South Korea decided Wednesday to extend the suspension of direct flights from Britain for two more weeks to block a more transmissible coronavirus variant first detected in the European country. Health authorities have confirmed a total of 11 cases of the new strain, most recently two cases Tuesday, and one case of a separate variant spreading in South Africa. "The ban on flights from Britain has been extended for two weeks until Jan. 21," the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Age

BTS has set another record by becoming the first K-pop group or singer to have a song rank within the top 10 on the Billboard's main singles chart for 13 weeks. The septet's hit song "Dynamite" reached the fifth spot on the Hot 100 chart updated Tuesday (US time), marking its 13th week in the top 10, the longest streak by a K-pop act or singer, according to Big Hit Entertainment. The previous record was set by K-pop singer and producer Psy, whose 2012 hit song "Gangnam Style&quo

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) has kicked off a review of a potential fourth round of stimulus checks, with a focus on whether they should be given to all or only business owners hit by the new coronavirus pandemic, officials said Wednesday. The move comes as the government is to start providing some 9.3 trillion won ($8.6 billion) next Monday to small merchants reeling from the COVID-19 outbreak as part of the country's third round of emergency coronavirus response handouts. Including the 1

South Korea's parcel delivery workers on Wednesday called on their companies to offer measures to prevent overwork-related casualties and keep a promise to beef up staffing. A civic task force working for the rights of delivery workers, which was formed in July to improve working conditions for couriers, said delivery companies have yet to fulfill their pledge to hire additional hands to help with parcel sorting operations. During a press conference in Seoul, the group argued major logistics f

A US reconnaissance plane flew over South Korea on Wednesday, an aviation tracker said, on an apparent mission to monitor North Korea as Pyongyang kicked off its rare party congress. The US Navy's EP-3E was seen flying over Hwaseong, south of Seoul, and Hongcheon, 100 kilometers east of the capital, in the afternoon, according to the tracker, No callsign. The flight came as the ruling Workers' Party's first congress in nearly five years started in Pyongyang on Tuesday. The congress draws keen

Temporary coronavirus screening centers in the greater Seoul area will temporarily curtail their operating hours this week due to the expected onset of the season's coldest weather, authorities said Wednesday. About 150 temporary testing stations, launched on Dec. 14 in Seoul and neighboring Gyeonggi Province and Incheon to detect hidden COVID-19 infections, currently operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekends. "All temporary testing centers in the cap

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest carrier, said Wednesday it will extend the expiration dates of mileage that expired at the end of 2020 and mileage that expires at the end of 2021 to 2022 amid the coronavirus pandemic. In June, Korean Air already extended mileage points due to expire at the end of 2020 by one year to 2021 as travel demand dried up due to the pandemic. With the additional mileage extension, Korean Air plans to kick off its revamped SKYPASS mileage program in April 20

A US Department of Defense employee working in Seoul has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Wednesday. The employee who works at US Army Garrison Yongsan in central Seoul was confirmed to have contracted the virus Tuesday, according to the US military. He last visited the base last Wednesday and is currently at a facility designated for COVID-19 patients at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul. The employee has been staying at h

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of South Korea's top conglomerate, Samsung Group, on Wednesday visited the company's research and development (R&D) hub to check its future technologies for the post-pandemic era. Lee discussed Samsung's long-term strategy with senior executives at Samsung Research and was briefed on the company's latest projects on next-generation telecommunication technologies, server and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, according

South Korea's TV series production houses have turned their eyes to hit Western shows as part of efforts to meet diversified demand of viewers across the world. Chorokbaem Media, a local production company behind big-name TV series like "The Penthouse: War in Life" (2020) and "Memories of the Alhambra" (2018), will produce the Korean edition of "Criminal Justice," a popular crime drama on the BBC in 2008, later this year. Titled "That Night," the remake

A cold wave warning is set to be issued in Seoul on Wednesday for the first time in about three years, as the capital and central parts of the nation came under the grip of the season's coldest weather. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said that the cold wave warning will take effect for the whole of Seoul at 9 p.m., marking the first such warning since the previous one was issued on Jan. 23, 2018. The cold wave warning is issued when the morning low is below minus 15 C for more t

South Korea's science ministry said Wednesday it has started manufacturing a space telescope in a joint project with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Ministry of Science and ICT said NASA has approved the preliminary design for the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx), paving the way for its construction. The space telescope was first planned and

Coffee shops, bars and internet cafes have joined a growing list of businesses protesting the government's coronavirus restrictions, with shop owners lighting signboards, staging demonstrations and petitioning the Constitutional Court. The shop owners say the restrictions are applied unfairly, allowing some businesses to reopen while shuttering others, and without any promise of proper compensation for their losses. The complaints have grown since the government extended Level 2.5 social dista

South Korea's government on Wednesday said it will test weekly all correctional employees nationwide for the coronavirus to slow down its rapid spread and prevent mass outbreaks. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), all staff working at correctional facilities will receive quick tests to detect bits of coronavirus proteins called antigens. The test is slightly less accurate than laboratory tests called PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, but produces results withi

South Korea plans to provide a huge chunk of its emergency handouts to smaller merchants hit hard by the new coronavirus outbreak by the Lunar New Year's holiday in early February, the finance minister said Wednesday. The country plans to provide 9.3 trillion won ($8.6 billion) in relief funds to small businesses stung by state-imposed shutdowns over virus cases and the self-employed reeling from the economic fallout of the pandemic. "The government will start to provide the emergency han

South Korea and Pakistan agreed Wednesday to expand their bilateral economic ties in on-going energy projects in the South Asian nation. The two nations held the third round of the Korea-Pakistan Joint Trade Committee virtually, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. During the meeting, Seoul requested that Islamabad consider using South Korean consortiums in the planned construction of two hydroelectric power plants with a capacity of 470 megawatts (MW) and 215 MW, respectiv

South Koreans were almost evenly divided on the idea of granting pardons to two former presidents currently in prison for corruption charges, a hotly debated topic recently brought up by the ruling party chief, a survey showed Wednesday. In a one-day survey by Realmeter conducted on 500 voters nationwide on Tuesday, 47.7 percent of respondents said they were in favor of providing amnesty to Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, while 48 percent said they were against the idea. The remaining 4.3 perc

Nine shareholders of Doosan Fuel Cell Co. sold their combined 8.13 percent stake in the fuel cell maker via a block deal, the company said Wednesday. "The stake sale was a part of Doosan Group's self-rescue plan," a company official said by phone. The shareholders were reported to have raised around 274.5 billion won ($252.7 million) via the block deal. The shareholders include Park Jeong-won, chairman of cash-squeezed Doosan Group. After the sale, the combined stake in Doosan Fuel

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Wednesday it has completed culling 13.6 million poultry as a preventive measure to cope with the rising number of highly pathogenic bird flu cases from local farms, with the total caseload approaching closer to 50. Under the country's quarantine guideline, all birds within a 3-kilometer radius of infected farms should be culled, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. They included 10.8 million chickens. The ministry confirmed

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea rose 4.5 percent last December from a year earlier due to strong demand for German cars, an industry association said Wednesday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 31,419 units last month from 30,072 a year earlier despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. For the whole of 2020, foreign carmakers sold 274,859 autos, up 12 percent from 244,780 in the