North Korea on Saturday accused US President Joe Biden of making a "provocation" for criticizing its recent missile launches, claiming the firings are an exercise of its self-defense right and warning the United States will face "something that is not good" if such "thoughtless remarks" continue. Ri Pyong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, made the statement, a day after Biden said the North's launch of two short-range ballistic m

Shin Choon-ho, chairman of major food company Nongshim Group, died Saturday of a chronic illness, the company said. He was 92. The group's flagship unit, Nongshim Co., is South Korea's top instant noodle maker. Born in 1930, Shin founded the food company in 1965 and became the group's chairman in 1992. (Yonhap)

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rose to above 500 on Saturday to reach the highest number in more than a month, deepening concerns over a resurgence in infections particularly as more people go out in the warmer weather. The country reported 505 more COVID-19 cases, including 490 local infections, raising the total caseload to 101,275, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The country added five more deaths from COVID-19, increasing the total to 1,721. Saturday's ca

South Korean stocks advanced more than 1 percent Friday, as vaccine distribution spurred expectations of an economic rebound amid stable oil prices. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 32.68 points, or 1.09 percent, to close at 3,041.01 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1 billion shares worth some 15.4 trillion won ($13.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 544 to 291. Foreigners bought a net 296 billion won

Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. on Friday reiterated its claim that the company is not liable to pay compensation to South Korean victims of forced labor during World War II. The Seoul Central District Court heard arguments in a lawsuit filed by two South Koreans who worked for Japan Iron and Steel Co., Nippon Steel's forerunner, in 1941 and 1944. The plaintiffs demanded 100 million won ($88,295) per person in damages. They lodged the suit in April 2019 after the Supreme Court ordered Nippon Steel

Samsung C&T Corp., the construction unit of Samsung Group, said Friday it has won a $604 million ($448) deal to build a section of Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. Under the deal with the Land Transport Authority, Samsung C&T will build Hougang interchange station and tunnels for the Cross Island Line, the city state's eighth MRT line. The Land Transport Authority said the deal also covers the construction of additional and alteration works to the existing Hougang station a

The Tongyeong International Music Festival (TIMF), an annual classical music gala, kicked off on Friday, a year after the annual event was canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The 2021 festival will run through April 4 in Tongyeong, on the southern coast, presenting 23 classical concerts and performances under the theme "Changing Reality." Organizers canceled last year's event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there has been no let-up in new virus cases, they decided

Home transactions in South Korea sank nearly 25 percent in February amid government measures to rein in rising prices, data showed Friday. The number of homes changing hands nationwide stood at 87,021 last month, down 24.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The February reading was also down 4 percent from the previous month. The number of home transactions in the Seoul metropolitan area, which includes the western port

President Moon Jae-in on Friday replaced eight vice minister-level officials, including those at the science and unification ministries, Cheong Wa Dae announced. Yong Hong-taek, the science ministry's director of research and development policy, was promoted to first vice science minister, and Cho Kyeong-sik, Cheong Wa Dae's secretary for digital innovation, was named second vice science minister. Choi Young-joon, the unification ministry's director for unification policy, was promoted to vice

North Korea held a general assembly meeting of its Olympic Committee to discuss plans for this year, state media said Friday, amid uncertainty over the North's participation in the upcoming Tokyo Summer Olympics. The meeting was held through video links on Thursday to discuss "practical issues linked to actively organize public sport events," according to the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA said that Kim Il-guk, North Korea's Olympic chief and sports minister, and other participants

Saudi Arabian Ambassador to South Korea Riyad Almubaraky will be awarded honorary citizenship of Seoul in recognition of his contributions to developing bilateral ties, the city government said Friday. Almubaraky has spent 10 of his more than 35 years in diplomatic service in Korea. His first overseas assignment was as secretary at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Seoul from 1990-95. Since 2016, he has served as Riyadh's ambassador to South Korea. Next month, he plans to complete his five-year ter

South Korean power plant builder Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. said Friday it has completed the construction of its second plant for wind power generators in the country. The plant in Changwon, 398 kilometers southeast of Seoul, will assemble and test 5.5-megawatt wind power generators, Doosan Heavy said. With the plant, Doosan Heavy will be able to produce 30 wind power generators annually, the company said. With its wind power business starting in 2005, Doosan Heavy has b

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Friday it has clinched a 637 billion-won ($562 million) order from a Taiwanese company to build five container carriers. The deal signed with Wan Hai Lines calls for Korea Shipbuilding to start delivering the 13,200-twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU) vessels in the first half of 2023, Korea Shipbuilding said in a regulatory filing. The container carriers will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the company said. Hopes for a

A Seoul court has ordered North Korea and leader Kim Jong-un to compensate a family member of a South Korean who was abducted to the North during the 1950-53 Korean War. The plaintiff, identified by his surname Choi, filed a damages suit in December over the policeman father who was kidnapped by North Korean soldiers in Hapcheon, 350 kilometers south of Seoul, in September 1950. The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday ordered Kim and his regime to pay Choi 50 million won ($44,135). It

The United States on Thursday condemned North Korea's ballistic missile launches as "destabilizing" actions violating multiple UN Security Council resolutions. "The United States condemns the DPRK's destabilizing ballistic missile launches. These launches violate multiple UN Security Council resolutions and threaten the region and the broader international community," a department spokesperson told Yonhap News Agency in an email. "Our commitment to the defense of the R

An Army soldier has tested positive for the new coronavirus while on vacation in the central city of Daejeon, the defense ministry said Friday. The soldier, based in Namyangju, northeast of Seoul, was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after coming into contact with a civilian who tested positive earlier, according to the ministry. The latest case raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 647. Of them, 616 have been fully cured and 31 are undergoing tre

South Korean baseball fans won't get to sleep in this weekend, with two of their own set to make final appearances in the ongoing major league spring training in the early morning hours. Ryu Hyun-jin of the Toronto Blue Jays will start against the Philadelphia Phillies at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida, at 7:37 a.m. Saturday (Korean time). It will be his third official spring start, but fifth appearance overall, counting unofficial scrimmages. The left-hander has built up to 77 pitches and fi

K-pop boy band Seventeen will make its first appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" next month, its agency said Friday. The group is scheduled to hit the popular US daytime comedy talk show next Thursday and perform "HIT," the lead single from the band's third studio album, "An Ode," according to Pledis Entertainment. Released in 2019, "An Ode" reached No. 7 on the US Billboard World Albums chart. Several K-pop groups popular in the North American mar

Samsung Display Co. dominated the global smartphone display panel market last year, a report showed Friday, as it posted record revenue amid the pandemic. The affiliate of Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest smartphone producer, represented half of the worldwide smartphone panel market last year in terms of revenue, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. The global smartphone display panel market grew 7 percent on-year to $43 billion in 2020. Samsung Display was follow

Having been sidelined for about two weeks with a knee injury, Tampa Bay Rays' South Korean infielder Choi Ji-man can't wait to return to the field. The rehab has been taking longer than he'd like. In a Zoom media conference from Florida on Thursday (local time), Choi said he's been surprised by two aspects of his current condition: one, that he's had to deal with pain on two different occasions, and two, that the rehab has gone on as long as it has. "It's such a shame that I've been sitt