The daily number of new coronavirus cases bounced back to over 600 on Sunday, as authorities decided to raise social distancing measures to Level 2.5 in the greater Seoul area to curb the relentless surge in COVID-19 transmissions. The country added 631 more COVID-19 cases, including 599 local infections, raising the total caseload to 37,546, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Five additional coronavirus fatalities were reported, bringing the total to 545. Th

Defense Minister Suh Wook will join his counterparts from the United States, China, Japan and other countries in an annual Asia-Pacific defense ministers' meeting this week, officials said Sunday. The 7th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) will be held via video link on Thursday, which will bring together top defense officials from 18 countries, also including the 10 ASEAN member states, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand. This year

A law revision set to take effect next week will tighten rules for data-hungry internet giants, such as Netflix Inc., amid growing calls for stable services. Earlier this week, the Cabinet passed an amendment to the ordinance of the Telecommunication Business Act, stipulating that online content service providers are responsible for providing stable services to users. The new rules set to take effect Dec. 10 apply to large online service companies, which account for 1 percent or more of the co

South Korean stocks are likely to move in a tight range next week after a continued rally this week as investors take a breather. Despite a surge in new daily COVID-19 cases, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at an all-time high of 2,633.45 points Friday, up 3.72 percent from a week ago. The KOSPI exceed the 2,700-point mark for the first time Friday on extended foreign buying, buoyed by vaccine hopes and expectations of better earnings for exporters, particularly the chipma

    Coronavirus infections in the South Korean military exceeded 400 Saturday, as six more cases were reported amid a continued cluster transmission at barracks. Three soldiers at an Army boot camp in the border county of Yeoncheon tested positive while being quarantined, bringing the number of total patients there to 80, according to the defense ministry. One Army officer and a Marine at the Sangmudae Artillery School in the southwestern county of Jangseong also tested positive

Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo will close its outlet in Seoul's popular shopping district next month, after a sharp fall in sales stemming from the new coronavirus outbreak and a trade dispute between Seoul and Tokyo. Uniqlo said on its website recently in Korean that its global flagship store in Myeongdong, central Seoul, will stop operating Jan. 31. The outlet is the second biggest in the world after one in New York.    The closure came as online shopping has gained tra

South Korea will host a meeting of an international organization for railway cooperation across Europe and Asia next year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Saturday.  The 49th annual ministers' meeting of the Organization for Cooperation of Railways (OSJD) will be held in the country from June 15-18, 2021, according to the ministry. Founded in 1956, the OSJD coordinates railway policies and oversees related standards among Eurasian countries. South Korea joine

SEJONG -- Nearly 15 billion won ($13.7 million) has been set aside from state budgets to launch a project to partly relocate the National Assembly in Seoul to the administrative city of Sejong. According to the Sejong municipality, the 2021 national budget, approved by the assembly earlier this week, includes 12.7 billion won earmarked for the initial design of the envisioned Sejong National Assembly.  Including the unused 2 billion-won budget allotted for the relocation project this year

North Korea will convene a Supreme People's Assembly meeting in late January, state media reported Saturday.   The SPA usually meets once a year in April to rubber-stamp decisions by the ruling Workers' Party. The North has also used SPA sessions as a major platform to unveil key policy changes or messages.   "The 4th Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will be convened in Pyongyang late in January," the

DAEJEON -- A local court on Friday issued arrest warrants for government officials accused of deleting documents related to the controversial closure of the Wolsong-1 nuclear reactor. The Daejeon Central District Court granted the warrants against two officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, whose names were withheld, on charges of disturbing the state auditors' examination.  However, the court rejected a request to issue an arrest warrant for another ministry offi

The daily number of new coronavirus cases in South Korea fell back to below 600 on Saturday, following a nine-month high the previous day, continuing to put the country under a critical alert over a bigger wave of the pandemic amid the winter. The country added 583 more COVID-19 cases, including 559 local infections, raising the total caseload to 36,915, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It reported four additional coronavirus fatalities, bringing the total t

South Korea's justice ministry has filed an appeal against a court's decision that lifted Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae's order to suspend Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl from duty, the ministry's legal representative said Friday. Lee Oak-hyung, the lawyer for Choo, said the ministry has requested that a higher court review the Seoul Administrative Court's ruling on Tuesday that allowed Yoon to return to work. Choo suspended Yoon from duty earlier last week and said she would discipline him o

The daily number of new coronavirus cases in South Korea topped 600 on Friday, the most in nearly nine months despite tightened antivirus measures, prodding authorities to consider adopting tighter virus restrictions. The country added 629 more COVID-19 cases, including 600 local infections, raising the total caseload to 36,332, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It reported seven additional coronavirus fatalities, bringing the total to 536. An additional 439

A Seoul court ruled Friday in favor of Shin Kyuk-ho, the late founder of retail giant Lotte Group, in a lawsuit he filed against the tax authority over hundreds of billions of won of gift taxes. The Seoul Administrative Court ordered a district tax office to revoke 212.6 billion won (US$196 million) of gift taxes imposed on the honorary chairman of the nation's fifth-largest conglomerate, who died in January at the age of 99. The taxes were levied after the prosecution charged Shin with tax e

The foreign ministry said Friday that its budget has been set at 2.84 trillion won ($2.62 billion) for next year, with a focus on bolstering noncontact diplomacy amid the coronavirus pandemic. The total amount includes a 6.4 billion-won increase for what it calls "digital plus public diplomacy," which is aimed at improving infrastructure for virtual meetings that have become a new standard for diplomats since the outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted in-person talks, the ministry said.

The prosecution on Friday indicted a key broker on charges of fraud in connection with its investigation into a financial fraud scheme at a private equity investment company. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office charged the suspect, only identified by his family name Shin, with fraud in the massive fund scam case surrounding Optimus Asset Management. It also charged another suspect, surnamed Kim, with violation of the Attorney-at-Law Act. The Optimus scandal centers on allegations th

South Korea's top prosecutor filed a complaint on Friday with the Constitutional Court, taking issue with the "unfairness" of the prosecutor disciplinary act under which the justice minister seeks to punish him. Lee Wan-kyu, the lawyer for Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, told reporters that some provisions of the act were "against the Constitution" as they seriously harm the fairness of the operation of a disciplinary committee. Under the act, the disciplinary committee

Vietnam will allow coronavirus quarantine exemptions to business travelers and their families from South Korea from the beginning of next year as part of efforts to shore up economic exchanges despite the pandemic, the foreign ministry said Friday. The two countries reached the agreement when Seoul's Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho, visiting Vietnam, paid a courtesy call on Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh earlier in the day, the ministry said in a press release. The measure

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Friday met with aid organization leaders and promised active support for their efforts to send humanitarian assistance to North Korea. During the meeting with the leaders of Korea NGO Council for Cooperation with North Korea (KNCCK), Lee also welcomed a UN Security Council panel's recent decision to extend the exemption period for sanctions on humanitarian aid to the North from the current six months to nine months. Lee promised to review the KNCCK's propo

President Moon Jae-in on Friday nominated a new land minister in a partial Cabinet shake-up, Cheong Wa Dae said, amid a fierce public backlash against the government's real estate policy. Byeon Chang-heum, head of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation, also known as LH, was tapped as the new land and transport minister. The nomination comes as Kim Hyun-mi, the current minister, has come under intense public criticism as of late after a series of government policies aimed at curbing skyrocket