return for favors from the presidential office involving the merger of 2 Samsung affiliates.

The merger is believed to have been necessary for Lee to become head of the group's management.

Local media report that denial of the arrest warrant could deal a heavy blow to the prosecutors, who had planned to arrest Lee, while overriding concern about the negative impact on the country's economy.

Cho is alleged to have helped create a blacklist of over 9,400 cultural figures considered critical of the administration of the country's disgraced president. Park Geun-hye is embroiled in an influence-peddling scandal.

The special prosecutor's team suspects the figures on the list were denied government support.

They asked a court in Seoul on Wednesday to issue arrest warrants for Cho and a former presidential chief of staff.

The court is to consider whether to approve the warrants, which include the first request to arrest a current minister in connection with Park's scandal.

Cho's predecessor, former culture minister Kim Jong-deok, was arrested last week on suspicion of abuse of power as part of the creation of the list.

Observers say attention is increasingly shifting to whether Park herself was involved in making the list.