Army Chief of Staff Gen. Nam Yeong-shin apologized Wednesday over criticism that a boot camp and some other units enforced excessive anti-coronavirus rules in violation of human rights, such as restricting bathroom access. Nam offered the apology after convening an emergency meeting of senior commanders and ordered them to review the Army's health protection rules from scratch and come up with measures to prevent violating soldiers' rights in the course of its fight against COVID-19. "At

South Korean health authorities said Wednesday that fully vaccinated people will be exempted from the country's mandatory 14-day isolation period from early next month as the country is struggling to speed up the vaccination campaign. Health authorities said that, under the country's anti-infection measures, those who have been fully inoculated will no longer be required to self-isolate themselves after coming in close contact with COVID-19 patients or entering the country from overseas from Ma

The defense ministry said Wednesday it is trying to secure new "large-scale" firing ranges for the US Forces Korea (USFK) as the American military has complained about limited access to the existing ones due to strong protests from residents. In a report presented to the National Assembly, the ministry said that it will push to secure large-scale training sites as replacements of the existing ranges as part of its longer-term plan to resolve ongoing conflicts between the USFK and resi

Samsung Electronics Co. regained the top spot in the European smartphone market in the first quarter of the year, a report showed Wednesday, on the back of robust sales of its new handsets. The South Korean tech giant represented 32 percent of smartphone sales in Europe in the January-March period, up 2 percentage points from a year earlier, and beat its US rival Apple Inc., which settled for 28 percent, according to market tracker Counterpoint Research. Samsung was in the runner-up spot with

South Korea will consider publishing a report on human rights situations in North Korea after securing more verifiable information and testimonies from North Korean defectors, a unification ministry official said Wednesday. The government runs a center for North Korean human rights records under the ministry to accumulate information on human rights violations in the reclusive country based mostly on interviews with North Korean defectors. The center was launched in 2016 in line with the North

The value of daily retail payments grew 15.2 percent on-year in 2020 as online financial transactions increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Wednesday. The value of daily retail payments, which are typically made between individuals and non-financial firms on a small sum of money, stood at 80.2 trillion won ($72 billion) last year, compared with 69.6 trillion won in 2019, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). With COVID-19 spreading, more consumers are using

The number of babies born in South Korea fell to a record low in February, data showed Wednesday, underscoring the country's chronically low birth rate. A total of 21,461 babies were born in February, down 5.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the lowest for any February since 1981, when the statistics agency began compiling related data. South Korea is struggling with a sustained fall in childbirths as many young people delay marriage

The number of new coronavirus cases among athletes and the training staff of the South Korean national wrestling team rose to 22, the sport's governing body said Wednesday. The national team traveled to Almaty, Kazakhstan, to participate in the 2021 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament from April 8-11 and the 2021 Asian Wrestling Championships from April 12-18. Twenty-four returned to Korea on April 19, and seven tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to the Korea Wre

South Korea's business sentiment continued to improve on recovering demand in the non-manufacturing business sector, a local think tank said Wednesday. The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales reached 107.7 for next month, up 1.7 points from April, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement. The index stayed above 100 for the third straight month after its March reading exceeded 100 for the first time in 34 months, it said. A reading ab

Combined streaming of the BTS megahit "Dynamite" has reached more than 300 million in Japan, a music chart tracker in the Asian country showed Wednesday. The disco-pop track added 6.69 million streams in the latest weekly streaming chart compiled by Oricon between April 19 and 25, hitting 306.53 million streams in total, said Big Hit Music, the K-pop act's agency, citing the Japanese music chart. "Dynamite," which achieved the feat in 36 weeks, is the third song to break th

The defense ministry on Wednesday began administering AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine to service members aged 30 and older, it said, amid growing concerns over the spread of the virus in barracks. Authorities plan to complete giving the first vaccine doses to 126,000 troops over the age of 30 in the next two weeks in the full-fledged launch of a vaccine campaign in the military. Receiving the vaccine is voluntary, but over 80 percent of the troops subject to the vaccination have agreed to t

The process of learning a language can be more effective when you have a strong motivation, which is why the company behind BTS recently released the latest version of its Korean learning kit involving the K-pop act's miniature characters for global fans. "Learn! Korean with TinyTAN," is a follow-up series to Hybe Edu's "Learn! Korean with BTS" released last year. The company said the new version is tailored to fans who are newly learning the language, focusing on the basic

The number of combined moviegoers for "Minari" is expected to surpass 1 million in South Korea this weekend, boosted by supporting actress Youn Yuh-jung's history Oscar victory, data showed Wednesday. The US drama film on the struggles of a first-generation Korean immigrant family in America sold 8,500 tickets on Tuesday, bringing its combined total to 952,000, according to the data from the Korean Film Council. Its box office ranking bumped up to second after the thriller "Reca

South Korea's exports of autos grew 31.4 percent on-year in the first quarter on the back of brisk shipments of sedans and eco-friendly vehicles, data showed Wednesday. The country's outbound shipments of cars came to $11 billion in the January-March period, compared with $8.37 billion the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. Imports of autos rose 21.8 percent on-year to $2.9 billion, the data showed. Overseas shipments of sedans and eco-friendly vehicle

Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Won In-choul was to depart for Hawaii on Wednesday for talks with his US and Japanese counterparts to discuss the security situation in the region, his office said. Won is scheduled to meet with Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Koji Yamazaki on Thursday (Hawaii time) to discuss ways to strengthen "multilateral cooperation to promote peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia," according to the military. Such trilateral face-to

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rose to the highest in four days on Wednesday, nearing 800, and the proportion of untraceable infections hit the highest point ever amid concerns of another wave of the pandemic. The country reported 775 more COVID-19 cases, including 754 local infections, raising the total caseload to 120,673, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The latest tally is the highest since Saturday, when the country recorded 785 cases, and marks a sh

Major South Korean companies saw their overseas sales shrink 4 percent in 2020 from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Combined overseas sales of 230 out of the country's top 500 firms by revenue totaled 804.1 trillion won ($723 billion) last year, down 33.4 trillion won from a year earlier, according to CEO Score. The figure accounts for 45.6 percent of the 83.6 trillion-won decrease in their sales at home and abroad. The 230 companies cover thos

South Korea's consumer sentiment increased for a fourth consecutive month in April, as exports showed signs of a strong recovery and health authorities vowed to speed up the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, central bank data showed Wednesday. The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) came in at 102.2 for April, up 1.7 points from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. The latest reading marks the fourth on

SEONGJU -- The Ministry of Defense on Wednesday successfully delivered non-weapon materials and construction equipment onto a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) base here after briefly running into protests from residents and activists opposed to the deployment of the American missile defense system. Early in the day, a few dozen protesters staged a sit-in and blocked the passage of vehicles heading to the base for the THAAD system in the central town of Seongju, about 300 kilometers s

South Koreans are expected to be able to purchase coronavirus self-test kits at local pharmacies or via online channels early next week, kit makers said Wednesday. South Korea's drug safety agency on Friday green-lighted two types of COVID-19 home test kits developed by biotech firms SD Biosensor and Humasis in an effort to boost its testing capacity amid rising cases. Humasis said its self-test kit is priced around 9,000 won ($8.10) to 10,000 won per single package, and will start sales at ph