The United Nations has started referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as "president" instead of his previous title "chairman," a change apparently made at the request of Pyongyang, a unification ministry official said Thursday. State media had mostly used "chairman" of the State Affairs Commission (SAC) in describing the leader, but since early this month, "president" has replaced the previous title in what experts see as intended to rev up his stat

NCT 127, a sub-unit of the popular K-pop boy band NCT, topped the Japanese Oricon daily music chart Thursday with its latest EP released in Japan. "Loveholic," the group's first new Japanese album in two years, ranked No. 1 on the daily albums chart just a day after its release on Wednesday, with more than 97,000 unit sales in the country. It marks the second album by the K-pop act to reach top spot on the Oricon's daily chart, following "Chain," its debut in Japan. The si

South Korea said Thursday it is investigating two suspected cases of highly pathogenic bird flu, with the country's total confirmed caseload approaching close to 100. The latest suspected cases of the H5N8 strain of bird flu were reported from the provinces of North Chungcheong and Gyeonggi, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. South Korea has so far identified 97 farm-linked cases. The country reported its first seriously contagious avian influenza from poultry f

South Korea's three major multiplex chain operators have seen their respective 2020 sales plunge nearly 70 percent from a year earlier due to the fallout of the yearlong novel coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday. Industry leader CJ CGV, the cinema affiliate under the wing of entertainment giant CJ Group, said its sales reached 583.4 billion won ($527.9 million) last year, down 70 percent from the previous year. It shifted to an operating loss of 392.5 billion won in 2020 from an operati

A grandson of a renowned Korean independence fighter said Thursday that he had sent a letter to Harvard University's president to end any discussions about donating his historical archives due to a professor's article depicting Japan's wartime sexual slavery as voluntary prostitution. In an email and phone interview with Yonhap News Agency, Philip Ahn Cuddy, the grandson of Ahn Chang-ho who fiercely fought against Japan's 1910-45 colonization, revealed that he wrote the letter to President Lawr

The mobile game market in South Korea logged sharp growth of over 5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) last year amid the pandemic, data showed Thursday. Total mobile game transactions in the country were estimated at 5.3 trillion won in 2020, up 24.3 percent from the previous year, according to data from mobile app tracker IGAWorks based on estimated sales of Google's Play store, Apple's App Store and homegrown rival ONE Store. Last year's growth far outpaced that of 2019 when it grew 5.3 percent fr

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Thursday it has clinched a 459 billion-won ($415 million) deal to build four liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueled oil tankers. Under the deal with an Oceania company, the very large crude carriers will be delivered by June 2023, the shipbuilder said. Samsung Heavy Industries did not reveal the name of the Oceanian company. With the latest order, Samsung Heavy Industries has bagged $1.7 billion worth of orders, or 14 ships, so far this year. Samsung Heavy Indus

An Army officer in Pocheon, north of Seoul, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. The officer was confirmed to have contracted the virus after developing symptoms, according to the ministry. It was not known how he got the virus. The case raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 563. Of them, 554 patients have been fully cured while the other nine are under treatment. Nationwide, South Korea reported 621 new

미국의 중년 부부가 식사를 하고 거액의 팁을 남긴 사연이 화제다. 18일 미국 폭스뉴스에 따르면 이름이 공개되지 않은 한 부부가 지난 12일 오후 7시 30분께 시카고에 있는 이탈리안 레스토랑 '클럽 럭키'에서 식사를 한 후 밥값의 14배가 넘는 팁을 남겼다. 밥값은 137.33달러(약 15만2천원), 팁은 2천달러(약 222만원)였다. 팁은 종업원에 대한 단순한 고마움을 넘어 이들 부부의 사랑이 결실을 맺고 계속 지속하도록 도와준데 대한 감사의 표시였다는 점에서 더 주목을 받았다. 이들은 영수증에 "20년 동안 맛있는 음식을 먹고 좋은 추억을 남길 수 있게 해줘서 감사하다"면서 "(팁을) 직원들끼리 나누어 썼으면 좋겠다"라는 글을 남겼다. 알고보니 이들은 '클럽 럭키'에서 식사를 하며 처음 연애를 시작했고 매년 같은 날, 같은 시각, 같은 46번 좌석을 찾아 식사를 했던 것으로 나타났다. 이들은 이날 식사가 연애를 시작한지 20주년을

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed in the 600s for a second consecutive day on Thursday as infections at a slew of manufacturing plants and hospitals surged, prompting authorities to guard against a potential virus resurgence. The country reported 621 more COVID-19 cases, including 590 local infections, raising the total caseload to 85,567, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The country added six more deaths, raising the total to 1,544. The daily caselo

The CEO of South Korea's top food delivery app operator, Woowa Brothers Corp., said Thursday that he will donate more than half of his wealth, estimated to be more than 1 trillion won ($905 million). "My wife Bomi Sul and I hereby pledge that we will return more than half of our wealth to society during our lifetime," Kim Bong-min said in a message on the website of the Giving Pledge. Giving Pledge, created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, is a global campaign by the wor

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight tech losses on Wall Street that stemmed from inflation concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.8 points, or 0.15 percent, to 3,128.93 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Foreign and institutional appetite for risk assets remained low after the KOSPI's 0.93 percent decline in the previous session. Overnight, the Nasdaq lost 0.58 percent as tech stocks, sensitive to high inflation, retreated

South Korea has identified the remains of a soldier killed in the 1950-53 Korean War through DNA analysis, 12 years after they were recovered from a former battle site, the defense ministry said Thursday. The identification of the remains of Pfc. Son Joong-chul was possible as his 73-year-old son, Son Tae-gyu, registered his DNA sample with the government in 2019, according to the ministry. The late Son's remains were excavated in the southeastern city of Pohang in 2009. The identification mar

South Korea's electricity consumption climbed more than 6 percent in January from a year earlier due to a severe cold wave, data showed Thursday. Asia's fourth-largest economy used 49.89 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power in January, up 6.1 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Korea Power Exchange. The exchange said the solid increase resulted from the cold wave and more working days in spite of the business slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Last month, the avera

South Korea's chicken exports touched a new high in 2020 amid growing worldwide demand for ready-to-eat products and the popularity of Korean pop culture, a report showed Thursday. Overseas shipments of processed chicken came to $21 million last year, up 59.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the report from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). KITA said the jump came as exports of packaged traditional chicken soup, or "samgyetang," and chicken breast spiked due

The ongoing review of US policy toward North Korea will also take into account cyber threats posed by the country, a spokesperson for the US State Department said Wednesday. Ned Price said the US is well aware of "disruptive cyber attacks" committed by the North. "Of course, most frequently we speak of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile program, but, of course, it's malicious cyber activity is something we are carefully evaluating and looking at as well," the press

The United States has indicted three North Korean hackers on charges of criminal cyber activities aimed at stealing $1.3 billion, the Department of Justice said Wednesday. The indictment filed in the US District Court in Los Angeles identified the three North Korean suspects as Jon Chang-hyok (31), Kim Il (27) and Park Jin-hyock (36). They were "members of units of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a military intelligence agency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which

South Korea's top financial regulator said Wednesday it would be better to keep SsangYong Motor Co. afloat as its bankruptcy would result in massive job losses. Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung-soo made the remark during a meeting of the National Assembly National Policy Committee, answering a lawmaker's question about the fate of the financially troubled carmaker. "It will be a demanding task to financially support SsangYong Motor's subcontractors. It appears to be

An arrest warrant was granted on Wednesday for Choi Shin-won, the chairman of SK Networks Co., a general trading company, on suspicion of setting up a slush fund. Choi is facing charges of embezzlement and breach of trust related to the alleged illicit fund, which has been under investigation by the anti-corruption unit of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office. "There are convincing reasons to suspect the suspect committed the crimes, and there are also concerns that he can destr

A doctor at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) tested positive for the new coronavirus Wednesday, hospital officials said. The pediatric anesthesiologist working at its children's hospital took the coronavirus test after a family member was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday morning. SNUH is one of the nation's top general hospitals. So far, 20 hospital workers and four patients have been confirmed to have been in contact with the physician, and all of them wore masks, officials s