The operators of a South Korean pirate website have been ordered to pay compensation to around 50 online comics creators for using their works without permission, judicial sources said Friday. The Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of the creators in the damages lawsuit they filed in October 2019 against the pirate website named Bamtoki. The court ordered its three operators to pay between 1.5 million won ($1,366) and 6 million won to each plaintiff. Bamtoki was one of the largest ill

President Moon Jae-in on Friday instructed the chief of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) to lead the country's COVID-19 vaccination program with "full authority." Moon gave the instruction while receiving a briefing from KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong on her plans to administer the vaccinations through a pan-government program, according to presidential spokesman, Kang Min-seok. "The most important thing in vaccination is maintaining a high level of tru

The South Korean developer of a controversial female chatbot said Friday it will discard all data and learning algorithms used in training the artificial intelligence (AI) platform amid mounting criticism over its data collection process and hate speech. Scatter Lab, a Seoul-based startup, said it has decided to pull the plug on its 20-year-old female chatbot persona called Lee Luda and dispose of its database and deep learning algorithms to address concerns among its users. The company on Mon

Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday it will build its first overseas hydrogen fuel-cell systems plant in China to make a presence in global hydrogen markets. Hyundai will produce 6,500 fuel-cell systems for hydrogen-powered vehicles annually at the plant in China's southern city of Guangzhou, starting in the second half of 2022. It will consider increasing the production depending on future market demand, the company said in a statement. The plant's construction begins next month. The South Korean

The race for the top position at the national Olympic committee has been marred by mudslinging, accusations and subsequent denials, with the four candidates busy taking shots at one another rather than making concrete pledges to improve sports in the country. Lee Kee-heung is going for a second four-year term as the head of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC). He's up against three opponents: Lee Jong-kul, a five-term legislator and former head of the Korea Basketball Association; Y

YONGIN -- Seungri, the disgraced former member of K-pop boy band BIGBANG, has been additionally indicted for allegedly mobilizing gang members to threaten people he got into a fight with at a bar. Prosecutors on Thursday added the charge for the 31-year-old, according to the general military court under the Ground Operations Command in Yongin, about 50 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Seungri, whose legal name is Lee Seung-hyun, was at the center of a major sex and drug scandal that roiled the c

Unionized delivery workers on Friday threatened to launch a general strike unless measures are put in place to prevent their overwork before next month's Lunar New Year. Parcel deliveries are expected to increase around the holiday, which falls on Feb. 12 this year, as people travel to their hometowns and exchange gifts with family and friends. Couriers have complained for months that their workloads are unbearable, especially after a surge in online orders caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

K-pop soloist IU is set to release the new single "Celebrity" later this month ahead of releasing her long-awaited fifth studio album, her agency said Friday. The song, which Edam Entertainment described as an "upbeat pop sound track that IU will be experimenting with for the first time," will drop on Jan. 27. A teaser image for the upcoming single showed IU standing in between light green-colored doors, donning an elegant peach-colored gown and sparkly jewelry. "Cele

Posco Chemical Co., an affiliate of South Korea's steel giant Posco Group, said Friday it has raised 1.3 trillion won ($1.1 billion) by new stock sales to fund its rechargeable battery material business. Posco Chemical said it sold 16.47 million shares at 77,300 won to the company's employee stock ownership association and existing shareholders between Wednesday and Thursday, with its subscription rate at 103 percent. The new shares will be listed on the Seoul bourse on Feb. 3, the firm said.

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Friday the total number of highly pathogenic bird flu cases traced to farms reached 62 amid the growing concerns over the spread of the disease across the country. The latest confirmed case of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza came from an egg farm in Anseong, 77 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. South Korea saw its first farm-traced case in nearly three years in November 2020. Later on Friday

The foreign ministry appointed a new ambassador to Nigeria on Friday, replacing the former envoy under a probe over alleged misconduct in the hiring of an ex-embassy employee. Kim Young-chae, who previously served as the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, will head the mission in the African country, according to a ministry release. Kim, a career diplomat, also served as the head of the South Korean missions to the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) and in Libya be

Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, spoke by phone with US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun on Friday and discussed North Korea issues following a key party congress in the communist state, the foreign ministry said. The North wrapped up its eight-day gathering of the Workers' Party on Tuesday, in which it called the United States the North's "foremost principal enemy" and pledged to bolster its nuclear arsenal. During a military parade that followed the part

South Korea on Friday extended its special advisory against overseas travel for another month amid the continued spread of the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry said. The measure, which will be effective until Feb. 15, calls for citizens to cancel or postpone their planned trips abroad. The current monthlong advisory is set to expire Saturday. The ministry said that it extended the advisory, as many countries around the world continue to restrict entries of people arriving from overseas an

Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled its new flagship Galaxy S21 series phones on Friday, featuring trendy K-pop acts such as megastar BTS and eccentric alternative group Leenalchi, as the South Korean tech giant eyes capturing young smartphone users around the world. The South Korean smartphone maker introduced the Galaxy S21 series, which comes in three models -- the 6.2-inch S21, the 6.7-inch S21+ and the 6.8-inch S21 Ultra -- at the livestreamed online Galaxy Unpacked 2021 event that drew in a

Jennie, the singer-rapper of K-pop girl group BLACKPINK, has earned over 600 million views on YouTube with her 2018 hit song "Solo," her agency said Friday. The music video for her first solo single hit the milestone at around 5:19 a.m., some 26 months after its release in November 2018, according to YG Entertainment. With the feat, Jennie has become the first South Korean solo female artist to have a 600 million-view music video on the global video-sharing website. "Solo,"

About two weeks before the start of spring training across the league, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has been rocked by its latest gambling scandal. The Doosan Bears on Tuesday asked the KBO to place two of their minor leaguers, pitcher Jeong Hyun-wook and catcher Kwon Ki-young, on the inactive list, for engaging in illegal betting activities. Once placed there, they must be reinstated by the league commissioner before they can play again. Though the latest incident involved little-kn

South Korea's central bank on Friday held its policy rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent, as the fallout from a third wave of the new coronavirus hurt the scope of maintaining an economic recovery. As widely expected, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea (BOK) voted to leave the base rate steady in this year's first rate-setting meeting. In November last year, the BOK froze the key rate as economic uncertainty heightened amid a flare-up in new coronavirus cases. To bolster

The number of new coronavirus cases in South Korea stayed in the 500s for the fourth consecutive day Friday, in a sign that the third wave of the pandemic has slowed down following a peak on the back of monthlong tougher virus curbs. The country added 513 more COVID-19 cases, including 484 local infections, raising the total caseload to 71,241, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Friday's daily number marked a slight drop from 524 posted a day earlier, the KDCA

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, as investor sentiment was boosted by a massive stimulus proposal by US President-elect Joe Biden that fueled hopes of speedy global recovery from the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 11.13 points, or 0.35 percent, to 3,161.06 points in the first 20 minutes of trading. Samsung Electronics shed 0.78 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 1.92 percent. Leading chemical firm LG Chem retreated 0.3 percent, but recharge

North Korea showcased yet another new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in just three months during a recent military parade, experts said Friday. During the parade held on Thursday night at Kim Il-sung square in Pyongyang, the North rolled out SLBMs on transporter erector launchers (TEL), which it labeled as the Pukguksong-5ㅅ, along with a new short-range ballistic missile and various other kinds of weaponry. The Korean letter "ㅅ" appears to indicate that it is a sea-based