A US service member stationed in South Korea was stabbed during a scuffle at a local bar, and police are searching for a suspect who is presumed to also be an American soldier, officers said Sunday. The 21-year-old service member was stabbed in his stomach late Saturday at the bar in the city of Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, during a fight, according to Pyeongtaek Police Station. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital and has received treatment, the officers said, adding

Consensus is building for national support to help local chipmakers navigate global headwinds

After achieving a strong earnings growth last year, biotech firm Avellino Labs is seeking to refocus on its pipeline with gene editing technology ahead of its planned market debut on South Korea’s secondary Kosdaq market. Unaudited financial results of the firm, born in Korea but now headquartered in the US, showed its sales shot up from $2.6 million in 2019 to $122 million in 2020 with a net income of $56 million, due to the exploding demand for its COVID-19 diagnostic testing se

SUWON -- Prosecutors have questioned the chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office over alleged abuse of power in connection with an illegal travel ban imposed against a scandal-ridden senior official two years ago, officials said Sunday. Lee Sung-yoon was questioned at the Suwon District Prosecutors Office as a suspect on Saturday over allegations that he exercised undue influence in 2019 to bring an end to an investigation into the alleged illegal exit ban imposed on former vice

Popular radio host maligned by critics for political partisanship, questioned on pay

South Korea, which is struggling to secure COVID-19 vaccines developed by foreign firms like Pfizer and Moderna, can’t expect local alternatives anytime soon, as Korean drugmakers are not making speedy progress as hoped in their vaccine development, industry sources said Sunday. Even firms that have reached the clinical trial stage are having difficulties in securing volunteers with the vaccination campaign underway, the sources said. South Korean drugmakers Genexine and Cellid are cu

Singaporean Ambassador suggests ‘discuss first, launch later’ strategy for travel bubble

US climate envoy John Kerry reaffirmed Washington’s backing for Japan’s recent decision to release radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, while ruling out the possibility of stepping into the related process, amid Seoul’s call for Washington’s cooperation in ensuring Tokyo’s transparency. 　 “The US is confident that the government of Japan has had full consultation with IAEA, that IAEA has set up a rigorous process,” Kerry sai

Under the pandemic, ESG becomes crucial element in evaluating financial firms, but tools, criteria still incomplete

SEJONG -- The wage gap between regular and nonregular workers in South Korea has continued to grow over the past decade, state data showed. According to Statistics Korea, the average monthly wage for regular workers came to 2.29 million won ($2,050) in 2010, which posted a gap of 1.03 million won, compared to 1.26 million won for nonregular workers. In 2015, the gap between the two widened to 1.23 million won by 2.7 million won vs. 1.47 million won for nonregular employees. The state-run agen

With aggressive expansion plans, South Korean firm aims for global No. 1 spot in cathodes

South Korean home appliance maker Coway has said its new advertisements featuring K-pop group BTS have racked up over 10 million views on YouTube. In yet another sign of the group’s commercial success in the advertisement industry, the septet’s commercials promoting the company’s products, including a water purifier and a mattress, were met with millions of views and over 25,000 comments within 17 days, Coway said. The ads, which are available on the company’s official

WeMakePrice O and Baemin to adopt ‘One order per delivery’ amid growing competition

Industry watchers say Citi likely to separately sell off different parts of its retail banking biz

The National Pension Service, South Korea’s largest institutional investor, has gained nearly 2 trillion won ($1.79 billion) worth of profits after selling a 1.2 percent stake in top-cap Samsung Electronics over the past year and a half, data showed Sunday. According to DART, the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure board, the NPS’ stake has dropped to 9.99 percent, now owning some 596 million shares, by trading the tech giant’s common shares 738 times f