The unification ministry considers adjusting a recently resumed tour program to the truce village of Panmunjom amid toughened social distancing measures against the coronavirus, a ministry official said Thursday. The official did not specify what the adjustments might be, but observers say they could include scaling down or suspending the tours altogether in consideration of a recent spike in daily infection cases. "We will announce plans soon for tours starting next week in consideration

Foreign investors extended a net purchase of South Korean equities for the second consecutive month in November, supported by hopes of a global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the central bank said Thursday. Foreigners bought a net $5.52 billion worth of local stocks last month, compared with a net purchase of $1.38 billion in October, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Offshore investors became net sellers of Korean bonds worth $450 million last month, the BOK said. Meanw

The Bank of Korea (BOK) warned Thursday that a winter wave of coronavirus outbreaks is likely to hurt the fragile recovery of private consumption. The BOK also took a cautious tone on progress in the global coronavirus vaccine campaign, saying it will take more time to speed up the distribution of vaccines worldwide. South Korea, which has largely brought outbreaks under control, has been facing a resurgence of virus cases in recent weeks, with the nation reporting more than 600 daily new ca

More than 4 out of every 10 newlywed couples in South Korea had no children last year, data showed Thursday, amid the country's chronic low birthrate and the trend of late marriages. Of 998,000 first-time and newly married couples -- who had been legally married in the five years up to Nov. 1, 2019, 42.5 percent had no kids, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. This marked a rise from 40.2 percent in 2018, when such newlyweds reached 1.05 million. South Korea is struggling with

Despite the rising status of hallyu, or the wave of Korean pop culture, across the world, relevant support infrastructure at home has failed to catch up, hallyu experts said Thursday, calling for the immediate construction of a K-pop concert arena and hallyu big data center, among other measures. The Korea Culture and Tourism Institute (KCTI), a think tank affiliated with the culture ministry, said the construction of a hallyu big data center will elevate the cultural hallyu industry to higher

The defense ministry said Thursday it will dispatch over 300 military officials to help with the government's handling of the resurgence of the new coronavirus. Starting Friday, a total of 362 officers from the Army's special warfare command will be sent to public health centers in the Seoul metropolitan region to help their antivirus work, including contact tracing and data management, according to the ministry. The move comes as South Korea is struggling to stem the spread of COVID-19, with

North Korea is likely to propose a beefed-up drive for "self-reliance" at the upcoming party congress to bolster its faltering economy under the strain of global sanctions and the fallout from the global pandemic, a Seoul-based think tank said Thursday. The Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University also said that the January-February period will be a "golden time" to make progress in the stalled nuclear talks and inter-Korean ties. The North is expected to ho

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Thursday it will send chartered flights to Singapore to support exports of strawberries, as local farmers have been facing troubles in shipping their produce amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Under the plan, South Korea plans to send Korean Air Lines Co.'s planes weekly through April to promote the exports of strawberries, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The move came as the COVID-19 pandemic has virtually suspended gl

South Korea said Thursday it will spend more than 400 billion won ($371 million) next year in the extended reality (XR) industry, such as augmented reality (AR) glasses and virtual reality (VR) content, setting its sights on leading the budding tech sector. The Ministry of Science and ICT said the government has set aside a total of 403 billion won for next year to boost XR development, which includes spending 44.6 billion won to integrate XR technology in key sectors, such as manufacturing, he

President Moon Jae-in's job approval rating has dropped again this week, dipping further from last week's all-time low figure, a poll showed Thursday, with a rift between the justice minister and the top prosecutor deepening and new virus cases soaring across the nation. In a Realmeter survey on 1,509 voters nationwide from Monday through Wednesday, 37.1 percent of respondents said they supported Moon. The figure represents a 0.3 percentage point dip from the 37.4 percent approval rating from

3대 유성우(별똥별) 중 하나인 '쌍둥이자리 유성우'가 14일 쏟아진다. 10일 한국천문연구원에 따르면 쌍둥이자리 유성우 극대기(ZHR)는 오는 14일 오전 9시 50분이 될 전망이다. 이상적인 조건에서 시간당 150개 정도의 유성을 볼 수 있다. 유성우는 소행성이나 혜성이 우주 공간에 남긴 부스러기가 지구 대기권과 충돌해 불타면서 별똥별이 비처럼 내리는 현상이다. 쌍둥이자리 유성우는 매년 12월 볼 수 있는데, 국제유성기구(IMO)에 따르면 올해는 13일부터 14일 사이 관측 가능하다. 천문연은 "유성우 극대기(ZHR·Zenithal Hourly Rate)는 6.5등성까지 보이는 이상적인 하늘에서 복사점이 천장 부근에 있을 때 한 명의 관측자가 한 시간 동안 볼 수 있는 유성의 예측 수"라며 "일반적으로는 대도시 불빛과 미세먼지 등 영향으로 이보다는 훨씬 적게 보인다"고 설명했다. 낮 시간대여서 극대기 관측은 어렵지만, 이

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday revised up the economic outlook for the South Korean economy this year, citing robust exports of tech products and a mild recovery in private consumption. The ADB expected Asia's fourth-largest economy to retreat 0.9 percent this year, compared with its September forecast of 1 percent contraction. The Manila-based bank predicted the Korean economy will grow 3.3 percent next year, the same as its earlier forecast. The ADB said the Korean economy is f

Electric scooters and other motor-based personal transportation vehicles will be allowed to start using bicycle lanes across the country Thursday, the government said. Under the amended laws on road traffic and bicycle use approved by the National Assembly in May, personal mobility devices, which refer to transporters that weigh below 30 kilograms and have a maximum speed of 25 kph, like electric scooters, are permitted on bike lanes. Those below the age of 13 are banned from riding them for s

South Korea's benchmark stock index opened sharply lower Thursday on overnight Wall Street tech losses and reports of allergy cases related to the vaccinations in Britain. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 26.77 points, or 0.97 percent, to 2,728.7 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The fall was led by shares of tech giants, tracking a 1.94 percent overnight plunge on the Nasdaq composite. The US Federal Trade Commission's antitrust lawsuit against Facebook dropped investor appetite f

Samsung Electronics Co. moved up to the third spot in the global smartwatch market in the third quarter of the year thanks to brisk sales of the Galaxy Watch3, a report showed Thursday. Samsung accounted for 10 percent of the global smartwatch shipments in the July-September period, up 2 percentage points from a year earlier, and surpassed China's BBK Electronics Corp., which settled for a 7 percent share, to take the third position in the market, according to industry tracker Counterpoint Rese

The Ministry of Justice held a meeting Thursday to discuss disciplinary measures against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over alleged irregularities, after delaying the session twice amid backlash. Last month, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae suspended Yoon for six counts of alleged wrongdoing, including surveillance of the judiciary, the first time a justice minister has taken such a step in the country's history. Yoon, who fiercely refuted all allegations against him, has been restored after wi

A US trade panel on Wednesday again postponed a much-awaited ruling on a trade secret dispute involving South Korean battery makers LG Energy Solution Ltd. and SK Innovation Co. to Feb. 10. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) postponed the final ruling slated for Dec. 10 without elaborating on the reason, putting off the schedule for the third time. LG Energy Solution, which supplies batteries to Tesla and General Motors, filed trade complaints with the ITC in early 2019, claiming SK

South Korean exports of instant noodles jumped more than 30 percent in the first 10 months of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, a report said Thursday. Overseas shipments of instant noodles, or "ramyeon" in Korean, came to $573 million in the January-October period, up 32.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the report from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). The surge was attributed to the global popularity of home cooking in the wake of the coronavirus ou

South Korea on Thursday reported more suspected highly pathogenic avian influenza cases from poultry farms, raising concerns that the bird flu outbreak is spreading nationwide despite enhanced measures. Authorities are investigating a suspected case in Naju, 355 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The samples were gathered from a slaughterhouse. The farm had killed all of its 22,000 ducks to be sold at market, but they were discarded aft

North Korea's trade with China nose-dived to a record low in October due to Pyongyang's border closure with its ally to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, a report showed Thursday. Exports and imports between the two countries came to $1.7 million in October, down a whopping 99.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the report by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). The October reading was the lowest monthly tally and down 92 percent from the previous month. North Korea