CHONGQING, China -- Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD will not focus on sales volume when it debuts in the Korean passenger car market early next year, the EV giant’s Asia Pacific head says. “We will not set a sales target for our first year (in Korea), “said Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD Asia Pacific auto sales division, in a group interview with Korean reporters at BYD’s headquarters in Shenzhen, China, Wednesday. “Our hope is to give Korean customers hand

Actor Jung Woo-sung admitted Sunday that he was the father of a model Moon Ga-bi’s child. Moon, 35, had announced about her recent childbirth on her social media on Nov. 22. While local media reported that Jung was her child’s father, Jung on Sunday admitted through his agency that he is the baby boy’s father. However, he chose not to disclose details about his relationship with Moon. According to a media report on Sunday, Moon and Jung first met at a gathering in 2022 and kept

Tehran (AFP) -- Iran said on Sunday that it would hold nuclear talks in the coming days with the three European countries that initiated a censure resolution against the Islamic republic recently adopted by the UN nuclear watchdog. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei announced the meeting on Friday of the deputy foreign ministers of Iran, France, Germany and the United Kingdom to discuss a range of topics including the Iranian nuclear issue.

President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee have stopped using their mobile phones and replaced them with new phones, an official at the ruling bloc said Sunday. The move came after Yoon said in a Nov. 7 press conference that both he and his wife should have changed to new mobile phones after his inauguration, in response to criticism over the first lady using her personal phone for communications linked to controversies surrounding her. "I was given advice on changing the mobile ph

In Korea, presale of apartments prevails, meaning home buyers base their purchases on model houses and blueprints. Apartment units of a certain size generally have similar floorplans and buyers have an idea of what they will look like when completed. Construction companies, which are also developers in most cases, sell apartment units that are considered investments as well as dwellings. The hope is that apartment prices will rise, at which point some homeowners may choose to sell, only to begin

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun (left) greets Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Akio Toyoda Sunday at the Toyota Gazoo Racing Service Park in Nagoya as the final round of the World Rally Championship, FORUM8 Rally Japan 2024, concludes. Thierry Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe of the Hyundai World Rally Team won the season’s drivers’ and co-drivers’ championships, a first for Hyundai since its WRC debut in 2014. The event, held on the challenging tarmac stages

Tensions between the rival political parties are expected to escalate in the following days, with the main opposition seeking to put a bill calling for a special counsel investigation into allegations involving first lady Kim Keon Hee up for a revote on Nov. 28. On Nov. 14, the opposition-led Assembly passed the revised special counsel probe bill in a 191-0 vote, as the ruling People Power Party lawmakers boycotted the vote. The Assembly has previously passed two similar bills, in December 2023

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker, is expected to supply its cutting-edge chips to the top graphics processing unit maker Nvidia soon, stepping closer to securing a footing in the lucrative AI chip market. Speaking on the sidelines of a convocation ceremony at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on Saturday, Nvidia CEO and founder Jensen Huang told Bloomberg Television that the company is "working as fast as it can to certify Samsung's AI memory

The South Korean government plans to hold a separate on-site memorial ceremony for Koreans forced to work at the gold mines on Sado island during Japan's colonial rule, following a last-minute decision to boycott Japan’s memorial event on Sunday. Seoul’s abrupt reversal comes amid a growing domestic backlash over the choice of Akiko Ikuina, a parliamentary vice minister at Japan’s Foreign Ministry, as the chief government delegate for Sunday’s memorial event. Ikuina

South Korea leads the world in industrial robot adoption, with 1,012 robots per 10,000 employees deployed in 2023, according to a global study. The World Robotics 2024 report, presented by the Frankfurt, Germany-based International Federation of Robotics, reveals that the Asian country’s robot density far surpasses other nations. Singapore ranked second with 770 robots per 10,000 employees, followed by China at 470 robots per 10,000 employees. “Robot density serves as a barometer

All eyes turn to Busan as delegations from 175 countries gather for the final round of negotiations to clinch a legally binding United Nations treaty to combat plastic pollution. Kicking off Monday and running through Dec. 1, the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee could define the global response to one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. The initiative stems from a resolution passed during the UN Environment Assembly meeting in March 2022, which

The Seoul Central District Court is set to rule Monday on perjury subornation charges against Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party. The ruling of the first trial comes just 10 days after Lee received a suspended prison sentence in a separate trial for violating the Public Official Election Act, further compounding the legal challenges that could cost him his parliamentary seat and jeopardize his presidential aspirations. Prosecutors filed the perjury subornation case aga

A person who submitted an edited a voice recording to win a civil lawsuit was found guilty of attempted fraud, a local court said Sunday. Chuncheon District Court sentenced the 41-year-old defendant to a 10 million won ($7,100) fine for attempted fraud. The defendant, who was involved in a legal feud with another person over a bar they had jointly operated, claimed that the partner had promised to pay 50 million won as a form of reimbursement for investing in the bar. A voice recording of the tw

Doosan Group’s ambitious corporate restructuring plan, which will separate Doosan Bobcat from Doosan Enerbility and merge it into Doosan Robotics, is entering its final stages. Following regulatory approval last Friday, the proposal now awaits a vote at a shareholders’ meeting on Dec. 12, marking the completion of a process that began four months ago. The restructuring process has undergone six amendments to its securities filings since the plan was first announced on July 11, as Doo

Lawmakers and ambassadors were among the 1,122 people who gathered in Gwangju and Seoul Friday to make kimchi to donate to underprivileged people. The 2024 Korea Kimchi Grand Festival was held for two hours in the National Assembly’s courtyard in Yeouido, central Seoul and May 18 Democracy Square in central Gwangju simultaneously. The event was organized by Herald Media Group, local broadcaster Gwangju MBC and Rep. Ju Chul-hyun of the main opposition Democratic Party. The event at the Nati

A local court ruled against a Daegu hospital that challenged government's decision to withdraw funding after the institution's refused to admit a teenage emergency patient, leading to her death. Th Health Ministry decided not to provide government subsidies to four universities, including the Daegu Catholic University Medical Center (DCMC), for six months in response to their actions concerning a 17-year-old emergency patient in March. The girl sustained a serious injury after fallin

Vanuatu, an archipelago of 83 islands in the South Pacific, is a paradise for nature lovers. But in South Korea, this beautiful island nation is gaining attention for a different reason: citizenship shopping. Bae, 30, a housewife living in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, is thinking of acquiring Vanuatu citizenship for the sake of her 4-year-old son. “My son currently attends an English immersion kindergarten. I am hoping he can enroll in international schools (in Korea), instead of local s

South Korean police apprehended nearly 300 doctors for drug-related offenses this year, government data showed Sunday, highlighting the need for stricter monitoring of medical professionals who have access to controlled substances. A total of 294 doctors were caught for drug-related offenses in the first 10 months of this year, according to the Korean National Police Agency's data submitted to Rep. Yang Bu-nam of the main opposition Democratic Party. Drug offenders here are those involved

Temperatures are expected to drop significantly from Wednesday, with some regions likely to see the first snow of the season, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration on Sunday. A low-pressure trough and a cloud band developing over the West Sea are expected to bring rain to most parts of the country on Tuesday. Following the rain, temperatures are forecast to drop significantly starting Wednesday, with morning temperatures as low as minus 8 degrees Celsius in Seoul, the KMA said

This year's Mnet Asian Music Awards presented new and exclusive performances while exploring the tastes of K-pop fans worldwide Thursday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and at Osaka's Kyocera Dome on Friday and Saturday. The Korean music awards ceremony, broadcast live in around 200 countries, held part of its three-day event in the US for the first time, attracting an audience of around 93,000. 2024 MAMA was held under the theme of "Big Blur," which the festival host sai