Soldiers and equipment of a US armored brigade combat team have started to arrive in South Korea for a rotational deployment, the US military said Thursday. Tracked vehicles and other equipment of the Raider Brigade, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division, began arriving in the southeastern city of Busan from Fort Stewart, Georgia, according to the Eighth Army. The arriving brigade is replacing the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division on a nine-mon

Two American service members have tested positive for the new coronavirus upon arrival in South Korea from the United States this month, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday. They arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on US government chartered flights from the US, USFK said, adding that one individual tested positive on his first mandatory COVID-19 test prior to entering quarantine, and the other was confirmed to have been infected on the second test required to exit quar

The UN special rapporteur on North Korea's human rights situation has urged Pyongyang to punish those responsible for the killing of a South Korean fisheries official, compensate the official's family and ensure no such incident happens again. Tomas Ojea Quintana made the appeal, denouncing the killing as a "violation of international human rights law" in his latest report on the North's human rights situation. The document was released by the UN human rights office in Seoul, and Qui

South Korean stocks dipped for a third consecutive session Thursday as spreading new coronavirus infections and the deadlocked US fiscal stimulus weighed heavily on the local financial markets. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 19.27 points, or 0.81 percent, to close at 2,361.21. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 12.8 trillion won ($11.2 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 583 to 279.

Launching an internal task force handling diplomatic and security issues in light of the upcoming US presidential election, the head of the ruling party Thursday proposed dispatching a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers to Washington following the election. "With the American presidential election just three weeks away, (efforts for) intensifying the Korea-US relationship and building peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula should continue ceaselessly, no matter who wins," DP Cha

The top court on Thursday upheld a one-year prison term for a former chief of staff to ex-President Park Geun-hye, who was indicted on charges of abusing his power to illegally support conservative groups. Kim Ki-choon, who served as Park's chief of staff from 2013-2015, is accused of pressuring the Federation of Korean Industries, a business lobby group, into getting firms to provide 2.4 billion won ($2.1 million) to 21 organizations favorable to the administration at the time. The organizati

The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed a one-year prison sentence for the former boyfriend of late K-pop star Goo Ha-ra, who was convicted on charges of assault and blackmail toward the late singer. The nation's top court found Choi Jong-bum, 29, guilty on charges of assault and blackmail, maintaining the lower court's earlier one-year jail sentence. On the charge of illicit photographing, the court found Choi not guilty, in line with earlier sentences. Choi was indicted in November 2018 on c

The South Korean economy is expected to fare better than other countries over the next two years, but it will be in a deep recession amid the coronavirus pandemic, an economist at ratings agency S&P Global Ratings said Thursday. Shaun Roache, chief economist on the Asia-Pacific region at S&P, said South Korea's central bank is expected to keep its policy rate low at least throughout 2023 to prop up the economic recovery. "Korea is one of the best performing economies in the world.

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans inched higher in August from the prior month but remained stable, the financial watchdog said Thursday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.38 percent at the end of August, up 0.02 percentage point from July, according the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, however, the bank loan delinquency rate was down 0.13 percentage point. "Despite a slight on-month increase, b

ICHEON -- South Korean LPGA star Ko Jin-young has managed to stay at the top of the world rankings despite skipping all three major championships so far in the coronavirus-interrupted season. The two-time major winner says, though, she doesn't regret her decision to stay home during the pandemic and not play in those big events. "Given that health and safety are the most important things, this was an unavoidable choice," Ko said Thursday before her first round at the KB Financial Gro

SEJONG -- The number of people aged 65 or older in South Korea is expected to account for 30 percent of the population in 2035, a report showed Thursday, highlighting concerns that the fast-aging demographic transition could pose a drag on the country's economy. According to the report by Statistics Korea, the number of people aged 65 or older stood at 8.03 million this year, accounting for 16.1 percent of the nation's population. The South Korean population is projected to peak in 2028 before

South Korea's money supply continued to grow at a fast clip in August as household and corporate lending grew amid a long streak of low rates and the new coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Thursday. The country's M2 stood at 3,101.6 trillion won ($2.71 trillion) as of end-August, up 9.5 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It decelerated from a 10 percent on-year gain in July when the money supply grew at the fastest pace in nearl

K-pop boy band BTS won the Top Social Artist award at this year's Billboard Music Awards (BBMA), their fourth consecutive victory in the category. At the award event held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles without spectators on Wednesday (US time), the septet beat Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande, as well as fellow K-pop acts EXO and GOT7. BTS has won the fan-voted Top Social Artist category since 2017. The group thanked its global fanbase, called "Army," for helping it earn the awa

Foreign investors extended a net sale of South Korean securities funds for the second straight month in September, led by an expansion in net offloading of stock funds, the central bank said Thursday. Foreigners offloaded a net $2.09 billion worth of local stocks and bonds last month, larger than a net sale of $220 million in August, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Foreign investors sold a net $2.08 billion worth of stocks last month on a one-off factor, higher than a net sale of $890 mi

The Supreme Court opened a case on Thursday on a state-run facility for vagrants, 31 years after its owner was acquitted of illegal confinement charges. The court held a hearing for Park In-keun, the late owner of the Brothers Home facility in the southern port city of Busan, which confined and enslaved thousands of innocent people, including children, for forced labor from 1975 to 1987. Park was found not guilty by the top court in 1989 of illegal confinement of the facility's inmates, who we

The resumption of a civilian tour program to the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom is likely to be announced as early as next week, a unification ministry official said Thursday. Since September last year, tours to the Joint Security Area (JSA) and other sites inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) have been suspended as part of an effort to stem the spread of the highly contagious African swine fever. "We are in the final stages of coordinating the resumption of the Panmunjom tour am

LG Electronics Inc., a major home appliance maker in South Korea, on Thursday said it has named Formula One star Lewis Hamilton as a brand ambassador for its luxury line of premium products. LG said Hamilton will promote the LG Signature brand, which the company uses for its high-end products. Hamilton, a six-time Formula One world champion, is considered one of the best racing drivers in the history of the sport. The 35-year-old Brit recently drew level with Michael Schumacher's record of 9

Top national security officials of South Korea and the United States held talks in Washington, DC this week and reaffirmed that their alliance remains robust, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday. Suh Hoon, director of national security at the presidential office, arrived in the US on Tuesday (local time) for his first trip to the US since assuming the post in July. He met with his White House counterpart Robert O'Brien the following day for discussions on issues of mutual concern, including recent Kor

At least four school teachers were under investigation for allegedly downloading illegal child pornography produced by the group behind the infamous Telegram sexual exploitation case that unsettled the nation earlier this year, a lawmaker said Thursday. According to Rep. Lee Tahn-ey of the ruling Democratic Party, three regular school teachers and a contract-based teacher from Incheon and the provinces of South Chungcheong and Gangwon have been probed by law enforcement as part of the larger so

North Korea has upgraded its surface-to-air weapons to augment its air power considered way weaker than that of South Korea, the South's Air Force chief said Thursday, vowing to boost missile defense capabilities against the North's nuclear and missile threats. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Seong-yong made the remark during a parliamentary audit session, saying around 10 new weapons have been identified from the North's military parade held last week. "We are analyzing the newly iden