KT Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Monday global robotics expert Dennis Hong will join the company in an advisory role to help boost its efforts to integrate new technology into their services. Hong, a professor and the founding director of the Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory at UCLA, will advise the company on its broader robotics business, according to KT. The move comes as the telecom operator has recently shifted focus to AI and robotics, and last year acquired a 10

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong and the prosecution said Monday that they will not appeal last week's appeals court ruling that sentenced him to 2 1/2 years in prison in a retrial of a high-profile bribery case. Last Monday, the Seoul High Court handed down the verdict to the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. for bribing former President Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, to win government support for a smooth father-to-son transfer of managerial power at Samsung. Lee was se

South Korea's agriculture ministry said Monday owners of fierce dogs are obligated to have insurance packages starting next month, in line with the country's efforts to protect people from related incidents. The measure will go into effect on Feb. 12, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The move is aimed at helping victims of fierce dog-related incidents promptly receive compensation. The country categorizes Tosas, American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshi

South Korea strongly denounces last week's deadly suicide bombings in Iraq that killed more than 30 people and wounded over a hundred, the foreign ministry said Monday. "Our government expresses deep concern over the terrorist attacks in central Baghdad that resulted in a high number of casualties and strongly denounces the attacks," ministry spokesperson, Choi Young-sam, said in a commentary. "We extend our deepest sympathy to the victims and their bereaved families, as well as

CHEONGJU -- A local court has sentenced a man to a suspended prison term for assaulting a bus driver who asked him to properly wear his face mask amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Cheongju District Court said Sunday the 54-year-old was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 80 hours of community service on charges of assault. The man boarded a bus in Cheongju, some 140 kilometers south of Seoul, on July 15 and was asked by the 37-year-old driver to c

State and local health authorities remained on heightened alert Monday as a new coronavirus outbreak at an unauthorized missionary school reported over the weekend has infected more than 120 students and faculty. The number of infected people at IEM School, an unauthorized Christian missionary training school in Daejeon, 164 kilometers south of Seoul, stood at 127, according to health authorities. The outbreak was first reported on Saturday. The school is a boarding facility that recruits teen

Fans looking forward to the solo debuts of BLACKPINK members Rose and Lisa can get a glimpse of Rose's solo material in the quartet's online concert this weekend. Rose is set to perform her first solo song during BLACKPINK's online concert "The Show" scheduled for Sunday, YG Entertainment said Monday, adding the singer wanted to first share the song with her fans on stage. The agency said it plans to officially announce Rose's solo debut schedule soon as post-production for her music

Kim Jong-cheol, the chief of the progressive minor Justice Party, stepped down Monday over what the party called "obvious sexual harassment" of a female lawmaker of the same party. It is the first time that the head of an established political party has resigned due to sexual misconduct. The unprecedented case is expected to deal a crushing blow to the party which has championed gender equality on top of the rights of social minorities. "I came here to announce very humiliating,

K-pop dynamo BTS is set to drop a new edition of its hit album "BE" next month, the band's agency said Monday. The new edition, titled the "Essential Edition," will drop on Feb. 19, according to Big Hit Entertainment. BTS initially released the "Deluxe Version" of "BE" in November. The agency explained the new edition is a way for BTS to thank their fans for the historic milestones the group has achieved, such as topping the Billboard Hot 100 and getting

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to over 400 again on Monday due to largeSouth Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to over 400 again on Monday due to large-scale cluster infections linked to religious training facilities, as the country is set to decide whether to extend or lower its toughest-ever virus curbs later this week. The country added 437 more COVID-19 cases, including 405 locally transmitted infections, raising the total caseload to 75,521, according

A North Korean propaganda media outlet has mentioned Joe Biden's election as US president for the first time over the weekend, though official state media have stayed mum on his administration. DPRK Today, one of the North's propaganda websites, made the mention of Biden on Saturday, citing a report from Jaju Sibo, a pro-unification online media outlet in South Korea. "The US Congress failed to declare Biden as the president on this day and had to confirm Biden as the winner the following

워싱턴 -- "식사하던 주방위군 6명의 밥값을 내주려고 했는데 너무 늦었다네요. 다른 분이 이미 내셨대요. 워싱턴DC에 좋은 분들이 사십니다" 미국 워싱턴DC 주민 토미 맥플라이는 금요일인 22일(현지시간) 저녁 이런 트윗을 올렸다. 두 개의 테이블에 세 명씩 나눠 앉아 식사하던 군인들의 밥값을 대신 계산하려 했지만 한발 늦은 것이다. 그는 트윗에 "우리를 안전하게 지켜주고 민주주의를 수호해줘 감사드린다"고 덧붙였다. 미 언론이 전한 사정은 이렇다. 식당에서 식사하던 한 가족이 이 주방위군 일행 6명에게 고마움의 표시로 음료를 샀고 이들도 감사로 화답했다. 얼마 뒤 지나가던 시민이 식당에 주방위군 일행의 식사비를 대신 낼 수 있겠느냐고 물었다. 그는 신용카드를 식당에 건네 계산을 마무리하고는 주방위군 일행에 말하지 않고 가버렸다. 맥플라이가 밥값을 내겠다고 한 것은 그 이후였다. 시민들이 밥값을 서로 대신 내겠다며 워싱턴DC를 지켜준 데

A North Korean diplomat has defected to South Korea while serving as the acting chief of mission at the country's embassy in Kuwait, a source said Monday. Ryu Hyun-woo, who had served as the embassy's charge d'affaires since Ambassador So Chang-sik was expelled from Kuwait after a UN resolution was adopted in 2017, entered South Korea, along with his family, according to the source. Further details were not available, including the timing of the defection. But a media report earlier said that

South Korean Kim Si-woo has captured his third career PGA Tour title, ending a drought that had lasted nearly four years. Kim won the American Express by a stroke over Patrick Cantlay of the United States at 23-under 265 on the Stadium Course at PGA West in La Quinta, California, on Sunday (local time). The 25-year-old Korean carded a bogey-free final round of eight-under 64 to hold off Cantlay, who fired a blistering round of 11-under 61. Kim's previous victory had come at The Players Champio

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday on strong individual buying ahead of the fourth-quarter corporate earnings season this week and hopes for vaccines against the new coronavirus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 15.05 points, or 0.48 percent, to 3,155.68 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Airline, chemical and bio large caps did well, while auto and insurance shares traded bearish. Top cap Samsung Electronics rose 0.23 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix a

South Korea has completed the development of a command post vehicle to replace makeshift tent type posts for front-line infantry units, the arms procurement agency said Monday. The new wheel type vehicle allows commanders to lead combats while moving around and is equipped with devices to defend against enemy's chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) attacks, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. Hyundai Rotem Co. had led the development since 2017, using mostly loca

South Korean exports of red pepper paste jumped more than 35 percent in 2020 from a year earlier thanks to the global popularity of Korean pop culture, known as the Korean Wave, data showed Monday. Overseas shipments of red pepper paste, called "gochujang" in Korean, came to $50.93 million last year, up 35.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. South Korean exports had been on the rise since 2016, when the figure stood

South Korean retail investors' holdings of shares in electric vehicle leader Tesla Motors Inc. soared nearly 32 percent this year to cross the $10 billion mark, data showed Monday. Local individual investors owned $10.33 billion worth of Tesla shares as of Friday, up 31.9 percent from the end of last year, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository. The figure also represents a 73 times increase from the end of 2019 and South Korean retail investors' most-bought issue among for

A kitten has tested positive for the new coronavirus in the first virus case involving a pet reported in South Korea. "During a recent tracking process involving a mass outbreak, health authorities found that a pet has tested positive for COVID-19 in the first such case," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said in a government response meeting held at the Seoul government complex Sunday. The infected animal is a kitten that was found at a religious facility in the southeastern city of A k

The music video for "Dynamite," the historic BTS song that topped the Billboard's main singles chart last year, has earned 800 million YouTube views, the band's agency said Sunday. YouTube views for "Dynamite" hit 800 million views at 12:26 p.m. on Sunday, becoming the septet's sixth music video to reach the milestone, according to Big Hit Entertainment. The feat came just a month after it earned 700 million views, it added. "Dynamite," an upbeat disco-pop track t