One soldier and an airman have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the latest in a series of infections reported recently at barracks, the defense ministry said Thursday. The airman in the central city of Seosan showed symptoms while being quarantined after his unit reported a cluster infection recently, according to the ministry. The total number of COVID-19 cases at the Air Force unit came to 12. The soldier stationed in the border town of Paju was confirmed to have been infected after

South Korea will supply 114,000 public 'jeonse' houses by 2022 to help tackle a shortage of the two-year contract-based rental homes, the transport ministry said Thursday. The government plans to purchase existing homes to convert them into public jeonse houses mainly for the underprivileged who have difficulties in finding such homes, as higher demand has pushed up jeonse prices amid low rates and a recently passed related bill, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a stat

도로변 주차 차량을 들이받고 화재 추돌사고를 일으킨 운전자가 현장에서 달아나 경찰이 수사에 나섰다. 19일 인천 연수경찰서와 송도소방서에 따르면 이날 오전 0시 41분께 인천시 연수구 송도국제도시 한 도로에서 투싼 차량이 도로변에 주차된 13인승 승합차를 들이받았다. 이 사고로 승합차에 불이 나 엔진룸 등이 모두 탔으며 투싼 차량과 주변에 있던 1t 트럭도 일부 소실돼 2천750만원 상당(소방서 추산)의 재산피해가 발생했다. 경찰은 투싼 차량 운전자가 사고 직후 무단으로 현장을 이탈한 것으로 보고 신원 파악에 나섰다. 경찰 관계자는 "차량 번호를 조회한 결과 법인 소유 차량으로 확인됐다"며 "운전자 신원을 파악해 정확한 사고 경위를 조사할 예정"이라고 말했다. (연합뉴스)

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday after hitting a nearly three-year high the previous session, as valuation pressure and concerns of surging COVID-19 cases offset vaccine hopes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 12.41 points, or 0.49 percent, to 2,533.23 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks fell after hitting a 33-month high in the previous session. Investor wariness increased on valuation pressure and rising coronavirus cases. Market kingpin Samsung

오스트리아 원정에 나섰던 축구대표팀이 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나19)의 직격탄을 맞은 가운데 공격수 황희찬(라이프치히)도 추가로 코로나19 양성 판정을 받았다. 대한축구협회는 18일 오후 "17일 카타르와의 평가전 이후 실시한 코로나19 유전자증폭(PCR) 검사에서 황희찬과 스태프 1명이 추가 확진 판정을 받았다"고 밝혔다. 이로써 오스트리아에서 멕시코, 카타르와 친선경기를 치른 대표팀 내 코로나19 확진자는 총 10명(선수 7명·스태프 3명)으로 늘었다. 멕시코전(15일)을 앞두고 13일 실시한 코로나19 진단 검사에서 권창훈(프라이부르크), 이동준(부산 아이파크), 조현우(울산 현대), 황인범(루빈 카잔)과 스태프 1명이 양성 판정을 받은 데 이어 14일 재검사에서 김문환(부산), 나상호(성남FC)가 추가로 양성 판정을 받았다. 카타르전을 하루 앞두고 실시한 진단 검사에서는 스태프 1명에게서 양성 반응이 나왔다. 황희찬은 17일 오스

An annual forum designed to support the growth of sports in developing countries will be held in Seoul this week, a related state-funded agency said Wednesday. The sports ministry will host the "Dream Together Seoul Forum" at SKY31 Conference Hall at Lotte World Tower in Seoul, starting at 2 p.m. Friday. The Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO) organized the event, which will be held under the theme "Sports for a Better World." KSPO said Thursday the forum will help pro

North Korea's official newspaper said Thursday the country should intensify antivirus efforts on its own without any outside help that could increase the risk of the spread of COVID-19 in the country. North Korea has recently intensified calls for tightened preventive measures against the coronavirus after leader Kim Jong-un held a politburo meeting of the Workers' Party and stressed the need to "keep a high alert, build a tight blocking wall and further intensify the anti-epidemic work.&q

The South Korean currency dropped against the US dollar Thursday after currency authorities warned that they are ready to take actions at any time to curb the won's sharp gains. The local currency ended at 1,115.6 won to the greenback, down 11.8 won from the previous session, when the won rose to a 29-month high of 1,103.8 to the dollar. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said that FX authorities are closely monitoring the market, warning that excessive currency volatility is not

South Korea's agriculture ministry said Wednesday it has banned poultry imports from Sweden following an outbreak of a highly pathogenic avian influenza in the European country. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it began the ban on live Swedish chicks and eggs after H5N8 was detected in Sweden.  The ministry recommended that locals refrain from visiting livestock farms and bringing animals from the affected region.  Highly pathogenic AI is very contagious

Apple Inc. said Wednesday that it will reduce the standard commission from 30 percent to 15 percent for small-sized app developers at its app store starting next year. Apple currently takes a 30-percent cut of the developers' revenue when iPhone or iPad users make purchases. Virtually all in-app purchases are subject to the fees. According to a new program to be adopted on Jan. 1 next year, Apple will only charge a 15-percent fee on app developers with annual revenue less than $1 million

An American baseball player competing in the South Korean baseball championship series apologized on Wednesday for refusing to wear a mask during official pregame and postgame functions. Aaron Altherr of the NC Dinos skipped the award ceremony and his postgame press conference on Tuesday, after being named the Player of the Game in the Dinos' 5-3 victory over the Doosan Bears in Game 1 of the Korean Series. Altherr hit a three-run home run at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, but told the club and th

Big Hit Entertainment, the agency-label behind K-pop megastars BTS, on Wednesday announced its takeover of KOZ Entertainment. KOZ was launched in 2018 by the popular 28-year-old rapper and producer Zico, who has chart-topping hits like "Any Song." It represents Zico himself as well as Dvwn. Big Hit said the takeover is expected to help the agency-label diversify its business portfolio. "We are happy to join hands with Zico, who is a top-ranking producer and artist," BTS ch

South Korean shares hit the highest in 33 months Wednesday on a rally in bio stocks amid concerns over a flare-up of new coronavirus outbreaks. The Korean won surged to a 29-month high against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.49 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 2,545.64. The reading marks the highest closing since 2,568.54 points on Feb. 1, 2018. Trading volume was moderate at about 911 million shares worth some 13.3 trillion won ($12 billion),

About 132,000 local workers have benefited from the government's paid family care leave program introduced in March this year to financially support working parents who are forced to take care of their children when day care centers, kindergartens and elementary schools are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Wednesday. The ministry said a total of 131,772 workers were paid 47.4 billion won ($42.9 million) in family care leave allowances from March

A cultural foundation affiliated with the Seoul city government said Wednesday it plans to provide some 12 billion won ($10.8 million) in relief funds to artists to help them continue their work amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture (SFAC) will receive applications for the relief funds from next Monday until Dec. 11. Funds will be provided to artists participating in either creative art or performances scheduled for next year in Seoul. The creative art cate

Listed companies in South Korea posted improved earnings in the third quarter from a quarter ago, possibly signaling a rebound from the previous pandemic-hit quarters this year, data showed Wednesday.  In the July-September period, the combined net profit of 590 out of 655 firms that are listed on the main KOSPI bourse and close their books on Dec. 31 came to 25.6 trillion won ($23.2 billion) on a consolidated basis, up 81.3 percent from three months ago, according to the data compiled by

South Korea on Wednesday released satellite imagery showing the movement of fine dust from China to South Korea in the latest scientific evidence that China is partly to blame for poor air quality in the region. The Chollian-2B, a South Korean environmental satellite, observed high concentrations of fine dust from China moving to the Korean Peninsula on Oct. 20, according to its imagery released by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The move comes as South Korea and China work together to try to

Kiwoom Securities Co. posted the largest operating income among local brokerage houses in the third quarter on brisk trading by retail investors, data showed Wednesday. Kiwoom Securities' operating profit came to a quarterly record of 355.5 billion won ($322 million) in the July-September period, up 314 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The company's net profit also shot up 295 percent from a year earlier to 263.4 billion won, also a rec

K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together (TXT) ranked No. 25 on Billboard's main albums chart this week with its latest album. Released on Oct. 26, the five-track EP "Minisode1: Blue Hour" landed at 25th on the Billboard 200 chart refreshed Tuesday (US Time), a record high for the group. The US music tracker earlier said in its Twitter post that the band ranked at No. 26 on its main albums chart but confirmed the group's ranking to be a notch higher on its official chart. It is the firs

The Seoul city government said Wednesday it will increase the number of contact tracing agents from 30 to 190 amid a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases. By increasing their number, the city government said it will identify people who came into close contact with a COVID-19 patient and place them under quarantine within 24 hours of a confirmed infection. The measure comes as Seoul, the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of the capital, are set to raise their social