SEJONG -- South Korea's finance minister said Friday that the government plans to introduce multiple voting rights for non-listed venture startups to help shareholders strengthen their control over companies. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the scheme is aimed at encouraging venture startups to get major investment deals, while defending companies against hostile takeovers. The scheme could allow one stock to give 10 votes if a non-listed venture startup faces a hostile takeover. However

Major South Korean lender Woori Bank said Friday it has issued AU$400 million ($283 million) in bonds in Australia as part of efforts to help coronavirus-hit South Korean firms and finance eco-friendly projects. The three-year "Kangaroo" bonds come in two tranches -- floating-rate bonds worth AU$250 million and fixed-rate debt worth AU$150 million, the lender said. The floating-rate bonds carry an interest rate of 0.72 percentage point above the Australian bank bill swap rate, with t

도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령은 15일(현지시간) 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나19)에 걸리는 바람에 자신의 폐가 약간 감염된 사실을 인정했다. 트럼프 대통령은 이날 플로리다주 마이애미에서 NBC방송과 한 타운홀 행사에서 자신이 코로나19 치료를 위해 입원했을 때 의사들이 자신의 폐가 "약간 감염됐다"고 판정한 사실을 인정했다고 AP통신이 보도했다. 그는 지난달 29일 민주당 조 바이든 대선 후보와의 첫 대선 TV토론 때 코로나19 검사를 받았는지를 묻는 말에 "모르겠다. 기억이 나지 않는다"고 말했다. 트럼프 대통령은 검사 여부를 재차 묻자 "아마 했을 수도, 안 했을 수도 있다"고 말했다. AP통신은 트럼프 대통령이 사전 검사 질문을 회피했다고 평가했다. 트럼프 대통령은 이후 목요일 밤(지난 1일)에 양성 판정을 받았다며 "그것이 내가 처음 (감염 사실을) 알게 된 때"라고 말했다. 트럼프 대통령은

WASHINGTON -- Asian American voters, including Pacific Islanders, will play a major role in determining who will win in many of the most closely contested states of the upcoming US presidential election, a group of supporters for Democratic candidate Joe Biden said Thursday. They said the number of registered Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters more than doubled over the last decade, making them the fastest growing block of voters in the US. "There are over 11 million eligib

The Bank of Korea (BOK) will maintain a soft monetary policy to bolster the recovery of the South Korean economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the top central banker said Friday. "The BOK will keep its monetary policy accommodative to help the domestic economy bounce back," BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said at the start of an annual parliamentary audit of the central bank. In the process, the BOK will keep close tabs on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economies and financial

The upcoming special album by K-pop boy band Seventeen has scored more than 1 million preorders ahead of its release next week, the group's management agency said Friday. "Presales of 'Semicolon' topped 1.1 million as of Friday," Pledis Entertainment said. "It is expected to become its second million-seller album, following the previous 'Heng:garae.'" The 13-member band will release its new special album "Semicolon" on Monday, along with the music video of its tit

Choi Ji-man delivered a key home run for the Tampa Bay Rays in a postseason losing cause, as the American League Championship Series (ALCS) got extended by another game. Choi belted a game-tying solo home run in the top eighth against the Houston Astros in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series at Petco Park in San Diego on Thursday (local time), only to see the Astros walk it off for a 4-3 victory in the bottom ninth on Carlos Correa's solo shot. Choi went 2-for-2 with two walks, but the Rays hav

South Korea's foreign ministry said Friday it will extend its special travel advisory again for all countries and territories amid the continued spread of the new coronavirus. The latest measure, which recommends citizens cancel or postpone their overseas travel plans, will remain in place until Nov. 17. The current advisory, issued for the third time Sept. 19, is set to expire Sunday. "The extension this time comes in consideration of the continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across

SEJONG -- Economic recovery has shown signs of delay due to a resurgence in new coronavirus infections in mid-August, but the pace of decline in exports eased, the finance ministry said Friday. In a monthly economic report, called the "Green Book," the Ministry of Economy and Finance also flagged the economy's continuing uncertainty stemming from the virus resurgence. "Indicators of domestic consumption and employment took a turn for the worse because of a resurgence in COVID-1

Samsung Electronics Co. dominated the 5G smartphone market in Western Europe in the first half of the year, a report showed Friday, but its market share is likely to decline in the second half as Apple Inc.'s first 5G-supporting handset, the iPhone 12, will go on sale. Samsung captured an 88 percent market share of all 5G smartphones shipped in Western Europe in the first six months of the year, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. "Samsung today is the clear 5G leader acr

US Forces Korea (USFK) said Friday it has informed its South Korean employees of a potential furlough amid little progress in negotiations between Seoul and Washington over how to share the burden for the upkeep of American troops stationed here. On Oct. 5, USFK sent the notice to its Korean Employees Union and Seoul's labor ministry about a furlough that could possibly occur in April next year in case the two allies fail to reach an agreement on their defense cost-sharing deal, it said. The n

South Korean shares opened lower Friday as a resurgence of the new coronavirus could dampen hopes of a global economic recovery. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 0.3 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,360.91 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks traded bearish after the KOSPI lost for a third consecutive day the previous session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went down 0.07 percent, to close at 28,494.2 on Thursday (New York time), with the Nasdaq Composite and

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell sharply Friday, but health authorities are staying vigilant over possible cluster infections amid an eased social distancing scheme. The country added 47 COVID-19 cases, including 41 domestic infections, raising the total caseload to 25,035, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily figure dropped sharply from 110 a day earlier when the country reported a new cluster infection at a nursing home in the southea

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said Friday it will spin off its mobility platform business into a separate entity as it partners with US ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. in a move to strengthen its focus in the connected mobility sector. The business -- tentatively called T map Mobility Co. -- will be wholly owned by SK Telecom and become a separate company on Dec. 29, the mobile carrier said in a regulatory filing. In a joint statement with Uber, SK Telecom s

WASHINGTON -- There exists no difference of opinion between South Korea and the United States on the need to formally end the Korean War as part of the process to denuclearize North Korea, South Korea's national security adviser said, adding it is "common sense" that the two issues go together. Suh Hoon, director of South Korea's National Security Office, said the only issue was when a declaration of the war's end could or should be made. "The issue of declaring the war's end is

SEJONG-- South Korea lost about 392,000 jobs in September, marking a decline in the number of the employed for the seventh consecutive month, as the coronavirus pandemic hammered job markets, data showed Friday. The country's jobless rate rose by 0.5 percentage point on-year to 3.6 percent in September, with the number of employed people falling to 27.01 million, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the longest fall since the eight months of decline posted in 2009 ami

  Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, will get its first five-star hotel with a global brand in Pyeongtaek by 2022, the city government announced on Thursday. According to the municipality of Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of Seoul, the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), a global hotel company, plans to build a voco hotel with more than 250 rooms near a United States military base in the city by December 2022. Voco is a luxury brand owned by IHG. The municipality said it h

A new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) that North Korea unveiled last week is believed to be labeled "Pukguksong-4ㅅ," featuring a Korean letter, not "Pukguksong-4A," which indicates that it is a sea-based system. On Saturday, the communist country unveiled a new SLBM during a massive military parade held in Pyongyang to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of its Workers' Party, along with a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and other advanced con

The percentage of South Koreans with a good impression of Japan dropped sharply this year compared with a year earlier, a survey showed Thursday, reflecting a chill in bilateral relations. The percentage of South Koreans with a favorable view of the neighboring country dropped by 19.4 percentage points to 12.3 percent this year, according to the annual survey jointly conducted by the East Asia Institute (EAI) and Genron NPO.    Of the 1,000 respondents, South Koreans with a ne

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun met with the new European Union (EU) ambassador to South Korea on Thursday and discussed bilateral ties and other issues of mutual concern, the foreign ministry said. During the meeting with Maria Castillo Fernandez, Choi expressed hope that the strategic partnership between Seoul and the 27-member economic bloc will develop further by expanding high-level exchanges in various fields, such as transportation, trade and climate change. Castillo Fernande