South Korea reported job losses for the 12th straight month in February as the new coronavirus outbreak continued to deal a blow to the job market, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people reached 26.3 million last month, 473,000 fewer than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The country has reported job losses every month since March 2020 due to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. It marked the longest streak of job losses since April 1999, when

North Korea has achieved alarming success in its pursuit of nuclear and long-range missile capabilities and continues to expand its arsenal, which includes three ballistic missiles that can reach the US homeland, a US commander said Tuesday. Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, also noted the North may resume its long-range missile testing to check the capability of a newly unveiled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). "T

Serious discussions on the nuclearization of South Korea and Japan may put pressure on China to finally step in and help denuclearize North Korea, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives said Tuesday. Rep. Steve Chabot from Ohio argued the only way to denuclearize the North is to have China put more pressure on Pyongyang. "The thing that scares the PRC, that keeps them awake at night, is a nuclear Japan or a nuclear South Korea," said the ranking member of the House Su

South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook said Tuesday North Korea's criticism of Seoul's military exercise with the United States was "regrettable." Suh made the remark at a parliamentary hearing hours after Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, threatened to scrap an inter-Korean military agreement over the combined exercise by the allies. "I find criticism of a defensive and annual exercise regrettable," Suh said. Asked about the possibility that Nor

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that Washington is looking at various ways to address the North Korean nuclear issue, including "pressure measures" and "diplomatic paths," during its ongoing policy review. During a press conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts, Toshimitsu Motegi and Nobuo Kishi, in Tokyo, Blinken also pointed out the US' commitment to dealing with human rights abuses in the North. His remarks came h

South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Kakao, No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. and others submitted preliminary bids on Tuesday to buy eBay Korea in a deal that could fetch some 5 trillion won ($4.42 billion) and bring a seismic change to the fiercely competitive e-commerce sector, industry sources said. Retail giant Lotte Group and Emart Inc., a discount store chain affiliated with Shinsegae Group, as well as private equity firm MBK Partners, joined the competition for the nation's No

Behind the original soundtrack of the drama film "Minari," nominated for best score at the upcoming Oscars and five other awards including best picture, is South Korean actress Han Yeri. "Minari" is Korean American director Lee Isaac Chung's semiautobiographical film about a family of Korean immigrants who start a farm in 1980s Arkansas in pursuit of the American dream from the point of view of David (Alan Kim) and his parents, Jacob (Steven Yeun) and Monica (Han Yeri). Alo

Members of the Bank of Korea's (BOK) monetary policy board saw growing worries over inflation, but they said it was too early to discuss normalization of monetary policy, minutes from their latest meeting showed Tuesday. In the last rate-setting meeting on Feb. 25, the seven-member board unanimously voted to keep the policy rate at a record low of 0.5 percent to support an economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. According to the minutes, some board members suggested that the BOK needs

South Korean stocks finished higher Tuesday on optimism for a quick economic recovery in major economies. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 21.46 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 3,067.17 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 12.8 trillion won ($11.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 558 to 279. Foreigners sold a net 28 billion won while institutions purchased a net 250 billi

South Korean health authorities said Tuesday that they will keep a close eye on reported side effects of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines whose rollout has been suspended in major European countries over reported blood clots after vaccine injections. A large number of European countries, such as Germany, Italy and France, halted the use of vaccines manufactured by British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University over reports of blood clots in some recipients. International

The government is pushing to revise local immigration laws to allow migrant workers from overseas to land parcel sorting jobs amid growing concerns over the industry's manpower shortage and notoriously long work hours, officials said Tuesday. The Ministry of Justice recently preannounced a revision of an enforcement decree on the Immigration Control Act to give more occupational choices to foreign nationals residing in South Korea with H-2 work and visit visas, according to the officials. Unde

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. said Tuesday that it has signed a 265 billion-won ($234 million) deal to build three liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers. Under the deal with a European company, Daewoo Shipbuilding will deliver the 91,000-cubic meter LPG carriers by October 2023, it said. With the latest order, the shipbuilder has obtained orders worth $1.79 billion to build 19 ships, representing 23 percent of its 2021 order target of $7.7 billion. (Yonhap)

The global capacity of liquid crystal displays (LCD) is likely to fall in 2023, a report showed Tuesday, as major South Korean display panel makers will exit from the business dominated by Chinese players. Samsung Display Co. and LG Display Co. -- South Korea's top 2 players -- have announced they will scale down their LCD businesses, with the former pushing its migration to quantum-dot displays, while the latter expands its organic light-emitting diode production. Such moves are expected to d

Rival parties tentatively agreed Tuesday to jointly seek an independent counsel investigation into a ballooning land speculation scandal. Rep. Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), said his party will seek to launch an independent counsel probe into the scandal, practically accepting the ruling Democratic Party's earlier call for the investigation. "I request the implementation of a special counsel probe, as well as a parliamentary investigation (in

A government task force will soon summon officials of the state housing developer for questioning on allegations of land speculation, a task force official said Tuesday. Twenty employees of Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) are currently under investigation for allegedly using insider information to purchase land mainly in Gwangmyeong and Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, before the area was designated as a major public housing development site last month. "We are currently analyzing material t

Producers of "Minari" have celebrated its six Oscar nominations, including best picture, highlighting the "history-making" achievement of the drama film about a Korean American immigrant family. "'Minari' makes history," said a post on the official Twitter account of the film, directed by Korean American Lee Isaac Chung, on Monday (US time). "Congratulations to Isaac, Steven (Yeun), YJ (Youn Yuh-jung), Emile (Mosseri) and the whole 'Minari' family on their six

The pace of growth of payments made with cards in South Korea slowed sharply last year as consumer spending remained tepid amid the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Tuesday. Spending made with credit, debit and prepaid cards reached a daily average of 2.52 trillion won ($2.22 billion) in 2020, up 0.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The growth rate slowed from a 5.7 percent on-year gain in 2019, the BOK said. The central bank said card spending

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea rose in February, mainly due to a gain in corporate holdings of US dollar deposits, central bank data showed Tuesday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $90.03 billion as of end-February, up $650 million from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Residents include local citizens, foreigners staying here for more than six months and foreign companies. The data exclude

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Tuesday it has decided to fine 20 ready-mixed concrete manufacturers a combined 2.51 billion won ($2.2 million) for colluding to fix prices of construction-related material. Sanha Industry Corp. and 19 other companies colluded to fix their sales prices and supply of ready-mixed concrete between 2012 and 2017 that was used to build houses in the greater Seoul area, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). The commission ordered them to take cor

South Korea's ICT ministry said Tuesday a 12-inch semiconductor wafer test bed was established here in line with the country's efforts to boost development of homegrown chip technology. Previously, the absence of the test bed had led many local small and medium-sized chip component companies to rely on overseas testing facilities, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. The country's major chipmakers, such as Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., require evaluations of chip componen