The executive board of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has unanimously adopted a document that a South Korea-led multilateral group submitted in hopes of ending racial discrimination, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. During a virtual executive board session on Monday, the Group of Friends for Solidarity and Inclusion with Global Citizenship Education submitted the document amid growing concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened racial hatred and discrim

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, taking a cue from overnight losses on Wall Street amid concerns over the new coronavirus resurgence in global markets. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 8.83 points, or 0.32 percent, to 2,736.61 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.49 percent to 30,069.79 points on rising COVID-19 cases and disappointing jobless data. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.45 percent, but the S&P 500

BTS, one of the world's most popular pop groups, has become the first all-South Korean act to make it into the top 10 on Billboard's Radio Songs chart. The group's hit single "Dynamite" moved up a spot to rank No. 10 on the chart measuring radio airplay in the United States, Billboard reported on Monday (US time). The all-English track had earlier made history by becoming the first song by a Korean act to top Billboard's main singles chart, the Hot 100. "This week, it becomes BT

The finance ministry said Tuesday it has allocated 72.4 percent of state fiscal spending to be implemented during the first half of next year in an effort to cope with the new coronavirus outbreak and an economic slowdown. The government plans to front-load 331 trillion won ($305.2 billion) of next year's fiscal spending totaling 459.9 trillion won in the January-June period, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The amount is higher than 71.4 percent of the budget spending allocat

South Korean brokerage houses have raised their target prices of Samsung Electronics Co. on signs of a recovery in global chip demand, sources said Tuesday. Some analysts predict the share price of Samsung Electronics, the world's top memory chip maker, to rise as high as 90,000 won ($83) after reaching the 70,000 won range on hopes of a rebound in its semiconductor business. Samsung Electronics, also the No. 1 smartphone manufacturer in the world, finished at an all-time high of 72,900 won on

Samsung Electronics Co. was the world's fifth-largest computer monitor vendor in the third quarter of the year, a report showed Tuesday, as its shipments increased significantly amid the pandemic. The South Korean tech giant had a market share of 9 percent in the global computer monitor market in the July-September period, up from 6.8 percent a year ago, according to market researcher International Data Corp. (IDC). Samsung's computer monitor shipments jumped 52.8 percent on-year to 3.37 mil

US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for talks with South Korean officials on the bilateral alliance and the stalled nuclear negotiations with North Korea. Biegun landed aboard a chartered plane at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, at about 4:15 p.m., officials said. Among his delegation were Alex Wong, deputy assistant secretary of state for North Korea, and Allison Hooker, senior director for Asian affairs at the White House's Natio

WASHINGTON -- North Korea is not currently engaged in proliferation of weapons at any significant level, US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said, adding such activity would mean crossing the "red line." "It would be an extraordinarily risky venture for Kim Jong-un to get into the proliferation business when it comes to nuclear weapons. It's something that I am hoping won't happen. We don't see it on the WMD side -– we don't see that happening at this point," O

South Korea's main bourse on Monday postponed its decision on whether to delist the scandal-ridden drugmaker Kolon TissueGene, Inc. as it needs more time to make a final decision on the company's delisting. The postponment is expected to provide tech-heavy KOSDAQ-listed Kolon TissueGene a chance to present another turnaround program to the KOSDAQ market committee under the main Korea Exchange (KRX). The main stock exchange said it will reopen the review meeting, without giving the timeframe.

South Korean judges on Monday decided not to officially respond to allegations of surveillance of the judiciary by prosecutors, a politically explosive accusation that, if proven, could unseat the country's top prosecutor. The National Conference of Judges, which meets biannually to discuss various issues affecting trials, said in a statement that while the issue was being discussed, more than a majority of the judges had reservations about the discussions being made public and wanted to remain

The government will announce coronavirus vaccine procurement plans on Tuesday, including how much the country has secured so far and when those vaccines will be available, a foreign ministry official has said. The amount of vaccines that South Korea has secured so far is expected to be more than 30 million doses as the government had earlier said it would procure 10 million doses through the COVAX Facility procurement program and purchase 20 million doses more through negotiations with pharmace

Samsung Electronics Co.'s share of the global foundry market is expected to decrease in the current quarter from the previous three months, a report showed Monday. Samsung's share in the global foundry business was estimated at 16.4 percent in the October-December period, down 1 percentage point from three months earlier, according to a report from industry tracker TrendForce. The South Korean tech giant's revenue from the foundry business was projected to jump 25 percent on-year to $3.71 bill

Sixteen American service members and one civilian worker for the US military have tested positive for the new coronavirus upon arrival in South Korea over the past few weeks, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Monday. Five service members arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on US government-chartered flights, while the others arrived here on commercial flights via Incheon International Airport, west of the capital, between mid-November and Friday, according t

최근 가요계에 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나19) 확진자가 잇따르는 가운데 가수 청하도 확진 판정을 받았다. 청하와 접촉한 트와이스 사나, 사나와 함께 활동하는 트와이스 멤버 그리고 이들이 출연한 '엠넷 아시안 뮤직 어워즈'(2020 MAMA) 관계자들도 코로나19 검사를 받았거나 받을 예정이다. 소속사 MNH엔터테인먼트는 "청하는 최근 확진자와 접촉한 사실을 인지하고 자발적으로 검사를 받았고, 7일 오전 검사 결과 최종 확진 판정을 받았다"고 이날 팬 카페를 통해 밝혔다. 소속사는 "청하는 모든 활동을 중단하고 바로 자가격리에 들어갔으며, 방역당국의 지침에 따라 필요한 조치를 취하고 있다"고 전했다. 또 동선이 겹치거나 접촉이 있었던 소속 가수와 스태프, 직원 등도 함께 검사를 진행했거나 진행할 예정이며 확인이 되는 대로 후속 조처를 하겠다고 덧붙였다. 청하도 이날 팬카페에서 "너무 미안하고 또 미안하다. 조심한다고 했는데

President Moon Jae-in plans to dispatch Woo Yoon-keun, a former three-term ruling Democratic Party lawmaker, to Russia this month as special envoy, an informed source said Monday. The move comes amid speculation that Woo may be tapped as Moon's new chief of staff. Woo, who served as ambassador to Russia from 2017-2019, is expected to have the mission of discussing pending Seoul-Moscow issues, including the possibility of President Vladimir Putin's trip here that has been delayed due to the COV

GWANGJU -- Ki Yeong-ok, a longtime football administrator and father of former South Korean captain Ki Sung-yueng, is facing a police investigation into charges of embezzlement. Officials in the city of Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, said Monday that they have asked police to look into evidence of apparent misappropriation by the senior Ki while he was the general manager of the city-run K League 1 club, Gwangju FC, from 2015 to 2019. The city's auditors are claiming that Ki embezzled

The release of South Korean science-fiction action film "Seobok" has been postponed indefinitely amid a huge, ongoing wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the film's distributor said Monday. "We decided to put off the release schedule of 'Seobok,' set to hit screens in December, due to the wide spread of COVID-19," CJ Entertainment said in a statement. "Seobok" is one of the most anticipated blockbusters this year in South Korea for its subject of the first hum

The South Korean stock market extended its all-time high for a fifth consecutive session Monday, backed by chip and pharmaceutical gains amid the government's strengthened social distancing measures. The Korean won closed unchanged at a nearly 30-month high against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 13.99 points, or 0.51 percent, to close at 2,745.44. Trading volume was high at about 1.5 billion shares worth some 17.7 trillion won ($16.4 billion), with

Singer Chungha has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, her agency said Monday, as a huge wave of mass infections has been penetrating the K-pop industry. "After being aware that she has come into contact with a COVID-19 patient, Chungha got tested and received the positive result Monday," MNH Entertainment said in an announcement posted on a fansite. It said the singer has halted all schedules and gone into self-isolation, while her colleagues, staff members and other close co

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it will introduce a new Micro LED TV later this week as the South Korean tech giant tries to further boost its presence in the premium TV market. Samsung said it will unveil its new Micro LED TV product at a webinar Thursday. The world's largest TV producer has yet to reveal the product's specification and price, but industry insiders predict it will be a Micro LED TV for home entertainment use. The Micro LED TV uses micrometer-sized LED modules as singula