Conservative groups known for organizing mass political rallies last year said Monday they plan to hold a similar event denouncing President Moon Jae-in on March 1 Independence Movement Day. At a press conference near Cheong Wa Dae, the activists said the rally will be held at Gwanghwamun Square but stopped short of revealing details. "We hope that your resolve, which filled Gwanghwamun Square on Aug. 15, will once again manifest itself," Kim Kyung-jae, a former leader of the Korea F

South Korean stocks retreated below the 3,100-point mark Monday, erasing morning gains despite strong export data. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 27.87 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 3,079.75 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.8 billion shares worth some 18 trillion won ($16.2 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 510 to 339. Foreigners sold a net 316 billion won, and institutions offloaded a net

Less than half of South Koreans are willing to receive COVID-19 vaccine shots immediately, without waiting for further reports on those vaccines' effects, an opinion poll showed Monday. In the survey conducted on 1,020 people aged 18 or over by the Korea Society Opinion Institute from last Friday to Saturday, only 45.8 percent said they are willing to be vaccinated "right away" when their turn for COVID-19 vaccine shots comes. Another 45.7 percent responded they will delay their vacc

LG Electronics Inc., a South Korean tech firm, may scrap a plan to develop a smartphone with a rollable display, industry observers here said Monday, amid growing speculation that the South Korean tech giant will ditch its money-losing mobile business. LG reportedly told its parts suppliers, including Chinese display maker BOE, to put the rollable smartphone development project on hold, according to industry sources. The parts makers may request compensation from LG in the future for their deve

South Korea's financial watchdog said Monday it will keep closer tabs on local insurance companies' overseas alternative investments amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The move comes as insurers suffered losses from some overseas alternative investments last year in the wake of the prolonged coronavirus outbreak. South Korea's life and non-life insurance firms have been rapidly expanding their investments in overseas alternative investments in a bid to cope with low interest rates

The foreign ministry called in a Japanese diplomat in Seoul on Monday to lodge a protest over Japan's renewed claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. Kim Jung-han, the ministry's director general for Asian Pacific affairs, expressed regrets to Hirohisa Soma, deputy head of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, after the Japanese prefecture of Shimane held an annual event to publicize Japan's claim to the rocky outcroppings in the East Sea. The latest flare-up of tensions came

President Moon Jae-in's senior secretary for civil affairs and justice is likely to stay in the job at least for the time being despite his resignation offer that has grabbed public attention, according to Cheong Wa Dae on Monday. Having returned from a four-day leave, Shin Hyun-soo has "entrusted" a decision on his letter of resignation to the president, Chung Man-ho, Moon's senior secretary for public communication, told reporters. Shin was quoted as saying that he would do his bes

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki instructed officials Monday to thoroughly prepare to submit an extra budget proposal next week in a bid to buttress smaller merchants hit hard by the pandemic. The finance ministry is working on details about this year's first supplementary budget to provide another round of emergency relief funds to merchants and shop owners battered by the pandemic and virus restrictions. The ruling Democratic Party and the government are in consultations over the size of an extr

Service output in 15 provinces and major cities declined last year as the new coronavirus outbreak dealt a blow to the face-to-face service segments, data showed Monday. The country's service output fell 2 percent last year, according to Statistics Korea. Excluding Seoul, six cities and nine provinces posted an on-year fall in service output in 2020. Service output in Seoul -- home to about one-fifth of the country's 51.6 million population -- gained 1.1 percent in 2020 on the back of robust g

The unification ministry said Monday that testimonies of North Korean defectors are "valuable records" that shed light on the human rights situation in their reclusive home country. On Sunday, four North Korean defectors said they will file a lawsuit against Unification Minister Lee In-young for defamation over his recent remarks casting doubt over what defectors said about human rights situations in the North. They claim that Lee has deemed defectors' testimonies as "untrustwor

SEOUL/PYEONGTAEK -- Eight foreigners and one South Korean have tested positive for the new coronavirus after attending a party at a US Forces Korea (USFK) service member's home, officials said Monday. The party was held Feb. 13 near Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, and attended by 19 foreigners and two South Koreans, according to officials at the Pyeongtaek city government. The service member works on the base. Police have been asked to locate two of the attendees, wh

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Monday that it has bagged orders worth a combined 540 billion won ($489 million) from Asia, Europe and Africa. The orders include nine ships -- three oil tankers, two liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers, three petrochemical carriers and a container carrier, Korea Shipbuilding said. The three very large crude-oil carriers to be built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. will be delivered to an Asian company from the second half of 2022.

North Korea's official newspaper on Monday stressed the importance of respecting government officials in the economic sector as the country strives to achieve a recently unveiled five-year economic development scheme. "We must respect economic officials in the administration and establish an orderly administrative system ... so that administrative orders can be delivered down and accurately implemented without hesitation," the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Worker

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday its honorary chairman will step down from all management positions at affiliates next month after 20 years of efforts to improve the carmaker's brand awareness and product quality. Hyundai Motor Group Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-koo will step down from his executive director position on the board of Hyundai Mobis Co., the group's auto parts affiliate, at a shareholders meeting on March 24, a company spokesman said. The honorary chairman's director term was orig

Wildfires have reduced huge swaths of forests in the southeastern cities of Andong and Yecheon to ash, fire authorities said Monday. The fires that broke out Sunday engulfed the mountain areas of Andong and Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province, and burned around 255 hectares of land, equivalent to 357 football fields. The cities' governments resumed containment operations early Monday, deploying around 2,000 public servants and scores of fire equipment, and put out the remaining flames by around

LG Electronics Inc. on Monday launched new office-use laser projectors as the South Korean home appliance maker eyes to expand its presence in the business projector market. Two new models of LG ProBeam laser projectors -- BUPST and BF60PST -- are available in South Korea, according to the company. ProBeam is a business projector brand, which LG unveiled last year. For home-use projectors, the company has been using the CineBeam brand. LG said the two new ProBeam projectors boast 6,000 ANSI l

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases dipped below 400 on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but a series of cluster infections at plants and hospitals continued to pile up. The country reported 332 more COVID-19 cases, including 313 local infections, raising the total caseload to 87,324, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Monday's daily caseload marks the lowest in a week. The country added five more deaths, raising the total to 1,562. The fatali

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Monday on advances by chip heavyweights, backed by strong exports data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 5.41 points, or 0.17 percent, to 3,113.03 points in the first 15 minutes amid foreign and institutional buying. South Korea's exports rose 16.7 percent on-year in the first 20 days of February on strong shipments of chips and autos, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Samsung Electronics added 0.97 percent,

"요즘에는 '잘 나간다'는 친구들은 교복 위에 명품 점퍼를 입는 게 인기예요."(중학생 권모(14)군) 최근 10대들 사이에서 명품 구입이 인기를 끌면서 이를 매개로 한 신종 학교폭력이 고개를 들고 있다. 10대 유튜버 등을 중심으로 청소년들 사이에 명품 구매가 확산하고, 온라인 중고거래 사이트에서 손쉽게 되팔 수 있어 이를 금품 갈취에 악용하는 행태다. 청소년들은 아직 이 같은 행위의 심각성을 인지하지 못하고 있지만, 단순 학교 폭력을 넘어서 형사 처벌을 받을 수 있는 수준의 범죄라는 지적이 나온다. 서울의 한 고교 재학생 A군은 몇 주간 부모님을 졸라 명품 지갑을 구입했다. 하지만 이 지갑을 본 '일진' 친구들로부터 "그렇게 돈이 많으면 용돈을 달라"는 등 압박을 받기 시작했다. 이에 응하지 않으면 이들은 A군을 괴롭히거나 따돌렸다. 급기야 "지갑을 팔아서 맛있는 것 먹고 화해하자"며 A군의 스마트폰을 빼앗았고, 명품

South Korea's exports rose 16.7 percent on-year in the first 20 days of February on strong shipments of chips and autos amid the pandemic, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $30.4 billion in the Feb. 1-20 period, compared with $26 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports advanced 24.1 percent on-year to $31.6 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $1.21 billion, the data showed. By sector, outbound shipments of