South Korea's coronavirus death toll continued to rise Wednesday, posting a double-digit increase in virus fatalities for the second straight day as critically ill patients piled up amid spiking virus cases. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the country reported 12 additional deaths from COVID-19, raising the total to 612. The country reported a daily high of 13 COVID-19 deaths Tuesday. The number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients came to 226, sharply

Twenty-one Vietnamese students living in a college dormitory in a central South Korean city have been diagnosed with COVID-19, local officials said Wednesday, reporting a rare coronavirus cluster of foreign nationals here. The nation's latest mass infection occurred at Ajou Motor College in Boryeong, a South Chungcheong Province city about 200 kilometers south of Seoul. The college reported its first confirmed case Monday, when a Vietnamese student residing in its dormitory tested positive for

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun called Wednesday for thorough measures to minimize the negative impact on the economy and the people's livelihoods in case of tougher anti-coronavirus social distancing restrictions. "(We) can't rule out (the possibility of) a decision to raise (the rule) to Level 3," while the government is making all-out efforts to curb the COVID-19 spread without using the "last means," he stressed during a daily interagency meeting on the pandemic. Currentl

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday after overnight Wall Street gains, as investors pinned their hopes on a US stimulus deal. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.31 points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,771.13 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI rebounded after a two-session retreat, despite the country's surging COVID-19 cases. Stocks increased on rosy expectations of a Santa rally, in addition to anticipations that the world's largest economy would ha

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Wednesday that it has won a 407 billion won ($372 million) order from an Asian company. Under the deal, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. is set to deliver two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers to the unidentified Asian company by October 2024, according to the unit of Korea Shipbuilding. On Tuesday, Korea Shipbuilding won three orders worth 601 billion won to build two LNG carriers and a very large crude carrier (VLCC). A LNG carrier wor

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases hit another new high Wednesday in the face of alarming increases in cluster infections across the country, prompting health authorities to seriously consider adopting the toughest virus curbs. The country added 1,078 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,054 local infections, raising the total caseload to 45,442, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Wednesday's daily caseload is higher than the previous record of 1,030 on Sun

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it plans to expand its foldable smartphone lineup next year and hinted that stylus support may be available to more Galaxy devices as the South Korean tech giant revealed its mobile business goals for 2021. Roh Tae-moon, who heads Samsung's mobile communications business, said the world's largest smartphone maker's diverse product portfolio will deliver "breakthrough capabilities." "True to our heritage of staying ahead of the curve with

South Korea's export prices fell for the fourth consecutive month in November as the local currency continued to strengthen against the US dollar, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, declined 0.8 percent in November from the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the fourth consecutive month of on-month decline after the index rose for a third month in a row in July.

The government will disregard education levels in determining whether one is fit for active military service, the military recruitment agency said Wednesday. Under the current law, the government is required to recruit men with at least high school diplomas for active military service. Those with lower levels of education are assigned to reservist duties, though they can still serve active duty if they volunteered and met certain physical criteria. The government will abolish the education-bas

WASHINGTON -- South Korea's ambassador to the United States on Tuesday stressed the importance of dialogue between the countries' leaders in strengthening their alliance. Amb. Lee Soo-hyuck also said a summit between President Moon Jae-in and incoming US President Joe Biden will help enhance the countries' joint efforts to establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. "The most important task facing us is to hold a South Korea-US summit at an early date after the new US administratio

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump plans to veto the US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) partly for limiting troop withdrawal from countries including South Korea, White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday. The remarks came days after the US Congress passed the defense bill that seeks to provide $740 billion in defense spending in the fiscal year 2021. Trump earlier said the defense bill will be one of the first he will veto, claiming it will only benefit China. &quo

The number of employed people in South Korea declined for the ninth straight month in November as the new coronavirus outbreak continued to deal a blow to the job market, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people reached 27.2 million last month, 273,000 fewer than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. But the pace of the decline eased last month from October, when the number of jobs fell by 421,000, the sharpest on-year decline in six months, as softene

South Korea on Tuesday confirmed three more cases of highly pathogenic bird flu at poultry farms across the nation, raising the total to 16. Avian influenza of the H5N8 strain was found in samples collected from chicken farms in Gumi, 261 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Another chicken farm in Imsil County in North Jeolla Province, located 300km south of the capital, reported a suspected bird flu case, which was later confirmed

Two South Koreans have escaped from Ethiopia's conflict-hit region unharmed and moved to a "safe" location in the capital city of Addis Ababa, an informed source said Tuesday. The two unidentified Koreans had been out of contact since tensions heightened recently in the northern region of Tigray in the African country, where an armed conflict is ongoing between its federal government and military forces led by a dissident political party. They arrived in Addis Ababa on Monday and pla

  South Korea's bourse operator on Tuesday delayed its decision on whether to delist the scandal-ridden drugmaker Kolon TissueGene, saying it needs more time to review the issue. The Korea Exchange said it will reopen a meeting on the fate of Kolon TissueGene, an affiliate of Kolon Life Science, later. It stopped short of announcing a specific date. A week earlier, the KRX postponed its decision on the matter. Kolon TissueGene was listed on the secondary Kosdaq market in 2017. The tradi

South Korea on Tuesday decided to buy U.S. aircraft manufacturer Sikorsky's MH-60R Seahawk helicopter to bolster the Navy's anti-submarine capabilities, the arms procurement agency said. South Korea will sign a contract with the Lockheed Martin Corp. subsidiary this year for the 960 billion won ($878 million) project to purchase maritime choppers to boost the Navy's detection and attack capabilities against enemies' vessels and submarines, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administra

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Tuesday that the government plans to start acquiring new coronavirus vaccines in the first quarter of 2021. During a vaccine procurement-related government meeting, Chung said that authorities will establish a meticulous plan to allow prepurchased vaccines to be "acquired properly from the first quarter of next year" so that they can be administered according to plan. The pan-ministerial meeting at the government complex in Seoul was attended by the

North Korea is likely to send a conciliatory message to the United States when it holds a rare party congress next month in a bid to leave room for negotiations before President-elect Joe Biden takes office, an expert said Tuesday. Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, made the remarks during a symposium, forecasting that Pyongyang is expected to use the congress to influence the Biden administration's policymaking on the North. "North Korea's 8th

South Korean stocks slumped for the second consecutive session Tuesday, as investors sought to cash in part of recent gains amid spiking virus cases. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.38 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 2,756.82, with construction and bio sectors having led the KOSPI's retreat. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 15.3 trillion won ($14.5 billion), with gainers outnumberin

President Moon Jae-in sent a formal letter to Joe Biden on Tuesday, congratulating him on being elected US president, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday. The move came after the American Electoral College officially affirmed the former vice president's win in last month's presidential election. In the letter, Moon congratulated Biden on winning the election with the largest number of votes in U.S. history, and said he anticipates working together to denuclearize and establish lasting peace on the Kore