Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Monday asked for the public's continued patience with state measures against COVID-19, adding that authorities could potentially loosen social distancing measures ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. "After monitoring this week's developments, we will carefully review additional easing of antivirus measures if we have the confidence that the situation has definitely stabilized," Chung said during an interagency meeting on the COVID-19 response held at

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rose by the smallest amount in over two months to stay in the 300s for the second straight day on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend amid extended tough virus curbs. The country added 305 more COVID-19 cases, including 285 local infections, raising the total caseload to 78,508, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure fell from 355 cases Sunday, 458 Saturday and 469 Friday. On Sunday, the tally fell back

South Korean biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion Inc. said Monday its drug Remsima SC for the treatment of autoimmune diseases has won sales approval in Canada. The Public Health Agency of Canada gave the green light to Celltrion's application to sell the subcutaneous (SC) version of Remsima, a biosimilar copy of Janssen Biotech Inc.'s Remicade, according to the company. Remsima, administered through intravascular injections, is used in the treatment of a number of diseases, from rheumatoid arthr

South Korea will invest 2.6 trillion won ($2.3 billion) in the next five years to improve the safety management system in the defense sector, the defense ministry said Monday. Under the plan, the government will cultivate more safety specialists and push to establish a big data-based information system to better manage safety issues by 2025, according to the ministry. The plan also includes replacing old military vehicles with new ones, establishing safety tools for facilities and securing mor

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday, led by strong pharmaceutical gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 15.35 points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,991.56 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Top cap Samsung Electronics slipped 0.12 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix retreated 1.22 percent. Pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics added 1.64 percent, and Celltrion jumped 6.64 percent. Leading chemical firm LG Chem moved up 0.55 percent, and rechargeable battery maker Sam

그룹 방탄소년단(BTS)이 영국의 전설적인 그룹 비틀스, 퀸과 함께 미국 잡지 에스콰이어가 선정한 역대 최고의 10대 그룹에 올랐다. 에스콰이어는 31일(현지시간) 대중음악의 힘을 입증한 역대 최고의 10개 팝 밴드에 방탄소년단을 포함했다고 밝혔다. 이 잡지는 "'아미'(ARMY)라는 팬클럽을 가진 7인조 그룹 방탄소년단은 보이그룹, 팬덤, 대중음악의 개념 자체를 빠르게 재정의했다"며 10대 그룹 선정 이유를 소개했다. 에스콰이어가 선정한 10대 밴드는 BTS, 비틀스, 퀸 외에 영화 '드림걸즈'의 실제 모델이었던 흑인 여성 3인조 그룹 슈프림스, 스웨덴이 배출한 팝스타 아바, '서핑 유에스에이'라는 인기곡으로 한 시대를 풍미한 비치 보이스 등이다. 또 웨스트코스트 록의 황금기를 일군 플리트우드 맥, 펑크와 사이키델릭 음악 발전에 기여한 슬라이 앤드 더 패밀리 스톤, '마이 걸' 등 다수의 히트곡을 낸 R&B(리듬앤블루스) 그룹 템테이션스, 팝 디바

South Korean small merchants' business confidence sank to a 10-month nadir in January amid a new wave of the novel coronavirus in the country, a poll showed Monday. The Small Enterprise and Market Service said its business survey index (BSI) for small merchants came to 35.8 last month, down 15.8 points from a month earlier. It was the lowest level since March last year, when Asia's fourth-largest economy was gripped by the second wave of COVID-19, whose first local case was reported two months

South Korea's exports rose 11.4 percent on-year in January to extend their on-year gains for a third consecutive month on the back of brisk demand for chips and cars, data showed Monday, though the global resurgence of new virus cases hindered a full-fledged recovery. Exports came to $48 billion last month, compared with $43 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports edged up 3.1 percent to $44 billion, resulting in a trade sur

At a time when online concerts featuring live communication with fans and state-of-the-art technology have become a new norm in the K-pop industry, BLACKPINK decided to go back to the basics in its first livestream concert Sunday, urging the audience to focus solely on its music and performance. The 90-minute gig, livestreamed for subscribers of a paid YouTube membership, showed the act's four members -- Jennie, Jisoo, Rose and Lisa -- singing some of their best hits and previously unperformed

The main opposition party on Sunday called for an investigation into allegations that the government of President Moon Jae-in attempted to help build a nuclear power plant in North Korea. Calling the allegations "earth-shattering" if true, Kim Chong-in, the leader of the People Power Party (PPP), said the government should act quickly to resolve suspicions and answer questions raised over the issue. The allegations arose after a local TV station reported that a document about the nuc

South Korea decided Sunday to extend tougher social distancing measures for another two weeks, as it is wary of a pileup in cluster infections ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. The country will maintain the Level 2.5 measures, the second-highest in its five-tier scheme, in the greater Seoul area and Level 2 in other regions until Feb. 14, according to health authorities. It will also continue to ban private gatherings of five or more people in an effort to rein in the spread of the new coro

Four US B-52H long-range bombers have been deployed to the Pacific island of Guam for training missions aimed at reinforcing "the rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region," the US Pacific Air Forces said. The bombers from the 96th Bomb Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana "returned to the Indo-Pacific region Jan. 28 for a Bomber Task Force deployment, conducting operations out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam," it said. They were deployed &quo

Jikji, the world's oldest book printed with movable metal type, has been published in Korean and English, the Jogye Order, South Korea's largest Buddhist sect, said Sunday. Jikji, written in Chinese characters by Buddhist monk Baegun Gyeonghan, is the abbreviated title of a Buddhist document whose full title, "Jikji Simche Yojeol," can be translated as "anthology of great Buddhist priests' Zen teachings." It was printed in 1377 at the Heungdeok Temple in the central city of

A defective inverter module was found to have been the cause of an error message that led to a new 214-class submarine having to be towed in the East Sea earlier this month, Navy officials said Sunday. The Navy decided to inspect all 214-class submarines to ensure that no such problems would happen again, after finding that a defect was reported in the same part of another submarine of the same type two years ago too, officials said. The latest incident happened on Jan. 23 when the submarine w

The number of passengers using South Korean airports fell sharply last year due to the fallout of the new coronavirus outbreak, marking the first drop in 12 years, data showed Sunday. The number of people using 15 airports across the nation came to 65 million last year, down 58.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the first time that the number of airport passengers declined since 2008, when the country was in the midst of the global fina

South Korea's exports of electric vehicles (EVs) advanced nearly 66 percent on-year in 2020, data showed Sunday, despite the overall slump in the automobile industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Outbound shipments of EVs came to $3.9 billion in 2020, marking the first time for the volume to surpass that of hybrid cars, whose exports came to $2.5 billion last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association. EVs accounted for more than half of the combined outbou

South Korean retail investors snapped up a net 25.8 trillion won ($23 billion) worth of local stocks in January alone, data showed Sunday, in the latest sign of their relentless buying spree. Individual investors bought a net 22.3 trillion won worth of stocks in the main market and a net 3.5 trillion won of shares in the secondary-KOSDAQ market in January, according to the data compiled by the bourse operator Korea Exchange. The figure amounted to 40 percent of their total net stock purchases,

Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae has said the ministry will handle the alleged college admission fraud involving the daughter of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk according to "law and principle." "I know college admission fairness is a grave social topic that receives high public attention," the minister said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Friday, adding that the ministry has been dealing with the matter sternly without exception, and will continue to do so. Sh

러시아 블라디보스토크로 향하는 시베리아 횡단 열차에서 만난 이는 북한 사람이었다. 같은 객실에 탄 이들은 투박한 이북 사투리로 먼저 "한국 사람이오?"라고 말을 건네 긴장했으나 대화가 오가며 이내 그 경계심은 누그러졌다. "결혼을 했고? 부모님 걱정하시겠다." 여행 유튜버 김세은(28) 씨가 지난해 올린 영상의 한 장면이다. 콘텐츠는 1천만 조회 수를 넘길 정도로 큰 인기를 끌었고, 김 씨는 영국 BBC에서 보도될 정도로 외신으로부터 주목을 받기도 했다. 구독자 10만 명을 앞둔 김 씨는 31일 연합뉴스와 비대면 인터뷰를 갖고 "우리가 사는 세상에서 마주치는 인연의 대부분은 나와 같은 평범한 사람이라는 것을 전하고 싶었다"고 말했다. 스페인, 체코, 독일, 헝가리, 영국, 스위스 등 배낭을 메고 찾은 나라가 20개국이 넘을 정도로 여행 경험이 많은 김 씨였지만 당시 상황은 여전히 특별한 순간으로 남는다. 그것은 예상치 못하

South Korean telecom operators are redoubling efforts to support teleconference and virtual education services as the prolonged pandemic limits in-person contact and encourages work-from-home practices. Last week, major telecom operator KT Corp. said it will launch a new cloud-based video meeting platform, KT BizMeet, targeting businesses and education services. KT said the platform can host large online seminars, supporting up to 5,000 users in a single online meeting. The move follows the l