South Korea's exports rose 18.8 percent on-year in the first 20 days of July, data showed Monday, on the back of the robust performance of chips and cars. Outbound shipments reached $37.17 billion in the July 1-20 period, compared with $31.2 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports grew 14.2 percent on-year to $37.2 billion during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $50 million. By sector, outbound shipments of semiconductors jump

US President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race Sunday as his poor debate performance last month exacerbated concerns about his old age and touched off unrelenting calls to end his reelection campaign. Biden, 81, made the announcement, bowing to mounting pressure from Democratic lawmakers, donors and voters. He officially endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic Party's nominee to take on former President Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 general election. It is u

The presidential office held an emergency meeting Sunday to assess the damage caused by recent downpours and decided to establish an inter-agency headquarters to prevent further damage from additional heavy rain or typhoon forecast next week. The government also plans to promptly carry out emergency repairs to damaged facilities by providing special grants and operating emergency recovery teams, according to Jeong Hye-jeon, the presidential spokesperson, during a press briefing. Last week, Presi

FONTAINEBLEAU, France -- South Korea announced Sunday high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok and swimmer Kim Seo-yeong will be its flag bearers at the opening ceremony for the Paris Summer Olympics. Lee Kee-heung, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, made the announcement during an open house event at the South Korean training camp at the National Sports Center for Defense (CNSD) in Fontainebleau, about 60 kilometers south of the French capital. The opening ceremony is scheduled for Frid

South Korea's main delegation for the Paris Olympics has landed in the French capital for the upcoming competition, with sights set on exceeding its modest medal projection A team of 30 athletes and 18 officials from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on Saturday night after more than 14 hours of travel from South Korea. Gu Bon-gil, two-time Olympic champion in the men's sabre fencing, carried the national flag, Taegeukgi, to lead the de

North Korea has again launched balloons presumed to be carrying trash toward South Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Sunday, just three days after a similar launch. The JCS said the balloons appeared to be traveling toward the northern part of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul and advised the public not to touch fallen balloons and to report them to the military or police. With the latest launch, North Korea has sent more than 2,000 trash-filled balloons into the South over nine occasio

Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk was reelected the chief of the minor Rebuilding Korea Party on Saturday, officials said. Cho won his second term after winning 99.9 percent approval from party members during a convention held in the city of Suwon, south of Seoul, as he was the only candidate running for party leader. Cho formed the party in March, one month ahead of the general elections on April 10, and had led the party until earlier this month when he resigned to run for reelection. His party

South Korea's main delegation for the Paris Olympics left for the French capital Saturday as it began the quest for a solid performance at the quadrennial competition. Forty athletes, along with 18 officials of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC), flew to Paris on the day as part of the country's delegation of 143 athletes from 21 sports and 117 officials. Athletes for a few sports, including swimming, archery, judo and artistic gymnastics, left for Paris earlier this week.

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), won a primary on Jeju Island for party leader Saturday, as he eyes to secure a second term. In June, Lee resigned to run for reelection as the current party rule stipulates the party chair must resign from his leadership position to be eligible as a candidate. During Saturday's primary, the first of the 15-leg race across the country, Lee won 82.5 percent of all ballots cast by registered party members on the is

South Korea's military on Saturday continued to send propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea in response to the North's repeated launch of trash-carrying balloons across the border, sources said. The anti-Pyongyang broadcasts started from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., the sources said. The South Korean military had warned it could increase the number of loudspeakers and switch to a full-scale broadcast if the North stages further provocations, including sending trash balloons across

The sports ministry said Friday it has launched an investigation into the national football governing body over possible irregularities during its recent hiring of the new men's national team head coach. An official with the ministry said the audit on the Korea Football Association (KFA) essentially began Thursday when Jang Mi-ran, the second vice minister, broached the subject during her media availability. After meeting Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, at the

The ruling and main opposition parties clashed Friday as a parliamentary committee held its first hearing to address an online petition demanding the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol. The hearing, which focused on allegations that Yoon interfered in a probe into the death of a young Marine surnamed Chae, was marred by physical scuffles and yelling as the ruling People Power Party (PPP) staged a rally outside of the meeting room. Rep. Jeon Hyun-heui of the main opposition Democratic Party (

Some low-cost airlines and game companies in South Korea saw problems with booking or experienced interruptions in their servers Friday, industry sources said, in an apparent IT disruption that affected the global airline and financial sectors. The cyber outage affected the airport ticketing of Jeju Air Co., Eastar Jet Co. and Air Premia Inc., prompting employees to conduct check-ins by hand, according to sources. The three airlines use computer systems based on Microsoft's cloud service, t

Seoul shares fell for the third straight session Friday in line with overnight losses on Wall Street. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) tumbled 28.89 points, or 1.02 percent, to close at 2,795.46. Trade volume was slightly moderate at 417.9 million shares worth 9.4 trillion won (US$6.78 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 574 to 302. Institutions and foreign investors dumped local shares worth a combined 781.2 billion

A parliamentary committee is set to hold a hearing Friday to address an online petition demanding the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, focusing on allegations of his interference in a probe into a young soldier's death. The National Legislation and Judiciary Committee will review the petition urging the National Assembly to propose a bill to impeach Yoon citing five reasons, including his alleged influence on the military's investigation into the Marine's death, and first l

South Korea will operate its largest-ever "Korea House" during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics to promote its culture and serve as a support base for its athletes, the culture ministry said Friday. Co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Sports and Olympic Committee, the facility will run from July 25 to Aug. 11 at Maison de la Chimie (House of Chemistry), an international conference center in the heart of Paris. The Korea House has been a tradition since

A bilateral double taxation avoidance treaty between South Korea and Turkey was to come into force next week, Seoul's finance ministry said Friday. The revised convention, set to take effect Sunday, sets the maximum rate of withholding tax in the source country on income payments at 15 percent, compared with the current 20 percent, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The revision aims at easing the tax burden on companies doing business in the other country, and better prevent

Seoul shares got off to a weak start Friday on overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 23.81 points, or 0.84 percent, to 2,800.54 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, Wall Street shares tumbled as a weeklong decline in tech and chip stocks expanded to other blue chips. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite dropped 0.78 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1.29 percent. In Seoul, most blue chips

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has discussed the "importance and necessity" of military cooperation with Russia's vice defense minister, state media reported Friday, amid Pyongyang's deepening military alignment with Moscow. Kim met with a Russian military delegation, headed by Aleksey Krivoruchko in Pyongyang on Thursday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). He has become the first known ranking Russian military official to visit North Korea since Russian Pre

South Korea's military conducted propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea in response to its latest launch of trash-carrying balloons into the South, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday. The broadcasts took place from Thursday evening to early Friday in areas near where the balloons were launched, the JCS said in a notice to reporters. It did not provide further details. "The military's response going forward will fully depend on North Korea's actions," the