Seoul shares closed lower Friday as investors took profit following strong gains in recent sessions despite overnight success on Wall Street. The local currency rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index slipped 0.82 percent, or 21.79 points, to 2,649.78. Trading volume was moderate at 402.1 million shares worth 11.4 trillion won ($8.65 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 457 to 414. Institutions dumped a net 421.6 billion won worth of local shares, while

The government plans to invest 3.3 trillion won ($2.5 billion) of its health insurance funding annually over the next five years to reform tertiary care hospitals to better prioritize the treatment of critically ill patients, the interior minister said Friday. Minister Lee Sang-min made the remarks during a government meeting in response to ongoing walkouts by medical doctors protesting the government's medical reform, which includes a significant increase in the nationwide medical school a

Only 143 out of about 3,000 juvenile offenders found guilty of sexual crimes last year were sent to youth correction facilities, with a majority of them getting lighter punishment, Supreme Court data showed Friday. According to the Supreme Court's 2024 judicial almanac, a total of 3,701 teenagers were tried for sexual offenses last year and 2,963 of them were found liable for their crimes and given "protective dispositions" designed for reformation. Of those found guilty, only 4.8

Seoul shares opened slightly higher Friday, as chip shares gained traction bolstered by overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.04 percent, or 1.03 points, to 2,672.6 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, major US indexes gained ground thanks to the surprise earnings result of Micron Technology lifting artificial intelligence-related shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.62 percent, the S&P 500 increased 0.4 percent, and the t

South Korea's business sentiment dipped for the third consecutive month in August amid dim prospects for the US economy and other major economies, a central bank poll showed Friday. Local companies' business sentiment index (BSI) stood at 91.2 this month, down from 95.1 the previous month following the 92.5 in July, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea. The index measures corporate prospects for business conditions. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. The

A former US national security advisor stressed the need Thursday for South Korea to increase its defense spending to 3 percent or 3.5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), as Seoul and Washington are in negotiations over a defense cost-sharing deal. Robert O'Brien, who served as national security advisor for former President Donald Trump from 2019-2021, made the remarks, as South Korea and the United States are holding their eighth round of negotiations in Seoul this week to determin

The defending South Korean baseball champions LG Twins broke the single-season attendance record Thursday. The Twins drew 21,593 fans for their home game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Thursday. With that, the Twins reached 1,397,499 fans for the season, surpassing the previous record of 1,380,018 fans drawn by the Lotte Giants in 2009. The Twins lead the 10-team Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in attendance this season. They are one of six teams to have attra

US President Joe Biden announced more than $8 billion in military assistance for Ukraine on Thursday to help Kyiv "win this war" against Russian invaders, using a visit by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to make a major commitment. The aid includes the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 81 miles. The medium-range missile gives Ukraine a major upgrade to the weapons it is using to strike Russian forces, allowing the Ukra

LG Display Co., a major flat screen supplier, said Thursday it has sold its facilities in China to a subsidiary of Chinese tech giant TCL Group for 2 trillion won (US$1.5 billion) as part of its business reorganizing effort. In a regulatory filing, the company said it has signed an agreement to transfer its stake in its liquid-crystal display (LCD) panel and module factories in Guangzhou, China, to China Star Optoelectronics Technology, following approval from its board of directors. The deal is

All six contentious bills vetoed by President Yoon Suk Yeol were automatically scrapped Thursday, failing to pass a parliamentary revote. The National Assembly voted down four broadcasting bills, aimed at reducing the government's clout over public broadcasters, as well as a bill on providing cash handouts to the entire population and the so-called "yellow envelope" pro-labor bill, during a plenary session. The bills were ultimately scrapped as they failed to gain the two-thirds s

Seoul shares ended nearly 3 percent higher Thursday as tech stocks advanced, with hopes for additional rate cuts by the Federal Reserve lifting investor sentiment. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index jumped 2.9 percent, or 75.25 points, to 2,571.57. Trading volume was moderate at 317.46 million shares worth 11.4 trillion won ($8.6 billion), with gainers far outnumbering winners 747 to 140. Overnight, US stocks ended mixed. The Dow Jones Indu

South Korea's financial system remains relatively stable, but rising household debt and home prices may increase potential financial instability, a central bank report showed. In its report on financial stability, the Bank of Korea said there are high expectations about monetary easing as household debts and home prices do not show signs of drastically slowing down. The central bank warned of high chances of financial imbalance growing due to a rise in home prices and household debts. The a

The country's top financial watchdog warned against illegal transactions of virtual assets, calling on cryptocurrency exchanges and other virtual asset firms to strictly follow rules. The warning came about two months after the country enacted the new Virtual Asset Users Protection Act, allowing the maximum penalty of life imprisonment for financial gains of more than 5 billion won ($3.75 million) through illegal transactions of virtual assets. "The financial government will continue t

Seoul shares opened higher, backed by a rally in tech shares, after a mixed close on Wall Street, on hopes for additional US rate cuts. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 1.83 percent, or 47.60 points, to 2,643.92 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7 percent to 41,914.75, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.04 percent to 18,082.21. On Wednesday, a Federal Reserve official said it will be appropriate for the US central b

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul on Wednesday pointed out "limitations" of the UN Security Council in effectively addressing pressing security issues, citing North Korea's transfers of weapons to Russia in breach of relevant UNSC resolutions. Cho made the remarks during a UNSC open debate on the leadership for peace, where high-level participants discussed a range of issues, including Russia's war in Ukraine, instability in the Middle East, and the civil war in Sudan

Roughly two in three Asian American voters support Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris over her Republican rival Donald Trump, a recent survey showed, amid expectations over the role of the rapidly growing voting bloc in the Nov. 5 general election. APIAVote, a nonpartisan organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, and AAPI Data, a research entity, released the outcome of the survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the Universi

DPA -- Same-sex marriage will be legal in Thailand from January after Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn signed the law on Tuesday, making the country the first in South-East Asia to legalize it. The upper and lower houses of the Thai parliament had already passed the legislation months ago, both with large majorities. Now that the king has signed the law, it will enter into force in 120 days. While Thailand is the first country in South-East Asia to allow for same-sex marriage, it is the third in al

Cho Jun-hyuk, a former lawmaker of the predecessor of the ruling People Power Party, was chosen Wednesday as the conservative bloc's single candidate for the Oct. 16 by-election for Seoul's education chief. The conservative bloc's candidacy merger committee said Cho defeated two other right-leaning candidates in a public opinion poll conducted last Saturday. Educator Ahn Yang-ok and Korea University professor Hong Hoo-jo previously raised objections to the method of electing a sin

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) slashed the growth outlook for the South Korean economy to 2.5 percent this year, Seoul's finance ministry said Wednesday. The latest figure marked a 0.1 percentage point fall from its projection presented in May and is on a par with the forecasts by the International Monetary Fund. The South Korean government expected a 2.6 percent expansion, and the Bank of Korea (BOK) forecast a 2.4 percent growth this year. "Growth is

The presidential office has declined to respond to a court-approved query on whether President Yoon Suk Yeol had made remarks last year accused of interfering with a probe over a young Marine's death. Earlier this month, the court martial in central Seoul accepted Col. Park Jung-hun's request to inquire whether Yoon had made remarks opposing the booking of Maj. Gen. Im Sung-keun over the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who served in Im's unit, during a search mission for victims of he