A dependent of an American service member stationed in South Korea tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Tuesday. The family member, who resides in the central city of Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, was confirmed to have been infected during a routine screening at a hospital inside Camp Humphreys, located in the same city, and was immediately taken to isolation, according to the US military. The service member, who is stationed at the Pyeongt

The first snow of the season fell on Mount Seorak near the east coast on Tuesday as temperatures nationwide dipped below 5 C, the weather authorities said. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, snow also fell on the peaks of Mounts Taebaek, Sobaek and Gwangdeok. The morning low in Seoul was 2 C, but the wind chill was minus 1 C. As of 6 a.m., the morning low ranged from minus 3.2 C in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province, to minus 7.7 C on Mount Seorak and minus 10 C in Gyeryon

South Korea's industry ministry said Tuesday it will launch a new division under its wing, which will be in charge of spearheading the country's future car sector in line with the country's blueprint on the automobile segment. The new division will also center on developing electric vehicle and hydrogen car-related technologies, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The new body will officially launch Nov. 11. The decision came in line with the country's efforts to foster en

South Korea's new coronavirus infections stayed in double digits for the second consecutive day Tuesday, but concerns remain over cluster infections following Halloween celebrations over the weekend. The country added 75 more COVID-19 cases, including 46 local infections, raising the total caseload to 26,807, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).   The figure marked a fall from Monday when the triple-digit growth fell back to double digits for the fir

South Korean shares opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street ahead of the US presidential election. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 25.83 points, or 1.12 percent, to 2,325.99 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The index rose after a 1.46 percent rally the previous session, hoping that the stocks will advance after the US election on Wednesday (Washington time). The upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting also boosted investor

Police said Tuesday that they will not conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death of comedian Park Ji-sun at the request of her family. Seoul Mapo Police Station said, "No foul play is suspected, as there was no sign of a break-in and what was presumed to be a suicide note was found." The police said they will continue to investigate the exact cause of death. On Monday, the police discovered the 35-year-old comedian and her mother lying dead at around 1:44 p.m. at Park's re

2일 갑작스럽게 세상을 떠난 개그맨 박지선(36)의 빈소에 가장 먼저 달려온 것은 배우 박정민이었다. 고인과 고려대 동문이자 절친한 사이인 박정민은 지난해 12월 MBC TV 예능 '나 혼자 산다'에 박지선과 함께 출연, 그에 대해 "내가 굉장히 좋아하고 고마워하는 누나"라고 각별한 신뢰를 표한 바 있다. 두 사람은 영화 시사회에서 만나 친분을 쌓았으며, 박지선은 박정민의 팬미팅 진행을 도맡았을 정도로 우정을 자랑했다. 두 사람은 EBS 인기 캐릭터 '펭수'를 열렬히 좋아하는 공통점도 지녔다. 조문객을 받기도 전에 가장 먼저 이대목동병원 장례식장에 도착한 박정민은 장례식장 앞에 붙은 고인과 고인 어머니의 사진을 보고 눈물을 흘렸다. 뒤이어 박보영이 도착해 박정민과 슬픔을 함께했다. 박지선은 생전 박보영이 주연한 영화나 드라마의 제작발표회 진행을 도맡았다. 코미디계에서는 박지선을 유난히 아꼈던 송은이가 일찌감치 빈소로 달려와 눈물을 쏟았다. 송은이는 '예능

CHEONGJU -- A sitting ruling party lawmaker was put under pre-trial detention on Tuesday for alleged campaign accounting fraud and other wrongdoing ahead of the parliamentary election in April. The detention came shortly after the Cheongju District Court in the namesake city, 120 kilometers south of Seoul, approved a detention warrant requested by prosecutors for the lawmaker based in the city. This made Rep. Jeong Jeong-soon of the Democratic Party (DP) the first incumbent lawmaker of the 21

South Korean biotech company GC Pharma has begun additional production of its plasma therapy treatment for the novel coronavirus amid growing demand for treatment purposes, company officials said Tuesday. The plasma therapy, known as GC5131, is a type of hyperimmune globulin drug that uses blood plasma taken from people who have fully recovered from COVID-19. It is considered one of the earliest treatment options. The treatment candidate is undergoing clinical trials both at home and abroad,

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, South Korea's exports to China fell at a slower rate than its overall overseas shipments in the first half thanks to brisk Chinese demand for consumer goods and electronics parts, a report showed Tuesday. South Korea's exports to the world's second-largest economy came to $61.4 billion in the January-June period, down 6.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). The decline is much lower tha

South Korea's consumer prices grew at the slowest pace in four months in October due largely to one-off state subsidies for mobile phone bills, data showed Tuesday, underscoring the country's low inflationary pressure. The consumer price index inched up 0.1 percent on-year last month, sharply slowing from a 1 percent on-year gain in the previous month, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the slowest on-year growth since June, when the price index stayed flat, and the fourth

South Korea's military intelligence community told a parliamentary committee Monday that there are multiple pieces of circumstantial evidence indicating that the North Korean military incinerated the body of a South Korean fisheries official at sea in September.    Officials at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) under the defense ministry made the remarks during the annual National Assembly audit of its work, according to participants in the session.    "There are v

A US reconnaissance plane flew over areas close to the inter-Korean border, an aviation tracker showed Monday, in an apparent move to monitor North Korean military movements ahead of the US presidential election this week.    The US Navy's EP-3E aircraft was spotted flying over areas in northern Gyeonggi Province, including the border city of Paju, as well as Incheon and Siheung, according to the tracker, No callsign.    The plane was previously seen conducting a reconnaiss

President Moon Jae-in conveyed condolence messages to the leaders of Turkey and Greece, which suffered a heavy blow from a powerful earthquake, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.    In notes sent to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Moon expressed regret over deaths attributable to the 7.0-magnitude earthquake and offered his condolences, according to Cheong Wa Dae.    Moon also expressed his hope that the two nations will qui

A South Korean diplomat has been appointed as a member of the Advisory Group of the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the foreign ministry said Monday, voicing hope for Seoul's expanded role in tackling humanitarian crises around the world.    Oh Hyun-joo, the deputy chief of South Korea's permanent mission to the UN in New York, joined the 18-member group recently for the 2020-2022 period, becoming the fourth Korean to work at the body.    "With the appointme

President Moon Jae-in predicted Monday that South Korea’s economy will be able to return to a normal track in the first half of next year if the current trend of economic rebound from the new coronavirus pandemic continues in the fourth quarter. “When reviewing recent indicators, we can see that the economy is rapidly recovering by overcoming the recent difficulties,” Moon said during a weekly meeting with his senior Cheong Wa Dae aides. “If the trend of economic reboun

Seoul stocks rallied Monday ahead of the upcoming US presidential election and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 33.01 points, or 1.46 percent, to close at 2,300.16. Trading volume was moderate at about 665 million shares worth around 8.4 trillion won ($7.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 683 to 165. Foreigners bought a net 49 billion won, and institutions purchas

GM Korea Co. said Monday its sales rose 4.1 percent last month from a year earlier, helped by increased sales of its sport utility vehicle models despite the coronavirus pandemic. The South Korean unit of General Motors Co. sold 31,391 vehicles in October, up from 30,158 units the previous year, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales climbed 11 percent to 7,064 units last month from 6,394 a year ago. Exports were up 2.4 percent to 24,327 from 23,764, it said.  Robust sales of S

SsangYong Motor Co. said Monday its sales rose 0.6 percent last month from a year earlier helped by increased exports. SsangYong Motor sold 10,197 vehicles in October, up from 10,135 units a year ago due to strong overseas demand for its SUV models despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales fell 5.4 percent to 7,612 units from 8,045 during the same period, but exports jumped 24 percent to 2,585 from 2,090, it said. The SUV-focused carmaker said it will ex

Eighteen people affiliated with the US military, including 13 service members, have tested positive for the new coronavirus upon their arrival in South Korea from the United States, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Monday. Ten of them arrived here between Oct. 25-29 on US government-chartered flights, while the others arrived on commercial flights via Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, according to the US military. Sixteen of them tested positive on their first mandatory COVID-19 tes