The Seoul city government said Tuesday it plans to renovate pedestrian streets in the historic districts of Bukchon and Mugyo by 2022. Sections of Bukchon, a popular tourist destination in the central Jongno Ward, and Mugyo, a bustling "food alley" in Jung Ward, were designated by the city in February to undergo refurbishment of their pedestrian zones. The city government said it will hold an online briefing on its official YouTube channel at 3 p.m. Wednesday to explain its plans to

South Korean fuel cell maker Doosan Fuel Cell Co. said Tuesday it has signed a preliminary deal with Singaporean shipper Navig8 to develop fuel cells for ships. Under the deal, Doosan Fuel Cell will provide solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), energy conversion devices generating electricity, for a 50,000-ton ship of Navig8, while the Singaporean shipping company will offer technologies to mount SOFCs on the ship. SOFCs for the 50,000-ton ship will be used to propel the vessel and generate electri

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. said Tuesday it will produce the all-new Tucson SUV in its US plant to meet local demand for SUV models. Hyundai Motor plans to produce the 2022 Tucson gasoline and gasoline hybrid models in the Alabama plant next year for the sale of the compact SUV in the US market starting early next year, the company said in a statement. The Tucson with a gasoline and a gasoline hybrid engine will also be manufactured in Hyundai's main Ulsan plant in South Korea. The 2022

US streaming giant Netflix Inc. is estimated to have brought in record-high paid subscriptions in South Korea last month, industry data showed Tuesday. An estimated 3.62 million viewers in South Korea presumably paid 51.4 billion won ($45.9 million) for subscriptions in October, almost twofold from 26.2 billion won in the same period a year earlier, according to the data from industry tracker WiseApp. The data showed that users in their 20s accounted for 36 percent of last month's paid users,

SEJONG -- South Korea collected 36.6 trillion won ($32.7 billion) in taxes in September, up 3.6 trillion won from a year earlier, the finance ministry said Tuesday. Income tax revenue amounted to 6.7 trillion won in September, up 4.2 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Dues collected from companies, on the other hand, reached 8.3 trillion won in the month, down 1.2 trillion won from a year earlier due to the lackluster earnings of local firms.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun congratulated Joe Biden Tuesday on his US presidential election victory and called for steadfast progress of the Korean Peninsula peace process under the next American administration. "(The Seoul government) should communicate closely with the incoming (US) administration to push ahead with the Korean Peninsula peace process," Chung said during a Cabinet meeting at the government complex in Seoul. He also stressed the need to prevent any "vacuum&qu

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday it has received a supplier award from French automaker Renault SA as the South Korean tech powerhouse eyes to expand its presence in the vehicle component business. LG was honored with an Innovation award at this year's Renault Supplier Awards for its vehicle display products. This is the third time that LG has been recognized by Renault with a supplier award following its recognition in 2014 and 2017. Renault praised LG's 9.3-inch center information displa

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest wireless carrier, said Tuesday it released Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox All Access service for the local market, offering gamers the US tech giant's latest game console as well as its cloud gaming service. The new subscription service bundles Microsoft's new console -- the Xbox Series X or Series S -- and its game streaming service -- 5GX Cloud Game -- launched in September for the local market in partnership with SK Telecom. South Korea is the only Asian countr

South Korean shares opened nearly flat Tuesday despite the overnight rally on Wall Street triggered by better-than-expected efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer, as investors turned to profit-taking after a sixth straight rise. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.5 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,447.7 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came to a muted start after hiking 1.27 percent on the Biden effect the previous session. US top infectious disease exper

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker by sales, is in talks with Softbank Group Corp. to acquire a US-based robotics company for $1 billion, news reports said Tuesday, as it increases investments in future mobility solutions. Hyundai Motor is mulling acquiring a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics, and the terms of the deal have yet to be finalized, according to reports. The maker of the Sonata sedan and the Palisade SUV declined to confirm the reports. "As a global busines

South Korea aims to start vaccinating members of the general public from the second half of next year, health authorities said Tuesday, amid a report that the coronavirus vaccine being developed by the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer showed 90 percent effectiveness. Pfizer announced Monday that its vaccine candidate, developed jointly with its German partner BioNTech was found to be more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19, raising hopes for bringing forward an end to the global pan

이토 히로부미(이등박문·1841∼1909)의 글씨가 담긴 머릿돌의 처리 방식을 검토 중인 한국은행이 향후 친일 화가가 그린 화폐 속 위인 영정도 새 그림으로 바꿀 것으로 보인다. 한은은 화폐의 공공성을 고려해 정부가 정한 표준영정을 화폐 도안으로 사용해왔는데, 충무공 이순신 장군 등 화폐에 담긴 영정을 그린 작가들의 친일 행적 때문에 표준영정 지정이 해제될 수 있어서다. 10일 한은에 따르면 화폐 도안의 위인 초상에 대한 정부의 표준영정 지정이 해제될 경우 한은은 도안 변경을 검토할 계획이다. 현용 화폐 가운데 100원화(이순신), 5천원권(율곡 이이), 1만원권(세종대왕), 5만원권(신사임당) 속 정부 표준영정의 작가는 2009년 대통령 직속 친일반민족행위진상규명위원회로부터 친일반민족행위자로 분류됐다. 이순신 영정은 장우성 화백이, 이이와 신사임당 영정은 김은호 화백이, 세종대왕 영정은 김기창 화백이 그렸다. 표준영정은 선현의 영정이 난립하는 것을 막고자

Passengers of China-bound flights from South Korea must provide two negative coronavirus test results before boarding, starting later this week, health authorities here said Tuesday. Starting Wednesday, China will require all passengers arriving from South Korea, regardless of their nationalities, to submit two negative COVID-19 test results from two separate testing sites, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Tests must be completed within 48 hours before thei

WASHINGTON -- South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring peace on the Korean Peninsula, both sides said, as they held talks two days after Joe Biden was elected the next US president. "During the meeting, Secretary Pompeo and Foreign Minister Kang discussed bilateral and regional priorities, including coordination on ensuring peace on the Korean Peninsula and expanding cooperation through the US Indo-

Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-biggest carmaker by sales, said Tuesday it will use US chipmaker Nvidia's in-vehicle Drive system across all of its vehicles from 2022. The South Korean carmaker will apply the Nvidia Drive "connected car" platform to all of its upcoming models from Hyundai Motor Co., its independent Genesis brand, and Kia Motors Corp. starting from 2022, the company said in a statement. Under the partnership, the group's next-generation vehicles will feature

WASHINGTON -- US President-elect Joe Biden stressed the importance of wearing masks in his first press conference since declaring his victory, insisting the simple act of wearing a mask may save tens of thousands of lives. The call came only hours after an American pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, said an early analysis of data from its coronavirus vaccine trial showed the vaccine to be more than 90 percent effective. "As you work toward a safe and effective vaccine, you know the single mo

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump on Monday replaced his defense chief, Mark Esper, with less than three months left in his presidency. "I am pleased to announce that Christopher C. Miller, the highly respected Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (unanimously confirmed by the Senate), will be Acting secretary of Defense, effectively immediately," Trump tweeted. "Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his servic

The foreign ministry raised the travel warning for Tanzania's southeastern region of Mtwara on Monday, due to heightened risks after growing violence by Islamic extremists based in neighboring Mozambique. A "red" alert, the second-highest level out of a four-scale system, now applies to the Mtwara region, the ministry said in a release. It calls for travelers to cancel their trips and citizens staying there to leave the place unless they have essential reasons. Tanzania has been a

Senior diplomats of South Korea and China held video talks on Monday to discuss upcoming summits involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other bilateral issues, the foreign ministry said. Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Gunn met virtually with his Chinese counterpart, Luo Zhaohui, ahead of the ASEAN Plus Three summit involving their countries and Japan and the East Asia Summit to be joined by 18 countries including the United States, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and Indi

Unification Minister Lee In-young called for North Korea on Monday to act in a "discreet, wise and flexible" manner and refrain from provocations during the US leadership transition so as to keep chances of progress in nuclear negotiations alive. During a press meeting held at the ministry's inter-Korean dialogue office in Seoul, Lee also urged the North to carry out existing peace deals concluded with the United States and the South and demonstrate its denuclearization commitment to