A fire broke out at SK On's electric vehicle battery factory during a test run in China, but no fatalities were reported, the company said Monday. The blaze occurred at 2.50 p.m. (Chinese time) at the facility in Yancheng, eastern China, the company said in a statement. "No casualties have been reported, and we are investigating the cause of the fire and property damage," the company said. SK On is the battery-making arm of South Korea's leading energy firm, SK Innovation Co.

Seoul shares closed higher Monday despite investor concerns over possible US rate hikes to tame high inflation. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.86 percent, or 21.35 points, to close at 2,491.20. Trade volume was moderate at 319.84 million shares worth 6.5 trillion won ($5.03 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 648 to 229. The Kospi opened nearly flat amid concerns of an additional US rate hike. The US Federal Reserve has be

President Yoon Suk Yeol has said that China would not benefit from trilateral cooperation with North Korea and Russia because the three countries have "divergent interests." Yoon made the remarks in an interview with The Telegraph, a British daily, published Sunday local time ahead of his state visit to London, stressing that China has an important role in "promoting freedom, peace and prosperity in East Asia." "China is likely to take into consideration that pursuing tr

Seoul shares opened almost flat Monday amid investor concerns over a continued US rate hike due to high inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 6.92 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,476.77 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.01 percent to 34,947.28, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ gained 0.08 percent to 14,125.48. The US Federal Reserve has been expected to end its hiking cycle, but San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary

The South Korean military warned North Korea on Monday to "immediately stop" preparations for another military spy satellite launch, vowing to take "necessary measures" if it presses ahead with the launch. Kang Ho-pil, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the warning, a day after South Korea's defense chief said Pyongyang may make another satellite launch attempt as early as "this week or so." "(We) sternly warn North Korea to im

Lee Jun-seok, an estranged former leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), said Sunday that he will set up a new party to push for political reform if President Yoon Suk Yeol does not change his way of doing politics by the end of this year. Lee made the pledge during a meeting with the public, saying Yoon has not sought any changes even after the party lost to the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) in the crucial by-election for chief of Seoul's Gangseo Ward last month. "I cl

Police said Sunday they have sought an arrest warrant for a man in his 40s on charges of murdering his stepmother and discarding her body in a reed field near his father's home. The man allegedly strangled his stepmother, identified only by her surname Lee, who was in her 70s, to death at her home in Seoul during an altercation on Oct. 19 after he demanded that she give him money she earned from part-time work. Two days later, the day laborer buried his stepmother's body in a reed fiel

South Korean battery makers' combined research and development investment this year has climbed over 12 percent on-year despite a slowdown in global demand for electrified vehicles, industry data showed Sunday. According to latest quarterly reports of LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK On Co., their combined R&D investment during the January-September period amounted to 1.78 trillion won ($1.38 billion), up 12.5 percent from 1.58 trillion won for the same period of last yea

The government was working to fix the administrative network that suffered a system failure, officials said Sunday, two days after the breakdown caused disruptions to public access to government-approved papers. More than 100 government officials and private technicians were working to restore the servers and network systems at the National Information Resources Service in Daejeon, 139 kilometers south of Seoul, the interior ministry said. They have replaced some of the network equipment believe

South Korea's foreign minister held a series of talks with his Malaysian and Indonesian counterparts in San Francisco this week and requested for their countries' support in South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, his office said Saturday. Park Jin made the request during separate meetings with Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Tuesday on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial meet

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol wrapped up a visit to San Francisco on Friday after attending an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit that demonstrated South Korea's growing solidarity with the United States and Japan and its commitment to leading global action on climate change and supply chain risks. This year's APEC gathering was held under the theme, "Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All," and brought together leaders of the 21 member econom

The government's online civil service portal temporarily resumed operations Saturday after experiencing a major outage, officials said, although disruptions to the government's administrative computer network persist. The Saeol administrative network used by public workers went down on Friday morning, followed by a suspension of the online portal, Government 24. The outage caused an unprecedented halt to all services of issuing government certificates and civil documents. On Saturday,

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed Friday to work together to cut costs and establish international rules in the hydrogen sector. During a discussion at Stanford University, the two leaders talked about ways their countries can cooperate in the hydrogen sector, given South Korea's wide use of hydrogen cars and Japan's large number of hydrogen-related patents. Both Yoon and Kishida attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) s

South Korean shares closed lower Friday to end their three-day winning streak amid speculation that the Federal Reserve may end its aggressive rate hike campaign on eased inflation woes. The local currency closed unchanged against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 18.33 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 2,469.85. Trade volume was slim at 382.7 million shares worth 7.9 trillion won ($6.13 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 614 to 269. Foreigners sold a

South Korea and the United States discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation in the energy and supply chain sectors this week, the industry ministry said Friday. Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu and Jose Fernandez, US under secretary of state, hosted the clean energy business roundtable on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "The Carbon-Free Energy Initiative of Korea and the US Clean Energ

US President Joe Biden expressed worries about North Korea's "illicit" nuclear and missile programs during his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California this week, a senior US official said Thursday. National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs Sarah Beran made the remarks during an online press briefing on the summit that took place at the Filoli estate in Woodside, south of San Francisco, on Wednesday. "He raised concerns regarding the

The reigning Korean Series champions LG Twins announced Friday they have re-signed first baseman Austin Dean for one more season. The Korea Baseball Organization club said Dean, 30, has agreed to a new contract that could pay him up to $1.3 million. He will earn $800,000 in annual salary and $300,000 in a signing bonus, plus another $200,000 in incentives. The announcement comes four days after Dean helped the Twins win their first Korean Series crown in 29 years. Dean made $700,000 in 2023, his

South Korea and the United States have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of disaster and climate change response during their safety-related ministerial talks in Washington, D.C., the interior ministry here said Friday. The agreement was reached between Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min and US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday, the ministry said. This is the first time that South Korea's interior minister has met with the US homeland security

Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho called for strengthening international cooperation against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats at an international security meeting led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, his ministry said Friday. Kim made the call at the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus in Jakarta on Thursday, attended by top defense officials from nine ASEAN countries and eight others, including U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, according to the ministry.

South Korea has begun imposing temporary anti-dumping duties of 72.23 percent on white Portland cement imported from Egypt, officials said Friday. The finance ministry began levying the duties on white cement from Egypt on Wednesday to be effective for four months after the Korea Trade Commission under the industry ministry announced its preliminary anti-dumping findings against the imports and recommended the imposition in September. The anti-dumping deposit is meant to prevent potential damage