Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun renewed warnings Sunday against illegal anti-government rallies planned by some conservative groups, amid worries that the mass gatherings could undercut the nation's fight against the new coronavirus. During a session of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, Chung vowed to take a zero-tolerance policy against any unsanctioned demonstrations on the Oct. 3 National Foundation Day, warning illegal participants will face immediate arrests. Rega

Kia Motors Corp. said Sunday three assembly line workers at one of its domestic plants tested positive for the new coronavirus, and a decision on whether to suspend the plant's operations will be made soon. "The plant is not in operation as it is Sunday. The company will make a decision on whether to (temporarily) halt the Sohari plant in Gwangmyeong tomorrow," a company spokesman said over the phone. Kia, the country's second-biggest carmaker, halted the operations of the Sohari pla

The Seoul city government said Sunday it will redesign Gwanghwamun Square and the road around it in an effort to transform the square into a city-center park with more trees and flowers. The sweeping plan calls for removing the western side of the 10-lane Sejongro boulevard to expand the Gwanghwamun Square currently located in the middle of the road, while expanding the eastern-side boulevard to accommodate traffic on both sides. Finalization of the plan has been delayed as activists and other

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug has embarked on a trip to Sweden and Germany as part of his parliamentary diplomacy aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation, officials said Sunday. From Sunday through Tuesday, Park plans to visit Sweden, becoming the first South Korean parliamentary chief to visit the country since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1959. In Stockholm on Monday, Park plans to pay a courtesy call on King Carl XVI Gustaf and meet Foreign Trade M

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has voiced support for LG Chem Ltd.'s call for sanctions on its rival SK Innovation Co. in connection with a legal dispute over battery patents, LG Chem said Sunday. In response to LG Chem's request for the issuance of an order sanctioning SK Innovation, the investigative staff of the US International Trade Commission (ITC) has supported LG Chem ahead of a crucial verdict over their electric vehicle (EV) battery patent case next month.  In the

일본의 유명 여배우인 다케우치 유코(竹内結子·40)가 27일 사망했다. NHK에 따르면 다케우치는 이날 새벽 도쿄 시부야(澁谷)구의 자택에서 의식을 잃은 채 발견돼 병원으로 이송됐지만 숨졌다. 일본 경찰은 현장 상황 등을 근거로 스스로 목숨을 끊은 것으로 보고 조사 중이다. 다케우치는 드라마 '런치의 여왕' , 영화 '지금 만나러 갑니다' 등에 출연했고, 일본 아카데미상 우수여우 주연상을 받기도 했다. 2016년 방송된 NHK 대하드라마 '사나다마루'(眞田丸)에서는 도요토미 히데요시(豊臣秀吉·1537∼1598)의 첩 역할을 맡았다. (연합뉴스)

The leader of the ruling Democratic Party on Sunday urged North Korea to swiftly agree to a joint investigation with South Korea into the shooting death of a South Korean fisheries official in North Korean waters. Rep. Lee Nak-yon made the remark in a Facebook posting, saying the North's account of what happened is different from South Korea's findings, including whether the body of the 47-year-old official was set on fire or not. South Korea said the North shot and killed the fisheries offic

South Korea's deputy national security adviser made an unannounced visit to Washington earlier this month for talks with US officials and experts on the bilateral alliance, North Korea and other issues, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday. Kim Hyung-chong visited the US capital from Sept. 16 to last Sunday, before President Moon Jae-in's Sept. 22 speech for the UN General Assembly that renewed his call for the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War and proposed a r

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Lee Do-hoon, left for Washington on Sunday for talks with his counterpart expected to include North Korea's recent killing of a South Korean citizen drifting in its waters. During his four-day visit to Washington, Lee will hold talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, who doubles as the point man for North Korea. "We are currently at a critical point in advancing the peace process on the Korean Peninsula," he told reporters before dep

South Korea is on track for its first lunar mission, with its first launch of a lunar orbiter slated for the second half of 2022, the country's space research institute said Sunday, after the country's lunar project suffered multiple delays. South Korea, a relative latecomer to the global space race, has been working on a lunar orbiter program since 2016. The spacecraft is expected to reach the moon by Dec. 16, 2022, and conduct a yearlong mission that could even be extended, according to the

South Korea's Coast Guard and Navy continued their search Sunday for the body and belongings of a fisheries official shot to death by the North Korean military at sea last week despite Pyongyang's warnings against "intrusion" into its waters. The authorities mobilized 39 vessels, including 16 naval ships, and six aircraft for their operations in the front-line areas near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto inter-Korean sea border, where the 47-year-old official went missing Mon

Five flights were diverted from Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, due to suspected drone activity on Saturday, the airport operator said. A passenger airplane of Russia's S7 Airlines, two cargo flights of South Korea's Asiana Airlines and two cargo flights of American Airlines were redirected to nearby Gimpo International Airport between 1:40 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. They could not land "due to an unidentified flying object, which appears to be an illegal drone," an Incheon I

Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming has called for South Korea to join Beijing's global data security initiative seen as a move to counter a US drive to discourage the use of Chinese technology on security grounds. During a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency, Xing delineated the initiative that Beijing's Foreign Minister Wang Yi unveiled earlier this month after Washington rolled out the Clean Network program to rid America's online networks of Chinese tech firms. The two competing schemes c

South Korea and China held a ceremony Sunday to repatriate 117 sets of the remains of Chinese troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, the foreign ministry said. The seventh such repatriation ceremony took place at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, a day after the two countries casketed the remains at a temporary storage facility in Incheon. Of the remains repatriated Sunday, 103 sets were excavated last year from Arrowhead Ridge, a battle site inside the Demilitarized Zone se

경기 안산시는 초등학생 납치·성폭행범 조두순의 출소를 앞두고 시민들의 불안감이 커짐에 무도실무관 6명을 긴급 채용해 범죄 발생 우려 지역 24시간 순찰에 투입할 예정이라고 27일 밝혔다. 시는 각종 무도 3단 이상이거나 경호원 및 경찰 출신 중에서 무도실무관들을 선발할 예정이다. 이들은 채용 이후 시청에 소속돼 기존 시청 청원경찰 6명과 함께 2개 순찰팀을 구성, 각 지역 자율방범대 등과 협력하며 위험지역을 24시간 순찰하게 된다. 시는 무도실무관 채용 절차를 신속히 진행해 조두순 출소에 맞춰 지역 순찰에 본격 투입할 계획이다. 한편, 시는 조두순 재범방지 대책 마련을 위해 지난 18일 지역 국회의원, 법무부 및 경찰 관계자들이 참석한 가운데 열린 간담회에서 정부에 건의한 '안산시 성폭력 제로 시범도시 지정 및 운영' 추진을 위한 전담부서를 신설, 내년 1월부터 가동한다는 계획이다. 이 부서는 시범도시 지정 준비 업무와 함께 성범죄 예방을 위한 각종 행정지원,

Traffic accidents and casualties are the highest on the eve of the Chuseok holiday when South Koreans visit their hometowns and travel long distances, data showed Sunday. From 2015 to 2019, a total average of 825 car accidents took place on the day before the Chuseok holiday, responsible for an average of 1,200 deaths and injuries, according to police data. The data indicated that an average of 481 accidents per day and an average of 865 deaths and injuries took place during the Chuseok holida

The music video of "Dynamite," K-pop superstar BTS' latest single, has surpassed 400 million views on YouTube, its agency said Saturday. The dance video reached the milestone Friday at 10:30 p.m., 35 days after it was posted on the video-sharing site, according to Big Hit Entertainment. It garnered the number in the shortest time among K-pop videos. The video attracted 101 million views in the first 24 hours of release on Aug. 21, setting the record for single-day views. BTS bec

North Korea's state media highlighted its rigorous border control to stave off the new coronavirus Saturday, amid tensions following the shooting death of a South Korean national floating in its waters near the inter-Korean border. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the country is carrying out perfect border control and aggressive measures to "preemptively deal with the pandemic." "Well aware that key to prevention of infectious diseases in borders, coastlines and demar

The remains of 117 Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War were casketed Saturday to be sent back to their homeland the following day, the defense ministry said. In 2014, Seoul pledged to repatriate the remains of fallen Chinese soldiers in a symbolic gesture of friendship, and 599 sets have since been returned, including 10 last year. This year's repatriation ceremony will take place at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Sunday, according to the ministry. Of the total

More than 400 South Koreans have been injected with seasonal flu vaccines that should not have been administered due to storage problems, but no side effects have been reported, health authorities said Sunday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said 407 people received the vaccines that were not supposed to be administered after being exposed to room temperature. The figure marked a hike from Saturday, when the agency reported 324 people received the flu shots. Still, n