SEJONG -- South Korea's exports rose 3.6 percent on-year in the first 20 days of September, marking the first 20-day rise in six months due to a sharp gain in exports of semiconductors, customs data showed Monday. The nation's outbound shipments stood at $29.6 billion in the Sept. 1-20 period, up $1.02 billion from a year ago, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The average daily exports during the 20-day period, however, dropped 9.8 percent. The coronavirus pandemic has

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed below 100 for the second consecutive day Monday in what could be a sign of a slowdown in new infections, but the continued high number of untraceable cases and sporadic clusters pose challenges to the country's virus fight. The country added 70 more COVID-19 cases, including 55 local infections, raising the total caseload to 23,045, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). On Sunday, the number of daily new infections

South Korea has donated new coronavirus test kits worth 930 million won ($800,000) to Afghanistan, according to diplomatic officials Sunday. 　 The some 40,000 test kits of the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) type were delivered on Saturday at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, according to the South Korean embassy in Afghanistan. 　 A handoff ceremony was held at the airport, attended by Rhee Zha-hyoung, South Korean ambassador to Afghanistan, and Ahmad Jawad Osmani, acting

Russia does not have any intelligence suggesting that North Korea is preparing to test-fire a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), a Moscow foreign ministry official has said amid speculation that Pyongyang could conduct a test next month. 　 Petr Ilichev, director of the department of international organizations at the Russian foreign ministry, said in an interview with the country‘s RIA Novosti news agency on Saturday that his country does not have any information of a possible N

The number of new coronavirus infections in Seoul and its adjacent areas has surpassed 10,000 since the first outbreak in late January, health officials said Sunday. As of Sunday morning, the number of COVID-19 infections in Seoul, its surrounding Gyeonggi Province and the western port city of Incheon came to 10,007 in total, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It represents 43.6 percent of the country's total confirmed infections of 22,975. Seoul, the country

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said Sunday it will hold a joint videoconference with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to forge closer ties in key technology sectors. Officials from the ministry and the OECD will exchange views on the upcoming post-coronavirus digital era, and how to handle advances in neurotechnology innovations in the online workshop, which runs from Monday through Thursday. "International cooperation in the digital tech realm

South Korean researchers have developed an affordable and long-lasting electrocatalyst that can cleanly and efficiently extract hydrogen from water, a state-run science institute said Sunday. A team of researchers led by Yoo Sung-jong has made a special catalyst that can produce hydrogen without relying on expensive platinum, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) said. It said the new process also overcomes the main shortcomings of non-platinum-based electrocatalyst that suffere

All kindergartens and schools in Seoul and its adjacent areas will resume limited in-person classes this week, the education ministry said Sunday, as the spread of the new coronavirus is showing signs of slowing down. The move to be enforced until Oct. 11 is in line with the government's eased social distancing guidelines announced early last week amid a recent drop in new coronavirus cases. According to the ministry, students at kindergartens and elementary, middle and high schools in Seoul

Cargo processed at South Korean seaports fell 18.2 percent in August in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, government data showed Sunday. Cargo handled at the country's ports came to 117.34 million tons last month, down from 143.43 million tons a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Handling of export-import cargo shrank 19.7 percent on-year to 100.8 million tons last month, leading the overall decline. Hit by the coronavirus pandemic, container car

South Koreans on average consumed alcoholic beverages 8.5 days per month in 2019, a poll showed Sunday, with a growing number of people drinking at home this year due to the virus pandemic. It marked a slight drop from 8.8 days posted in 2017 and 2018, according to the report released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Around 43 percent of South Koreans picked beer as the most preferred type of alcoholic beverage, followed by soju, a distilled liquor made with grain, with

South Korea's police said Sunday that they have taken into custody a North Korean defector for attempting to cross into his homeland through a military unit in an eastern border town. The man in his 30s was caught entering a military unit in Chorwon, Gangwon Province, at around 9 a.m. on Thursday in an attempt to cross into the North. He was found to have four mobile phones and a cutting machine when he was caught. Police said that the man defected to the South in 2018 and has stayed in Seo

South Korea's stock market advanced a whopping 65 percent over the past six-month period despite the global virus pandemic, on the back of pharmaceutical and technology shares, data showed Sunday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) on Friday ended at 2,412.40 points, up 65.5 percent from six months ago, according to the main bourse operator Korea Exchange (KRX). The country's stock rally marked the second-highest rise among G-20 countries, following Argentina's 87 percent

South Korea's major tech giants are anticipated to enjoy better-than-expected earnings during the third quarter, a poll showed Sunday, as they were able to save costs amid the global new coronavirus pandemic. Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to post an operating profit of 10.3 trillion won ($8.85 billion) in the July-September period, up 32.56 percent from a year earlier, according to the market consensus compiled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency. The world's top

Ryu Hyun-jin couldn't stop the bleeding for the Toronto Blue Jays, taking a tough-luck loss despite throwing a quality start against the Philadelphia Phillies. Ryu fell to 4-2 after giving up two runs on six hits in six innings against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Saturday (local time), with most of the damage being done in the fifth inning. The bullpen took over to begin the bottom seventh with the Blue Jays down 2-1, and they went on to lose by 3-1 after managing jus

North Korea's Premier Kim Tok-hun visited major industrial sites, including steelmaking factories, calling for expanded production to help with recovery efforts in areas hit by recent typhoons, state media reported Sunday. Kim inspected the Chollima Steel Complex in South Pyongyang Province on the North's west coast and encouraged its workers "to provide the people in the typhoon-hit areas with happy life as early as possible," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). &qu

LG Uplus Corp., a major South Korean mobile carrier, said Sunday it is joining forces with Google to jointly develop 5G mobile edge computing (MEC) technology. Under the partnership, LG Uplus will work with Google Cloud, which will provide its artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, to develop new services that utilize MEC on the telecom operator's 5G network. MEC is a key technology in delivering ultra-low latency data communication in 5G networks, and it is expected to b

Late Bishop Daniel Tji Hak-soun (1921-1993) has been acquitted of protesting against the Yushin Constitution, instituted by an authoritarian president, in a retrial 46 years after his death. Earlier in the week, the Seoul Central District Court found the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wonju, some 140 kilometers southeast Seoul, innocent of violating the emergency rules of the authoritarian Constitution enacted by strongman Park Chung-hee that enabled Park to remain in power indefinite

The proportion of women among high-ranking officials in the central government has risen to an all-time high, a government report showed Sunday. According to the report on balanced personnel policy in the public sector, 7.9 percent, or 122, of 1,539 high-ranking civil servants in the central government were female as of the end of last year, up 19.6 percent from 102 recorded a year ago. It said both the number of senior female officials and their growth rate are the largest on record. High-r

North Korea's official newspaper called Sunday for efforts to realize self-reliance in the economy and national defense undeterred by multiple challenges from its ongoing antivirus campaign, devastation caused by recent typhoons and the fallout from global sanctions. "Without economic independence, it is impossible to realize autonomous politics or the huge task of building a wealthy country with a strong military," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North's ruling party, said in a

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases dipped below 100 for the first time in more than a month on Sunday on the back of the strict social distancing scheme, but the country opted to extend the measure by another week as untraceable infections still pose a challenge to its virus fight. The country added 82 more COVID-19 cases, including 72 local infections, taking the total caseload to 22,975, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It marked the first time for