The environment ministers of South Korea and China held online talks Wednesday to discuss measures to reduce fine dust air pollution and help achieve the two nations' goals in achieving carbon neutrality, Seoul's environment ministry said. During the virtual meeting, South Korean Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae and his Chinese counterpart, Huang Runqiu, agreed to enhance cooperation on their respective anti-fine dust projects in the coming winter season when concentration levels are expecte

North Korea's state news agency on Wednesday highlighted the hazards of smoking, saying the habit could increase the chances of getting infected with the new coronavirus. North Korea's media outlets have intensified calls for people to stop smoking since Pyongyang held a parliamentary meeting and adopted an anti-smoking law earlier this month. "Smoking has taken more lives than natural disasters and traffic accidents," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. "Since the new

The Busan metropolitan government said Wednesday it is developing a comprehensive system to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases from ships arriving from overseas. The "port-through" platform seeks to minimize contact during virus tests by flying drones to ships and developing a new testing method of analyzing droplets left on protective face masks instead of using nasal swabs, a city government official said. The Busan city government has teamed up with Pusan National Uni

Sixteen foreign nationals have been deported from South Korea since August after getting caught violating self-isolation rules aimed at containing the new coronavirus, the Ministry of Justice said Wednesday. The ministry said five foreigners were deported and 11 others ordered to leave for their home countries from Aug. 12 to Tuesday after leaving their designated self-isolation places without permission in violation of Seoul's mandatory self-isolation rules. Twelve of them were also slapped w

Britain's invitation for South Korea to attend next year's Group of Seven (G7) summit apparently reflects Seoul's enhanced global stature, and it is expected to help the East Asian nation play a bigger role on the global stage, especially amid talk of expanding the club of the world's richest nations, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday. "If (South Korea) takes part in the G7 summit to be held in Britain next year, it would be very positive for South Korea's participation in discussions, expected

President Moon Jae-in held a luncheon meeting with a group of veteran diplomats and scholars Wednesday to hear their opinions on the shifting security environment in the wake of the recent US presidential election, Cheong Wa Dae said. The meeting, held at a banquet hall of the presidential office for nearly two hours, brought together Moon's former and current security advisors, revered professors as well as former ambassadors to the United States. Among the attendees were Chung Eui-yong, for

To hear Jeong Keun-woo tell it, his 16-year career in South Korean baseball has exceeded even his own expectations -- the way he performed, how much love his fans showed him and all the honors that he won. Now at 38, Jeong, considered one of the greatest second basemen in Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) history, has no second thoughts over hanging up his cleats. "It feels like yesterday I was crying tears of joy after getting drafted by a pro team," Jeong said Wednesday during his

The South Korean stock market hit a more than 2-year high Wednesday, as investor sentiment improved on stronger exports and Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine test results. The Korean won surged to a 23-month high against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 33.04 points, or 1.35 percent, to close at 2,485.87 points, the highest closing since 2487.25 points on May 3, 2018, and extend its winning streak to an eighth day. Trading volume was high at about 1.3 billion

Seoul's apartment prices surged 58 percent during the presidency of Moon Jae-in, which is 4.5 times the increase rate of the combined period of the preceding Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments, a civic group said Wednesday. The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), a leading progressive civic group, made the assertion in a news conference in Seoul, challenging the incumbent administration's earlier announcement that Seoul's apartment prices rose by merely 14 percent under Mo

North Korea is believed to have up to 60 nuclear warheads that can threaten regional stability, according to a recent estimate by a research institute affiliated with the US National Defense University. The Institute for National Strategic Studies said in its Strategic Assessment 2020 report that the North is assumed to have between 15 and 60 nuclear warheads and approximately 650 ballistic missiles capable of threatening cities in South Korea, as well as in Japan and eastern China. "Thro

The state human rights watchdog on Wednesday advised police against disclosing any history of mental illness in people involved in a case. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said making such disclosures to the media without the person's consent amounts to a violation of human rights and should be subject to an internal review by the police if necessary. "Considering our society's attitude toward people with mental illnesses and social norms, it is highly likely that such a hist

South Korean retail giant E-Mart said Wednesday that its net profit rose 6.7 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, thanks to its faster-than-expected sales recovery from the pandemic and renewal of its outlet networks. The company posted a net profit of 119.9 billion won ($107.9 million) in the July-September period, compared with a net profit of 112.4 billion won a year earlier, E-Mart said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit hiked 30.1 percent on-year to 151.2 billion won,

WASHINGTON -- South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Tuesday she met with people considered close to US President-elect Joe Biden and stressed the need for the incoming administration to prioritize the North Korean nuclear issue. During the meetings, including one with John Allen, head of the Washington-based Brookings Institute, Kang said she stressed the nuclear standoff requires Biden's personal interest and called for an early resumption of the stalled nuclear negotiations with t

South Korean President Moon Jae-in plans to hold phone talks with US President-elect Joe Biden this week, a Cheong Wa Dae official said Wednesday. Cheong Wa Dae is "coordinating a time (for Moon and Biden) to have a phone call tomorrow," the official told reporters. Moon and Biden are expected to exchange thoughts on a wide range of bilateral issues, including Seoul's Korean Peninsula peace process initiative, strengthening of their alliance through an expansion of economic cooperati

GAPYEONG -- Renault Samsung Motors Corp., the South Korean unit of Renault SA, will focus on promoting SUV models to revive sales amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company's country manager said Wednesday. Renault Samsung has suffered a sharp decline in sales this year in Asia's fourth-biggest economy due to lack of new models and the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on production and sales. "We don't really know about the market because of the coronavirus, but the QM6 SUV and the XM3 SUV (set

Unionized workers at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. launched a strike vote Wednesday after failing to bridge a wide gap with its management on a wage and collective agreement. The 2,000-strong union members of the shipbuilder, a unit of Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., began casting votes over whether to authorize a strike. The strike vote is set to end Friday. On Oct. 28, the union asked the regional office of the National Labor Relations Commission in the southeastern industria

President Moon Jae-in met with farmers at Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday and pledged his administration's continued support for the farming community and industry. Moon hosted the event to celebrate the 25th Farmers Day, an annual occasion that is often overshadowed by the unofficial "Pepero Day," on which friends and lovers exchange the chocolate-covered stick cookies of the same name. Moon is the first president to formally mark Farmers Day since President Roh Moo-hyun in 2003, accordi

K-pop megastars BTS on Wednesday unveiled the details of their much-anticipated album "BE," scheduled to be released later this month. An image posted on the band's agency Big Hit Entertainment's Twitter account showed a handwritten list of the eight songs that will be featured on the album set for release on Nov. 20. The simple image shows the main track "Life Goes On" as well as the titles for seven other songs -- including "Blue & Grey," "Skit",

South Koreans are almost evenly divided over the reopening of the inter-Korean industrial complex of Kaesong, a poll showed Wednesday, before US President-elect Joe Biden maps out his North Korean policy. In a survey conducted by Realmeter the previous day, 43.6 percent of 500 respondents aged 18 or older agreed with resuming operations of the Kaesong Industrial Complex in a preemptive way. But 45.8 percent answered they disagree with it, while 10.6 percent said they are not familiar with the

North Korea is making all-out efforts to prevent forest fires, state media said Wednesday, as the dry weather puts the country's deforestation problem at greater risk. "Efforts to protect forests, including forest fire prevention, are under way as part of nationwide patriotic efforts," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The North has strengthened patrol in the forest areas and tightened rules for visitors during the fall season, the KCNA added. It then called on all cities