The ruling Democratic Party (DP) plans to swiftly draw up an extra budget that includes plans for both targeted and universal pandemic relief packages, the party's head of policy said Thursday, in spite of fiscal concerns raised by the finance ministry. "The party and the government will draw up an extra budget at the earliest date through active consultations. We intend to include a firm amount of targeted support together with a universal handout program," Rep. Hong Ik-pyo, DP's hea

Four American service members and a US Forces Korea retiree tested positive for the new coronavirus upon their arrival here last month, USFK said Thursday. The latest cases raised the total number of COVID-19 infections reported among the USFK population to 701, most of whom tested positive upon their arrival here from the United States. Of the newly reported cases, one service member arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on a US government chartered flight

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) said Thursday that it has issued global bonds worth $1.5 billion to overseas investors. The three-tranche debt is comprised of three-year bonds worth $500 million and five-year bonds worth $700 million, with the remainder maturing in 10 years, the lender said. The three-year bonds carry an annual interest rate of the yield on three-year US Treasurys plus 0.23 percent, and the five-year debt has a rate of the return on five-year US Trea

South Korea's industry ministry said Thursday it plans to raise 200 billion won ($179 million) this year to nurture eco-friendly automobiles and other state-of-the-art technologies, in line with the country's New Deal drive announced last year. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it has clinched a memorandum of understanding with a slew of industrial and financial partners, including Hyundai Motor Group. Of the fund, the government plans to chip in 50 billion won, followed by Hyund

The unification ministry said Thursday it is not appropriate to use the inter-Korean cooperation fund to help people suffering from the coronavirus given the nature of the money set aside for cross-border exchanges. Media reports earlier showed that the main opposition People Power Party is pushing to tap into the inter-Korean fund worth around 1.2 trillion won ($1.08 billion) in providing support for the virus-affected people during an interpellation session Friday. "The inter-Korean coo

The period comedy series "Mr. Queen" on tvN has become the biggest cable TV hit over the past year despite criticism over its Chinese original and some historically controversial scenes. The series' 16th episode that aired Sunday recorded 14.9 percent in viewership, according to data by Nielson Korea. It is the fifth-highest rated tvN's drama series of all time, following 21.7 percent by the romantic comedy "Crash Landing On You" (2019), 20.5 percent by the fantasy romance

A hilarious meme contrasting K-pop soloist HyunA's choreography for her new song "I'm Not Cool" with a scene from the Japanese animation "Crayon Shin-chan" has become the latest meme to hit Korea. The singer, known for her bold and powerful performances, last week released a new album, "I'm Not Cool," with a namesake title track. She worked on the song with her boyfriend and singer Dawn, as well as Psy, the "Gangnam Style" star who heads her agency P Nati

Officials at the South Korean Embassy in Iran have met with the crew members aboard a Korean oil tanker seized in the country, the foreign ministry said Thursday, a day after Tehran said it will free most of the sailors. On Tuesday (local time), Iran announced it will let the crew members detained aboard the MT Hankuk Chemi, leave, except for the captain, about a month after its military seized them along with the vessel in its waters for allegedly polluting the ocean. The 20 crew members are

South Korea and the United States are in talks over how to hold their annual springtime combined exercise in consideration of the coronavirus situation, the defense ministry said Thursday. The planned exercise has drawn keen attention amid concern that the North could use the exercise as a pretext for provocations in the early months of the administration of US President Joe Biden. Pyongyang has long denounced such drills as a rehearsal for invasion. The defense ministry has said the exercise

KT&G Corp., South Korea's dominant tobacco company, said Thursday its fourth-quarter net profit nearly tripled as exports increased despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Net profit for the three months ended December jumped to 307.71 billion won ($276 million) from 116.83 billion won a year earlier helped by robust overseas sales of tobacco products, the company said in a statement. "The seven-year supply contract signed with a Middle Eastern company early last year and increased exports to

Samsung Electronics Co.'s smartphone sales in the United States rose in the fourth quarter of 2020 on the back of its budget flagship model, a report showed Thursday, despite overall market decline. Samsung and Apple Inc. were the only smartphone makers to post sales growth in the United States in the last three months of 2020, according to market researcher Counterpoint Research. The South Korean tech giant saw 5 percent on-year growth in its US smartphone sales in the fourth quarter, while A

President Moon Jae-in said Thursday his government will accelerate its drive for the introduction of legislation and deregulatory measures to foster the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. He was speaking in his video message for a ceremony held in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, to kick off a major project to create a "national AI complex." A total of 620 billion won ($550 million) will be spent over the coming four years, with more than 1,200 jobs expected to be created. N

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the guilty convictions of dozens of former and current Samsung executives accused of sabotaging labor union activities at a subsidiary company in 2013. The court confirmed a 16-month prison sentence for Kang Kyung-hoon, a vice president at Samsung Electronics Co., on charges of violating labor union laws. It also confirmed the acquittal of Lee Sang-hoon, former chairman of Samsung Electronics' board of directors, citing the illegal means by which evidence w

The amount of wheat and other grains brought home by South Korean agricultural firms more than doubled in 2020 from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, in line with the country's efforts to revamp its national food security. The combined amount of grains excluding rice imported through South Korean agricultural developers reached 110,000 tons in 2020, soaring from just 44,000 tons posted the previous year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Wheat accounted for

South Korea welcomes the extension of a key nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, the foreign ministry said Thursday, expressing expectations that it would contribute to global peace and stability. Washington and Moscow extended the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, which was set to expire Friday, for five years, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Wednesday. He said the extension makes "the US, allies and partners, and the world safe

A Naval Academy cadet has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday, raising the total caseload reported among the military population to 553. The cadet at the academy in the southeastern city of Jinhae was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 upon return from vacation, according to the ministry. All other cadets who were tested after returning from vacation tested negative for the virus, it said. Nationwide, South Korea added 451 new virus cases Thursday, b

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK's first livestream concert held over the weekend was the most watched in the United States, the act's agency said Thursday. Subscribers based in the US accounted for 19.2 percent of all subscribers for the show, followed by those watching from Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Canada and Britain, according to YG Entertainment. BLACKPINK on Sunday held a 90-minute livestream concert in collaboration with You

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Thursday instructed officials to revamp the nation's social distancing scheme against COVID-19 once again to allow better public receptiveness, citing negative opinions toward its coercive aspects. In an interagency meeting on the COVID-19 response held at the government complex in Seoul, Chung told authorities to reorganize the current distancing rules under the assumption that "the public is involved" in the process. South Korea first adopted a thre

K-pop related tweets remained in full force last year, reaching a new record of 6.7 billion, Twitter Inc. said Thursday. The figure represents a jump of 600 million from 6.1 billion K-pop tweets in 2019. The social media company said Indonesia ranked as the top market tweeting about K-pop by volume, followed by Thailand and South Korea. In terms of unique users tweeting about K-pop, Japan topped the list, followed by the United States and Indonesia. Global superstar BTS was the most mentione

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Thursday it has completed culling 25.4 million poultry amid the outbreak of avian influenza among local farms, with the confirmed caseload reaching 85. The latest case of the malign H5N8 strain of bird flu was reported from a duck farm in Chungju, about 150 kilometers south of Seoul, the previous day, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said. Since the country reported the first highly pathogenic bird flu case traced to poultry farms in