South Korea plans to administer COVID-19 vaccines to 22 million people of the general public aged between 18 and 59 starting next month as part of its inoculation campaign, health authorities said Thursday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced the list of third-quarter vaccine recipients to achieve its goal of vaccinating 36 million people in the country of 51.3 million by September. The country's vaccination campaign started on Feb. 26 with some virus-vulnerable gr

Military investigators on Thursday raided the offices of an Air Force unit over allegations its members leaked details of a sexual harassment case that led to a noncommissioned officer taking her own life last month, the defense ministry said Thursday. The raid at the 15th Special Missions Wing in Seongnam, south of Seoul, is part of an ongoing investigation into the death of the master sergeant, surnamed Lee, who allegedly suffered groping and other abuse by her colleague during a car ride bac

South Korea's state-run Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO) said Thursday it has sold 200 billion won ($177 million) in environment, social and governance (ESG) bonds to help support pandemic-hit households and companies. The five-year bonds, which mark KAMCO's first ESG debt sale in line with standards set by the International Capital Market Association, carry an annual interest rate of 1.884 percent. The state asset manager said the proceeds will be used in helping the vulnerable by purchas

South Korean companies saw their profitability continue their growth in the first quarter, with their sales rebounding from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Thursday. The ratio of operating profit to sales of firms in the country reached 6.4 percent in the first quarter, up from 4.2 percent tallied a year ago, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). At the same time, the pretax net profit margin of South Korean companies rose on-year to 7.9 percent from

KT Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Thursday it will invest a total of 23.6 billion won ($20.9 million) in three companies under the fintech-focused Webcash Group in a move to strengthen its foothold in financial services. A KT spokesperson said the company will invest 14.4 billion won in Webcash, which operates Kyungrinara, a bookkeeping solution for small businesses, and a combined 9.2 billion won in bizplay, a business expense management platform operator, and Roumit, also

More than 65 percent of teachers, parents and students were positive about more in-person learning in the second half, a survey showed Thursday, as the Ministry of Education gears up for bringing all children back to their classrooms full time. The survey conducted by the ministry on 1.65 million of them nationwide from June 3-9 showed that 39.8 percent of the respondents considered wider school reopening to be "very positive" and 25.9 percent "positive." Among parents, 77.

Labor and management representatives met this week to negotiate the details of next year's minimum wage but came away with little progress after clashing on whether the rate should be hourly or monthly. The Minimum Wage Commission, a trilateral panel composed of nine representatives each from labor, management and the general public, held its third meeting this year Tuesday to begin negotiations in earnest. The commission holds plenary meetings around this time each year to set the following y

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong on Thursday pledged efforts to realize the United Nations' values of peace and liberty on the Korean Peninsula during a forum marking nearly three decades since the country joined the international body. Chung also reaffirmed the Moon Jae-in administration's "unwavering" efforts for lasting peace on the divided peninsula, as Seoul and Washington seek a diplomatic strategy to resume nuclear diplomacy with a recalcitrant Pyongyang. "The Moon adminis

An Army soldier and an Air Force officer have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. The soldier, based in the northeastern border county of Hwacheon, was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 while away from his base on vacation, and the Air Force officer in Osan, 55 kilometers south of Seoul, was found to be infected after coming into contact with a civilian virus patient, according to the ministry. The latest cases raised the total number of infections

South Korean left-hander Yang Hyeon-jong has been demoted to the minor leagues by the Texas Rangers. In a roster move made Wednesday (US time), Yang was replaced with right-hander Ian Kennedy, who has been on a 10-day injury list. "Manager Chris Woodward said the staff wants Yang to get more reps and starts at Triple-A Round Rock before getting back up to the big leagues," the Texas Rangers said on its website. The 33-year old south paw was removed from the rotation in late May afte

The conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has seen an influx of new members, especially those in their 20s and 30s, in the wake of the sensational ascent of young new party leader Lee Jun-seok. According to party officials, some 23,000 people nationwide have joined the PPP as new members since May 12, including 10,000 who joined through online processes. The figure marks about a tenfold increase from the same period a year earlier, which came amid Lee's surprise ascent to the p

Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday it has resumed operations of a local plant following a one-day suspension due to lack of semiconductors. Hyundai halted the Asan plant, which produces the Grandeur sedan, on Wednesday, causing production losses of 1,027 vehicles, the company said in a regulatory filing. The company has temporarily halted some of its domestic plants on a chip shortage. It has seven domestic plants -- five in Ulsan, one in Asan and one in Jeonju -- and 10 overseas plants -- four

South Korea will closely monitor the financial market as market volatility could increase following the Federal Reserve's signal of an earlier-than-expected rate hike, a senior government official said Thursday. After freezing its key rate at near zero at a policy meeting, the Fed signaled an earlier-than-expected rate increase in 2023 as US inflation is rising amid an economic recovery. The US central bank also hinted it began discussing when to taper bond-buying programs. Bearing the Fed's s

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. said Thursday it has completed the supply of its battery system to the world's largest energy storage system (ESS) that has come online in the United States. LG Energy, a battery unit under LG Chem Ltd., said its lithium-ion batteries are now running on US power generation firm Vistra Energy's 1.2 gigawatt-hour (GWh) ESS facility in California. In December, Vistra connected the ESS facility to its 1,020-MW combined cycle gas turbine power pla

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases remained in the 500s for the second day Thursday as health authorities are set to announce the vaccination plan for the next quarter that centers on people aged under 60 and priority groups. The country reported 540 more virus cases, including 523 local infections, raising the total caseload to 149,731, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The latest tally is similar to 545 cases Wednesday, sharply up from 373 on Tuesday. The co

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday as the Federal Reserve made comments about an earlier-than-expected timeline for a rate hike. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 19.61 points, or 0.6 percent, to trade at 3,259.07 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stock prices fell after the key stock index finished at an all-time high the previous session, taking a cue from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comment that the Fed began discussing measures to sca

The global memory chip market is forecast to increase 32 percent this year, a report showed Thursday, boding well for South Korean chipmakers that dominate the sector. Sales growth for the DRAM market is expected to reach 41 percent in 2021, the second largest among 33 integrated circuit (IC) products, while that of NAND flash is projected to be 22 percent, according to the latest McClean report released by market researcher IC Insights. "It is expected that the price per bit of DRAM wi

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Thursday the government will focus on increasing the housing supply in a bid to curb market expectations for continued rises in home prices. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the supply of homes is expected to increase after 2022 as the construction of new properties has increased since May. Amid sluggish housing transactions, the growth of home prices has picked up in recent months in Seoul on expectations for eased rules on the reconstruction of ol

North Korea held a key Workers' Party meeting for the second day with a focus on economic issues, according to state media Thursday, amid speculation that foreign policy could also have been discussed. Photos released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed leader Kim Jong-un presiding over a panel discussion during the second-day plenary meeting of the party's Central Committee on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon was seen taking down notes in one of the photos. Ri's at

South Korea's leading steelmaker Posco is likely to post a record operating income for the second quarter of the year on a recovery in global demand, according to market forecasts Thursday. Eight local brokerages' median estimate for Posco's operating profit stands at 1.93 trillion won ($1.73 billion) for the April-June, up more than 10 times from a year earlier, according to an analysis of their forecasts by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. The figure marks the la