Renault Samsung Motors Corp. said Monday its sales fell 28.6 percent last month from a year earlier due to weak domestic demand. The South Korean unit of Renault S.A. sold 9,344 vehicles in April, down from 13,087 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales tumbled 50.4 percent on-year to 5,446 units last month, while exports jumped 87.2 percent to 3,878 units over the cited period, XM3 the company said. French automaker Renault holds an 81 percent stake in Renault S

SsangYong Motor Co. said Monday its sales fell 36 percent last month from a year earlier due mainly to lower demand at home amid the extended COVID-19 pandemic. SsangYong Motor sold 4,351 vehicles in April, down from 6,813 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Exports rose 30 percent to 1,033 units last month from 796 a year ago, but domestic sales declined 45 percent to 3,318 units from 6,017 during the cited period, it said. From January to April, sales also fell 26 percent

The immigrant film "Minari" has become the third movie to attract over 1 million viewers in South Korea this year, enjoying a post-award season bump on supporting actress Youn Yuh-jung's historic Oscar victory, data showed Monday. The US drama film about a first-generation Korean American family struggling to build a new life in rural Arkansas sold more than 23,900 tickets Saturday, bringing its combined total to over 1 million, according to the data from the Korean Film Council (KOFI

A government task force said Monday it has sought a warrant for the arrest of a retired senior government official who is suspected of land speculation. Nam Gu-jun, the task force chief, told reporters the request was sent to the prosecution on Friday as part of his team's ongoing probe into allegations of property speculation by public officials. "We decided this is a case that calls for a warrant. We'll have to wait for the decision of the prosecution and the court," Nam, who is al

Lee Jae-young, vice chairman of global tech titan Samsung Electronics Co., has emerged as South Korea's richest stockholder following inheriting stocks from his late father, a corporate tracker said Monday. Lee's mother and his two sisters also ranked second to fourth, with Kim Beom-su, founder and chief of South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp, dropping to fifth, according to CXO Institute. The value of Lee's stock holdings stood at 15.62 trillion won ($14 billion) as of Frid

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Monday that it has signed a 209.9 billion won ($187.6 million) deal to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier. Under the deal with a European company, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co, a unit of KSOE, will build and deliver the vessel by October 2023, KSOE said in a regulatory filing. The shipbuilder did not reveal the namer of the buyer. KSOE has three shipbuilding subsidiaries -- Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Hyundai Samho

Football star Ki Sung-yueng has been summoned by police and questioned on charges of illegally buying and using farmland in the southwestern city Gwangju, police said Monday. Ki, the captain of FC Seoul in the K League 1, was grilled as a suspect by investigators at the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency for three hours, beginning at 2 p.m. on Sunday, the police agency said. Ki and his father, Ki Young-ok, have been booked without detention on charges of violating the Agricultural Land Act and

Badminton star Lee Yong-dae has been confirmed to be infected with COVID-19, his team said Monday. The 32-year-old player tested positive for the new coronavirus on April 23 and entered a quarantine facility, according to the Yonex badminton team. Lee was discharged Monday because he showed no symptoms. He is self-isolating at home and will take a test again this week, Yonex said. He took a test on April 22 after a person who he ate together with tested positive, team officials said. The le

South Korea's police chief has ordered a swift and thorough probe into a North Korean defector group's alleged sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the North last week, police officials said Monday. Commissioner General Kim Chang-yong gave the order to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Sunday, hours after the North Korean regime threatened "corresponding action" in response to the "intolerable provocation." "I ask you to strictly handle the sending of anti-No

Three South Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery makers accounted for 31 percent of the global market in the first quarter, but their share has slipped since last year in the face of toughening competition with Chinese rivals, a market research firm said Monday. The trio -- LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK Innovation Co. -- supplied a combined 47.8 gigawatt-hour (GWh) equivalents of EV batteries in the January-March period, up 127 percent from a year earlier, according to the dat

South Korea's financial regulator said Monday the country will take stern actions against illegal activities involving stock short selling as it allowed a partial resumption of short selling after a 14-month ban. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) partially lifted its ban on short selling of some listed stocks after it imposed a six-month ban on the trading strategy in March last year and later extended it to ease market routs caused by the pandemic. Short selling is a trading strategy in

The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States are set to hold bilateral talks on the margins of a Group of Seven (G7) meeting in London on Monday, officials said, with their agenda likely to include a coordinated strategy on North Korea. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, are scheduled to meet at 10:30 a.m. (London time) while they are in the British capital to attend the gathering of G7 foreign and development ministers, which will last through Wed

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min has tied his European single-season career high with 21 goals. In a Premier League match against Sheffield United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday (local time), the South Korean star netted a goal to help his team get a comfortable 4-0 victory. It is Son's 16th goal of the 2020-2021 Premier League season, placing him third on the Premier League's top scorer list, following his teammate Harry Kane with a leading 21 goals and Mohamed Salah of Liv

South Korea was to hold a launching ceremony Monday for a new 2,800-ton frigate with improved anti-submarine capabilities, the Navy said. The new warship Daejeon is the fifth of the country's FFX Batch II frigates to replace the Navy's 1,500-ton frigates and 1,000-ton patrol combat corvettes, according to the military. The ceremony was to be held at its manufacturer Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co.'s Okpo shipyard on the southern island of Geoje, with the attendance of Chief o

FC Seoul defender Hwang Hyun-soo has been diagnosed with COVID-19, the K League 1 club said Monday. The 26-year-old was given a positive coronavirus test result Sunday afternoon after an acquaintance he met six days prior tested positive for the virus, the club said. Hwang learned of the infection of his acquaintance Saturday afternoon and immediately reported it to his club, which relayed the news to the Korea Professional Football League (K League). All other FC Seoul players and coaches te

South Korea's key stock index opened lower Monday after a four-session losing streak, as investors took to the sidelines on the first day of partially resumed short selling. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 5.07 points, or 0.16 percent, to 3,142.79 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Beginning Monday, the country's financial authorities lifted short selling ban on 200 market heavyweights on the main bourse and 150 companies on the tech-laden Kosdaq market. I

South Korea's industrial output index hit a record high in the first quarter as Asia's fourth-largest economy is recovering from pandemic-driven slumps, supported by robust exports, data showed Monday. The index gauging industrial production came to 111.2 in the January-March period, up 1.7 percent from 109.3 three months earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The reading marked the highest since the first quarter of 2000, when the statistics agency began compiling related data.

The defense ministry on Monday extended the current social distancing rules for the military for three weeks, which allow service members to take vacation in a limited manner. The Level 2 scheme, which was supposed to expire Sunday, will be in place until May 23 in line with the government's COVID-19 guidance, according to the ministry. It is the third-highest level in the five-tier alert system. Under the scheme, troops are allowed to go on vacation while strictly adhering to antivirus measur

President Moon Jae-in's approval rating has fallen to the lowest point since the start of his tenure in 2017, a new poll showed Monday. Just 33 percent of South Koreans approve of his leadership, while 62.6 percent disapprove, according to a survey by Realmeter. It conducted the tracking poll on 2,523 people, aged 18 and older, nationwide for five days through last Friday. The latest approval number marks a 0.8 percentage-point drop from a week earlier. The previous record low of 33.4 percent

WASHINGTON -- The US policy toward North Korea is not aimed at hostility but reducing tension, the top US security adviser said Sunday, adding the ultimate goal of the policy is to completely denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan added the United States is prepared to engage with North Korea to discuss "practical" steps toward denuclearization. "Our policy towards North Korea is not aimed at hostility. It's aimed at solutions. It's aimed at u