South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed above 400 for the third straight day Friday, prompting health authorities to extend current distancing rules by another two weeks amid looming concerns over a spike in new infections. Health authorities are concerned about another uptick during spring time, with untraceable cases rising sharply. The country reported 494 more COVID-19 cases, including 471 local infections, raising the total caseload to 100,276, according to the Korea Disease Cont

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 13.34 points, or 0.44 percent, to 3,021.67 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.62 percent on improved jobless data, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 adding 0.12 percent and 0.52 percent, respectively. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics gained 0.37 percent, and N

South Korea will extend its current social distancing measures for another two weeks, the prime minister said Friday, amid no clear signs of a letup in new COVID-19 cases and fears of a mass infection resurgence. "The government will extend the current distancing levels and the gathering ban on five or more for another two weeks starting next week," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said during a regular COVID-19 response meeting in Seoul. The greater Seoul area, home to around half of

US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the United States will respond appropriately should North Korea continue to escalate tension, but that it is also prepared for diplomacy with the recalcitrant regime. Biden noted the launch of the missiles on Thursday (Seoul time) was in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. "Let me say that, number one, UN resolution 1718 was violated by those particular missiles that were tested," Biden said in his first formal press conference s

North Korea said Friday it test-fired new tactical guided missiles a day earlier, confirming the launch of ballistic missiles for the first time in about a year. On Thursday, South Korea's military said the North fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, raising concerns that the missiles banned under the UN Security Council resolutions could sharply escalate tensions. The latest launch came as the Joe Biden administration prepares to announce a new policy

South Korea’s plan to launch its first homegrown rocket later this year is on a roll after researchers successfully conducted the final combustion test for its main first-stage engines, the science ministry said Thursday. The Ministry of Science and ICT said the Korea Aerospace Research Institute successfully ran the third and final test for the four 75-ton liquid engines of the 200-ton rocket, named Nuri, at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, 473 kilometers south of Seoul. Local researc

South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy discussed North Korea’s latest missile launches with a senior US official and plans to do the same with his Japanese counterpart, a foreign ministry official said Thursday.  Noh Kyu-duk, the chief nuclear negotiator, spoke by phone with Sung Kim, acting US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, earlier in the day, the official said, hours after the North fired what appeared to be two ballistic missiles into the East S

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest wireless carrier, said Thursday it will revamp its governance structure this year in a way that boosts shareholder value. CEO Park Jung-ho told shareholders that the company will announce changes to its governance structure "soon," admitting its share price has remained largely lackluster despite its strong earnings last year. "Our market cap does not properly reflect the value of our subsidiaries and businesses," Park said in an annual

A full-time Army reserve soldier has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. The soldier in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 while in quarantine after a virus case was reported at his base, according to the military. The latest case raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 646. Nationwide, South Korea's total virus caseload topped 100,000 on Thursday, about a year and two months a

A photo exhibition capturing the history of Koreans who migrated to Cuba in the early 1900s opened in Seoul on Thursday in celebration of the centennial anniversary of the migration, the foreign ministry said. The weeklong exhibition, co-hosted by the ministry and Chonam National University, will showcase some 300 photographs and other visual materials that shed light on the lives of Koreans in Cuba in the 1920s and 1950s, including their efforts to assist the independence movement against col

More than half of South Koreans in their 10s and 20s think it is not necessary to have kids after marriage, a report showed Thursday, adding to concerns about the country's chronic low birth rate. As of 2020, 32 percent of Koreans aged 13 or older said it is not necessary to have children after getting married, up from 30.4 percent two years earlier, according to the report on social indexes by Statistics Korea. All age groups felt less need to have kids after marriage, but in particular, more

The consistent stalking of others will constitute a crime that can be punished by up to three years of imprisonment under a new law. The National Assembly passed a bill on a 235-0 vote Wednesday to strengthen the punishment for stalkers amid growing public voices calling for increasing penalties for the offense. The legislation was made 22 years after an initial move was made to stipulate stalking as a crime by law. Until now, stalking has been categorized as a misdemeanor and was punished o

Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI), a producer of portable fuel cell power packs, said Thursday that it has joined hands with Posco SPS, a steel processing company, to develop a key component for hydrogen fuel cell power packs for drones. Under a preliminary deal with Posco SPS, a unit of Posco International Corp., DMI will develop metal plates, 20 micrometers in thickness, to be used for hydrogen fuel cell power packs for drones. DMI, an unlisted unit of Doosan Corp., the holding company of Doo

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for efforts to maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula and warned against "all kinds of military activities" Thursday, hours after North Korea fired off what appeared to be ballistic missiles into the East Sea. Lavrov made the remark in a press statement after his talks with Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, where South Korea called for Moscow to play a "constructive" role in fostering a lasting peace on the divided peninsula. &qu

Oh Se-hoon, the main opposition party's Seoul mayoral candidate, outpaced his liberal rival Park Young-sun by nearly 20 percentage points, according to the latest public opinion poll Thursday. According to the Realmeter survey conducted on 806 voters in Seoul on Wednesday, 55 percent of the respondents said they will vote for Oh of the People Power Party (PPP) in the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, while 36.5 percent chose Park of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) as their preferred candidat

South Korea's central bank said Thursday it will extend financial support for smaller merchants and firms by six months to help them ease a funding squeeze amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The financial support of low-rate loans worth 16 trillion won ($14.1 billion) had been scheduled to end this month, but the Bank of Korea (BOK) said the scheme will be put in place by September. Under the scheme, the BOK provides funds to local banks at an interest rate of 0.25 percent to encourage them to exte

LG Electronics Inc. has invested more than 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in its automotive business in the recent five years, its report showed Thursday, as the South Korean tech giant eyes beefing up its future growth engine. The investment from LG's vehicle component solutions (VS) division was 587.8 billion won in 2017, 1.7 trillion won in 2018, 629.3 billion won in 2019 and 472.1 billion won in 2020, according to the company's business report. It plans to spend 613.8 billion won in 2021.

The K-pop juggernauts that have taken the world by storm got personal in the latest episode of a popular Korean TV show, talking about the blood, sweat and tears they put into their career and how they feel about being a contemporary music icon. BTS appeared on the 99th episode of the talk show "You Quiz on the Block," hosted by comedians Yoo Jae-suk and Jo Se-ho -- aptly titled "Blood Sweat & Tears" -- late Wednesday. The 100-minute show, filmed at the traditional setti

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, held talks in Seoul on Thursday to discuss bilateral ties, the Korean Peninsula situation and other issues. The two countries' first foreign ministerial meeting in Seoul since 2009 came after tensions flared anew due to North Korea's missile launches in the morning and an acrimonious Sino-US rivalry that has brought China and Russia closer together. Chung called Russia a partner for regional peace, while touting progre

WASHINGTON -- The United States opposes North Korea taking any actions that could raise tension on the Korean Peninsula, the spokesman for the US Department of Defense said Wednesday, amid reports that the North may be preparing to stage military provocations. John Kirby also called on the North to denuclearize. "We want to see North Korea denuclearize. We want to see stability and security on the peninsula and denuclearization is a key part of that," the Pentagon spokesman said at a