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

Famous TV screenwriters have been returning to small screens with sensational melodramas that have stirred up controversy over their provocative storylines but guarantee high viewership ratings. As viewers increasingly prefer binge-watching streaming services like Netflix, only a few of the new TV series have been successful this year. Local television channels, terrestrial and cable alike, are now pinning their hopes on masters of typical Korean hit melodramas -- Kim Soon-ok, Im Sung-han and M

LG Electronics Inc., a major home appliance maker in South Korea, on Monday reaffirmed a plan to build its second research and development (R&D) center in Vietnam as it tries to expand its presence in the Southeast Asian market. LG recently signed an agreement with Vietnamese real estate developer Trung Nam Land Joint Stock Co. to set up the center at the Da Nang Information Technology Park Tower in Danang, central Vietnam, according to the sources. The deal follows the company's memorand

The top two starting pitchers for the Doosan Bears have been shortlisted for the top player award for October in South Korean baseball. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced five candidates for the Player of the Month award for October, the final month of the regular season. Right-handers Chris Flexen and Raul Alcantara, the one-two punch at the top of the Bears' rotation, headline the list. Flexen, who'd missed time earlier in the year with injury, capped off his first KBO season w

South Korea and the United States are closely watching movements at North Korea's main Yongbyon nuclear complex, military authorities said Monday, amid a report on signs of brisk activities there. Last week, 38 North, a US website monitoring North Korea, reported that activity has picked up throughout the Yongbyon site, citing commercial satellite imagery showing "smoke or vapor" emanated from a building just south of its uranium enrichment plant. "Historically, this building w

Renault Samsung Motors Corp. said Monday it will suspend the operation of its sole plant in South Korea for two days to control its inventory amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  Renault Samsung will halt the operation of the Busan plant, about 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Monday and Tuesday to manage inventory and production amid weak sales, the company said in a statement. The company said it plans to have its employees work during daytime from Nov. 10-30. The South Korean unit of R

Jin Air Co., the budget carrier unit of Korean Air Lines Co., said Monday it has begun transporting cargo to the United States to survive the coronavirus pandemic. Jin Air has become the country's first low-cost carrier to deliver cargo to the US. Jin Air delivered 23 tons of displays and other high-end electronics on its B777-200ER passenger jet from Incheon to Los Angeles on Sunday, the company said in a statement. "The company is planning to deliver more value-added cargo to the US a

Providing North Korean defectors with decent jobs is key to their resettlement in South Korea, Unification Minister Lee In-young said Monday, pledging to provide them with better jobs "both in quantity and quality." Lee made the remarks during his speech at a special exhibition displaying products manufactured by defectors held at the National Assembly, saying the ministry is working hard to help defectors land jobs, including opening a job center at Hanawon, a state-run resettlement

Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min has been named to the South Korean men's national team for upcoming friendly matches in Austria. Head coach Paulo Bento announced his 26-man roster for matches against Mexico and Qatar. Son, who is tied for the Premier League lead with eight goals in seven matches this season, was a no-brainer choice for South Korea's first international matches of 2020. South Korea will first face Mexico at 9 p.m. on Nov. 14 near Vienna (5 a.m. on Nov. 15 in Seoul) at Stad

The Defense Ministry said Monday it will soon inform the bereaved family of a South Korean official killed by North Korea in September of whether it will provide them with the military intelligence collected in the course of the incident. On Sept. 22, North Korea fatally shot the 47-year-old official, who was adrift in its side of the Yellow Sea, and burned his body, according to the South Korean military. He went missing the previous day while on duty near the western border island of Yeonpyeo

SEJONG -- South Korea's finance ministry said Monday it will allow people to exchange the Korean currency for foreign currency banknotes at convenience stores starting next year, as part of its efforts to ease regulations in the foreign exchange market. Under the move, people can ask banks to exchange the Korean won for foreign bills via smartphone applications, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. They can then get the foreign bills at automated teller machines in convenience s

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it will unveil its new mobile application processor (AP) next week as the South Korean tech titan eyes to sell more non-memory chips to smartphone manufacturers. The Exynos 1080 chipset will be introduced at an event in Shanghai, China, on Nov. 12, according to the company. Samsung has yet to unveil the specifications of the new mobile AP, but sources said it is built on a 5-nanometer process and uses ARM Ltd.'s latest Cortex-A78 central processing unit (C

South Korea's central bank will take measures to stabilize the financial markets in a timely manner when needed as the outcome of the US presidential election could increase market volatility, its head said Monday. Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said that volatility in the financial markets at home and aboard could increase, depending on the outcome of the US election, set for Tuesday, amid concerns about a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in Europe, according to the central bank. "The

South Korea's manufacturing activity entered an expansionary phase for the first time this year in October on increased new orders, a global market researcher said Monday. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) of the country's manufacturing sector stood at 51.2 last month, up 1.4 points from the previous month, according to a survey by IHS Markit. It represents the first time this year for South Korea's PMI, a key measure of factory activity in a country, to surpass the 50-point mark that separ

South Korea's exports of instant noodles and kimchi products rose sharply in the first nine months of the year on the back of rising demand for ready-to-eat meals and healthy foodstuffs amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. Outbound shipments of instant noodles jumped 36.3 percent on-year to $456 million during the January-September period, while those of kimchi jumped 38.5 percent to $109 million over the cited period, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agricult

South Korean biopharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. said Monday it has signed an agreement worth 210 billion won ($185 million) to supply a diagnostic kit for the novel coronavirus in the United States. Under the agreement, Celltrion's rapid antigen kit, Sampinute, will be distributed by Prime Healthcare Distributors in the US The kit was co-developed by local health care firm BBB. Sampinute won an emergency approval by the US Food and Drug Administration for commercialization late last month

Apple Inc. said Monday its electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring app on Apple Watch is now available in South Korea as the US tech giant tries to expand its presence in the wearables market here with upgraded health-related features. Apple said local consumers who have Apple Watch Series 4 or later can use its ECG app through software updates after it recently secured an approval from South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Apple's ECG app records a person's heartbeat and rhythm using se

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said Monday it has started testing an artificial intelligence (AI) program that can detect dementia by listening to patients' speech. The carrier said it partnered with Seoul National University College of Medicine last year to develop the program to allow early diagnosis of the disease. The two will start testing the program at major hospitals and the country's dementia centers this month to improve the program's accuracy. The AI program

The number of companies affiliated with major conglomerates under tight restrictions increased in the August-October period, data showed Monday, as they increased investment in financial or content firms. The total number of affiliates under such restrictions reached 2,325 as of the end of October, up 24 firms from three months earlier, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). Major business groups newly launched or acquired 56 new affiliates, while offloading 32 others. Under South Ko