PARIS -- World No. 1 An Se-young advanced to the semifinals of the women's singles badminton event at the Paris Olympics on Saturday after knocking off her longtime rival from Japan. An, the 2023 world champion, defeated Akane Yamaguchi 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 21-8) in the quarterfinals at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. Yamaguchi was in control of the first game, getting An to move all over the court with some deft shotmaking. Each time An got close, Yamaguchi pulled away with a series of her own w

WASHINGTON -- Former US President Donald Trump has highlighted that he brought back home some people held in North Korea during his presidency, as public attention shifted to a landmark prisoner swap deal that saw the release of 16 people from Russian captivity this week. In an interview with Fox Business on Thursday, Trump called the deal a "win" for Russian President Vladimir Putin, while President Joe Biden and his staff were credited with facilitating what was hailed as the largest

WASHINGTON --US Vice President Kamala Harris has officially earned the necessary number of delegate votes in a virtual voting process to become the Democratic Party's standard-bearer for the Nov. 5 presidential election, the party's national committee chief said Friday. Just a day after online voting kicked off, Harris, the only party candidate, received more than a majority of votes from delegates to become the nation's first woman-of-color presidential nominee as she has been

PARIS -- Kim Min-jong won the silver medal in the heaviest weight class in men's judo at the Paris Olympics on Friday, after falling to French legend Teddy Riner in the final. Kim lost by an ippon (a full point) to Riner in the men's +100-kilogram final at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris. Riner clinched his third Olympic gold medal with a decisive "harai-goshi," or a hip throw, with 16 seconds left in the four-minute battle. Kim's was the second judo medal of Friday for S

PARIS -- Kim Ha-yun earned a bronze medal in women's judo at the Paris Olympics on Friday, after battling her way through the repechage. Kim, world No. 4 in the women's +78 kilograms, defeated third-ranked Kayra Ozdemir of Turkiye in the bronze medal contest at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris. Kim had earlier lost in the quarterfinals but then won a match in the repechage round to reach one of two bronze medal matches. And then Kim defeated Ozdemir by scoring two "waza-ari," o

PARIS --Kim Woo-jin and Lim Si-hyeon joined forces for the mixed team gold medal in archery at the Paris Olympics on Friday, South Korea's third archery gold and seventh gold overall in France. Kim and Lim defeated Germany by the set score of 6-0 at Invalides in the French capital. Kim and Lim had earlier helped the men's and women's teams win gold medals in Paris. They joined sabre fencer Oh Sang-uk as two of three double gold medalists for South Korea here. Kim and Lim will ea

PARIS -- South Korea captured its third archery gold medal of the Paris Olympics on Friday, going a perfect 3-for-3 so far with two more medal events remaining in the sport it has long dominated. A day after getting shut out of medals, South Korea also collected medals in judo and badminton on Friday. In archery, Kim Woo-jin and Lim Si-hyeon were on target for the gold medal in the mixed team event. They defeated Florian Unruh and Michelle Kroppen of Germany by the set score of 6-0. South Kore

President Yoon Suk Yeol will leave for a summer vacation next week, his office said Friday. Yoon is scheduled to go on vacation starting next Monday, but the exact duration or itinerary have not been fixed and remain flexible, an official from the presidential office said. The official added that Yoon may visit a regional military facility to meet and encourage servicemen or a marketplace to inspect people's livelihoods, the official said. Earlier this week, Yoon urged Cabinet members to fu

A court on Friday granted cash-strapped e-commerce platforms Tmon and WeMakePrice one month to seek debt restructuring on their own, after they failed to make payments to their vendors. The decision by the Seoul Bankruptcy Court to allow an autonomous restructuring support program (ARS) for Tmon and WeMakePrice came as the platforms' delayed payments are estimated to reach 274 billion won ($200 million). The total amount is estimated to escalate to nearly 1 trillion won if future payments a

Thailand's top diplomat requested the South Korean government Friday to make it more convenient for Thai travelers to visit, the foreign ministry said, amid reports of negative sentiment within the Southeast Asian country due to Thai travelers being denied entry. The request was made during bilateral talks between South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and his Thai counterpart, Maris Sangiampongsa, in Seoul, the ministry said in a release. Since last year, stricter screening under the ne

Severe heat caused the cancellation of a South Korean baseball game Friday. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said the regular-season game between the LG Twins and the Lotte Giants scheduled in the southeastern city of Ulsan was scrapped due to extreme heat. This marks the first game in the KBO's 42-year history to be canceled because of heat wave. Per KBO regulations, games may be canceled in cities where the highest daily temperature has reached 35 C for at least two consecutive days.

PARIS -- Shin Yu-bin lost to the defending champion Chen Meng in the women's singles semifinals in table tennis at the Paris Olympics on Friday, a result that sent the South Korean to the bronze medal match. Shin, world No. 8, bowed out against the fourth-ranked Chinese 4-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7) at South Paris Arena 4 in the French capital. Shin, 20, is off to the bronze medal match on Saturday. She will face the loser of the other semifinal match set for Friday, between Sun Yingsha of C

Seoul shares tumbled by more than 3.5 percent on Friday as data fueled concerns over the US economy despite the Federal Reserve's rate-cut signals. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plummeted 101.49 points, or 3.65 percent, to close at 2,676.19. The KOSPI has fallen 2 percent this week. Trade volume was heavy at 523.78 million shares worth 12.87 trillion won ($9.38 billion), with decliners far outnumbering gainers 868 to 58. I

South Korea's inflation picked up pace in July on high prices of fruits and petroleum products, though it stayed below 3 percent for the fourth consecutive month, data showed Friday. Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 2.6 percent on-year last month, compared with a 2.4 percent increase a month earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It was the first time in six months that the price growth accelerated. In January, inflation slowed to 2.8 percent, dropping below 3

South Korea's inflation picked up pace in July on high prices of fruits and petroleum products, though it stayed below 3 percent for the fourth consecutive month, data showed Friday. Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 2.6 percent on-year last month, compared with a 2.4 percent increase a month earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It was the first time in six months that the price growth accelerated. In January, inflation slowed to 2.8 percent, dropping below 3

Seoul shares opened sharply lower Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, as disappointing US economic data raised concerns over an economic slowdown despite the Fed's rate-cut signals. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 68.48 points, or 2.47 percent, to 2,709.20 in the first 15 minutes of trading. US data showed unemployment claims hit the highest in almost a year and manufacturing shrank. The monthly employment data is set to be released Friday. The Fed signale

A State Department spokesperson on Thursday criticized North Korea's sending of trash-carrying balloons to South Korea as a "reckless" and "destabilizing" act amid growing concerns about their impact on public safety in the South. Vedant Patel, the department's deputy spokesperson, made the comment as the North's balloons have been found in more than 3,300 locations in the South in recent months, including the presidential office in Seoul and Incheon Internatio

Im Ae-ji has secured South Korea's first Olympic boxing medal in 12 years. Im defeated Yeni Arias of Colombia in a 3-2 decision in the quarterfinals of the women's 54-kilogram boxing event at the Paris Olympics on Thursday at North Paris Arena. By advancing to the semifinals, Im has assured herself of at least a bronze medal. There will be no third-place bout in boxing, and the two losers of the semifinals will each receive a bronze medal. It will be South Korea's first boxing med

PARIS -- Three South Korean doubles teams were knocked out of medal contention at the Paris Olympics on Thursday with losses in the quarterfinals. In the men's doubles quarters, Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae, the 2023 world champions, lost to Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark 2-0 (21-19, 22-20) at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. Kang and Seo had defeated the same Dane team for their world title last year, but couldn't get past them this time after a back-and-forth batt

Samsung Electronics Co.'s labor union instructed its striking members Thursday to return to work by early next week, but made it clear the strike will continue for the long haul. The National Samsung Electronics Union, the largest labor union of the South Korean tech giant, made the announcement on its YouTube channel, calling on its 31,000 members to go back to work, effective immediately, and by next Monday to shift the fight to "a long-term plan." "We need a transition o