Mid-April's warm spring weather suddenly turned back into early winter across South Korea on Wednesday, as the state weather agency said temperatures dived more than 10 degrees from the previous day. The morning low plummeted below zero in many parts of the country, with the Mount Seorak area in Gangwon Province logging a low of minus 7.8 C, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). The KMA issued a cold wave advisory for parts of central and southern provinces, including the

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rebounded to over 700 on Wednesday, the most in over three months, as health authorities are looking at the option of raising social distancing rules to contain the virus resurgence. The country reported 731 more COVID-19 cases, including 714 local infections, raising the total caseload to 111,419, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Wednesday's daily caseload was the highest since Jan. 7, when 869 new cases were confirmed. The

South Korea's export prices rose in March, marking the fourth straight monthly gain amid a modest recovery in exports, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, rose 3.3 percent in March from the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the fourth consecutive month of an on-month rise. In February, the index rose 3.1 percent on-month. From a year earlier, the index rose 5.6 pe

K-pop dynamo BTS has done it again. After making it on the Billboard's main singles chart with its Korean and English songs, the group landed its new Japanese single on the Hot 100. "Film Out," the seven-piece act's Japanese single released on April 2, ranked No. 81 on the Hot 100 chart Billboard announced on Tuesday (US time). The song also topped the Billboard's Digital Song Sales chart and ranked No. 3 and No. 5 on the Billboard Global Excl. US and Billboard Global 200 charts, res

US Forces Korea (USFK) said Wednesday it is suspending the administration of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine to its members following US health authorities' recommendation to pause its use amid concerns over blood clot cases. "Following some rare instances of blood clotting in USA based individuals who recently received the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine -- and out of an abundance of caution to protect the force based on a joint recommendation by the US FDA and CDC, and D

WASHINGTON -- US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry will visit China and South Korea this week, the State Department said, ahead of a US-hosted climate summit of world leaders, including South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Kerry plans to travel to Shanghai and Seoul from Wednesday through Saturday on a mission aimed at "raising global climate ambition" ahead of the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate slated to take place on April 22 and 23, the department said. The depar

WASHINGTON -- North Korea may be considering whether it should resume its nuclear and long-range missile testing this year as it seeks to deal with the new US administration on its own terms, a US intelligence report said Tuesday. The report from the Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) also noted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may take a "number of aggressive" actions. "Kim may be considering whether to resume long-range missile or nuclear testing this year to tr

The Olympic dream for the South Korean women's football team crashed and burned on Tuesday, as they frittered away a two-goal lead against China in the final qualifying match. South Korea and China played to a 2-2 draw in the second leg of their playoff for the Tokyo Olympics at Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre in Suzhou, China. Following their 2-1 victory in the first leg last Thursday, China advanced to the Tokyo Olympics on a 4-3 edge in the aggregate score. With the away goals rule in effect,

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong spoke by phone with his Singaporean counterpart on Tuesday and discussed joint efforts to enhance bilateral and regional cooperation, his office said. In the conversation, Chung and Vivian Balakrishnan noted that the two countries have maintained substantive cooperation in such areas as infrastructure and the digital economy, the ministry said in a release. In that vein, the ministers held out hopes that the suspended expedited entry system agreed upon between

South Korea plans to beef up its inspections of radiation levels of local and imported Japanese seafood products, as Japan decided to release massive amounts of radioactive water into the sea, the ocean ministry said Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the Japanese government said it will release into the sea the radioactive water, which has been stored in tanks at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, in two years, despite South Korea's repeated protest. An estimated 1.25 million tons of such water a

President Moon Jae-in issued a special order Tuesday for the new top commander of South Korea's Marine Corps to redouble efforts for the protection of the country's fishermen in the Yellow Sea. In particular, the waters close to the sea border with North Korea are regarded as a flashpoint. Chinese fishing boats have frequented there as well. After receiving a promotion report from Lt. Gen. Kim Tae-sung, commandant of the Marine Corps, at Cheong Wa Dae, Moon told him to pay special attention to

Consumer financing firms in South Korea saw their combined net profit jump 24.7 percent on-year in 2020, supported by a modest gain in interest income, data showed Tuesday. The combined net profit of 112 credit-specialized financial firms stood at 2.56 trillion won ($2.27 billion) last year compared with a profit of 2.05 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Their interest income rose 2.9 percent on-year to 5.8 trillion won last year,

UN sanctions on North Korea are believed to be pressuring the country, even though Pyongyang has tried to evade them, a researcher at a state-run think tank said Tuesday. Kim Seok-jin, a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), noted that the North's illicit activities and other efforts to evade sanctions are "insufficient" to blunt the effects of UN sanctions. "The sanctions are not being implemented perfectly but they seem to be serving the

North Korea appears to be showing "confidence" in handling the global coronavirus pandemic as it is holding various celebrations to mark this week's birth anniversary of its late state founder, a unification ministry official said Tuesday. North Korea's state media outlets have reported various cultural and sports events to mark the 109th birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, on Thursday. This comes in contrast with last year when major celeb

Bong Joon-ho, the Oscar-winning director of South Korean black comedy "Parasite," will be part of a 15-member "ensemble cast" that will present at the Academy Awards later this month. Bong, who directed the 2019 film that fetched four Oscars, including best picture and best director, will join former winners and nominees to present at the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony slated for April 25 (US time). The list of the first round of presenters, released on the Academy of Motion

South Korea on Tuesday convened a high-level government meeting to discuss measures against Japan's decision to release contaminated water from its wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. Tokyo announced earlier in the day that it plans to start releasing massive amounts of radioactive water, which has been stored in tanks at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, in two years. Koo Yoon-cheol, head of South Korea's Office for Government Policy Coordination, gathered an emergency vice

South Korea on Tuesday announced a decision to extend the period of stay for about 115,000 foreign migrant workers by one year in a bid to relieve labor shortages at small businesses and in farming and fishing communities. The labor and justice ministries said that the temporary extension of stay will apply to the E-9 non-professional employment and H-2 visiting employment visa holders, whose period of staying and working in South Korea is set to expire between Tuesday and Dec. 31. The extraor

SK IE Technology Co. (SKIET), a battery material subsidiary under SK Innovation Co., said Tuesday its second battery separator factory in China started operations to step up its production capacity. SKIET said it opened its first overseas production line in the southeastern Chinese city of Changzhou in November and began rolling out lithium-ion battery separators at its second factory in the complex. The Changzhou factory's operation increases SKIET's annual production capacity to 510 millio

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker, on Tuesday unveiled the all-new minivan Staria, two days ahead of its domestic sale. The Staria multipurpose vehicle comes with a 2.2-liter diesel engine or a 3.5-liter liquefied petroleum gas engine, Hyundai said in a statement. The Staria is available either as a passenger vehicle or a cargo vehicle. As a passenger vehicle, it comes in three versions with seven seats, nine seats or 11 seats, while as a cargo carrier, it comes with three se

Police raided Gwangyang city hall on Tuesday as part of an investigation into allegations of land speculation by the mayor and his wife. The Jeonnam Police Agency said its investigators searched the office of Gwangyang Mayor Jeong Hyeon-bok, the office of the roads department and the mayor's official residence in the city 423 kilometers south of Seoul, and seized computers and cell phones to analyze for evidence. Jeong has been suspected of receiving special favors after a piece of land owned