President Moon Jae-in's senior secretary for civil affairs and justice has repeatedly offered to resign in protest over the latest reshuffle of senior prosecutors led by new Justice Minister Park Beom-kye, Cheong Wa Dae confirmed Wednesday. Moon, however, rejected the resignation offer by Shin Hyun-soo, a former career prosecutor appointed to the post less than two months ago, while he remains intent on stepping down, according to a senior Cheong Wa Dae official. Shin is known to have feuded w

The number of temporary and daily jobs for 20-somethings in South Korea plunged nearly 18 percent in January amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The country had 997,000 temporary and daily workers in their 20s last month, down 17.7 percent, or 214,000, from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The number of temporary employees plunged by 151,000 in January from a year earlier, with that of daily workers sinking by 63,000. Temporary workers refer to th

독일 스포츠웨어 제조사 아디다스가 산하 리복을 매각하거나 분사하는 방안을 추진한다. 라이벌 나이키와의 경쟁에서 우위를 점하기 위해 리복을 인수한 지 15년만이다. 아디다스는 16일(현지시간) 리복을 처분하는 절차를 시작하기로 했다고 밝혔다고 로이터통신 등이 전했다. 다음달 10일 2020년 실적을 공시하면서 발표할 예정인 5개년 계획의 일환에서다. 아디다스는 올해 1분기부터 리복을 폐지된 사업부문으로 공시할 예정이다. 한 금융업계 관계자는 리복의 기업가치가 10억유로(약 1조3천400억원)가량 될 것으로 보인다고 추산했다. 카스퍼 로스테드 아디다스 최고경영자(CEO)는 이날 성명에서 "리복과 아디다스는 서로 독립적으로 성장잠재력을 훨씬 잘 실현할 수 있을 것"이라고 말했다. 아디다스는 지난 2006년 미국 보스턴에 본사를 둔 리복을 38억달러(약 4조2천억원)에 인수했다. 나이키가 장악해온 미국 시장 공략 강화를 위해서다. 하지만, 이후 실적 부진이 이

A North Korean man, who was captured after crossing into South Korea, appears to have crossed the border via the sea while wearing a hard-hat diving suit and a set of fins, the military said Wednesday. On Tuesday, the man was spotted moving south in the early hours inside a restricted area north of the Civilian Control Line in the eastern border town of Goseong before being captured following a three-hour manhunt. Defense Minister Suh Wook apologized for the security failure and vowed to take

No signs of North Korean provocations have been detected while the US continues to review its approach and policy toward the North, South Korea's ambassador to the United States said Tuesday. Lee Soo-hyuck also said the US' review of its North Korea policy will not take long. "I have yet to hear that there has been any sign of (North Korean) provocation," the South Korean diplomat said in an online meeting with reporters in Washington. "And with regard to US responses, I have h

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government will focus on accelerating the implementation of the latest housing supply plan in a bid to help stabilize rising home prices. The government said early this month it will ease construction regulations and support redevelopment projects in urban areas to increase the number of new homes by up to 836,000 nationwide in the next four years. Hong said in a ministerial meeting on the housing market that the country will first select the can

Major asset management companies in South Korea saw their earnings soar more than 40 percent in 2020 amid a bullish stock market, data showed Wednesday. The combined net income of the country's 10 leading asset managers came to 381.6 billion won ($346 million) last year, up 44 percent from a year earlier, according to their annual earnings reports. Their total operating income stood at 422.5 billion won, up 10.7 percent from the previous year. The figure doesn't include earnings of Kiwoom Ass

The wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appeared in public for the first time in more than a year as she attended a concert commemorating the birthday of late leader Kim Jong-il, according to state media Wednesday. Ri Sol-ju was last seen in January last year when she attended a concert celebrating Lunar New Year's Day at the Samjiyon Theater in Pyongyang with leader Kim. On Tuesday, Kim and Ri watched the performance at Mansudae Art Theater commemorating the birthday of the late leader, a

Unionized workers at Kumho Tire have voted to accept a wage deal for the year of 2020 amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, the union said Tuesday. The management and labor union reached an agreement early this month on a wage freeze and a cash bonus worth 1 million won ($900) per worker plus a contract to guarantee job security. Its 2,700-strong union approved the deal in a vote held from Monday to Tuesday, union spokesman Kim Seong-jin said. Kumho Tire didn't raise wages for 2018 and

A boiler factory in central South Korea has emerged as a new coronavirus cluster, with 95 cases linked to the facility confirmed as of Tuesday, officials said. Kiturami Boiler's plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, has reported coronavirus infections among 77 employees and 15 of their family members, according to provincial health officials. The company employs 641 workers. Most of the infected employees worked at the same building named "F," the officials said, speculating th

The state intelligence agency is reviewing ways to conditionally give a closed-door briefing to the National Assembly on its alleged illegal surveillance of politicians and other social figures during the reign of the conservative Lee Myung-bak government, the NIS chief told lawmakers Tuesday. "The National Intelligence Service is considering plans to report to the parliamentary Intelligence Committee on the issue on condition of non-disclosure (to the public) if the committee approves (th

North Korea has attempted to hack into South Korean drug manufacturers' computer systems to obtain information related to coronavirus vaccines and treatment, the state intelligence agency told lawmakers Tuesday. At a closed-door parliamentary session, the National Intelligence Service reported the average daily number of cyberattacks in South Korea has increased 32 percent year-on-year to about 1.58 million cases, most of which were unsuccessful, Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the main opposition People

KCON, a major K-pop and Korean culture festival that draws millions of viewers each season, will be held online again next month amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, its organizer said Tuesday. The third season of the online event, titled "KCON:TACT," will stream from March 20-28 through YouTube and the Mnet K-pop channel for global fans and on local over-the-top service Tving for domestic fans, according to South Korean entertainment giant CJ ENM. It marks the third time CJ ENM

South Korean stocks gained for a third consecutive session Tuesday, backed by signs of global economic rebound that increased foreigners' appetite for risky assets. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.25 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at 3,163.25 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.9 billion shares worth some 16.9 trillion won ($15.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 474 to 367. Foreigners bought a n

South Korea's finance minister said Tuesday the government is seeking to submit an extra budget bill in early March in a bid to provide targeted support to merchants and businesses hit hard by the pandemic. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said in a parliamentary session that the country is considering expanding the recipients of the fourth round of emergency relief funds, including to merchants whose yearly sales top 400 million won ($364,000). "We are reviewing ways to provide additional su

South Korean professional volleyball players recently suspended for bullying their former school teammates will face hurdles when seeking coaching opportunities in the future, the sport's national governing body said Tuesday. Volleyball's V-League is reeling from a bullying scandal centered on two of the biggest stars in the women's division, Lee Jae-yeong and her twin sister Lee Da-yeong of the Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders. The 24-year-old sisters have admitted to allegations of physical, verbal

A former wartime sexual slavery victim demanded Tuesday that Seoul bring the issue of forced sexual slavery by Japan to the International Court of Justice, denouncing Japan's continued denials and a Harvard professor's recent controversial claims. Lee Yong-soo, one of 15 registered surviving South Korean victims of sexual slavery by Japan during World War II, said during a press conference in Seoul that the issue warranted a judgment by the international court, as Japan has been unresponsive to

Over 5,000 violations of antivirus measure were reported to authorities on the eve and during the extended Lunar New Year holiday last week amid the third wave of coronavirus pandemic, officials said Tuesday. According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, the interior ministry received a total of 5,615 reports of breaches in anti-COVID-19 protocols between Wednesday and Sunday. This year's Lunar New Year holiday fell from Thursday through Sunday. Ahead of the holiday, the government

Samsung Electronics Co. was the top vendor in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) tablet market in the fourth quarter of 2020, a report showed Tuesday, amid the pandemic-induced stay-at-home trend. Samsung shipped 4 million tablets in the EMEA market in the October-December period for a 28.1 percent market share, according to industry researcher International Data Corp. (IDC). The figures were up from a year ago when the South Korean tech giant shipped 3.2 million tablets for a 24.8 perc

A North Korean man was caught after crossing into South Korea via the eastern border, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday, amid a possibility that he could have sought to defect to the South. South Korean troops detected the man at around 4:20 a.m. through a CCTV surveillance camera as he was moving south near a military checkpoint located inside a restricted area north of the Civilian Control Line in the east coast border town of Goseong, according to the JCS. After a three-hour ma