SEOUL/PANMUNJOM -- Unification Minister Lee In-young called Wednesday for North Korea to restore severed cross-border communications lines and resume the operation of a now-destructed joint liaison office to bring the stalled inter-Korean relations back on track. Lee made the remarks in a speech at the opening ceremony for a tourism support center held at Panmunjom to mark the resumption of tours to the truce border village after more than a year of suspension caused by the spread of the Africa

A 2.8 magnitude natural earthquake struck North Korea early Wednesday, South Korea's state weather agency said. The quake was detected at 4:41 a.m., 10 kilometers northeast of Songlim, North Hwanghae Province, which is not far from the capital Pyongyang, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. "Our analysis shows that it was a natural earthquake," a KMA official said. The quake posted 1 on a seismic intensity scale, which means that most people would not have felt the

SK hynix Inc., South Korea's second-largest chipmaker, on Wednesday reported estimate-beating third-quarter earnings on the back of a recovery in demand for mobile chips amid the pandemic. Its net profit stood at 1.07 trillion won ($950.4 million) in the third quarter of the year, up 117.5 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit for the July-September period more than doubled to 1.29 trillion won compared with 472.6 billion won a year ago, while

South Korea's foreign reserves climbed for the seventh straight month in October due to a rise in the value of non-dollar assets and an increase in investment returns, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's foreign reserves came to a record high of $426.5 billion as of end-October, up $5.96 billion from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve pos

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump was leading in five of six key battleground states, including Florida, while his Democratic rival Joe Biden was projected to win the previously Republican state of Arizona in Tuesday's tight presidential election. Vote counting was still under way in most states, including the battleground states, but Trump was ready to claim victory in a late night press conference. "We were ready to win. Frankly, we did win this election," he said in a White

North Korea has taken extreme measures to fend off the coronavirus, including laying landmines in border areas with China, Seoul's National Intelligence Service told lawmakers Tuesday. During a closed-door session at the Intelligence Committee of the National Assembly, the spy agency said North Korea fears the spread of COVID-19 could bring catastrophic results to the country due to its poor medical infrastructure, according to Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the main opposition People Power Party.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul held a video call with his Malaysian counterpart, Gen. Affendi Bin Buang, on Tuesday and vowed to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the defense field, Won's office said. During the 30-minute dialogue, the two military leaders discussed responses to the new coronavirus and ways to further deepen their bilateral relationship, according to the JCS. Congratulating Won on his inauguration, the Malaysian general voiced hope for str

The leader of the Presbyterian Church of Korea apologized Tuesday for what he called churches' erroneous responses during the coronavirus pandemic. Pastor So Gang-suk said in a news conference that Korean churches failed to exert leadership and fulfill their responsibility amid the spread of the infectious disease. "In the face of the spread of COVID-19, the church should have respected the lives of our neighbors as much as it respects worship," So said. "But people turned thei

The South Korean government said Tuesday that it will keep the current fixed book price system, which is aimed at helping local publishers stay afloat, nearly unchanged but will ease some discount regulations for customers. Under the government-led fixed price system, which was first launched in 2003 and refreshed in 2014, the price of a book is determined by publishers, and online retailers are allowed to give a maximum 15 percent discount on all books published 18 months ago or more. It was

South Korea's state intelligence agency said Tuesday that there is circumstantial evidence indicating that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered a probe into the military's fatal shooting in September of a South Korean fisheries official, according to lawmakers. Officials from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) made the remarks during a parliamentary intelligence committee's regular audit session into the agency, lawmakers who attended the meeting said. "According to intelligen

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is expected to visit the United States early next week for talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, diplomatic sources said Tuesday. Details have yet to be finalized, but Kang is expected to make a three-day visit to Washington starting Sunday, the sources said. The envisioned trip, if realized, will take place after this week's US presidential election. The trip is expected to include meetings with Pompeo and other senior officials and experts. Lee Do-h

South Korea's three major telecom operators on Tuesday called on the government to hold an auction to redistribute their network spectrum set to expire next year amid controversy over prices. Spectrum for 2G, 3G and 4G LTE networks held by the three -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- are up for redistribution by the government next year. In return, the government wants a price for the redistribution as high as 5.5 trillion won ($4.8 billion), a parliamentary audit showed last m

The prosecution on Tuesday raided the local unit of McDonald's over allegations that undercooked burgers sold at its restaurants caused illness among some customers, officials said. Prosecutors and investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office seized documents, including those on food material management, from the office of McDonald's Korea in Seoul's Jongno Ward during the raid, officials said. The raid came one year and nine months after nine groups of activists lodged a c

South Korea's public health agency said Tuesday that a total of 88 people, most of whom were elderly, died after being administered with seasonal flu vaccines. The deaths have stoked public anxiety over the safety of such vaccines, but the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said 83 of those deaths have very limited relation with the flu shots. Another five cases are under investigation. Of the total, 38 people were in their 70s, followed by 35 people aged 80 or older, seven un

Doosan Group's scholarship foundation signed a deal Tuesday to sell its 3.16 percent stake in Doosan Fuel Cell Co., the fuel cell maker said. The foundation will sell 2.27 million preferred shares in Doosan Fuel Cell after the market closes via a block deal, Doosan Fuel Cell said in a regulatory filing. The stake sale to be made Thursday will lower the interest in Doosan Fuel Cell held by the group's holding company, Doosan Corp., and major shareholders to 50.31 percent from 53.47 percent.

A state panel on mobility innovation has proposed the government place no cap on the number of vehicles that new mobility platform business providers can operate, officials said Tuesday. The proposal is part of the commission's policy recommendations aimed at helping nurture the new industry, following the passage of a related law earlier this year. Under the recommendations, those mobility providers should be equipped with platforms for ride-hailing, reservations, fleet control and advance fa

K-pop superstar BTS has hit the top 10 on a Billboard radio airplay chart for the first time with its mega-hit single "Dynamite." The septet's first English song rose two notches to place ninth for this week on the Pop Songs radio chart to be updated on Tuesday, according to Billboard on Monday (US local time). The chart is one of the radio airplay charts of Billboard, measuring total weekly plays of the top 40 songs on some 160 mainstream radio stations. It is the highest ranking o

South Korean biopharmaceutical firm Sugentech Inc. said Tuesday it has signed an agreement to export three different types of diagnostic kits for the novel coronavirus and seasonal influenza to the United States and Europe. Under the agreement with Germany-based DiaSys Diagnostic Systems, a total of 200,000 rapid antigen kits by Sugentech to detect the COVID-19 virus will be distributed in Germany. The value of the deal was not revealed. Sugentech's test kit that can detect both the COVID-19 v

South Koreans are estimated to have spent over 50 billion minutes on YouTube in September amid the pandemic, a 20 percent jump from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday. Mobile app tracker Wiseapp said the video streaming application was the application most used by the country's 33.7 million Android smartphone users in September at 53.1 billion minutes, compared with 44.3 billion minutes spent on the app the previous year. Wiseapp said the pandemic likely led to increased use of mobile applica

Doosan Infracore Co. said Tuesday its Chinese unit has produced its 200,000th excavator in the country. The accumulated output came 26 years after South Korea's leading construction equipment maker entered the Chinese market in October 1994, the company said in an emailed statement. The Chinese excavator market is expected to grow by 275,000 units this year, surpassing last year's overall sales of 200,000 units, Doosan Infracore said. Sales of excavators by the company rose 21 percent to 14