Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday that China and South Korea will seek a process for a "political" resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue, raising prospects of joint efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea. Wang made the remarks during talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen, as Seoul seeks to enlist cooperation from Beijing and other countries to move forward its stalled agenda for lasting peace on the peni

Baekhyun, a member of K-pop boy band EXO, will join the military next month to fulfill his mandatory military service, his agency said Saturday. The 28-year-old singer is set to enlist on May 6, according to SM Entertainment. The agency did not elaborate further on the venue and schedule of the enlistment. Baekhyun released his third solo EP "Bambi" last week, following his million-seller "Delight" in 2020. He will be the sixth EXO member to enlist in the military after Xi

President Moon Jae-in assured Jeju residents and others Saturday that the government will faithfully implement a revised special law on compensating the victims and bereaved families of the April 3 massacre seven decades ago. He described the legislation as a "blueprint for building a house of history" related to the tragedy, speaking at a memorial ceremony held on the southern island. "(The government) promises to elaborate the blueprint and faithfully implement it," he sa

South Korean stocks are likely to see gains next week as optimism for a massive infrastructure project by the United States is expected to continue to sway local financial markets, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 3,112.8 points Friday, up 2.36 percent from a week ago. The KOSPI finished the week at its highest level since Feb. 17, backed by an increase in foreign buying that was spurred by the US president's unveiling of a US$2.25 trill

South Korea, Japan and the United States have agreed on the need to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue as they reaffirmed their joint efforts to quickly resume denuclearization talks with Pyongyang, South Korea's national security adviser Suh Hoon said Friday. "South Korea, the US and Japan agreed on the urgency of the North Korean nuclear issue and need for a diplomatic solution to the issue," Suh told reporters after a three-way meeting with his US and Japanese counte

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases surpassed 500 for the fourth day in a row on Saturday, ringing an alarm bell over a possible resurgence across the nation in the midst of the spring season. The country reported 543 more COVID-19 cases, including 521 local infections, raising the total caseload to 104,736, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The country added three more deaths from COVID-19, increasing the total to 1,740. The daily number has stayed over 500 s

Genesis, the independent luxury brand of Hyundai Motor Co., said Friday it will debut its flagship sedan and sports utility vehicle (SUV) in China to target the high-end segment in the world's largest vehicle market. Genesis showcased G80 sedan and GV80 SUV in a media event in Shanghai, which will be the first duo to enter the Chinese market this year. "Genesis will bolster its luxury brand image to target the young generation, a key customer group in the fast-rising Chinese luxury car m

To a man, South Korean baseball players who had previously only seen Choo Shin-soo in action in the majors say they're honored to now be in the same league with the veteran. Following 16 years in the bigs, Choo signed with the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in February. Before the ink on his one-year, 2.7 billion won ($2.4 million) contract was dry, Choo became the face of his new team and the most compelling name to watch this season. In the virtual preseason media day

Iran is likely to release a seized South Korean oil tanker and its captain as early as next week, a diplomatic source said Friday, noting "considerable progress" in the negotiations to end nearly three months of the seizure. In early January, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps seized the vessel, MT Hankuk Chemi, and its 20-member crew over alleged oil pollution. In February, the Iranian authorities agreed to set free all sailors except for the captain for the ship's management.

Hybe, the company behind K-pop phenomenons BTS, announced Friday a deal to buy a 100 percent stake in American music entrepreneur Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings. Under the deal, Hybe -- formerly Big Hit Entertainment -- will be acquiring the media company, which owns affiliates like SB Projects, founded by Ithaca chief executive Scott "Scooter" Braun and Big Machine Label Group, the company said in a statement. In a separate regulatory filing, the company said it plans to buy an ad

Cast.era, a media technology joint venture between South Korea's top wireless carrier SK Telecom Co. and US media giant Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., will launch a next-generation broadcast solution that boosts television content quality this year, the South Korean company said Friday. The telecom operator said Cast.era has completed testing of the 5G-ATSC3.0 platform, which boosts broadcast quality using SK Telecom's 5G cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Cast.era is planning

South Korea's benchmark stock index closed at the highest point in six weeks Friday on strong foreign and instutional buying amid hopes for a massive infrastructure project in the United States. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 25.4 points, or 0.82 percent, to close at 3,112.8 points, the highest number since Feb. 17. Trading volume was moderate at about 781 million shares worth some 13.2 trillion won ($11.7 billion), with

South Korean President Moon Jae-in may hold his first face-to-face summit talks with US President Joe Biden as early as this month, an informed source here said Friday. Moon and Biden plan to attend a Group of Seven (G-7) summit to be held in Britain in June, which would set the stage for their meeting. But the two sides are "in close consultations" to arrange the first Moon-Biden summit ahead of the G-7 session, according to the source privy to the matter. If agreed, chances are hi

Over 7 out of 10 South Koreans are willing to receive coronavirus vaccine shots, a poll showed Friday. In a survey on 1,000 people aged 18 and above conducted on Wednesday and Thursday by Gallup Korea, 71 percent said they would like to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Among them, 50 percent said they will "definitely" receive vaccine shots. Only 23 percent were not willing to join the nationwide inoculation campaign, with 8 percent of them saying they will "never" get vacci

Loans extended by insurance companies in South Korea rose 7.8 percent on-year last year, led by increases in home-backed lending and corporate loans, the financial watchdog said Friday. Insurers' outstanding loans totaled 253 trillion won ($224.4 billion) as of end-December, compared with 234.7 trillion won the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Their loans to households rose 2 trillion won on-year to 123.1 trillion won last year as the extension of home-backe

The production studio of KBS' historical romance "River Where the Moon Rises" said Friday that it has filed a claim for damages against the agency of a lead actor who dropped out of the project after being embroiled in a school bullying scandal. In the lawsuit against KeyEast, Victory Contents said it is seeking 3 billion won ($2.7 million) in compensation for damage caused by the abrupt exit of actor Jisoo, who took the lead role of General Ondal in the show about the love story of P

President Moon Jae-in's approval rating has fallen for the third consecutive week, reaching an all-time low of 32 percent, due mainly to his government's unpopular housing policy, a poll showed Friday. In Gallup Korea's survey of 1,000 adults nationwide conducted from Tuesday through Thursday, only 32 percent gave a positive assessment of Moon's presidency, down 2 percentage points from the previous week and the lowest since his inauguration in 2017. But 58 percent negatively assessed Moon's p

K-pop boy band Seventeen made its first appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Thursday (US time), giving a performance of its 2019 smash song "Hit." The 13-member group, in black leather outfits, delivered a pre-recorded performance of its EDM number on the popular American talk show. The segment, which Seventeen described as involving "the toughest choreography out of all its performances," was filmed at an outdoor sports stadium in South Korea. In an inte

South Korea's agriculture ministry said Friday that three additional avian influenza cases tied to wild birds have been reported in the country over the past seven days amid signs of a possible letup in the transmission of the disease among local farms. Since October last year, the country has reported a total of 232 cases of the H5N8 strain of bird flu from wild birds, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. By region, Gangwon Province accounted for 62 cases, followe

A court-led restructuring process for SsangYong Motor Co. is set to begin as early as next week as a sole potential investor didn't submit a letter of intent to acquire the financially troubled carmaker, industry sources said Friday. SsangYong Motor's Indian parent Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. has been in talks with US vehicle importer HAAH Automotive Holdings Inc. to sell its majority stake in the Korean unit as part of its global reorganization plan amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The talks come