The new mayor of Seoul ordered his administration on Friday to review the city's response to COVID-19 thus far, saying the current virus restrictions have failed to address the people's needs. Oh Se-hoon made the remark during a COVID-19 response meeting attended by senior city officials on his second day of work following his landslide win in Wednesday's mayoral by-election. "We've been dealing with COVID-19 for almost a year and four months, but to tell you the truth, I think it's time

Foreign investors remained net sellers of South Korean stocks for a fourth month in March on profit-taking and rising US long-term interest rates, central bank data showed Friday. Foreigners' stock investment funds recorded a net outflow of $2.58 billion, the second-largest monthly outflow after February's $2.86 billion, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Offshore investors have remained net sellers of South Korean stocks since December. The central bank said foreign investor

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of Samsung Group convicted of bribery, will return to jail later than the scheduled date, industry sources said Friday, after doctors recommended longer hospital care following his appendicitis surgery. Lee was transferred from Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, to Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul on March 19 to receive the surgery after suffering a ruptured appendix. The 52-year-old tycoon was suppos

Bond issuance in South Korea shrank in March from the previous month due mainly to a tumble in corporate debt sales, industry data showed Friday. The value of bonds sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at slightly over 74 trillion won ($66.4 billion) last month, nearly 720 billion won smaller than a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Sales of corporate bonds declined by about 4.1 trillion won, and the issuance of currency stabilization

Iran released a South Korean oil tanker and its captain, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday, about three months after they were seized over alleged oil pollution. The ship, with its captain and 12 other crew members aboard, left the port near Bandar Abbas on the southern coast, at around 6 a.m. (Iran time), the ministry said. The crew members had been released earlier but have remained on the ship for maintenance purposes. The ministry said the captain and the crew members remain safe and s

The state-run Korea Depository Insurance Corp. (KDIC) said Friday it sold a 2 percent stake in Woori Financial Holdings Co. as part of efforts to recoup taxpayer money injected into the company. The stake, or 14.5 million shares, was offloaded through a block sale in pre-market trading for 149.3 billion won ($134 million), the KDIC said. The stake sale comes in line with a government road map to dispose of its interest in the major financial holding company, whose flagship is Woori Bank. It a

An Army soldier has tested positive for the new coronavirus after a vacation, the defense ministry said Friday. The soldier, based in Yanggu, some 175 kilometers northeast of Seoul, was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 while in quarantine upon returning from a vacation, according to the ministry. Some 40 people at the base who had contact with the soldier have all tested negative. The latest case raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 671. Nationw

Samsung Electronics Co. on Friday unveiled its upgraded smart tracking tag leveraging advanced wireless communication technologies that can locate people's lost items with better accuracy. The Galaxy SmartTag+ uses both Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ultra-wideband (UWB) solutions, according to Samsung. The latest product will be available beginning next Friday though its launch schedule will vary by market. Its predecessor, Galaxy SmartTag, which was launched in January, only used BLE techn

손춘권 남아프리카공화국 신임 한인회장이 최근 요하네스버그의 한 골프장에서 현지 백인으로부터 욕설과 함께 인종차별 봉변을 당한 것으로 알려졌다. 손 회장은 부활절 연휴 기간이던 지난 4일 C모 골프 클럽에서 같이 운동하던 한 상사 주재원 부부와 함께 백인 F모로부터 "개 같은 중국인아, 너희 나라로 당장 꺼져라. 코로나바이러스를 갖고 당장 중국으로 돌아가라"는 말과 함께 욕설(F-word)을 들었다고 8일(현지시간) 밝혔다. F와 같이 있던 3명의 인도계도 함께 손 회장 일행에게 욕을 한 것으로 전해졌다. F 등은 손 회장 일행을 중국인으로 착각한 것으로 보인다. 당시 손 회장 일행 3명은 전반 9홀을 끝내고 순서대로 후반 9홀을 돌기 위해 10번 홀로 이동하는데 자신들이 알지 못하는 F 일행 4명이 그곳에서 티샷을 준비하고 있었다고 한다. 이에 손 회장은 골프장 관리자인 마셜을 불러서 다음 티오프 순서가 자신들이라는 확인을 받은 후 플레이를 하려는 순간 갑

South Korea needs to take preemptive measures to cope with escalating concerns over inflation, a senior government official said Friday. The remark by First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon comes as Asia's fourth-largest economy faces growing inflationary pressure amid signs of an economic recovery. "It is necessary to take preemptive steps to prevent inflationary pressure from constraining an economic rebound and inflicting burdens on ordinary people," Lee told a government policy

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 700 on Friday, but health authorities warned the country may face a stronger wave of the pandemic, with a chance that daily infections could double in the coming weeks. The country plans to suspend the business of clubs and bars in the greater Seoul area and the second-largest city of Busan for the next three weeks as part of targeted antivirus measures, while extending the current level of social distancing rules. The country reported 671 m

An American service member and a South Korean contractor working for US Forces Korea (USFK) have tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to the US military. The service member, on a temporary duty to USFK, was confirmed Wednesday to have contracted COVID-19 in a virus test conducted prior to his return to his permanent duty station off the Korean Peninsula, it said. On the same day, a South Korean contractor who works at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, 40 kilometers north of Seoul, was

The United States is taking all necessary steps to carefully review its North Korea policy, a State Department spokesman said Thursday. Ned Price reiterated the review is in is final stages, but said such careful consideration requires time. "We were talking earlier in this briefing about the careful consideration of major decisions in a completely different context, and I think that would also apply to this case," he said when asked if the review process was being held up. "No

After hitting 218 home runs over 16 years in the majors, Choo Shin-soo has now homered for the first time in South Korea. The new outfielders for the SSG Landers launched a solo home run off Hanwha Eagles' starter Nick Kingham in the bottom of the third inning of their Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season game on Thursday. The no-doubter traveled 115 meters into right field seats at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul. That one swing took care of a lot

One loss, however crushing it may be, won't end South Korea's dream of playing in the women's football tournament at this year's Tokyo Olympics, head coach Colin Bell said Thursday. Bell's charges lost to China 2-1 in the opening leg of the Olympic women's football qualifying playoffs at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul. Wang Shuang's 73rd-minute penalty was the difference in a hard-fought contest. Down by one goal in the aggregate score and by two in away goals, South Korea f

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung was back at No. 1 in a poll of potential presidential candidates released Thursday, with the previous front runner having fallen far behind compared with a week ago. In the survey conducted jointly by four polling agencies on 1,004 people over the age of 18 from Monday to Wednesday, 24 percent picked Gov. Lee as their favored candidate in next year's presidential election, pushing him into the lead after finishing in second place last week. The poll was con

More than 80 percent of South Koreans share the view that the Moon Jae-in government needs to recalibrate the direction of its key state administration policies, a poll showed Thursday. According to the poll of 1,004 people earlier this week, 86 percent said the Moon government's policy direction should be partially or entirely changed after Wednesday's mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan. Fifty-one percent said the Moon government can maintain the basic direction of its major state polici

Kim Chong-in, the interim leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), resigned Thursday after steering the biggest conservative party to a landslide victory in the latest by-elections. Kim took office as the caretaker leader of the biggest conservative party in June last year, following the party's crushing parliamentary election defeat in April. Under Kim's leadership, the party renamed itself from the United Future Party to the current moniker and took other face-lifting measures

Maj. Gen. Kim Tae-sung, the first Marine division commander, was tapped as the top commandant of the armed service in a regular reshuffle, the defense ministry said Thursday. He will replace Lt. Gen. Lee Seung-do, who led the Marine Corps since April 2019. The 54-year-old officer has served various positions in the service branch after his graduation from the Republic of Korea Naval Academy. "As an expert in Marine operations and strategy fields, the nominee has a strategic insight and c

Three American service members and a dependent have tested positive for the new coronavirus upon their arrival here in the past two weeks, US Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday. Two of the service members arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on US government chartered flights, while the others traveled via commercial flights, according to the US military. "Thorough cleaning of all transportation assets and quarantine rooms has been completed," USF