South Korea's military is expected to run short of troops from around 2032 due to a shrinking population amid low birthrates, the military recruitment agency chief said Tuesday. The Military Manpower Administration chief, Mo Jong-hwa, made the remark during a parliamentary audit session, saying detailed discussions should begin to come up with measures to cope with the expected shortage. From 2032, Mo said, the country will have only about 180,000 people joining the military a year when at le

South Korean shipbuilders are expected to win orders later this year to build liquefied national gas (LNG) ships in Africa, analysts said Tuesday. In the January-September period, local shipbuilders fell far short of achieving their annual order targets as the new coronavirus pandemic continued to affect the shipbuilding industry, according to their order data. Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering received $4.5 billion worth of orders in the first nine months, achieving 29 percent o

Fans of K-pop superstar BTS on Tuesday voiced frustration over the social media storm in China that has erupted over member RM's recent remarks honoring those sacrificed during the Korean War. In an Oct. 7 ceremony hosted by the US-based nonprofit organization The Korea Society, RM, who spoke on behalf of the group that received an award for its contributions to Seoul-Washington ties, referred to the 1950-53 war where the two countries fought together. "We will always remember the history

South Korean stocks turned lower late Tuesday morning, as investors went risk-averse over the local resurgence of the new coronavirus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 14.43 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,389.3 as of 11:20 a.m. The KOSPI fell back into negative terrain after opening a tad higher following the overnight Wall Street rally. Investor sentiment worsened as the country's new COVID-19 infections bounced back to the triple digits, stoking fears that the p

Twenty-two American service members have tested positive for the new coronavirus upon arrival in South Korea from the United States, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Tuesday. Of them, 18 arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on US government chartered flights from the US, and the remaining four arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on commercial flights from their home country between Sept. 25 and Oct. 9, according to the US military. Half of them tested pos

K-pop superstar BTS will open online pop-up stores inspired by its latest studio album, "Map of the Soul: 7," next week amid the prolonged novel coronavirus pandemic, the band's management agency said Tuesday. "BTS Pop-up: Map of the Soul" will first open on the septet's online fan community BTS Weverse for fans in South Korea and the United States on Oct. 23 and run until Jan. 24, 2021, according to Big Hit Entertainment. From Nov. 14, separate online stores will be availa

South Korean stocks ended their eight-session winning streak Tuesday, as investors went risk-averse over a resurgence of the new coronavirus. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 0.58 point, or 0.02 percent, to close at 2,403.15. Trading volume was moderate at about 715 million shares worth some 10 trillion won ($8.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 504 to 322. Foreigners bought a net 209 billion won, while instituti

Tens of trillions of won are floating around stock markets after last week's fierce competition for the subscription of Big Hit Entertainment, the management agency of K-pop superstar BTS, data showed Tuesday. Retail investors, including BTS fans, chipped in 58.4 trillion won ($50.8 billion) in the agency's two-day subscription from Oct. 5-6. Of that amount, about 26 trillion won stayed floating in cash management accounts (CMA) and investor deposits, according to the data from the Korea Finan

Steve Yoo, a once successful Korean American singer banned from entering South Korea for 18 years for dodging the draft, should not be allowed into the country because his entry could be dispiriting to others carrying out the duty, the military manpower agency chief said Tuesday. In 2002, the singer, better known as Yoo Seung-jun, renounced his Korean citizenship to allegedly dodge military service, even though he had repeatedly pledged to carry out the duty. The move sparked a public uproar, a

South Korea's military can "immediately respond to and incapacitate" North Korean artillery and missiles if they are used to attack the South, the defense ministry said Tuesday, after the North unveiled new weapons during a parade last week. On Saturday, North Korea held a massive military parade in Pyongyang to mark the 75th founding anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party, unveiling a new intercontinental missile (ICBM) and submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), along with re

South Korean banks' household loans continued to grow at a fast pace in September largely due to accelerated home-backed lending amid soaring home prices, central bank data showed Tuesday. Outstanding bank loans to local households came to 957.9 trillion won ($832.5 billion) as of end-September, up 9.6 trillion won from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It slowed from an all-time high of an 11.7 trillion-won gain in August but still marked the second-large

The number of illegal exemptions from mandatory military service detected by local authorities has surged nearly 60 percent over the past five years, a ruling party lawmaker said Tuesday, calling for tougher punishments for draft dodgers. Rep. Ahn Gyu-back of the Democratic Party, citing the Military Manpower Administration's data, said the number of people booked by police on charges of illegally receiving an exemption from military duty increased 59.6 percent from 47 in 2015 to 75 in 2019. T

South Koreans' card payments to Netflix reached a fresh high of 46.2 billion won ($40.2 million) last month, data showed Tuesday, a nearly twofold jump from a year earlier. An estimated 3.36 million people here spent the record amount in September on the popular video streaming platform, according to app tracker WiseApp's data based on local payments made through credit and debit cards on Netflix. Last month's figure marks a jump from the 24.1 billion won spent in September last year by an est

T'way Air, a South Korean low-cost carrier, said Tuesday it will deploy two passenger jets as cargo planes as it strives to survive the coronavirus crisis. T'way Air will begin using two of its 27 B737-800 passenger jets to carry cargo on the Incheon-Ho Chi Minh City route in early November as the COVID-19 pandemic has driven down travel demand and its earnings, the company said in a statement. The company will place the cargo, such as textiles and electronic parts, on the seats of the two B7

The government is working on a plan to allow pop culture celebrities credited for contributing to improving the country's image to postpone their mandatory military service, the military recruitment agency said Tuesday. The plan came amid talk of whether K-pop boy band BTS members should be given such favors as an exemption from or postponement of the military service in recognition of their contribution to South Korea's national image with their unprecedented Billboard-topping hit. Defense M

The music video of "Boombayah," K-pop megastar BLACKPINK's debut song, became the band's third video to exceed 1 billion YouTube views on Tuesday. The music video hit the milestone around 8:26 a.m., four years after its release in August 2016, according to YG Entertainment. Prior to "Boombayah," "Ddu-du Ddu-du," a hit song released in 2018, and "Kill This Love," dropped in 2019, achieved the feat. No K-pop band other than the quartet has three music vid

Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges to South Korea shot up 43.6 percent in the third quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday, as the manufacturing segment drew a massive investment commitment. Asia's No. 4 economy received $5.23 billion worth of FDI commitments over the July-September period, compared with $3.61 billion logged the previous year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. But in the first nine months of the year, the FDI pledges edged down 4.4

SEJONG -- South Korea plans to pursue balanced regional development under Korean-version New Deal projects that aim to boost growth of the coronavirus-hit economy, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Tuesday. In a policy meeting chaired by President Moon Jae-in, Hong said the central government will give local governments more leeway in implementing the projects. In July, South Korea said it will invest 160 trillion won ($137 billion) by 2025 under the bold stimulus package that will create 1.

Kia Motors Corp. and two other South Korean carmakers have yet to reach wage deals with their unions for this year, with the new coronavirus outbreak still a major concern for the automotive industry. Of the country's five carmakers, Hyundai Motor Co. and SsangYong Motor Co. and their unions already signed wage deals for the year in September and April, respectively. Kia Motors, which is 34 percent owned by Hyundai, plans to enter the seventh negotiations with its union Thursday. Kia workers

Storywiz Co., a webcomic unit of South Korean telecom giant KT Corp., said Tuesday it will spend 10 billion won ($8.7 million) on content creation, heating up competition in the growing local web fiction market. Storywiz, established in February this year after KT spun off its web fiction business, specializes in publishing online serial novels and comics. Its web novel platform Blice competes with larger local rivals, such as KakaoPage of the country's top messenger operator, Kakao Corp. KT's