South Korean stocks advanced for the third straight session on Monday as investors weigh the $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal in the United States. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 8.03 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 3,120.83 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 12.8 trillion won ($11.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 511 to 343. Foreigners

LG Electronics Inc.'s withdrawal from the mobile business is likely to help its bigger rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co. expand their presence in the sector at home and abroad, industry observers said Monday, as there are limited alternatives for local consumers. After years of money-losing performance, LG said it will close its mobile business by July 31. The decision came two months after the company hinted at exiting from its loss-making mobile communications (MC) unit. LG's departur

INCHEON -- Police said Monday they have sought warrants for the arrest of two officials of the state housing developer, Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), for the first time since they launched an investigation last month into allegations of land speculation by LH employees. The Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency said it requested a warrant on Friday for the arrest of an LH official suspected of using insider information to buy multiple plots of land, mostly in Gwangmyeong, southwest of Seoul, before

K-pop songstress IU has swept major music charts here with her latest album and past releases, landing more than 15 songs in the top 100 simultaneously. The 28-year-old soloist placed 16 songs in the top 100 on the latest daily music charts by streaming services Melon and Genie Music, refreshed Saturday, including all 10 tracks of her new album "Lilac." "Lilac," the main track of her new studio album also titled "Lilac," topped both charts, followed by the pre-rel

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Monday it has decided to fine discount store chain Homeplus 468 million won ($414,500) for unfairly passing on sales promotion costs to its contractors. Homeplus violated the large retailer business act by making multiple suppliers shoulder the costs worth around 720 million won in 2017 without prior signing of related contracts, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). The KFTC also ordered the company to take corrective measures. (Yonhap)

Daily transactions of internet banking services in South Korea rose 20.6 percent last year as customers preferred using financial services in a non-contact manner amid the pandemic, central bank data showed Monday. The value of daily transactions via online banking, including mobile banking, reached 58.7 trillion won ($52 billion) last year, compared with 48.6 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The daily use of online banking services reached 13

South Korea is in talks with Indonesia to set up defense ministerial talks on the occasion of an upcoming rollout ceremony showcasing a prototype of South Korea's first indigenous fighter jet this month, the defense ministry said Monday. Whether Indonesia, a partner for the KF-X project, will send senior officials to the rollout ceremony has been a focus of attention as it could be a sign the country remains committed to the joint project amid speculation it is seeking to quit the business. So

The unification ministry said Monday that it will conduct a survey of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War to figure out the exact number of survivors and demand for reunions with their relatives in North Korea. The survey will be carried out from Tuesday until the end of October mostly on around 48,000 people who have applied for reunions with their long-lost family members in the North, according to the ministry. South Korea has conducted the survey every five years since 2011 to see

Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday said the company adopted a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to enhance efficiency and productivity in its global operations. The South Korean tech giant said the system, which the company developed over the last 30 months, has been first used by its offices in China and Southeast Asian countries. Samsung said the new ERP system, called N-ERP, will be used by all of its overseas branches by January 2022. The world's largest memory chip and smartpho

Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges to South Korea shot up 44.6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, data showed Monday, as investors gradually resumed their business activities amid signs of the recovery in the global economy. Asia's No. 4 economy received $4.74 billion worth of FDI commitments in the January-March period, compared with $3.28 billion logged a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The amount of investment that actually arrived

South Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung won an award at the US Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards for her supporting role in the drama film "Minari." At the televised ceremony of the 2021 SAG Awards on Sunday (US time), Youn was named the winner of Outstanding Performance By a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, beating Maria Bakalova for "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm," Glenn Close for "Hillbilly Elegy," Olivia Colman for "The Father" and Helena Zengel for "Ne

North Korea's official newspaper called Monday for the localized production of industrial catalysts, as the country steps up efforts to resuscitate its chemical industry that has remained listless after a boom in the 1980s. "Until the 1980s when the chemical industry was growing vibrant ... dozens of catalyst types were produced on our own," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the ruling Workers' Party, said. It pointed out that the industry currently faces many challenges due to a lack

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's seventh-largest tiremaker by sales, said Monday it has been supplying tires for Chinese EV company NIO's models since last year. Hankook Tire has provided the high-performance Ventus S1 evo 2 tires for NIO's ES6 and EC6 SUV models since 2020, the company said in a statement. The company didn't provide an exact time frame for the supply deal or the value of the deal. Hankook Tire has supplied original equipment (OE) tires to Audi models, such as

Two Army soldiers and an arms procurement agency official have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Monday. A soldier in the southeastern city of Daegu was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 while on vacation before discharge, according to the ministry. Over the weekend, another soldier in the border town of Cheorwon tested positive while in quarantine after a vacation, and an official at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in Gwacheon, just south of

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea jumped 34 percent in March from a year earlier on robust sales of German cars, an industry association said Monday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 27,297 units last month from 20,304 a year ago despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. The three bestselling models last month were the Mercedes-Benz E 250 sedan, Audi A6 45 TFSI sedan and Mercedes-B

Casino operators in South Korea chalked up huge losses in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic sent the number of visitors plunging, data showed Monday. State-run casino operator Kangwon Land Inc. registered an operating loss of 431.6 billion won ($382 million) last year, a sharp turnaround from an operating profit of 501.2 billion won a year earlier. Kangwon Land, the country's only casino open to locals, is located in Jeongseon, some 200 kilometers east of Seoul. Another state-run casino operat

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it will provide support of more than 46.4 billion won ($41 million) for 27 research projects in the areas of basic science, materials engineering and ICT solutions. The South Korean tech giant confirmed the research projects chosen for funding in the first half of 2021, which include studies related to machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and DNA sequencing. Since 2013, Samsung has been helping to strengthen the development of basic science and f

South Korean units of three foreign carmakers posted a 24 percent on-year drop in their domestic sales in the first quarter of the year, suffering the worst performance since the 2009 financial crisis, industry data showed Monday. From January to March, GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- the Korean units of General Motors Co., Renault S.A. and Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. -- sold a combined 43,109 vehicles in the domestic market, down from 56,5

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back below 500 after six days on Monday on fewer tests over the weekend, but health authorities warned of enhanced social distancing rules amid growing concerns over a new wave of the pandemic. The country reported 473 more COVID-19 cases, including 449 local infections, raising the total caseload to 105,752, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily caseload has been hovering above 500 since Wednesday. The country ad

최근 연예계에서도 층간소음 논란이 빈번한 가운데 배우 류필립(31)과 가수 미나(49) 부부도 사과했다. 류필립과 미나는 4일 유튜브 채널을 통해 "저희로 인해 많이 불편했을 분들께 우선 죄송하다"고 밝혔다. 그러면서 "집에서 디제잉과 드럼 소리가 들려 1년 내내 고통받았다고 하셨는데 우리 집에는 디제잉이나 드럼 소리와 관련된 장비는 없다. 그만큼 시끄러우셨다고 말씀하시는 것 같다. 다시 한번 죄송하다"고 했다. 두 사람은 "당연히 아랫집에 얼굴을 찾아뵙고 용서를 구하고 싶지만, 문을 두드리고 인사드리는 것조차 불법 행위이기 때문에 이러지도 못하고 저러지도 못하고 있다"면서 "긴 시간을 두고 사과를 드릴 예정이고 오해를 풀겠다"고 설명했다. 앞서 한 온라인 커뮤니티 게시판에 류필립-미나 부부의 이웃이라는 누리꾼이 "일주일에 평균 3~4회를 새벽까지 심각하게 소음을 낸다"며 "정말