Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl is leading presidential hopefuls from rival parties by a large margin in the latest popularity poll on potential candidates to succeed President Moon Jae-in next year, a pollster said Monday. Public support for Yoon as South Korea's next leader surged to a record high of 34.4 percent in a Realmeter survey conducted on 2,547 adults nationwide from last Monday to Friday, according to the Seoul-based pollster. It is the first time that Yoon's support rate

Unification Minister Lee In-young said Monday that inter-Korean cooperation in the humanitarian area can be a good starting point for the resumption of talks between the two sides, urging North Korea to show a "flexible" response to offers for exchanges. Lee made the remarks at a seminar in Seoul to discuss the possibility of running trains to send cheering squads of the two Koreas to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, adding that Seoul will do its best to create the momentum needed to

South Korea on Monday called for Russia's active support and cooperation for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the defense ministry said Monday, days after the North fired two short-range ballistic missiles in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min made the call during strategic dialogue with his Russian counterpart Alexander Fomin in Seoul, expressing concerns over the North's missile launches Thursday. "Deputy Defense Minister Fomin

More than 95 percent of the self-employed and mom-and-pop businesses have suffered a drop in sales since the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey by an association of the self-employed showed Monday. The association held a press conference in front of Seoul City Hall to release the survey results, which was conducted on 1,545 self-employed workers nationwide from Feb. 5 to March 25 to see how badly the pandemic affected their businesses. Compared to pre-pandemic days, 1,477 or 95.6

South Korea on Monday reported 40 more new cases of COVID-19 variants, including 22 local infections, amid growing woes over the spread of more transmissible strains. Of the additional cases, 38 people were confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus variant believed to have originated in Britain, followed by the South Africa variant with two cases, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). South Korean nationals accounted for 29 of the newly added variant c

South Korea's credit card firms saw their combined earnings rise 23.1 in 2020, helped by higher income from loans amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial regulator said Monday. The combined net profit of eight card issuers, including Shinhan Card Co., Samsung Card Co. and KB Kookmin Card Co., came to 2.02 trillion won ($1.8 billion) last year, up 380.1 billion won from a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The sharp rise was attributed to a combination of earn

Shares in South Korea's shipbuilders and shippers have enjoyed decent increases in the past weeks, but this time, they are again on a rising track on expectations for a further climb in freight rates and demand for ships amid the unprecedented blockage at the Suez Canal. HMM Co., South Korea's largest shipper, saw its shares jump 15.96 percent to close at a record high of 34,150 won Friday, though it traded 5.86 percent lower as of 10:50 a.m. Monday in the face of profit-taking. Pan Ocean Co.,

SUWON -- Police have begun investigating a former aide to Interior Minister Jeon Hae-cheol over allegations that he and his family were involved in a speculative land purchase. A probe team of Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency has been conducting raids into five places since this morning, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the headquarters of the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, in connection with the allegations. The raids came af

South Korea's military is keeping a close watch on North Korea, the defense ministry said Monday, amid a report that the North may be ready to roll out a new submarine capable of launching ballistic missiles. 38 North, a US website monitoring North Korea, reported Friday that a dry dock at the North's Sinpo shipyard on its east coast has recently been repositioned along the submarine launch quay, saying the move could indicate that the North's new ballistic missile submarine "may be nearin

South Korea is closely discussing with the United States ways to improve living conditions for American service members stationed on the THAAD missile defense base in the country, the defense ministry said Monday. Ministry spokesperson Boo Seung-chan made the remarks after a recent Chosun Ilbo report that said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin strongly protested poor conditions of the base during his recent visit to Seoul, calling the neglect "unacceptable." "I do not confirm

President Moon Jae-in replaced Kim Sang-jo, his top Cheong Wa Dae aide on policy, Monday, Moon's office announced amid a controversy over the leasing of his apartment in southern Seoul. Moon promoted Lee Ho-seung, senior secretary for economic affairs, to the post of handling policy at the presidential office, according to You Young-min, presidential chief of staff. Moon's decision came "in consideration of the very grave situation connected with real estate," a senior Cheong Wa Dae

A law banning the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets into North Korea will take effect this week, the unification ministry said Monday. The amendment to the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act, set to go into effect Tuesday, has raised concerns that it could hurt freedom of expression and undercut efforts to send information into the reclusive North. "In the process of enforcing the ban, we will strive to do so in a way in line with the government's goal of improving the human right

A veteran South Korean actor Park Joong-hoon has been caught driving under the influence of alcohol, police said Monday. The Seoul Gangnam Police Station has booked the 55-year-old actor on charges of drunk driving for about 100 meters near his acquaintance's apartment building in the southern Gangnam Ward about 9:30 p.m. on Friday. His blood alcohol content was over 0.08 percent at the time, a level that calls for his driver's license to be revoked, the police said. He had his license suspe

A South Korean panel of experts said Monday that vaccines for the novel coronavirus by Johnson & Johnson's Janssen showed 66.9 percent efficacy, paving the way for the authorization of the country's third COVID-19 vaccine. The advisory board consisting of outside experts announced its review on the efficacy and safety of the Janssen vaccines, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The panel's review is the first step of three separate independent evaluations before the ministry

South Korea's business sentiment slightly fell for April on increased uncertainties in the electronics and auto manufacturing industries, a local think tank said Monday. The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales reached 106 for next month, down 3.2 points from March, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement. But the index for April stayed above 100 for the second straight month after its March reading exceeded 100 for the first time in

The approval rating for the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has topped 40 percent in Seoul, expanding its lead over the liberal ruling Democratic Party (DP) in the runup to next week's Seoul mayoral by-election, an opinion poll showed Monday. According to the Realmeter survey conducted on 2,516 voters nationwide from last Monday through Friday, the approval rating for the PPP came to 41.2 percent, up 2.3 percentage points from a week ago. This marks the first approval rat

Park In-bee has added another line to her LPGA Hall of Fame resume. The South Korean veteran collected her first victory of the 2021 season at the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, California, on Sunday (local time). It was also Park's 21st career title. Park had finished second at the tournament three times -- in 2010, 2016 and 2019 -- before finally breaking through with a comfortable, five-stroke win over two Americans, Amy Olson and Lexi Thompson. Park shot a two-under 70 in the final round to fin

The American monster film "Godzilla vs. Kong" topped the South Korean box office over the weekend, ending the three-week reign of Oscar-nominated "Minari," data showed Monday. Released Thursday, "Godzilla" garnered 285,000 viewers from Friday to Sunday to change the box office leader for the first time in three weeks, according to the data by the Korean Film Council. The fourth franchise film of Warner Bros' "MonsterVerse" series is effectively the first

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back below 400 on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but health authorities warned of the continued emergence of cluster infections at religious facilities and workplaces. The country reported 384 more COVID-19 cases, including 370 local infections, raising the total caseload to 102,141, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The country added four more deaths from COVID-19, increasing the total to 1,726. In South K

An extraordinarily strong yellow dust storm originating from the inland deserts in northern China and Mongolia blanketed all of South Korea on Monday, prompting authorities to issue a yellow dust warning for Seoul and almost all parts of the country. The density of fine dust particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter, known as PM 10, surged to the "very bad" level in the greater Seoul area and all other regions, authorities said. As of 10 a.m., the hourly average concentration