South Korea's top internet portal operator Naver Corp. said Thursday its net profit jumped nearly six times in the second quarter from a year earlier largely due to a stellar performance of its fintech and commerce businesses amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Net profit reached 540.6 billion won ($468.5 million) in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 90.7 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a press release. Operating income reached a quarterly high of 335.6 billion wo

Defense Minister Suh Wook met with his British counterpart Ben Wallace in Seoul on Wednesday and discussed ways of deepening cooperation, the defense ministry said, as the European country seeks to expand its presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Calling South Korea a key cooperation partner in the region, Wallace said he hopes to boost exchanges and cooperation with the country in the defense sector, noting that his trip highlights Britain's commitment to prosperity and development of the Indo

Singapore's antitrust watchdog has approved SK hynix Inc.'s deal to acquire Intel's NAND business, the company said Wednesday. Last October, South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker signed a deal to buy Intel's non-volatile business for $9 billion, which includes the U.S. firm's solid state drive business and a NAND flash chip plant in Dalian, China. Following the deal, SK hynix had to obtain approval from antitrust regulators in major countries. The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore clea

Sixteen people affiliated with US Forces Korea have recently tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US military said Wednesday, amid the fourth wave of the pandemic across the country. The latest cases -- confirmed between July 15-19 -- raised the total number of infections reported among the USFK-affiliated population to 1,101. Of the newly added cases, Camp Casey in Dongducheon, 40 kilometers north of Seoul, and Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul each reported s

South Korean stocks retreated for a fourth consecutive session Wednesday, as the resurgence of the new coronavirus weakened investor sentiment for risk. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slumped 16.79 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at 3,215.91 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 973 million shares worth some 14.7 trillion won ($12.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 283 to 562. Foreigners sold a net 511 bil

Two Army officers and an enlisted soldier have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday, the latest in a series of COVID-19 infections among the military population. The officers, stationed in the northern city of Yangju and the eastern port city of Samcheok, respectively, were confirmed to have been infected after their family members tested positive earlier, according to the ministry. The soldier in Seoul contracted the virus while on vacation, it added.

The number of layer chickens raised in South Korea fell 12.1 percent from a year earlier in the second quarter, affected by the impact of the outbreak of bird flu, data showed Wednesday. The number of layer chickens reached 65.9 million as of end-June, compared with 74.9 million the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It rose 6.1 percent from the first quarter when the number of layer chickens came to 62.1 million, the lowest in more than three years. The on-year decli

The issuance of derivatives-linked securities (DLS) in South Korea sank more than 10 percent in the first half of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The country's DLS sales came to 9.46 trillion won ($8.23 billion) in the January-June period, down 10.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). The amount was also down 10.9 percent from six months earlier. DLS tracks the performance of interest rates, currency val

President Moon Jae-in has reprimanded his Cheong Wa Dae aides over reports of errors in the online reservation system for COVID-19 vaccine shots, his office said Wednesday. Moon called for "strong" measures to address the problems, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. With regard to the issue, the president pointed out that it is not commensurate with South Korea's stature as an information and technology powerhouse, she said. The government opened a vaccination b

TOKYO -- South Korea is going into the Tokyo Olympics ranked world No. 1 in the men's sabre fencing. The ace of the squad, Oh Sang-uk, is at the top of the individual rankings, too. The country has earned the favorite status in both the team and individual events here. And to hear coach Kim Hyoung-ryul tell it on Wednesday, all the prescouting work is complete. "We came here all prepared," Kim said. "For the final few days before the competition, it will come down to repeating w

Almost all parts of the nation, excluding some inland mountain and east coastal areas, were put under a heat wave warning or an advisory Wednesday, as a full-scale sweltering heat began to scorch the peninsula. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said that daytime highs are to range from 28 C to 36 C nationwide in the day and the maximum daily temperature may further rise to 38 C later this week. A heat wave warning has been in place in Seoul for two days and the mercury is forecast

The top court upheld the opinion rigging conviction of South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, a close aide to President Moon Jae-in, on Wednesday, a decision that will strip Kim of his governorship and potentially deal a political blow to the president. The Supreme Court maintained the verdict by the appeals court in November that Kim colluded with a team of online bloggers, including Kim Dong-won, widely known by his alias Druking, to illegally generate favorable opinions about the pre

North Korea's official newspaper on Wednesday warned officials against working irresponsibly and urged them to make a "big leap" to achieve the country's economic goals. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party, made the appeal, urging officials to wage a battle "beyond the limits of their ability and potential." "The party and people have very high expectations for our officials as they break through unprecedented challenges," the paper said. "

The majority of South Koreans support President Moon Jae-in's decision not to visit Japan for the opening of the Tokyo Olympics and summit talks, a poll showed Tuesday. In the R&Search survey of 1,095 people aged 18 and older, 65.5 percent of the respondents were in favor of Moon's decision, while 26.7 percent were against it. Cheong Wa Dae announced Monday that the president decided not to visit Tokyo as the two neighboring countries failed to achieve sufficient progress in consultations

An additional 23 members of the virus-hit Cheonghae naval unit tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday, raising the confirmed infection cases among the 301-member unit to 270. According to virus tests conducted on all the members upon their return home from Africa the previous day, 270, or 89.7 percent, of them have tested positive for COVID-19, while 31 tested negative, the ministry said. The unit on an anti-piracy mission in waters off Africa first report

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on Wednesday urged a major umbrella labor group to cancel its protests scheduled for later this week as authorities struggle to contain the country's fast-spreading fourth COVID-19 wave. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) plans to stage two large rallies in Wonju, 140 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Friday and a week later, with over 1,000 members reportedly planning to gather at the event slated for Friday. The rallies were reportedly arranged to sup

Unionized workers at GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., entered a partial strike Wednesday for higher wages amid the extended COVID-19 pandemic. GM Korea workers put down their tools in three plants -- two in Bupyeong, just west of Seoul, and one in Changwon, 400 kilometers south of the capital city, a company spokesman said over the phone. GM Korea and its union have had 13 rounds of negotiations over wages since May, but they failed to bridge their differences. The

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases hit a fresh high of over 1,700 on Wednesday as cluster infections continued to spread across the nation amid a fast rise of highly contagious delta variant cases. The country added 1,784 COVID-19 cases, including 1,726 local infections, raising the total caseload to 182,265, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest figure was the highest ever since the country confirmed the first case in January 2020. The daily

Sales of major high-growth unlisted companies in South Korea have risen more than four times over the past three years with online distributors and bio firms posting explosive growth, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The combined top line of the country's top 100 unlisted companies came to 20.4 trillion won ($17.8 billion) last year, up a whopping 323 percent from three years earlier, according to CEO Score. The companies, chosen from more than 11,500 businesses nationwide, don't belong to

TOKYO -- When the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics takes place Friday night, South Korea will only have a modest-size delegation representing the country. Citing COVID-19 infection concerns, South Korea will have six officials and around 50 athletes marching in at Olympic Stadium in the Japanese capital, an official from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) said Wednesday. South Korea is sending 232 athletes and 122 officials to the competition. Volleyball star Kim Yeon-koun