A boiler factory in central South Korea has emerged as a new coronavirus cluster, with 95 cases linked to the facility confirmed as of Tuesday, officials said. Kiturami Boiler's plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, has reported coronavirus infections among 77 employees and 15 of their family members, according to provincial health officials. The company employs 641 workers. Most of the infected employees worked at the same building named "F," the officials said, speculating th

The state intelligence agency is reviewing ways to conditionally give a closed-door briefing to the National Assembly on its alleged illegal surveillance of politicians and other social figures during the reign of the conservative Lee Myung-bak government, the NIS chief told lawmakers Tuesday. "The National Intelligence Service is considering plans to report to the parliamentary Intelligence Committee on the issue on condition of non-disclosure (to the public) if the committee approves (th

North Korea has attempted to hack into South Korean drug manufacturers' computer systems to obtain information related to coronavirus vaccines and treatment, the state intelligence agency told lawmakers Tuesday. At a closed-door parliamentary session, the National Intelligence Service reported the average daily number of cyberattacks in South Korea has increased 32 percent year-on-year to about 1.58 million cases, most of which were unsuccessful, Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the main opposition People

KCON, a major K-pop and Korean culture festival that draws millions of viewers each season, will be held online again next month amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, its organizer said Tuesday. The third season of the online event, titled "KCON:TACT," will stream from March 20-28 through YouTube and the Mnet K-pop channel for global fans and on local over-the-top service Tving for domestic fans, according to South Korean entertainment giant CJ ENM. It marks the third time CJ ENM

South Korean stocks gained for a third consecutive session Tuesday, backed by signs of global economic rebound that increased foreigners' appetite for risky assets. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.25 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at 3,163.25 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.9 billion shares worth some 16.9 trillion won ($15.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 474 to 367. Foreigners bought a n

South Korea's finance minister said Tuesday the government is seeking to submit an extra budget bill in early March in a bid to provide targeted support to merchants and businesses hit hard by the pandemic. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said in a parliamentary session that the country is considering expanding the recipients of the fourth round of emergency relief funds, including to merchants whose yearly sales top 400 million won ($364,000). "We are reviewing ways to provide additional su

South Korean professional volleyball players recently suspended for bullying their former school teammates will face hurdles when seeking coaching opportunities in the future, the sport's national governing body said Tuesday. Volleyball's V-League is reeling from a bullying scandal centered on two of the biggest stars in the women's division, Lee Jae-yeong and her twin sister Lee Da-yeong of the Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders. The 24-year-old sisters have admitted to allegations of physical, verbal

A former wartime sexual slavery victim demanded Tuesday that Seoul bring the issue of forced sexual slavery by Japan to the International Court of Justice, denouncing Japan's continued denials and a Harvard professor's recent controversial claims. Lee Yong-soo, one of 15 registered surviving South Korean victims of sexual slavery by Japan during World War II, said during a press conference in Seoul that the issue warranted a judgment by the international court, as Japan has been unresponsive to

Over 5,000 violations of antivirus measure were reported to authorities on the eve and during the extended Lunar New Year holiday last week amid the third wave of coronavirus pandemic, officials said Tuesday. According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, the interior ministry received a total of 5,615 reports of breaches in anti-COVID-19 protocols between Wednesday and Sunday. This year's Lunar New Year holiday fell from Thursday through Sunday. Ahead of the holiday, the government

Samsung Electronics Co. was the top vendor in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) tablet market in the fourth quarter of 2020, a report showed Tuesday, amid the pandemic-induced stay-at-home trend. Samsung shipped 4 million tablets in the EMEA market in the October-December period for a 28.1 percent market share, according to industry researcher International Data Corp. (IDC). The figures were up from a year ago when the South Korean tech giant shipped 3.2 million tablets for a 24.8 perc

A North Korean man was caught after crossing into South Korea via the eastern border, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday, amid a possibility that he could have sought to defect to the South. South Korean troops detected the man at around 4:20 a.m. through a CCTV surveillance camera as he was moving south near a military checkpoint located inside a restricted area north of the Civilian Control Line in the east coast border town of Goseong, according to the JCS. After a three-hour ma

The chief of Renault Samsung Motors Corp. said Tuesday restructuring will be "inevitable" for the company's survival amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic and lower demand for its models. In a message to employees, Renault Samsung Chief Executive Dominique Signora made the comments as the company struggles with lower vehicle sales and high labor and manufacturing costs. "There is an urgent need to cut costs (through restructuring) to ride out this crisis as the company's overa

Lee Jae-yong, the de-facto leader of Samsung Group, has ended his mandatory isolation in a correctional facility and is allowed to meet group executives, industry insiders said Tuesday, raising speculation that South Korea's top conglomerate may speed up its decision-making for potential investments. Lee, the group's heir, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison by the Seoul High Court on Jan. 18 in a retrial of a bribery case involving former President Park Geun-hye and was put behind bars agai

President Moon Jae-in called Tuesday for all-out efforts to tackle South Korea's jobs crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. "I would like the government to take this employment situation seriously and urgently seek extraordinary measures," he said at the outset of a weekly Cabinet meeting. Moon raised the need for a "pan-governmental all-out response system" in order to turn the job situation around within this month. He described the January situation as "employ

South Korea's electricity generation fell for the second consecutive year in 2020 as demand dipped amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The amount of electricity generated by the nation's power plants came to 552,165 gigawatt hours (GWh) last year, down 1.9 percent from the previous year, according to the data from state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco). It marked the second time generation dropped in two consecutive years, since the 4.1 percent decrease in 1998, whe

North Korea appears to be celebrating the birthday of late leader Kim Jong-il in a low-key manner on Tuesday amid speculation that Pyongyang might carry out a major provocation in time for one of its biggest national holidays. Leader Kim Jong-un visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the body of the former leader and his father lies in state, the Korean Central News Agency reported. Also enshrined at the mausoleum is the body of Kim Il-sung, the national founder and grandfather of the cu

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to over 400 on Tuesday after the four-day-long Lunar New Year holiday, while the government signed deals to secure additional COVID-19 vaccines to better fight the pandemic. The country reported 457 more COVID-19 cases, including 429 local infections, raising the total caseload to 84,325, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The country added seven more deaths, raising the total to 1,534. Tuesday's daily caseload w

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday on strong advances by tech and auto stocks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 16.27 points, or 0.52 percent, to 3,163.27 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Top cap Samsung Electronics gained 1.07 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 0.38 percent. Leading chemical firm LG Chem moved down 0.51 percent, and rechargeable battery maker Samsung SDI slipped 0.12 percent. Giant internet portal operator Naver jumped 4.02 p

미국의 환경미화원 2명이 성범죄자에게 납치된 소녀를 구해 '영웅'의 찬사를 받고 있다. 16일 ABC 방송 등 미국 매체들에 따르면 루이지애나주 뉴이베리아에 사는 재리사 라샐(10)이 지난 7일(현지시간) 오후 1~2시께 집에 머물던 중 갑자기 실종됐다. 뉴이베리아 경찰은 라샐이 긴박한 위험에 처했다고 판단하고 '황색경보'를 발령한 후 라샐이 탑승하는 장면이 목격된 회색 닛산 알티마 승용차를 수배했다. 마침 다음날 아침 사설 폐기물업체 소속 환경미화원 디온 메릭과 브래던 앙투안이 쓰레기통을 비우던 중 들판 한가운데 세워진 회색 승용차를 발견했다. 승용차가 가정집이 아닌 들판에 세워진 점을 이상하게 생각한 이들은 쓰레기 수거 차량으로 회색 승용차가 도주하지 못하게 막은 뒤 경찰에 신고했다. 메릭은 "누군가가 나에게 왜 들판에 승용차가 서 있지라며 묻는 것 같았다"며 당시 상황을 설명했다. 그는 "소녀는 지금 안전하다. 나도 어린 딸이 있다"

South Korea has secured additional new coronavirus vaccines for 23 million people by signing contracts with US drugmakers Novavax and Pfizer, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Tuesday. Through the deals, Novavax will provide vaccines for 20 million people, which are expected to be ready for inoculation by the second quarter, and Pfizer will ship vaccines for 3 million also during the second quarter, Chung said during an interagency meeting on the nation's coronavirus response at the government