South Korea said Tuesday it plans to implement revised rules on animal abuse this week that center on tougher punishment and more regulations on pet owners. Starting Friday, those who slaughter animals cruelly will face imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of 30 million won ($26,840), according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It compares with the previous ceiling of two years. Owners of fierce dogs are obligated to purchase insurance packages, and violators will

South Korean petrochemical companies said Tuesday they will join the country's green energy drive, which centers on achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The country launched a new committee on achieving carbon neutrality under ties with the private sector, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The Moon Jae-in government has vowed to achieve carbon neutrality by that year, which means effectively reducing carbon emissions to zero. It is also pushing a Green New Deal aimed at

Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI), a producer of portable fuel cell power packs, said Tuesday it has signed a deal with a Chinese robot maker to jointly develop hydrogen fuel cell-powered firefighting robots. Under the deal with CITIC HIC Kaicheng Intelligence Equipment Co., DMI will work together to establish sales networks in China and other countries, the company said. The two companies plan to release a prototype of hydrogen fuel cell-propelled robots in the first half of the year and to st

South Korea's overall advertising expenditure inched down in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the digital ad market expanded at a double-digit rate, a report showed Tuesday. Advertising expenses in Asia's fourth-largest economy amounted to 11.99 trillion won ($10.7 billion) last year, down 0.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the report from Cheil Worldwide Inc. The country's leading advertising agency attributed last year's sluggish market growth to the COVID-19 outbreak tha

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Tuesday asked for the public's cooperation with the government's antivirus measures amid a backlash from small business owners in the greater Seoul area over stricter rules imposed on them than those in other regions. "We ask for your participation in the spirit of the greater good and cooperation. We understand the underlying emotions, but it is a decision reached under comprehensive consideration of the transmission risk and social receptiveness," Ch

Chinese electronics giant Skyworth has apologized over misusing an image of LG Electronics Inc.'s rollable TV during its presentation at a tech expo last month, industry insiders said Tuesday, following the South Korean tech firm's complaint. Skyworth USA Corp., the American unit of Skyworth, recently issued a statement acknowledging its unauthorized use of LG's rollable TV image during its Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021 online event. "Skyworth USA Corporation misused an LG Rollable

South Korea will start vaccinating its population against COVID-19 on Feb. 26 if final approval for the use of AstraZeneca's vaccine for elderly people is made this week, health authorities said Tuesday. The announcement by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency came as the nation reported a slight rise in daily coronavirus cases, with authorities still on high alert ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. It was the first time that the KDCA set a start date for the vaccinations, rais

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street that stemmed from growing hopes of progress in the US stimulus talks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 24.52 points, or 0.79 percent, to 3,115.76 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics added 1.81 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix hiked 3.2 percent. Hyundai Motor gained 1.07 percent following heavy losses the previous session after saying tha

7일 오후 9시 30분, 국내외에서 뜨거운 반응을 얻고 있는 오디오 소셜미디어(SNS) '클럽하우스'(ClubHouse)에 방을 열어봤다. 친한 기자 한 명과 업계 종사자 한 명이 들어오고, 호기심 또는 실수로 방제를 누른 것 같은 이용자 두어 명이 접속했다. 가볍게 인사를 나누며 다른 방은 뭐가 있나 둘러보니, 스타트업 대표부터 연예인·작가·유튜버 등 소위 '셀럽'들이 연 방이 많았다. 쟁쟁한 '경쟁자'들을 보고 등에 한 줄기 식은땀이 흐르는 것을 느끼는 찰나, 기자가 만든 방에도 30명 넘는 이용자가 모였다. 목소리를 가다듬고 대화를 시작했다. 힙스터(최신 유행을 좇는 사람)들이 쓴다는 클럽하우스를 써봤다. 방 열자 방송인·스타트업 대표 등 접속…저명인사와 친구처럼 대화 가능 클럽하우스는 미국 스타트업 '알파 익스플로레이션'이 지난해 4월 출시한 음성 SNS다. 실리콘밸리의 벤처캐피털(VC) 앤드리슨 호로위츠가 투자

BLACKPINK, which owns one of the world's biggest subscriber bases on YouTube, set another record Tuesday by earning 1.2 billion views with its music video "Kill This Love." Views for the 2019 hit broke the record at 12:38 a.m. on YouTube, becoming the all-female act's second music video to set the milestone, according to YG Entertainment. Its most-watched music video is "Ddu-du Ddu-du," which is nearing a record 1.5 billion views. Released in April 2019, the fierce anthem w

WASHINGTON -- South Korea's push for concessions to North Korea may continue to create tension in US-South Korea relations, a US congressional report said. The updated Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on South Korea noted policy coordination between Seoul and Washington had been "inconsistent" under former US President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden, on the other hand, is "reinvigorating the alliance, suggesting he would abandon President Trump's repeated use of pu

DAEJEON -- A court rejected the issuance of an arrest warrant Tuesday for a former industry and energy minister in connection with the controversial closure of an aging nuclear reactor. The Daejeon District Court denied the warrant sought by prosecutors against Paik Un-gyu on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of business, citing lack of reason and need to arrest him. "The prosecutors' arguments are not sufficient vindication of Paik's alleged criminality," the court said. &qu

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday some of its electric vehicle (EV) motor production lines will be in operation even during the Lunar New Year's holiday as the tech giant eyes to expand its presence in the future mobility sector. LG recommends its local production sites allow workers to go on vacation on Wednesday for the Lunar New Year's Day, which falls on Friday, but its EV motor factory in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, will run during the holiday period to meet growing demand. The S

The United States continues to be committed to the peace and security of its allies in the Indo-Pacific region, a Pentagon official said Monday. The remarks come amid an ongoing review of the US defense posture that the Pentagon official said will determine where more US troops are needed or less. "We will continue to maintain our security commitments to our allies and partners there," Press Secretary John Kirby said when asked if the ongoing defense posture review would lead to an i

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Tuesday it shifted to the black in 2020 on the back of robust growth of its e-commerce services based on its messenger platform amid the pandemic. Net profit reached 167.1 billion won ($149.2 million) last year on a consolidated basis, swinging from a loss of 341.9 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales jumped by 35.4 percent on-year to reach an all-time high of 4.15 trillion won

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rapped economic agencies for "passive and self-protecting tendencies" as he held a Workers' Party meeting to finalize this year's plans to carry out policy goals set forth at last month's rare party congress, state media said Tuesday. The North unveiled a new five-year economic development plan at the eighth congress of the party last month, with a focus on self-reliance in the face of the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and global sanctions on its

AstraZeneca will start delivering the first batch of its COVID-19 vaccine to South Korea starting from Feb. 24, South Korean health authorities said Monday.  The virus response control tower said in a statement that AstraZeneca's vaccine will be supplied in phases from Feb. 24 over the following several days, without elaborating on the amount of doses and other details. The announcement came after Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said in a parliamentary meeting that he expects the first phas

Major League Baseball (MLB) has checked on the availability of South Korean free agent pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong, league officials here said Monday, a move indicating newfound interest in the left-hander. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said MLB tendered a status check on Yang last Friday and that it informed its US counterpart that Yang is a free agent and may sign with any big league club. Under an agreement between MLB and the KBO, a major league team interested in a South Korean player

Korean students at Harvard University have strongly criticized a professor over his controversial claim that Japan's wartime sexual slavery was actually voluntary prostitution, demanding its immediate withdrawal and his official apology to victims. Harvard Korean Society made the demand in a statement on its website after Harvard Law School Japanese legal studies professor J. Mark Ramseyer caused controversy with his recently published paper titled "Contracting for Sex in the Pacific War.&

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) will seek the passage of a parliamentary resolution condemning the recent military coup in Myanmar, the party's floor leader said Monday. DP floor leader Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon also expressed deep regret and concerns over the coup d'etat that took place a week earlier, while disclosing the plan for the parliamentary resolution during a top party council meeting. "The coup by the Myanmarese military is an act of serious provocation that fundamentally threatens