The issuance of high-risk derivatives-linked securities (DLS) in South Korea plunged 31 percent in the first half of 2020 amid the fallout from a misselling scandal, data showed Wednesday. The local market for DLS, which doesn't guarantee the principal, came to 12.7 trillion won ($11.4 billion) as of end-June last year, compared with 16.1 trillion won six months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. A DLS tracks the performance of interest rates, currency value

South Korea's central bank said Wednesday it has provided a net 4.75 trillion won ($4.25 billion) in liquidity to the financial sector to help the flow of money ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. The Bank of Korea (BOK) said it decreased its money injection by 15.7 percent this year from a year earlier because of social distancing rules amid the coronavirus pandemic. Health authorities have called on people to refrain from traveling for family gatherings to contain the spread of the virus. A

WASHINGTON -- Bilateral relations between South Korea and Japan have dipped to their lowest ebb, also affecting the countries' three-way cooperation with the United States, a congressional report said. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) report noted the new Biden administration may be mulling ways to rebuild trust between the two US allies. "Japan's relations with South Korea are perennially fraught due to sensitive historical issues from Japan's colonization of the Korean Peninsula

South Korea reported the largest job loss in January since 1998 as a flare-up in new coronavirus cases, along with continued virus curbs, dealt a heavy blow to jobs in the service sector, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people reached 25.8 million last month, 982,000 fewer than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the sharpest on-year fall since December 1998, when the country lost 1.28 million jobs in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financi

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un specified the direction for polices related to inter-Korean relations as he held a Workers' Party meeting to discuss follow-up measures on plans set forth at last month's party congress, state media said Wednesday. Kim attended the second day of the plenary meeting of the party's eighth Central Committee held on Tuesday and reported on domestic economic issues and other external matters, including relations with South Korea, according to the Korean Central News A

As many as 53 coronavirus infections were reported in a single day from two virus clusters in a city in the Seoul metropolitan area, municipal officials said Tuesday. The latest infection clusters occurred at a religious facility and a cram school in Bucheon, a Gyeonggi Province city on the southwestern outskirts of Seoul, the officials said. The religious facility, whose name was withheld, reported 20 coronavirus cases among its believers and others, while 33 students and lecturers from the s

  Emart Inc., South Korea's largest discount store chain by sales, on Tuesday reported a 62 percent on-year jump in net profit last year due to increased one-off revenues. Net profit for the whole of 2020 came to 362.5 billion won ($324.8 million), up from 223.8 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Emart said its sale of a 39,050-square-meter plot of land in western Seoul last year buoyed the bottom line. Emart sold the plot of land for 800 billion won in

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Noh Kyu-duk, asked Tuesday for Russia to play a role in advancing Seoul's renewed drive to lay the groundwork for a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, the Foreign Ministry said. Noh made the call during his meeting with Russian Ambassador to South Korea Andrey Kulik, as Seoul seeks to enlist international cooperation in resuming dialogue with North Korea and restart nuclear diplomacy with it. "Noh assessed Russia's will to play a constructive role on

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Tuesday vowed to legislate a set of bills that would increase the burden of responsibility of news media, internet portals, YouTubers and bloggers for fake or false news. "We decided to push for legislation under the principle that news media and internet portals should be included among the subjects of punitive compensation," DP spokesman Rep. Choi In-ho told reporters after a meeting of the party's task force on media reform. The party will make e

South Korean stocks finished lower for a second straight day Tuesday, as uncertainties increased, with investors seeking to take profits ahead of the expiration of stock options. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 6.57 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 3,084.67 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 2.1 billion shares worth some 18.1 trillion won ($16.2 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 362 to 474. Foreigne

President Moon Jae-in will talk with eight South Korean citizens via a popular mobile messenger app on the occasion of the Lunar New Year holiday this week, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday. The video call scheduled for Thursday is part of Moon's stated efforts to rev up "direct public communication," as the people are going through difficulties from the COVID-19 crisis. Moon has set "recovery, inclusiveness and resurgence" as key policy goals of 2021. The eight, selected to repr

A couple from Yongin, just south of Seoul, has been put under emergency arrest for allegedly having maltreated their live-in niece to death, police said Tuesday. The man and his wife, both in their 40s, are accused of having beaten their 10-year-old niece with a plastic broom and other objects and repeatedly throwing her into their home bathtub until she stopped breathing Monday. According to the Yongin Dongbu Police Station, the girl lost consciousness after being forcibly put in and out of b

South Korea's health authorities said Tuesday they have identified 26 more cases of COVID-19 variants, vowing to step up monitoring on foreign arrivals to better detect potential cases. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said 24 people were confirmed to have been infected with the variant from Britain, while one person was infected with the South African variant and another with the one from Brazil. Among them, four were domestically infected cases after coming in contact w

Video calls will be free of charge during the Lunar New Year holiday to encourage virtual family meetings, the ICT ministry said Tuesday, as the country's efforts to curb new coronavirus cases limit in-person contact. The Ministry of Science and ICT said the country's three major telecom operators -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- agreed to not charge for video calls made over the upcoming holiday period, which falls on Feb. 11-14 this year, for all smartphone users in the count

South Korea is in talks with Indonesia about a joint project to develop a next-generation fighter jet, the head of the arms procurement agency said Tuesday, amid speculation that the Southeast Asian nation wants to quit the project. Indonesia agreed to partner in South Korea's KF-X project aimed at developing a new fighter jet by 2026, and promised to shoulder 20 percent of the total development cost of 8.8 trillion won ($7.3 billion), or about 1.7 trillion won. But Indonesia stopped making pa

Kia Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker by sales, said Tuesday it will invest 29 trillion won ($26 billion) in car manufacturing facilities and future mobility technologies by 2025. Kia will spend 18.8 trillion won on enhancing profitability in the existing car manufacturing business and 10.1 trillion won on generating business opportunities through investments in future mobility technologies, the company said at this year's CEO Investor Day event. The maker of the K5 sedan and the Te

South Korea's e-commerce market expanded nearly 20 percent in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic to rank fifth in the world, a report showed Tuesday. Local e-commerce sales came to $104.1 billion last year, up 19.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the report released by the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and based on data from market researcher eMarketer. China topped the global e-commerce market list with $2.8 trillion, trailed by the United States with $709.8 billion, Britain with $

South Korea's tax revenue fell 7.9 trillion won ($7.1 billion) in 2020 from a year earlier as corporate tax earnings declined amid the pandemic, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The country collected 285.5 trillion won in taxes last year, compared with 293.5 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Last year, the collection of corporate taxes declined 16.7 trillion won on-year to a four-year low of 55.5 trillion won, as business activity remained slug

KT Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Tuesday it shifted to a net profit during the final quarter of last year on the back of growing 5G users. Net income reached 39.1 billion won ($35 million) in the October-December period on a consolidated basis, compared with a loss of 10.2 billion won the previous year. Operating income rose 6.4 percent on-year to 166.8 billion won, while sales stood at 6.2 trillion won, up 0.2 percent over the cited period. KT said an increase in its 5G

Over six out of 10 South Korean youth think that unification with North Korea is necessary, a survey showed Tuesday. In a survey conducted by the education and unification ministries on 68,750 students enrolled in elementary, middle and high schools nationwide from Nov. 2-30 of last year, 62.4 percent said that the two Koreas need to reunify. The finding marks a 6.9 percentage point jump from a similar poll conducted a year ago. Among students who saw the need for unification, 28.4 percent cit