South Korea may develop two homegrown vaccines against COVID-19 as early as this year or early next year, the country's health minister said Monday. Currently, five local pharmaceutical firms are developing the new coronavirus vaccines, with two of them expected to conduct phase two or three clinical trials by the end of the year, Kwon Deok-cheol said during a radio talk show. "We expect the approval as early as the end of this year or early next year," Kwon said, adding that members

Insurance firms in South Korea saw their risk-based capital fall in the fourth quarter of last year, data showed Monday. The risk-based capital (RBC) ratio of local insurance firms stood at 275.1 percent at end-2020, down 8.8 percentage points from three months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Their RBC ratio fell in the fourth quarter as their funds to hedge against risks increased, the FSS said. A key yardstick of financial stability, the RBC rati

Consumption expenditures in South Korea's tourism and leisure sector decreased by more than 20 percent last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a state-funded think tank said Monday. In particular, foreigners' spending in the domestic tourism and leisure sector plunged by nearly 80 percent and the travel industry was hit hardest among the relevant industries, the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute said. Last year, consumption expenditures in the nation's tourism and leisure industries were

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday sales of 2021 QLED TV models have topped 10,000 units in South Korea less than two months since its release as the company expects more premium TV sales amid the pandemic-induced stay-at-home trend. The world's largest TV maker said new QLED TVs, launched on March 3 here, achieved the milestone twice as fast as its predecessors last year. The domestic sales of total QLED TVs stood at around 40,000 units between March 3 and April 23, according to the company.

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Monday stressed the importance of inter-Korean cooperation in the forest sector, saying it will eventually benefit the people of the two Koreas by reducing carbon emissions on the Korean Peninsula. Lee made the remarks in a speech during a tree-planting event at the Inter-Korean Cooperation Center on Forestry that opened in the border town of Paju last June, saying that such cooperation will also accelerate Seoul's objective to become "carbon neutral&q

A senior official of the Pocheon municipal government has been indicted on charges of land speculation, in a first for a government task force investigating speculative behavior by public officials, prosecutors said Monday. The Uijeongbu District Prosecutors Office indicted the 52-year-old official, surnamed Park, on Friday for allegedly using information he gained at work to purchase land near the site of a planned train station in September. Park, who was in charge of railway planning for th

Four airmen and a military civilian employee have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Monday. An Air Force officer in the southern city of Sacheon was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after a series of infections were reported at the base, according to the ministry. Virus tests are under way for some 1,600 members at the unit, of which nine have tested positive so far. Another 1,089 have tested negative. Two airmen based in the eastern city of Wonju have al

South Korea will lift a ban on direct flights from Britain on a limited basis from next month for the convenience of Korean residents living in the European nation, the transport ministry said Monday. South Korea has banned passenger flights arriving from Britain since Dec. 23 to block a more transmissible virus variant that was first identified there. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it will allow one direct flight a week by South Korea's two full-service carriers from

Sales of imported commercial vehicles in South Korea rose 18 percent in March from a year earlier on recovering demand amid the extended coronavirus pandemic, an industry association said Monday. The number of newly registered imported commercial vehicles climbed to 413 units last month from 349 a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. Sales of all imported commercial vehicles were up last month on increased sales of MAN, Volvo an

North Korea is stepping up efforts to stay alert against the protracted coronavirus pandemic amid increasing economic activities in the spring season, according to state media Monday. The state-run Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) urged people not to let their guard down especially in educational institutions, construction sites and agricultural fields during the spring season amid reports of new variants around the world. "We are putting foremost priority in tightening antiviru

South Korea's daily new virus cases fell below 600 on Monday for the first time in six days due to fewer tests over the weekend as health authorities accelerated the country's inoculation drive. The country reported 500 more COVID-19 cases, including 469 local infections, raising the total caseload to 119,387, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The country added four more deaths, raising the total to 1,817. Monday's figure was sharply down from 644 the previous day an

Posco Chemical Co. on Monday reported its first-quarter net profit of 39.9 billion won ($35.8 million), up 180.6 percent from a year earlier. Operating income for the January-March period was 34.3 billion won, up 114.9 percent from a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Revenue rose 20.6 percent to 467.2 billion won. The operating profit was 8.2 percent higher than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. The

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday on gains on Wall Street, as strong US economic data fueled hopes of a quick global economic rebound from the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 7.25 points, or 0.23 percent, to reach 3,193.35 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The strong start followed Friday's gains on Wall Street, which got a boost from estimate-beating US new home sales data. The Dow Industrial Average gained 0.67 percent, with the tech-he

VATICAN -- Pope Francis has expressed his willingness again to visit North Korea as he sympathized with the Korean people long separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, a senior South Korean bishop said Monday. The pope made the remarks during a meeting in the Vatican with Lazarus You Heung-sik, who heads the Daejeon diocese, saying the Korean people have been suffering the pain of living separated for 70 years, the bishop told Yonhap News Agency. The pope said he will visit North Korea if relevant

South Korea's exports are expected to jump 41 percent in April from a year earlier, on the back of a base effect, and robust shipments of chips and autos, a poll showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments are forecast to reach $51.1 billion this month, according to the poll on five local brokerage houses by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. It would mark the sixth straight month of gains and the fastest on-year growth in more than 10 years, it showed. Imports

South Korea's corporate direct financing rose 22.3 percent in March from the previous month due to a robust rise in stock sales, data showed Monday. Local companies raised a combined 24.4 trillion won ($21.8 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, up 4.45 trillion won from a month ago, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Corporate stock sales soared 783.4 percent to 6.04 trillion won, with the value of initial public offerings jumping 660 percent to 5.3

Eight people, including Air Force officers and public servants, based at an Air Force unit in the southern city of Sacheon have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Sunday. Following three cases confirmed Saturday, five more at the same unit tested positive earlier in the day, according to the defense ministry and the Air Force. One of the soldiers who tested positive Saturday was found to have visited a local restaurant where infections broke out. The Air Force,

South Korea's top court said Sunday it has upheld a lower court ruling that found a former Asiana Airlines chief guilty of rejecting menstrual leave for flight attendants. Kim Soo-cheon was indicted in 2017 for declining to approve 138 requests for period leave by 15 flight attendants between May 2014 and June 2015. Under local law, companies are mandated to allow one day of menstrual leave each month upon a female employee's request. A lower court found Kim guilty of breaching employment law

Newlywed couples who have owned a home since getting married had a greater chance of having children than newly married couples without homes, data showed Sunday, indicating that owning houses may affect childbirths. Of 212,000 first-time and newly married couples who tied the knot in 2014 and maintained their martial status through 2019, 60,949 couples, or 28.7 percent, had their own home during the five years after getting married, according to the data by Statistics Korea. Among the couples

Financial authorities on Sunday unveiled a plan to encourage banks and other financial institutions to provide mid-rate loans to low-income people and non-prime borrowers. Mid-rate loans are not clearly defined, but such loans refer to credit loans with an interest rate of some 10 percent for people with middle credit scores, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC). Under the plan, about 2 million people with middle credit ratings are expected to take out a total of 32 trillion