South Korean health authorities are on alert over an increasing number of young and middle-aged people infected with the coronavirus, which they fear could spawn a fresh wave of outbreaks in coming weeks. The proportion of those under 50 in all new cases increased 10.8 percentage points to 49.1 percent between Oct. 11 and Nov. 7, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) released Monday. During the past week, those in the age bracket accounted for 52.2 perce

South Korea will hold the fourth round of free trade talks with Cambodia this week as part of efforts to diversify its export portfolio in Southeast Asia, the trade ministry said Tuesday. The three-day virtual meetings, slated to start Wednesday, will focus on general rules, origin of country, customs clearance, market access and other issues. The two sides have held three rounds of negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) this year with a goal to finalize a draft by year-end. T

The Cabinet approved an enforcement ordinance Tuesday to compensate local residents suffering from noise from military airport and shooting ranges. Under the law, people residing near military airports and ranges are entitled to receive up to 60,000 won ($52.4) per person per month without filing a lawsuit. Who is subject to the compensation and how much they can get paid will be decided every five years, according to the defense ministry. The law will go into effect on Nov. 27, and the gov

WASHINGTON -- The number of South Korean students in the United States dropped from a year earlier this year, a US report showed Monday, amid the coronavirus pandemic that has led to a plunge in number of travelers between the two countries. However, the number of US students in South Korea has jumped sharply over the same period, according to the report from the US State Department. In the 2019-2020 school year, the number of South Korean students enrolled in US schools came to 40,809, down 4

Combined service output in major cities and provinces declined 1.7 percent on-year in the third quarter as the new coronavirus outbreak hit the service sector involving face-to-face contact, data showed Tuesday. Service output in six cities and nine provinces retreated in the July-September period, with Incheon, west of Seoul, suffering the biggest on-year fall with an 11.6 percent decline, according to the data from Statistics Korea. "Service output contracted on-year in the third quarte

The number of multiple home owners in South Korea grew by more than 90,000 over the past year, data showed Tuesday, amid the government's efforts to curb rising home prices. The number of multiple home owners reached 2.28 million as of Nov. 1, 2019, up 92,000 from 2.19 million in the same period of last year, according to Statistics Korea. The tally picked up from a rise of 73,000 posted in the one-year period that ended on Nov. 1, 2018. The portion of people who have more than two houses acc

Unification Minister Lee In-young will hold a video call with former US Defense Secretary William Perry this week, the ministry said Tuesday, as the incoming US administration of President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take over. The videoconference, set for Wednesday, comes amid uncertainty over Biden's policy on North Korea. "We also need to explore ways to find a solution to denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula with the new US administration, so we decided to hold the meeting so that

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Tuesday that it has signed a combined 986 billion won ($890.5 million) worth of orders to build 10 very large crude-oil carriers (VLCCs). Three VLCCs will be built by its unit Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. and seven VLCCs will be built by its unit Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Korea Shipbuilding said in a regulatory filing. The 300,000-ton vessels will be delivered by March 2023 to unidentified customers, the company said. With th

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that the decision to enforce stricter distancing rules in the greater Seoul area starting this week was an "unavoidable" measure, while asking for the people's cooperation to help curb the latest resurgence of new COVID-19 cases. "It may come as an inconvenience, but it was an unavoidable measure to prevent a further expansion (of new virus transmissions)," Moon said during a weekly Cabinet meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae. Earlier in the day

Two state prosecutors and one prosecutor-turned-lawyer were grilled by the prosecution office earlier this week over allegations that they received red-carpet treatment from a prime suspect behind a snowballing financial fraud scandal involving Lime Asset Management, informed officials said Tuesday. The rare summons came after Kim Bong-hyun, the former chairman of Star Mobility known as the main financial source for Lime Asset, claimed that he spent about 10 million won ($9,032) on July 12, 201

Share prices in South Korean chipmakers are expected to rise further as investors bet on a recovery in the memory chip market next year, analysts here said Tuesday. South Korea's two largest chipmakers -- Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. -- have been skyrocketing in recent weeks with foreigners' buying spree. SK hynix continued its rally on Tuesday after touching a nine-month high on the previous day. It climbed 0.1 percent to 98,100 won ($88), extending its winning streak to six str

South Koreans in the greater capital area will face stricter social distancing rules under the government's Level 1.5 scheme starting Thursday, including more toughened capacity limits at restaurants and worship services and caps on large gatherings. Under the government's new five-tier scheme, Level 1.5 is issued in the capital area when new domestic cases average 100 or more per day in the preceding week. The government's announcement Tuesday of a one-notch increase from Level 1 to 1.5 in gr

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Tuesday that it has signed a 195 billion-won order ($176 million) to build three oil tankers from Oceania. The S-Max oil tankers will be delivered by January 2023, the company said in a regulatory filing. The deal has an option to build two additional oil tankers, it said. Samsung Heavy has a 46 percent share of the global S-Max oil tanker market, clinching orders to build 12 out of 26 oil tankers that have been ordered globally so far this year. S-Max, o

South Korea's Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee on Tuesday hinted that she may not shelve her bid to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Yoo has failed to drum up landslide support from the WTO's member countries to head the global trade body, with her Nigerian rival, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, standing ahead in a two-way race. Asked by a radio host about the possibility of her resignation as a candidate, Yoo did not give a direct answer. Instead, Yoo told a KBS ra

The Navy provided 10,000 facial masks and 2,000 units of hand sanitizers to the Philippines on Tuesday to express thanks to the country for fighting alongside South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, it said. The Navy's task group on an annual cruise training delivered the antivirus items to the Southeast Asian country's Conrado Yap ship in waters near Manila, according to the military. The Filipino patrol ship was named after a late Army captain who was killed during the war. This year ma

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK's music video "Ice Cream" has topped 400 million views on YouTube, its management agency said Tuesday. The music video hit the milestone around 2 p.m. Monday, some 80 days after its release, according to YG Entertainment. It is the quartet's 10th music video that has surpassed the 400 million mark on the global video-sharing website. "Ice Cream," featuring Selena Gomez, is a bubblegum pop track off the band's latest album, titled "The Albu

The music video of "Dynamite," K-pop superstar BTS' latest single, has surpassed 600 million views on YouTube, its agency said Tuesday. The dance video reached the milestone Monday midnight, nearly three months after it was released on the video-sharing site on Aug. 21, according to Big Hit Entertainment. It is BTS' ninth video to have achieved the feat, following "DNA," "Boy With Luv," "Fake Love," "MIC Drop Remix," "Fire," "Blo

This is the 39th season of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) but starting Tuesday, the NC Dinos and the Doosan Bears will only be playing in the 38th Korean Series. So what happened in that one missing season? The very first Korean Series game, back in 1982, ended in a tie. Yes, even in games that matter the most, there are ties in the KBO. The answer to the above question and other factoids like tie games have helped shape the history of championship baseball in the country. The Korean S

중국 상하이에서 7천600t에 달하는 5층 건물이 '걸어서' 62ｍ가량 이동했다. 새롭게 들어설 복합상가의 대지를 마련하기 위해 원래 자리에 있던 건물을 부수지 않고 그대로 들어 올려 인공 다리를 설치한 후 걸어서 옆으로 이동하도록 한 것이다. 17일 미국 CNN 방송에 따르면 상하이 황푸구는 지난달 15일 프랑스 조계지 시절 지어졌던 라거나 초등학교에 인공다리 198개를 설치해 61.7m 옆으로 이동시켰다. 건물은 이동하면서 방향도 21도가량 회전했는데, 다리 설치부터 이동을 완료할 때까지 18일이 걸렸다. 황푸구는 급속한 개발로 역사적인 유물들이 파괴되는 것을 막기 위해 이번 사업을 추진했다. 라거나 초등학교는 1935년 프랑스에 의해 세워져 85년의 역사를 자랑하는 곳이다. 이 학교가 있던 자리엔 2023년까지 새로운 복합 상가가 들어설 예정이다. 이번 사업을 이끈 란우지 수석은 "건물이 목발을 짚고 일어서서 걷는 것과 같은 원리"라고 소개했다.

The foreign ministry said Tuesday it extended the special advisory recommending against traveling overseas, as the coronavirus pandemic is continuing. The advisory, now effective until Dec. 17, also calls for South Koreans to cancel their trips and for those staying outside of the country to take extra precautions. The measure was first imposed in March. The ministry said the extension was made as a substantial number of countries maintain their entry restrictions and flight suspensions amid