The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday refuted Japan's renewed claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo and warned of stern a response to the unsubstantiated claims. "Dokdo is our inherent territory, historically, geographically and by international law," the ministry said in a statement. "We want to make it clear that whatever attempt Japan makes cannot have an influence over our firm territorial sovereignty." Earlier in the day, the Japan Institute of Inter

South Korea plans to provide $10 million in humanitarian assistance to support Rohingya refugees who fled from Myanmar and hosting countries in the region, the foreign ministry said Friday. Seoul made the pledge on Thursday during the virtual session of the Conference on Sustaining Support for the Rohingya Refugee Response, a multilateral channel set up to discuss humanitarian aid and other support measures for the ethnic minority. In the session, Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho calle

A Seoul court on Friday sentenced a man to two years in prison on charges of stalking a top female Go player. The 48-year-old suspect is accused of stalking Cho Hye-yeon, 35, for a year until last April and leaving messages and profanity on the outer wall of her academy teaching Go, called "baduk" in Korean. "The nature of the suspect's crime is very bad to the extent that the victim hired a private bodyguard due to trauma and anxiety that she wasn't being properly protected und

South Korean stocks rebounded after a choppy session Friday, buoyed by optimism for improved corporate earnings in the third quarter amid the pandemic. The Korean won closed unchanged to the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.76 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 2,360.81. Trading volume was moderate at 874 million shares worth 10.5 trillion won ($9.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 436 to 408. Foreigners bought a net 37 billion won, while r

South Korea can deter and respond to threats from North Korea based on its combined defense posture with the United States, the defense chief said Friday, weeks after the North unveiled new weapons in a recent military parade. Defense Minister Suh Wook made the remark during a parliamentary audit session, referring to North Korea's tension-raising moves such as the unveiling of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) during a recent military parade. "Based on the South Korea-US

Culture ministers of the ASEAN Plus Three countries, including South Korea, China and Japan, have agreed to strengthen multilateral cultural and arts exchanges despite the coronavirus pandemic in their videoconference earlier this week, officials in Seoul said Friday. The agreement was reached during the session joined by South Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo and his counterparts from China, Japan and 10 ASEAN member countries Thursday, they said. The ninth biennia

Hyundai Glovis Co. on Friday reported its third-quarter net profit of 162.2 billion won ($143.1 million), up 257.5 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 161.4 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 260.6 billion won a year ago. Revenue fell 22.8 percent to 3.66 trillion won. The operating profit was 2.1 percent lower than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News

Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun called Friday for joint efforts with Canada to firm up bilateral cooperation in strengthening multilateralism, developing new technologies and promoting lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Choi laid out a vision to expand cooperation with Canada in the post-COVID 19 era, during his congratulatory speech at the 17th Korea-Canada Forum, an annual forum aimed at advancing policy dialogue for closer engagement between the two countries. "Vice Foreign Mi

SK hynix Inc.'s acquisition of Intel Corp.'s NAND memory business will bring positive results to the company, analysts here said Friday, as it can beef up profitability and technological prowess in the sector. South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker on Tuesday announced a 10.3 trillion-won ($9 billion) deal to buy Intel's non-volatile memory unit that includes its solid state drive (SSD) business and a NAND flash chip plant in Dalian, China. Local analysts said the deal will help SK hynix achieve econo

Major South Korean lender Shinhan Bank said Friday it will issue 200 billion won ($176 million) worth of hybrid bonds in November to bolster its financial health. The envisioned debt sale will be conducted on Nov. 5 and the amount could rise to 300 billion won depending on the outcome of next week's demand forecasting, the lender said. Hybrid bonds, which combine both debt and equity features, help a bank raise its capital ratio. A call option gives the issuer the right of termination before m

At first glance, South Korean pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun enjoyed a solid first season with the St. Louis Cardinals. Following 13 largely successful years with the SK Wyverns in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), Kim, who inked a two-year deal worth $8 million last December, was a perfect 3-0 with an excellent 1.62 ERA in eight appearances, including seven starts. But in a season disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, Kim admitted he wasn't even in his best shape. That he still managed to post t

SEJONG -- Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday there is a need to cut the maximum interest rate that private lenders can charge as part of efforts to ease financial burdens on low-income people. In a parliamentary audit meeting, Hong said the government has reviewed a plan to cut the maximum legal lending rate. In 2018, the government lowered the maximum legal lending rate to 24 percent from 27.9 percent. Hong said the government will review market interest rates and other economic facto

Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. on Friday reported its third-quarter net income of 83.8 billion won ($73.9 million), down 61.6 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 139.8 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with an operating income of 239.2 billion won a year ago. Sales fell 1.1 percent to 4.04 trillion won. The operating profit was 13.9 percent lower than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Info

South Korea's Hyundai Robotics Co. said Friday it has joined hands with fried chicken franchise KFC Korea Co. to automate the chicken cooking process. Under the preliminary deal with KFC Korea, Hyundai Robotics, a unit of global shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH), will develop the automation process to cook chickens by using robots. KFC Korea will provide its stores and cooking know-how under the deal. Food Tech applying high-end technologies to the food industr

A man has been sentenced to a 10-month prison term for assaulting a bus driver who had demanded the passenger wear a mask, as well as a police officer dispatched to the scene, a Seoul court said Friday. The Seoul Northern District Court handed down the imprisonment ruling on the 61-year-old man, whose identity was withheld, on the account of assaulting a person behind the wheel. Aboard a bus in central Seoul on Aug. 14, the man shouted at the bus driver and cursed at other passengers after th

WASHINGTON -- US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Thursday he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un only on the condition that the latter agrees to reduce his country's nuclear capabilities. "On the condition that (Kim) would agree that he would be drawing down his nuclear capacity. To get that," Biden said when asked on what preconditions that he would agree to meet the North Korean leader. "The Korean Peninsula should be a nuclear-free zone," he

LG Electronics Inc. said Friday it has opened a showroom for its luxury built-in kitchen appliance brand in Europe to better expand its presence there. The first European showroom of LG's Signature Kitchen Suite was opened in Milan, Italy, according to the company. The 1,100-square-meter facility is near the Brera District of Milan, a famous area for fashion lovers with its Design Week event. It is the third Signature Kitchen Suite showroom from LG. The other two are in South Korea and the U

Unification Minister Lee In-young said Friday that South Korea will keep seeking "dialogue" with North Korea to figure out exactly what happened to a South Korean official shot and killed by the North last month. Lee made the remark during a parliamentary audit session in response to a lawmaker's question as to how the government will draw cooperation from the North on the deadly incident at a time when Pyongyang remains unresponsive to Seoul's calls for a joint probe. "We wil

Concerns over seasonal flu shots grew further on Friday as deaths after vaccinations swelled to over 30, with health experts split over whether to go ahead with a state-led free shot program amid a potential "twindemic" of the new coronavirus and the flu. Although no connection has been confirmed between the recent fatalities and vaccines, public fears have been mounting in South Korea over flu shots. Since the first suspected death from a flu shot was reported last Friday, 36 have d

A group of main opposition party lawmakers boycotted an on-site inspection of Panmunjom on Friday in protest against the government's plan to reopen the inter-Korean border village for tourists next month. The People Power Party members of the National Assembly committee on national defense accused the Moon Jae-in administration of rushing to resume the tour program, although North Korea has yet to come clean on its recent gunshot killing of a South Korean maritime official. They argued that th