South Koreans aged 18 and below accounted for about 9 percent of the total new coronavirus cases reported here, with youngsters being less susceptible to COVID-19 compared to adults, the health authority said Tuesday. Minors accounted for 8.9 percent of the 75,084 virus patients confirmed here through Sunday, according to the data compiled by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The country reported its first confirmed COVID-19 case back on Jan. 20, 2020. No fatalities have

South Korea voiced "deep concern" Tuesday after Myanmar's military detained its top civilian leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, in an apparent coup and declared a one-year state of emergency the previous day. "Our government expresses deep concern over the recent political situation in Myanmar," Choi Young-sam, spokesman of the foreign ministry, said, stressing Seoul respects Myanmarese people's aspirations toward democracy witnessed in last year's general elections. &quo

Hui, a member of K-pop boy band Pentagon, will start his alternative military service later this month, his management agency said Tuesday. The 28-year-old group leader and producer will enter a boot camp on Feb. 18 for four weeks of basic military training and then serve as a social worker, according to CUBE Entertainment. All able-bodied South Korean men are required to serve in the military, but those judged unfit for active-duty service are allowed to serve an alternative one. The agency

The finance ministry on Tuesday launched a review over how to draw up a fourth round of emergency handouts designed to help people cope with economic slumps caused by the pandemic. South Korea is likely to seek to draw up an extra budget to provide more pandemic relief funds in March or April to assist merchants and businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since last year, the country has drawn up three rounds of emergency relief funds totaling 31.4 trillion won ($28.1 billion), including

Hyundai Capital Services Inc., South Korea's leading auto finance company, said Tuesday that its has issued global green bonds worth $600 million. The five-year bonds, which were sold to overseas investors, carry an annual interest rate of 1.25 percent, or the yield on five-year US Treasurys plus a spread of 92.5 basis points. The interest rate is 37.5 basis points lower than the guidance rate and the lowest-ever rate that Hyundai Capital has offered to offshore investors. Hyundai Capital sai

Mercedes-Benz Korea has requested a Seoul court cancel a multibillion-won fine imposed on the company for manipulating diesel emissions in the country, judicial sources said Tuesday. The German carmaker filed a lawsuit against the environment ministry in October with the Seoul Administrative Court, seeking the cancellation of a 77.6 billion-won ($69.3 million) fine over its emission manipulation, the sources said. Details on the upcoming hearing schedules have yet to be disclosed. As for the

The culture ministry said Tuesday it will focus on reviving the pandemic-hit culture and tourism industries here, as well as continue to support the spread of "hallyu," or the Korean Wave, around the world in 2021. Under the plan, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism laid out four major policy goals for the year, which were then divided into 15 agenda items, such as supporting sectors that took a blow from the new coronavirus, helping content producers go digital, strengthening

South Korea's gender ministry said Tuesday that it will carry out a fact-finding survey on stalking and dating violence later this year and map out employment plans for women in the novel coronavirus pandemic. In the 2021 policy plan, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family put its policy priority on preventing sexual crimes against women and promoting gender equality in the job market to help women get employed and continue their careers in an easier way. The ministry said stalking and dat

South Korea's ICT ministry said Tuesday it will invest 2.85 trillion won ($2.55 billion) until 2025 for the maintenance and replacement of aged and messy overhead electrical and telecommunications cables across the country. Over five years, the ministry plans to spend 1.4 trillion won for cable maintenance, while investing 1.45 trillion won to put them underground, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. The move comes after the country spent 2.6 trillion won for cable maintenance in aro

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) will seek an extra state budget to provide the fourth round of a COVID-19 relief fund, party Chairman Rep. Lee Nak-yon said Tuesday. "(The DP) will prepare the fourth round of the disaster assistance fund. It will draw up a sufficient supplementary budget," the party chief said in his parliamentary speech marking the recent launch of a monthlong extra parliamentary session. Since May last year, the government has distributed more than 31 trillion won

US Forces Korea (USFK) said Tuesday that it has not issued advance furlough notices to its South Korean employees as the two countries are working on a "new, comprehensive" defense cost-sharing deal. The US military was expected to begin sending thousands of South Korean workers a 60-day notice that they could be put on unpaid leave in April if Seoul and Washington fail to reach an agreement on a new Special Measures Agreement (SMA) that stipulates how much Seoul will pay for the upke

South Korea said Tuesday it has teamed up with the mobile giant Kakao Corp. to provide local consumers with information on restaurants that have strictly followed sanitary guidelines to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. The service offers locations of restaurants that have employees wear protective masks at all times and provide separate utensils for communal dishes and pots, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Kakao operates South Korea's most popular mo

Over 66 percent of South Koreans used over-the-top (OTT) media, or video streaming services, last year amid the stay-at-home trend driven by the pandemic, a survey showed Tuesday. South Korea's OTT usage rate stood at 66.3 percent in 2020, compared with 52 percent the previous year, according to a survey of 6,029 people over the age of 13 by the country's media regulator, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC). YouTube was the most popular OTT service here, with its usage rate at 62.3 perce

South Korea said Tuesday it is investigating another suspected case of highly pathogenic bird flu, with the total confirmed caseload traced to poultry farms here since November reaching 83. The latest suspected case of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza came from an egg farm in Icheon, just south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The number of confirmed infections traced to wild birds also reached 127 as of Tuesday. South Korea has so far culled nearl

Two Air Force officers and an Army soldier have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The officers, based in the southern city of Sacheon, were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after coming into contact with a person at their base who tested positive earlier, according to the ministry. They have been in isolation following the earlier virus case and were confirmed infected in a test required to exit quarantine. The Army soldier tested positive while

President Moon Jae-in instructed his government Tuesday to redouble efforts to address the problem of growing difficulties facing the vulnerable, including micro and small merchants, amid the prolonged COVID-19 crisis. His message came as the ruling Democratic Party has proposed a fourth batch of emergency relief money handouts, which require supplementary budgets. Moon pointed out the three key policy goals of 2021 -- recovery, inclusiveness and resurgence -- speaking during a weekly Cabinet

아동학대가 사회적 문제가 된 가운데 10대 딸을 죽도 등으로 반복해서 폭행하고 4시간 동안 가혹행위를 한 40대 부부가 재판에 넘겨졌으나 법원이 비교적 적은 금액의 벌금형을 선고해 논란이 일고 있다. 인천지법 형사2단독 이연진 판사는 아동복지법상 아동학대 혐의로 기소된 A(44·여)씨와 그의 남편 B(47)씨에게 각각 벌금 700만원을 선고하고 40시간의 아동학대 치료 프로그램 이수를 명령했다고 2일 밝혔다. A씨는 2016년부터 2019년 12월까지 인천시 중구 자택에서 딸 C(15)양을 수시로 무릎 꿇게 하고 죽도로 때린 혐의 등으로 기소됐다. 그는 C양이 만 12살이던 2017년에는 야단을 치는데도 "잘못했다"는 말을 하지 않는다며 4시간 동안 머리를 바닥에 박고 엎드려서 무릎을 들어 올리는 이른바 '원산폭격'을 시키기도 했다. 또 7시간 동안 무릎을 꿇게 해 화장실도 가지 못 하게 한 적도 있으며 C양의 안경을 발로 밟아 부러뜨리면서 &q

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul held video talks with his US counterpart Gen. Mark Milley on Tuesday and agreed to continue efforts to make "visible progress" on the envisioned transition of wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean troops from Washington to Seoul, the military said. During their first talks since the launch of the President Joe Biden administration, the two military leaders also vowed to develop their combined defense posture based on the &

South Korea's sovereign wealth fund said Tuesday it earned $21.8 billion from investment, boosted by stock rallies, as the coronavirus pandemic prompted central banks to cut rates and pump liquidity into markets. Choi Hee-nam, chief executive of Korea Investment Corp. (KIC), told reporters that its return on investment was 13.7 percent last year, compared with 15.39 percent in 2019. It marked the second straight year that the KIC posted a double-digit return on investment. Over the past two y

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed in the 300s for the third straight day on Tuesday as health authorities extended tough virus curbs amid a continued rise in cluster infections. The country added 336 more COVID-19 cases, including 295 local infections, raising the total caseload to 78,844, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily caseload stood at 305 cases on Monday and 355 on Sunday, when the tally fell back to the 300s for the first time