South Korean shares opened lower Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street after US. President Donald Trump said he would postpone talks for a new stimulus plan until after the upcoming US elections. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 11.84 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,354.06 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The main index tracked overnight losses on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.3 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha asked Bangladesh on Tuesday to support South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee's bid for the top post of the World Trade Organization, Kang's office said. She made the request during phone talks with her Bangladeshi counterpart, Abul Kalam Abdul Momen, in which they also discussed other bilateral issues, including cooperation in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Yoo is competing with candidates from Nigeria, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Britain in the seco

A New Zealand man urged a South Korean diplomat accused of committing sexual assault to return to Wellington to stand trial, according to the man's lawyer on Tuesday. The local employee at the South Korean Embassy in the capital has accused the diplomat of groping him three times in 2017 when he was stationed there. The case has drawn keen public attention, especially since New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern raised it during her phone talks with President Moon Jae-in in July. The diplo

South Korea's drug and health authorities said Tuesday that some seasonal flu vaccines that were mishandled during storage have passed quality tests and the country will next week resume a scheme to offer free flu shots. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency conducted vaccine potency testing and concluded that there is no safety issue. In accordance, a nationwide free flu shots program will be resumed sometime around next Monday, they said. T

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday his administration will redouble efforts to spread Korean language study abroad and publicize Korean culture with a view to laying a robust basis for Seoul's key diplomatic initiatives to improve ties with such countries as India, Southeast Asian countries and Russia. He cited a report from Culture Minister Park Yang-woo during a weekly Cabinet meeting earlier in the day that Hangeul, the Korean alphabet and script, is growing popular abroad. This year's Hang

SEJONG -- South Korea held a videoconference with member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Tuesday during which they shared their experience in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, the finance ministry said. The conference was organized by a Southeast Asian office of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a statement. During the conference, South Korea briefed ASEAN members about measures to se

South Korea's presidential office on Tuesday declined to comment on a media report that Seoul approached Washington to purchase nuclear fuel to operate a nuclear-powered submarine. On Tuesday, Donga Ilbo reported that Kim Hyun-chong, Cheong Wa Dae deputy national security adviser, traveled to Washington in mid-September and expressed Seoul's wish to buy nuclear fuel from the United States to run a nuclear submarine. The paper said Washington officials denied the request, citing its non-prolif

Japan has agreed to allow businesspeople from South Korea to enter the country without a 14-day coronavirus quarantine starting later this week, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The special entry procedure, set to take effect Oct. 8, comes about seven months after Tokyo slapped entry restrictions on Seoul in early March to stem the spread of the COVID-19, further straining the bilateral relations already frayed over wartime history and trade. Fresh talks began in late July between the two

South Korean shares closed higher to extend their winning streak to a fifth session Tuesday, as investor sentiment was buoyed on hopes for new economic stimulus in the United States. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 7.90 points, or 0.34 percent, to close at 2,365.90. Trading volume was moderate at 847 million shares worth 10.8 trillion won ($9.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 426 to 400. Foreigners scooped up a

Choi Ji-man hits Gerrit Cole like few others in Major League Baseball (MLB). Choi, the South Korean first baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays, blasted a two-run homer off the New York Yankees' ace in Game 1 of their American League Division Series (ALDS) at Petco Park in San Diego on Monday (local time). It was Choi's fourth career home run and 10th hit in 19 career at-bats against Cole, including postseasons. Choi also has 10 RBIs against the right-handed fireballer. The ball left Choi's bat at 1

Doosan Corp., the holding company of South Korea's Doosan Group, said Tuesday that it will increase sales of unmanned forklifts in the country. Industrial Vehicle, a business division of Doosan, has been discussing ways to provide its automated guided forklifts to about 20 companies, Doosan said. Last year, Doosan launched its first-ever unmanned forklifts in the local market. "To meet growing demand for automated forklifts, we plan to expand our product lineup to pallet trucks known

SEJONG -- South Korea's antitrust regulator on Tuesday accused Naver Corp., the nation's biggest search engine, of manipulating search algorithms in favor of the company's online shopping site and imposed a 26.7 billion-won ($22.9 million) fine. The fine, announced by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), is the nation's first that the regulator has levied on a technology platform operator for making algorithmic changes that favor a certain business. The accusation is also expected to unde

North Korea is trying to kick up a festive mood in the runup to this week's founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party in an apparent effort to strengthen internal unity despite economic difficulties and other challenges. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) carried a report saying that delegates participating in the celebrations for the 75th founding anniversary of the Workers' Party arrived in Pyongyang on Monday. "They were warmly greeted by Ri Il-hwan, vice-ch

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday promised to strengthen support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and venture startups, commending the innovations in those areas as key to the nation's post-pandemic economic recovery. "We will surely prop up SMEs and venture companies as centers of the economic recovery in the coronavirus era and as leaders of the post-coronavirus digital economy," Moon said at the start of a weekly Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae. The Cabinet reviewed t

South Korean stocks traded higher late Tuesday morning heading toward a fifth consecutive day of gains as investor sentiment was spurred by an overnight rally on Wall Street after improvements to US President Donald Trump's condition and stimulus hopes in the world's largest economy. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 13.17 points, or 0.56 percent, to 2,371.17 as of 11:20 a.m. Wall Street rallied overnight after uncertainties cleared over reports of Trump, who tested

South Korean shipbuilders took the top spot in new global shipbuilding orders in the third quarter of the year, beating their Chinese rivals, industry data showed Tuesday. According to the data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service, Korean shipbuilders' new orders came to 1.42 million compensated gross tons (CGTs), taking up 45 percent of the total orders amounting to 3.19 million CGTs in the July-September period. The South Korean shipbuilders were followed by Russi

Another soldier has tested positive for the new coronavirus at an Army unit in the northern city of Pocheon, bringing the total cases in the unit's infection cluster to 37, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The soldier was confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 the previous day while away from the unit for vacation. It was unclear whether he contracted the virus before leaving the unit last week for his last vacation before his discharge from mandatory military duty. Soldiers on their last v

A prominent ruling party lawmaker said Tuesday members of K-pop superstar BTS should be offered preferential treatment in terms of their mandatory military duties. "Why is it OK for Son Heung-min but not for BTS?," Rep. Noh Woong-rae of the ruling Democratic Party said in a radio interview with CBS, referring to the military exemption for South Korean footballer Son of the English Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur. Son secured an exemption in September 2018, when the Korean national

SK hynix Inc. said Tuesday it has launched the world's first Double Data Rate 5 (DDR5) DRAM, as South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker strives to expand its presence with the next-generation memory product. SK hynix's 16 Gigabit (Gb) DDR5 DRAM, which was developed in 2018 using 1Ynm process technology, is now available on the market after completing various verification and compatibility tests. DDR5 is a next-generation DRAM standard that boasts fast speed and high density with reduced power consumpt

South Korea's exports of agricultural products rose 6.5 percent on-year in the January-September period, data showed Tuesday, on the back of strong overseas demand for kimchi and other traditional fermented products. Outbound shipments of agricultural goods reached $5.51 billion over the first nine months of 2020, up $5.18 billion posted over the same period a year earlier, according to the data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. By category, outbound shipments o