The defense ministry called Wednesday on the Navy chief to take "special caution" in conducting his duties, a measure that followed an inspection into the allegations he failed to attend an emergency meeting on a missing officer earlier this month after drinking alcohol. But the ministry dismissed the claims that Adm. Boo Suk-jong failed to properly handle the case involving the officer, stressing he had faithfully carried out his role as the chief of naval operations at the time of

Big Hit Entertainment, the agency behind global star BTS, announced on Wednesday that it plans to invest 70 billion won ($63 million) in YG Entertainment, one of the biggest K-pop agencies in South Korea. Under the deal, Big Hit and its affiliate beNX will invest 30 billion won and 40 billion won, respectively, in YG affiliate YG Plus, the agency said in a press release following a board meeting. With the investment, Big Hit and beNX will 7.7 percent and 10.2 percent stakes, respectively, in

President Moon Jae-in introduced global political and business leaders Wednesday to South Korea's policy measures designed to promote inclusive growth in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was delivering a special speech at an online meeting of the World Economic Forum as part of its Davos Agenda Week event. He enumerated Seoul's policy measures to help households and businesses that have suffered a heavy blow from the virus spread, including three batches of emergency cash handouts and f

President Moon Jae-in appointed Park Beom-kye, a ruling Democratic Party lawmaker, as his new justice minister Wednesday, Cheong Wa Dae said. Park's tenure is to begin the following day, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. Hours earlier, a parliamentary committee adopted a confirmation report on Park amid a boycott by members of the main opposition People Power Party. The party has argued that Park, who used to a judge, is not qualified for the ministerial post, citing multip

President Moon Jae-in introduced global political and business leaders Wednesday to South Korea's policy measures designed to promote inclusive growth in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was delivering a special speech at an online meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) as part of its Davos Agenda Week event. He enumerated Seoul's policy measures to help households and businesses that have suffered a heavy blow from the virus spread, including three batches of emergency cash handouts

LG Electronics Inc. is collaborating with Qualcomm Technologies Inc. for the development of 5G automotive platforms, its senior executive has said, as the South Korean tech giant tries to expand its presence in the automotive business for future growth. Qualcomm, the No. 1 semiconductor supplier in telematics and wireless car connectivity, announced Tuesday (US time) that it aims to deploy "reliable, connected, intelligent and location-aware next generation vehicles" with partners inc

K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together (TXT) has topped the latest Oricon weekly music chart with its first full-length Japanese album, its management agency said Wednesday. Released on Jan. 20, the 10-track album "Still Dreaming" landed in the top spot on the weekly albums chart this week with TXT's all-time high first-week album sales of 86,892 units in Japan, according to Big Hit Entertainment. The album has also stayed in the top spot on the daily albums chart for seven consecutive d

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday that it would be desirable for South Korea to selectively provide assistance to sectors and people hit hard by the pandemic as economic recovery is uneven. During a conference call with Finance Minister Hong Nam-Ki, Andreas Bauer, Korea mission chief at the IMF, said South Korea needs to maintain policy support to tackle economic slumps caused by the new coronavirus outbreak. An IMF team held its annual meetings with South Korea's finance mi

Delivery workers said Wednesday they will launch a strike later this week, accusing logistics firms of violating the terms of their recent agreement to improve working conditions. The Parcel Delivery Workers' Solidarity Union said the walkout will begin Friday with the participation of 2,800 members working for private logistics firms, such as Hanjin Transportation Co., Lotte Global Logistics Co. and CJ Logistics Co. Another 2,650 members affiliated with the state postal service, Korea Post, w

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., a major electronics components maker in South Korea, on Wednesday said its fourth-quarter net profit in 2020 swung to the black from a year earlier on the back of increased sales of its products amid the growth of 5G and automotive sectors. The Samsung Group affiliate reported a net profit of 204.9 billion won ($185.4 million) for the October-December period, swinging from a loss of 21.1 billion won a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it

South Korean stocks slumped after a choppy session Wednesday, largely due to heavy foreign selling related to concerns over fiscal policy tightening in major financial markets. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 17.75 points, or 0.57 percent, to close at 3,122.56 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 905 million shares worth some 19.4 trillion won ($17.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 574 to 293. Foreigner

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it paid out more than 77.7 billion won ($70 million) in incentives to its semiconductor partner companies last year as the South Korean tech giant tries to build up a healthy ecosystem for the local chip industry. The world's largest memory chipmaker said it gave incentives worth 41.19 billion won to some 23,000 workers at its 289 chip business partners in the second half of 2020. Including its first half incentives worth 36.53 billion won, the company's

South Korea said Wednesday it plans to launch a task force on population policy next month in an effort to preemptively tackle a demographic cliff amid the country's chronic low birthrate and rapid aging. The third pan-governmental task force will set sail in February to deal with major demographic risks, including a fall in the population and preparation for a super-aged society, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Last year, the number of deaths surpassed that of newborns for t

A Christian missionary society has been ordered or advised to conduct coronavirus tests for people at all of its affiliated schools and facilities in South Korea, government officials said Wednesday, as a cluster of COVID-19 infections tied to a subsidiary school has so far infected more than 320. According to the Central Disaster Management Headquarters, a government agency, the number of infected people in the latest virus cluster traced to the International English Mission (IEM) School in th

Prosecutors have raided the office of the anti-corruption team at the Supreme Prosecutors Office, intensifying an investigation into an allegedly illegal ban on a former vice justice minister from leaving the country two years ago. The Suwon District Prosecutors Office, in charge of the probe, sent prosecutors and police investigators to the team's office in southern Seoul on Tuesday afternoon to secure documents and data compiled when the justice ministry issued an urgent overseas travel ban o

(홍콩) -- 세계보건기구(WHO) 전문가들이 중국 후베이(湖北)성 우한(武漢)에서 현장조사를 벌일 예정인 가운데 우한 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나19) 희생자 유가족이 진실을 밝히기 위해 WHO 조사팀을 만나게 해달라고 요청했다. 우한 토박이 장하이 씨는 27일 홍콩 사우스차이나모닝포스트(SCMP)에 당국이 그간 자신의 입에 재갈을 물렸다고 주장하면서 "WHO 전문가들은 거짓말을 퍼뜨리는 도구가 돼서는 안된다"고 말했다. 장씨의 아버지는 작년 1월 골절상을 당해 우한 병원에 입원했다가 보름 만인 2월 1일 코로나19에 감염돼 숨졌다. 장씨는 이후 코로나19 팬데믹을 은폐한 우한 당국을 고소하고 관련 관리들에 대한 조사를 촉구했다. 그러나 그가 제기한 소송은 기각됐다. 그는 당국으로부터 감시를 당하고 있다고 주장했다. 현재는 광둥성 선전(深圳)에 거주하고 있는 장씨는 당국에 책임을 묻기 위해 중국 전역 코로나19 희생자 유가족의 모임을 꾸려왔다. 장

Superstar BTS has earned five nominations for the 2021 Korean Music Awards with its record-breaking albums and songs released last year. BTS has been named in the Musician of the Year, the Album of the Year, the Song of the Year, the Best Pop Album and the Best Pop Song categories, becoming one of the five acts with the most nominations, the awards' selection committee said in an online press conference held Tuesday. The four other most-nominated acts were Leenalchi, a sensational alternative

The number of babies born in South Korea hit a new record low in November last year, data showed Wednesday, underscoring the country's chronic low birth rate. The number of deaths rose to the highest in 37 years, leading to the population declining for the 13th straight month, according to Statistics Korea. The data showed that 20,085 babies were born in November, down 15.3 percent from a year earlier. It marked a record low for the month of November since 1981, when the statistics agency beg

Chinese President Xi Jinping has expressed his active support for Seoul's initiative to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, calling the efforts in line with the common interests of both countries, according to Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday. It said Xi delivered the comments during his phone talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday. During the talks, Moon said he hopes Seoul and Beijing can work together to open a trilateral summit between the two countries along with Japan. Xi repl

SEOUL/WASHINGTON -- Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed Wednesday that the North Korean nuclear issue is an urgent matter that the two countries should work closely to resolve. They shared the understanding in their first phone talks that came just hours after Blinken officially took office as the country's top diplomat following the Senate confirmation on his nomination. "The two ministers shared the understanding that the North Korean nucl