A North Korean propaganda outlet on Sunday denounced South Korea's weapons purchase plans as an attempt to accelerate preparations to invade the country. Tongil Voice made the accusations, referring to Seoul's decision to import 36 large combat choppers by 2028 in a project in which the country has already deployed 36 Boeing AH-64E Apache helicopters. "The South Korea military is further stepping up plots to develop and introduce advanced arms equipment for northward invasion at a time wh

St. Louis Cardinals' South Korean pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun took a no-decision in his long-awaited season debut. The left-hander started the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Saturday (US time), giving up three earned runs on five hits and one walk in three innings. It was his belated first start as the sophomore southpaw began the 2021 season on the injured list due to a back injury after making some rough starts during spring training. On Saturday,

The Seoul Botanic Park has attracted more than 10 million visitors since its opening 30 months ago, the city government said Sunday. Located in western Seoul, the park began to accept visitors in October 2018 before formally opening in May 2019. It is the country's first botanic park built inside a city, with a forest, lake, wetlands and greenhouses laid across 500,000 square meters of land, according to the city government. A total of 10.04 million people have visited the park since October

North Korea's main newspaper on Sunday kept up criticism of Japan over its history of aggression toward the Korean Peninsula, after the Japanese prime minister expressed a willingness to meet with the North's leader to resolve bilateral issues. The Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, carried an article that criticized Japan for "occupying the Korean Peninsula during the first half of the 20th century and engaging in a barbaric policy to annihilate the people.&quo

South Korea will start giving AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to health care workers and airline crews this week to speed up the vaccination drive against the pandemic, the health authority said Sunday. Health authorities will administer AstraZeneca vaccines to health care workers for the disabled, seniors and veterans as well as airline crews starting from Monday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Those under age 30 will be excluded from the list on concerns over rar

South Korean civic groups held a press conference Saturday to denounce Japan's recent decision to discharge into the ocean contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. Eight groups, including the Global Econet, lambasted the plan to release the radioactive water as an "irresponsible" act and demanded the cancellation of the decision, during the conference at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul. On Tuesday, Japan finalized the decision to start discharging the t

South Korea's official development assistance for foreign countries fell 8.7 percent to $2.25 billion last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has shown. According to the data on the tentative tally of 29 members of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee released Tuesday, South Korea's bilateral ODA for 2020 stood at $1.76 billion, down 5 percent from a year ago, while its multilateral contributions slumped 19.9 percen

South Korean stocks are likely to maintain their upward momentum next week as expectations of estimate-beating first-quarter corporate earnings run high, although investors may be attempted to cash in recent gains.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 3,198.62 points on Friday, up 2.13 percent from a week before. The index gained for the five sessions since Monday, with brokerages predicting the index may stay above the 3,200-point threshold despite the increased val

US President Joe Biden said Friday he and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga reaffirmed their commitment to jointly face challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, including China and nuclear-armed North Korea. Suga said they are also committed to the complete, irreversible and verifiable dismantlement of all weapons of mass destruction in North Korea. "We committed to working together to take on the challenges from China and on issues like the East China Sea, the South China Sea, as well

Four out of 10 people who died last year from industrial accidents were aged 60 or older, according to the labor ministry. A total of 882 people died in industrial accidents last year, marking an increase of 27, or 3.2 percent, from 2019, according to data released Wednesday by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Of the total, people aged 60 or above accounted for 347 (39.3 percent), followed by those in their 50s (292), 40s (137), 30s (64) and between 18-29 (42). "Deaths from industri

The imminent return of Chung Sye-kyun to the political realm, following his resignation as prime minister earlier this week, is expected to set off in earnest a high-stakes race to win the ruling Democratic Party's (DP) ticket to run in next year's presidential election.  Chung stepped down from the public office Friday after serving a 15-month stint, mainly preoccupied with the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.  The 71-year-old former six-term lawmaker has yet to officially decla

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution said Saturday its joint venture with American automaker General Motors will build a $2.3 billion (2.58 trillion won) electric vehicle battery factory in Tennessee.  Ultium Cells, the joint venture between LG and GM, will build a second US factory with an annual capacity of 35 gigawatt-hours, similar to the first one under construction in Ohio, LG Energy said. "With the joint venture's factory construction, LG Energy Solutio

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed in the 600s for the third consecutive day Saturday as health authorities ramp up their vigilance amid growing concerns over a looming fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country reported 658 more COVID-19 cases, including 630 local infections, raising the total caseload to 113,444, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It added four more deaths, raising the total to 1,794. Saturday's daily caseload was down from 673

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. said Friday it will spend 1.06 trillion won ($950 million) to build a battery factory in the United States with American automaker General Motors Corp. In a regulatory filing, LG Energy, wholly owned by LG Chem Ltd., said that it and GM will each invest the same amount in their joint venture, Ultium Cells, to step up electric vehicle (EV) battery production in the US. Together with 600 billion won worth of loans, the total investment for the

Families of victims of the Sewol ferry disaster returned Friday to the unforgiving sea that swallowed their loved ones seven years ago, a disaster that overturned their lives and left a lasting scar for the nation. Onboard a ship rocking in choppy waters off the southwestern tip of the country, they cried as they mourned the victims, with the painful memories still fresh. Seven years ago on the day, the 6,825-ton ferry, carrying 476 passengers en route to the resort island of Jeju, capsized of

South Korean shares advanced for the fifth day Friday, finishing just shy of the 3,200-point mark, as expectations of a global economic rebound and sound corporate earnings boosted investor sentiment. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 4.29 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 3,198.62 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 961 million shares worth some 14.6 trillion won ($13.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering loser

The density of fine dust particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter, known as PM 10, will rise to "very bad" levels in Seoul and many other parts of South Korea, beginning Friday evening, due to the influx of yellow dust originating from deserts in northern China and Mongolia, a state forecasting agency said. The PM 10 reading is to soar above the government-designated "very bad" level in the greater Seoul area and central and southern provinces, including Gangwon and

South Korea's outgoing prime minister said Friday the government will mobilize its full capacity to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 and ultimately overcome the pandemic. "COVID-19 can never win against South Korea. The government will do everything it can to win this intense war against the virus as soon as possible," Chung Sye-kyun said while chairing his final daily interagency meeting on the coronavirus response held at the government complex in Seoul. Chung resigned from h

President Moon Jae-in replaced some of his senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday, a move coupled with a major Cabinet shake-up to name a prime minister. Former lawmaker Lee Cheol-hee was tapped as senior presidential secretary for political affairs, and Lee Tae-han, an audit official at the National Health Insurance Service, as senior secretary for social policy, Moon's office announced. The president also named Park Kyung-mee, secretary for education policy, as new Cheong Wa Dae spoke

A government probe team has been looking into allegations of real estate speculation by a former executive of the state housing developer, the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), an official said Friday. The former executive was vice president of LH until his retirement in 2016 and is suspected of using insider information to purchase land and a four-story building in Seongnam, south of Seoul, in 2017, before the land was designated for redevelopment, according to the probe team. The suspect sol