South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday after four days of losses as investors bought on expectations of stock price hikes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 8.38 points, or 0.28 percent, to 3,004.73 points in the first 15 minutes of trading amid foreign buying. Stocks rebounded to positive terrain after the first five minutes, as impacts from news reports that North Korea launched two projectiles into the East Sea rapidly subsided. Market kingpin Samsung Elect

North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Thursday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, an apparent move pressing the United States as Washington prepares to announce a new policy on the North. The missiles were fired from the North's eastern town of Hamju, South Hamgyong Province, at 7:06 a.m and 7:25 a.m. and flew around 450 kilometers with an altitude of 60 km, the JCS said. "South Korean and US intelligence authorities are analyzin

A pro-North Korea newspaper stressed Wednesday that the recent exchange of verbal messages between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping signals an important step toward bolstering bilateral cooperation. "North Korea and China reaffirmed their traditionally friendly relations and agreed on their stance on global and regional politics," the Choson Sinbo, a pro-North Korea newspaper in Japan, said. The paper stressed that their exchange of friendly messages c

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong on Wednesday stressed efforts to protect the safety of South Koreans living in the United States in the wake of recent deadly shootings in Atlanta, vowing close cooperation with Washington on the matter. He made the remarks during a regular meeting with senior officials at the foreign ministry, his office said, as four women of Korean descent were among those killed in the US city last week amid speculation that the killings could be a hate crime against Asians.

South Korean stocks retreated for a fourth consecutive session Wednesday as concerns over the resurgence in virus cases in Europe and the United States cast doubts over a prompt recovery from the pandemic. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.39 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 2,996.35 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 965 million shares worth some 13.1 trillion won ($11.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering l

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday its new premium vacuum cleaner will go on sale in South Korea next month as the tech giant targets to boost home appliance goods amid the pandemic-induced stay-at-home trend. The BESPOKE Jet, featuring an automatic dust emptying system in a battery charging station, will be sold at between 890,000 won ($780) and 1.39 million won here starting in April, according to Samsung. The new cordless stick vacuum cleaner comes in four colors -- midnight blue, woo

The number of babies born in South Korea fell to a record low in January, data showed Wednesday, underpinning the country's chronically low birth rate. A total of 25,003 babies were born in January, down 6.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the lowest for any January 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 or g

The combined net profit of insurance firms in South Korea rose 13.9 percent on-year in 2020, due partly to fewer car accidents as people stayed home amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. Life and non-life insurers saw their combined net profit increase by 742 billion won ($654 million) to 6.08 trillion won last year, according to data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The FSS said profits of non-life insurers went up because of fewer claims as losses in car insuranc

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has decided to fine four auto parts producers a combined 82.4 billion won ($72.7 million) for colluding to fix bidding prices of vehicle parts. Hwaseung R&A and three other companies colluded to fix their quotations between 2007 and 2018 for 99 rounds of auto parts purchasing bidding by the country's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp., according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). The commission ordered the

The number of South Koreans who moved to different residences in the country declined at the sharpest pace in six years in February amid a housing supply shortage, data showed Wednesday. The number of people who changed their residences fell 9.6 percent on-year to 706,000 in February, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the biggest on-year decline for any February since a 12.5 percent fall in 2015. It also marked the second straight month of decline after population

Global shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH) said Wednesday that it has signed an initial deal with Korea Investment Corp. (KIC), South Korea's sovereign wealth fund, toward merger and acquisitions with global companies as part of efforts to expand its presence in new businesses. Under the deal, HHIH and KIC will jointly invest 1 trillion won ($900 million) to push for the mergers and acquisitions of global companies in the areas of AI, robots, remote autonomous ships

KT&G Corp., South Korea's dominant tobacco company, said Wednesday it is aiming to earn half of its revenue from overseas by 2025 as it seeks to open more overseas subsidiaries and explore new markets. Currently, KT&G earns 40 percent of its tobacco sales from exports. The company operates sales subsidiaries in five countries -- Russia, Indonesia, Turkey, Taiwan and the United States. For the whole of 2020, its sales rose 6.8 percent to a record 5.3 trillion won ($4.68 billion) from 4

KT Corp., a major South Korean mobile carrier, said Wednesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with pollster Gallup Korea to introduce the telecom company's artificial intelligence (AI) technology in opinion polls. Under the agreement, KT will apply its voice bot and AI call center technology in opinion polls conducted by Gallup Korea, according to a statement from the telecom operator. KT's AI call center solution incorporates speech recognition as well as personalized text-to-spee

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Wednesday it has developed a new adjuvant that can bolster the effectiveness of vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The new adjuvant, dubbed "rpHSP70-AD," is capable of developing antibodies at a faster pace while coping with various strains of FMD, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The latest finding compares with the existing oil-based treatments, which take longer for animals to develop antibodies

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Wednesday it is investigating a new suspected case of highly pathogenic bird flu, with the total confirmed caseload currently standing at 107. The latest suspected case of malign H5N8 strain of bird flu came from a duck farm in Naju, 355 kilometers south of Seoul, the previous day, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. The farm was raising 19,000 ducks. The result is expected to be delivered within three days. South Korea h

An Army civilian employee in Seoul has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday. The official was confirmed to have contracted the virus while in quarantine after a family member was found to be infected, according to the ministry. The latest case raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 645. Of them, 613 have been fully cured and 32 are under treatment. Nationwide, South Korea reported 428 new cases Wednesday, bringin

Shareholders of LG Electronics Inc. on Wednesday approved the company's plan to split off some of its electric vehicle (EV) components business to set up a joint venture (JV) with Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc. The shareholders passed LG's proposal to carve out the EV powertrain business from its vehicle component solutions (VS) division to establish a new company with Magna. LG will hold a 51 percent stake in the newly created firm, tentatively named LG Magna e-Powertrai

이탈리아 베네치아 석호 내에서도 선박 통행 등으로 가장 붐비던 해상에서 한 쌍의 돌고래가 유영하는 모습이 포착됐다고 ANSA 통신 등 현지 언론이 23일(현지시간) 보도했다. 보도에 따르면 전날 오후 베네치아 산마르코광장에서 가까운 카날 그란데(Canal Grande) 입구에서 돌고래 두 마리가 자유롭게 헤엄치는 장면이 포착됐다. 돌고래들은 비교적 건강한 상태로, 이상 행동은 보이지 않은 것으로 알려졌다. 베네치아 석호에서는 이전에도 간간이 돌고래가 목격되곤 했으나, 평소 많은 인파와 선박 통행으로 붐비는 산마르코광장 코앞까지 접근한 것은 매우 이례적인 일이라고 한다. 현지 전문가들은 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나19) 사태로 관광객과 수상 교통량이 급감한 것과 관련이 있는 것으로 본다. 코로나19 사태 이후 사람의 발길이 뜸해진 틈을 타 돌고래의 활동 반경이 크게 넓어졌다는 것이다. 베네치아에서는 지난 1년간 석호 수질이 눈에 띄게 개선되고 각종 어류의 개체 수도 크

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday said it will offer a drone delivery service to its Galaxy device buyers in Ireland under a partnership with Irish drone startup Manna. The service will be first available to customers in Oranmore, some 200 kilometers west of Dublin, but the two sides said they plan to expand the drone service nationwide in the future. "The new service, which is a first for Samsung globally, will facilitate an end-to-end contactless experience for Samsung customers from

LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday it will supply a commercial energy storage system (ESS) in Hawaii as the South Korean tech giant eyes to expand overseas sales of efficient power management solutions. A consortium of South Korean and United States entities, including LG, the University of Hawaii and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning, recently inked a deal with the state government of Hawaii to develop and build an advanced microgrid using renewable energy, accor