An upcoming professional football match has been postponed after a player tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The Korea Professional Football League announced Wednesday the K League 1 contest between Jeju United and FC Seoul, scheduled for July 20, will be played at a later date. The league has not yet determined when the match will be made up. One Jeju player tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. While the rest of the team all tested negative, many players were listed as close conta

More and more South Korean film producers and investors have been participating in multinational film projects in recent years, backed by the country's reputation as a rising powerhouse in the global cinema scene. The upcoming horror film "The Medium" is a collaboration of South Korea and Thailand, drawing attention for the teamwork of horror masters of the two countries -- Na Hong-jin of "The Wailing" (2016) and Banjong Pisanthanakun of "Shutter" (2004). Na, who

The volleyball icon Kim Yeon-koung and teen swimming sensation Hwang Sun-woo will carry the South Korean flag at the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Summer Olympics. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) announced the two athletes as the country's flag-bearers Wednesday. The opening ceremony for the 32nd Summer Olympics will take place in the Japanese capital on July 23. Kim, 33, is one of the most popular athletes in South Korea. Long considered one of the world's top female volleyb

South Korean stocks closed lower Wednesday after hitting an all-time high the previous session amid growing concerns over a surge in new COVID-19 cases. The Korean won sharply fell against the US dollar on risk-averse sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 19.87 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 3,285.34 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 14.3 trillion won ($12.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 663 to 202. F

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it plans to switch all of its company cars to environment friendly vehicles by 2030, joining South Korea's efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases largely responsible for global warming. The South Korean tech giant vowed to replace around 800 corporate fleet cars, including executive sedans and logistics vehicles, with eco-friendly ones by 2030 after signing a green mobility agreement with the country's environment ministry. Samsung's partner com

The government is pushing to grant the long-term residency F-2 visa to high-skilled foreigners as a way to tackle the shrinking population and retain talented workers, the justice ministry said Wednesday. The Ministry of Justice announced the plan during a briefing on the result of a government meeting on the economy. The ministry came up with the idea, together with 12 other ministries, in order to retain foreign professionals with specialties in an array of industrial sectors, which, the min

The United Nations Command said Wednesday it is temporarily suspending tours to the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom, or the Joint Security Area (JSA), after two of its members came into contact with a coronavirus patient. "Once we are certain that there is no additional risk to our force or the ROK population, we will resume JSA orientations," the US-led command said in a Facebook post. ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. The suspension comes a

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Wednesday the city will reduce bus and subway schedules and expand COVID-19 testing to fight the recent resurgence of the virus amid a record high number of cases. At a press briefing, Oh said bus schedules will be scaled back starting Thursday and subway schedules starting Friday. For both buses and the subway, schedules will be reduced by 20 percent after 10 p.m. Oh ordered the owners and employees of private cram schools, restaurants, cafes, karaoke establishment

A civil servant was fined heavily Wednesday for failing to disclose his visits to COVID-19 clusters before testing positive for the coronavirus. The 24-year-old official, whose identity was withheld, was sentenced to a fine of 20 million won ($17,600) by the Daejeon District Court in the central city of Daejeon for violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act. Twenty million won is the maximum amount of fine stipulated by the infectious disease control law for obstructing epidem

Special Counsel Park Young-soo, who has led an investigation into a corruption scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye, resigned Wednesday amid allegations he accepted a Porsche car from a fishery businessman. Park said in a statement to reporters that he submitted his letter of resignation in the belief that it became "difficult" for him to carry out his duties as special counsel. "I feel a strong moral responsibility for such things as introducing a controversial figu

South Korea's main intelligence agency said Wednesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is believed to be handling state affairs "normally," rejecting rumors that he fell unconscious due to health problems. Earlier in the day, rumors spread that Kim remains unconscious after suffering cerebral hemorrhage and that a coup led by his uncle Kim Pyong-il has forced him from power. "We determine that the speculation about Kim's health is groundless," the National Intelligence

The value of stocks traded on South Korea's over-the-counter (OTC) market has exceeded 22 trillion won ($19.3 billion) on a recent market rally, data showed Wednesday. The capitalization of the K-OTC totaled 22.1 trillion won as of end-June, up about 30 percent from six months earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA). It marks the largest market value since Nov. 13, 2014, when Samsung SDS Co., an IT service unit of Samsung Group, traded on the K-O

LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday it expected a solid performance in the second quarter as its home appliance business apparently continued to ride on robust demand of premium products amid the pandemic. In its earnings guidance, the South Korean tech giant projected its operating profit at 1.1 trillion won ($967 million) for the April-June period, up 65.5 percent from a year earlier. Its second-quarter operating income estimate, however, was lower than the market consensus of 1.2 trillion wo

PAJU -- When the 24-year-old midfielder Kim Jin-gyu didn't make the South Korean men's Olympic football team at first last week, he had a mixed bag of emotions. He was disappointed that he wasn't selected as one of 18 players by head coach Kim Hak-bum last Wednesday, but he was also somewhat relieved that he wouldn't be going through the pressure cooker that is the Olympic tournament. But Kim's fate changed in less than 24 hours. FIFA decided to grant a special expansion of rosters for all men

South Korean real estate investment trusts (REITs) saw their assets jump nearly 22 percent in 2020 from a year earlier amid a robust property market, government data showed Wednesday. A total of 282 REITs had some 63 trillion won ($55.5 billion) in combined assets as of the end of December, up 21.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the land ministry. The number of REITs was also up 13.7 percent from a year earlier. REITs, which can be traded on major exchanges, invest in

Choe Jae-hyeong, former head of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), on Wednesday officially expressed his intent to enter politics. The former BAI chairman told Yonhap News Agency that he "has determined to participate in politics" but added that he will need more time to streamline his future plans, possibly including whether to run in next year's presidential race. Choe resigned in late June in a move widely viewed as a prelude to joining the presidential election race. The re

The South Korean economy is on a modest recovery track, but its upward momentum may lose steam due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, a state-run think tank said Wednesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy is on a recovery track amid solid exports, but it also faces high economic uncertainty from the fast spread of the more contagious delta COVID-19 variant and spiking virus cases, according to a monthly economic assessment report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). "Due to the surge i

North Korea appears to have begun a "tug of war" with the United States over its policy on Pyongyang while focusing on strengthening internal unity and economic development, the defense ministry said Wednesday. The assessment was made during a meeting of top military commanders, including Defense Minister Suh Wook and Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Won In-choul, which was meant to check the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and discuss the policy direction for the

President Moon Jae-in instructed the government Wednesday to step up efforts to speedily trace COVID-19 infections amid a sharp hike in confirmed cases. He called for the establishment of more temporary testing centers in areas with many residents or visitors and swift mobilization of military personnel, police officers and civil servants to that end, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. The president ordered "preemptive" steps to expand testing on people related t

The combined amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges made to Asia's No. 4 economy shot up 71.5 percent on-year in the first half of 2021, data showed Wednesday, amid growing hopes of a post-pandemic economic recovery. Foreigners pledged to make a combined investment of $13 billion over the January-June period, compared with $76.6 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The investment that arrived here rose 57.3 percent over the period t