South Korea will seek to expand security cooperation with Japan, the defense ministry said Monday, following a recent visit by the US state and defense secretaries to its two Asian allies stressing the importance of trilateral cooperation among the three countries. Three-way cooperation was a key agenda item of last week's Asia trip by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, during which they "pledged to continue promoting mutually beneficial, forward-looki

Choo Shin-soo, a former major league All-Star currently playing for a South Korean club, was named to the country's provisional roster for the Tokyo Olympics on Monday. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced a 154-man preliminary squad, which will be whittled down to 24 for the final roster in June. The Tokyo Olympics, postponed by a year from 2020 due to effects of the coronavirus pandemic, will run from July 23 to Aug. 8 this year. The KBO said only those on the provisional roster c

South Korea said Monday it plans to raise 400 billion won ($354 million) through 2024 to support businesses seeking to innovate their products and services by utilizing high-end technologies. The first batch of the digital technology innovation fund, amounting to 102 billion won, will be rolled out throughout this year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The amount surpassed the original target of 80 billion won. The fund, raised jointly by the public and private financ

South Korea said Monday it will seek to expand the size of the local pet fish market by 35 percent through 2025 by developing more homegrown species while encouraging the public to adopt them. Under the goal, the size of the local pet fish market will reach 657 billion won ($581 million) in 2025, up 35 percent from 487.3 billion won tallied in 2020, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Over the period, the number of farms raising pet fish will increase to 186 from the current 151

JEONJU -- Police have apprehended a man who allegedly ripped off tens of billions of won from investors in a fraudulent solar energy development project and went on the run amid a probe, officials said Monday. The 53-year-old man was charged with defrauding around 800 people of some 70 billion won ($61.9 million) on false solar power business proposals from December 2017 to June 2020, according to Deokjin Police Station in Jeonju, about 240 kilometers south of Seoul. He disappeared ahead of a

The military on Monday reported nine coronavirus cases among its members, including five soldiers. Three soldiers and one Marine, all from different units, tested positive while on vacation, and another soldier was confirmed to have been infected in a test required to exit quarantine following his recent vacation, according to the defense ministry. Currently, the military authorities enforces the Level 2 social distancing scheme, which allows service members to go on vacations while strictly a

FC Seoul captain Ki Sung-yueng has never been a goal scorer. The 32-year-old midfielder has built his career on setting up forwards with long passes and relying on his on-field vision to play solid two-way game. And yet, here is Ki, having scored in three straight matches for his K League 1 club. Ki's equalizer late in the first half helped pave the way for FC Seoul's 2-1 victory over Suwon Samsung Bluewings on Sunday in the season's first "Super Match" derby. Ki has three goals over

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Monday it is investigating a new suspected case of highly pathogenic bird flu, with the country's total caseload standing at 106. The suspected case came from a duck farm in Jangheung, South Jeolla Province, the previous day, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. It was the first suspected case in 10 days. South Korea has reported a total of 106 cases of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza since November last year. Over the

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday its study showed its Galaxy Buds Pro wireless earbuds could help people with hearing impairments. The study, which was published last week in Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology (CEO), a renowned scientific journal dedicated to ear, nose and throat research, suggested that the Galaxy Buds Pro's Ambient Sound feature could assist those with mild to moderate hearing loss to better engage in conversation with others, according to Samsung. Its Ambien

GS Energy Corp., an energy unit of South Korean conglomerate GS Group, said Monday it will build and operate a power plant fired by liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Vietnam. GS Energy said it will build a 3 gigawatt LNG-fired power plant in southern Vietnam in a deal estimated at 3.5 trillion won (US$3 billion). The Korean company said it will sign a power purchase agreement with the state-run Vietnam Electricity Group to begin commercial production in 2027. In 2019, GS Energy signed an initial

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday, as investors' concerns about the bond yields hike reduced their appetite for risky assets. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 1.8 points, or 0.06 percent, to 3,037.73 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks turned lower after a choppy start, due to increasing bond yield concerns over earlier-than-expected post-pandemic inflation. The yields of the 10-year US Treasury finished last week at the highest levels in about

South Korea's exports rose 12.5 percent on-year in the first 20 days of March on robust shipments of chips and autos amid the pandemic, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $33.9 billion in the March 1-20 period, compared with $30.1 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports increased 16.3 percent on-year to $33 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $820 million during the cited period, the data showed. By sector,

Toronto Blue Jays' starter Ryu Hyun-jin has tossed another fine outing in spring training, as he continues to build up nicely for the start of the regular season next week. Ryu threw five scoreless innings in a simulated game in Dunedin, Florida, on Sunday (local time), the Blue Jays announced. The team said the South Korean left-hander struck out five while making 77 pitches. He gave up three hits and a walk. Ryu has pitched in just two official spring training games, while mixing in an intra

Defense Minister Suh Wook has embarked on a visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India to meet with senior officials there to discuss ways to boost defense and arms industry ties, his office said Monday. Suh left for the UAE on Sunday for a four-day visit at the invitation of Mohammad Ahmed Al Bowardi, the country's Minister of State for Defense, and hold their annual security talks, according to the ministry. He also plans to meet major military figures in the country "to have in-

Tottenham Hotspur's injured Korean star Son Heung-min has been ruled out of his country's friendly match against Japan this week. The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced Sunday that Son will not be made available by the Premier League club for Thursday's match in Yokohama, just south of Tokyo. Son suffered a left hamstring injury during a Premier League match against Arsenal in London last Sunday. The match was played in the early hours of Monday in South Korea, and merely hours after

Two leading opposition candidates for next month's Seoul mayoral by-election are double digits ahead of their ruling party rival should their unify candidacy and run in  two-way race, a survey showed Sunday. Conducted by three pollsters, Ipsos, Korea Research and Hankook Research, the survey found that Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition people Power Party garnered 47 percent with Park Young-sun of the ruling Democratic Party winning 30.4 percent in a hypothetical two-way race. Ahn Cheol-so

CHANGWON -- Former major league All-Star Choo Shin-soo made his South Korean professional baseball debut on Sunday, striking out twice as a designated hitter in the most eagerly anticipated preseason game in recent years. Choo, the biggest offseason signing by the SSG Landers, went 0-for-3 from the No. 2 spot against the NC Dinos at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The preseason in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) was scheduled to begin across the nation on

South Korea's main airport operator said Sunday it will participate in a 600 billion-won ($530 million) airport development project in Indonesia. The Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) has formed a consortium with Indonesia's state-run airport operator PT Angkasa Pura 1 (AP1) and local construction firm PT Wijaya Karya Tbk (WIKA) to expand the Hang Nadim Batam airport by 2024, the IIAC said in a statement. "(Incheon airport) will invest in a 30 percent stake in the 600 billion-wo

South Korea will start administering vaccines to inpatients and employees of nursing homes and long-term care hospitals who are aged 65 or older this week as part of its monthslong inoculation plan, health authorities said Sunday. Starting from Tuesday, more than 370,000 health workers and patients aged 65 and older at sanatoriums, nursing facilities and rehabilitation facilities will receive their first shots of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in steps, according to the Korea Disease Control an

South Korea will begin providing a real-time air quality map for the Korean Peninsula and neighboring areas to the public, utilizing data sent from Chollian-2B, its environmental satellite launched last year, the science ministry said Sunday. The new service, available from Monday, will provide data of seven types of air pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide, ozone and aerosol optical depth, whose coverage ranges from India to Japan. It will also provide additional data, such as sulfur dioxi