South Korean public firms' liabilities rose for the third straight year last year to hit a record high as they increased investment amid the pandemic, the finance ministry said Friday. Of 350 state-run companies, the combined debt of 347 firms reached 544.8 trillion won ($491.5 billion) at the end of last year, up 17.9 trillion won from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It marked the highest total for liabilities since 2005 when the government began compiling

Police raided the headquarters of a major dairy firm on Friday as part of a probe into allegations that it exaggerated anti-coronavirus effects of its yogurt products. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said it had been conducting searches at the headquarters and five other facilities of Namyang Dairy Products Co., including a laboratory in the central city of Sejong, since 9:30 a.m. The operation came after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety filed a complaint on April 15 against Namyang

Memory chip prices are rising sharply amid a global semiconductor shortage, industry data showed Friday, boding well for South Korean chipmakers that dominate the sector. The contract price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM, which is widely used in personal computers, reached $3.80 for this month, up 26.67 percent from the previous month, according to TrendForce. It marks the largest monthly increase since January 2017, when the contract price of the product soared 35.8 percent. The contract price had b

Lotte Engineering & Construction Co. said Friday that its joint venture has won a $146.9 million ($110.7 million) deal to build a transport hub in Singapore in the first entry into the city state. Under the deal with the Singapore Land Transport Authority, Lotte E&C and its Singaporean partner Bintai Kindenko Pte Ltd. will be responsible for design and installation of mechanical and electrical works for the Jurong East integrated transport hub. The project comprises community and civic

South Korea will introduce new COVID-19 social distancing rules in July if the nation's daily caseload remains below 1,000, health authorities said Friday. The new rules are aimed at imposing fairer restrictions and giving the public a simpler message on containment, officials said. The revamped distancing rules will also come as the country's vaccination campaign is gathering pace. As of Thursday, the country has vaccinated more than 3 million people, or 6 percent of the country's 52-million

South Korea's oceans ministry said Friday it has secured the right to catch 41,260 tons of fish in Russian waters this year, while fixing the fish fee unchanged for the third consecutive year. Under the agreement, South Korea can catch 28,400 tons of pollack and 5,050 tons of cod in the Russian exclusive economic zone (EEZ) this year, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The volume also includes 3,000 tons of Pacific saury and 4,000 tons of squid, the ministry said. The combined

The number of foreign visitors to South Korea dropped nearly 11 percent in March from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Friday. A total of 74,604 foreigners visited the country last month, down 10.7 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea National Tourism Organization (KNTO). Chinese arrivals were the largest number at 18,980, followed by Americans with 12,321 and citizens from the Philippines with 9,268. Visitors from China ros

A North Korean defector group claimed Friday it has sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border in defiance of a ban enacted recently over concern such a leafleting campaign could provoke the North and endanger the safety of people in border regions. Fighters for a Free North Korea led by Park Sang-hak, a vocal North Korean defector, said that the group flew 10 large balloons carrying around 500,000 leaflets, 500 booklets and 5,000 $1 bills from unidentified border areas in Gyeonggi and Gang

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. said Friday that it has signed a 184.5 billion won ($166.5 million) deal to build two liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers. Under the deal with local shipper Hyundai LNG Shipping Co., Daewoo Shipbuilding will deliver the vessels by the fourth quarter of 2023, the shipbuilder said. Hyundai LNG Shipping is a local shipper specialized in liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation. Daewoo Shipbuilding has won orders of 24 ships, including 11 oil

President Moon Jae-in's approval rating dropped below 30 percent for the first time since his inauguration in May 2017, a Gallup Korea poll showed Friday. In its three-day survey from Tuesday of 1,000 adults nationwide, 29 percent of respondents supported Moon's leadership, down 2 percentage points from a week earlier. His approval rating has been on the decline since recording 40 percent in the first week of March. The proportion of those disapproving of his presidency stayed at 60 percent.

Samsung Electronics Co. was the runner-up in the first-quarter smartphone market in terms of revenue, a report showed Friday, though it was the top vendor by volume. The South Korean tech titan logged a revenue share of 17.5 percent in the January-March period, down from 20.2 percent a year earlier, according to market tracker Counterpoint Research. Samsung was the only brand among the top five to see its revenue share decline as others expanded their presence. Apple Inc. defended its top s

Unseasonal snowfall blanketed mountainous areas of Gangwon Province, east of Seoul, on Friday, the last day of April usually known in South Korea as a season of early summer-like warm weather. Late-night rain turned into snow in the Gangwon mountains 1,300 meters above sea level early Friday morning, with 15 centimeters of snow recorded on and around the peak of Mount Seorak, about 200 kilometers east of Seoul, as of 9 a.m., according to national park officials there. Similar amounts of snow a

Three soldiers and an airman tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Friday, the latest in a series of infections at barracks across the nation. The four service members, all from different units, were confirmed to have been infected following their recent vacation, bringing the total number of infections among the military population to 784, according to the ministry. Nationwide, South Korea reported 661 more COVID-19 cases, including 642 local infections, raising t

Samsung Electronics Co. remained the world's second-largest tablet computer vendor in the first quarter of the year, a report showed Friday, amid the market's robust growth driven by the stay-at-home economy. The South Korean giant logged a market share of 20 percent in the January-March period, after shipping 8 million Galaxy Tab tablets, up 60.8 percent from a year ago, according to market researcher International Data Corp. (IDC). Apple Inc. defended its top position with a 31.7 percent sha

North Korea dropped the name of late national founder Kim Il-sung from the title of its largest youth organization and put the word "socialist" back into the title, according to state media Friday, a move aimed at tightening ideological discipline of younger generations. The Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League, governed by the ruling Workers' Party, was renamed as the Socialist Patriotic Youth League (SPYL) at the 10th congress in Pyongyang, according to the Korean Central News Age

President Moon Jae-in received his second dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine Friday, a few weeks earlier than initially scheduled, as he plans to visit Washington for talks with President Joe Biden in late May. He got the first shot at the Jongno Ward public health center in Seoul on March 23 in order to attend a Group of Seven (G-7) summit to be held in Britain from June 11-13. At that time, he was scheduled to get the second dose in May.     Later, South Korea and th

South Korea's daily new virus cases remained in the 600s for the second day Friday as the country extended its social distancing measures against the coronavirus amid concerns of another wave of the pandemic. The country reported 661 more COVID-19 cases, including 642 local infections, raising the total caseload to 122,007, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The latest tally was slightly down from 679 new cases the previous day, after reaching 769 cases on Wednesday o

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday amid concerns of the spreading new coronavirus cases. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 5.82 points, or 0.18 percent, to 3,168.25 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a muted start as the country's social distancing scheme will be extended by three more weeks ahead of holidays next month. South Korea's industrial output increased 0.8 percent in March on-month, slowing from a 2.1 percent growth in F

South Korea said Friday it plans to resume a discount coupon program aimed at boosting spending on dining and cultural performances next month as it seeks to prop up domestic demand hit hard by the pandemic. The government plans to hand out coupons to enable people to use food delivery services via apps and enjoy cultural performances on online platforms, according to First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon. "The government will push for the discount coupon program to buttress improving

US automaker General Motors Co. said Friday it will recall Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles equipped with batteries produced in LG Energy Solution Ltd.'s South Korean factory to update its battery software and ease fire risks. The recall covers about 69,000 Bolt EVs for the 2017-2019 model years, installed with LG's batteries made from its factory in Ochang, 120 kilometers south of Seoul. About 9,500 units were sold in South Korea, the Korean unit of GM said. Dealers will install "advan