SsangYong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said Thursday that its Indian parent company is still in talks to sell its controlling stake, denying media reports that the deal has fallen through. SsangYong Motor made the statement in response to media reports that Mahindra and HAAH Automotive Holdings, Inc., a California company that imports vehicles for the US market, have failed to reach a compromise for the deal and notified SsangYong's main cred

Nearly 400 local and foreign civic groups on Thursday urged South Korea and the United States to suspend joint military drills as a "major confidence-building measure" toward North Korea. A total of 387 organizations, including 197 South Korean civic groups, made the appeal weeks after North Korea demanded an end to such combined military exercises during a recent party congress. "Suspending these costly and highly provocative war exercises will be a crucial step toward re-start

KT Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Thursday it will launch a content production company to serve as the company's overarching control tower for its growing media businesses. The mobile carrier said KT Studio Genie will oversee planning and distribution of media content developed by its range of media services, from its video streaming platform Seezn to internet protocol Olleh TV. KT added that it also plans to develop original content based on works from its webcomic unit St

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed around 500 for the second straight day on Thursday as cluster infections traced to religious facilities continued ahead of an adjustment of the level of social distancing measures this week. The country added 497 more COVID-19 cases, including 479 locally transmitted infections, raising the total caseload to 76,926, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure was down from 559 on Wednesday. The new daily cases

부산 한 아파트 같은 집에서 밤사이 두 차례 불이 나 주민 150명이 대피했다. 28일 부산소방본부에 따르면 이날 오전 2시 4분께 수영구 한 아파트에서 불이나 50분 만에 진화됐다. 화재가 발생한 세대는 25층짜리 건물의 25층에 있었다. 인명피해는 없었지만 시커먼 연기가 외부로 분출되면서 해당 건물에 사는 주민 150명이 놀라 대피했다. 부산소방본부는 불이 난 곳 주변 세대 중 문이 잠긴 곳은 이를 강제로 열어 대피하지 못한 시민이 있는지 확인하기도 했다. 경찰에 따르면 이날 해당 집에서는 6시간 만에 두 차례나 화재가 잇따랐다. 심야 화재가 발생하기 전인 전날 오후 8시 7분께도 불이 났다. 전기장판과 관련된 화재로 당시에도 소방대원이 출동해 진화했다. 경찰은 심야에 발생한 2번째 화재 이유를 조사하고 있다. 같은 집에서 발생했지만, 발화장소는 다른 것으로 전해졌다. 부산소방본부 한 관계자는 "발화지점이 달라 현재는 별개 화재로 원인을 파악하고 있다&

The Constitutional Court said Thursday that the establishment of a powerful anti-corruption investigation agency is constitutional, clearing the way for the new body's full operation. The court said the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) essentially belongs to the executive branch and thus a law governing its status does not violate the principle of separation of powers stipulated in the Constitution. It noted that running the agency independently from the execut

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday highlighted the need to completely denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Biden made the remarks in a call with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, according to the White House. "They discussed regional security issues, including China and North Korea," a White House readout of the call said. "They together affirmed the necessity of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and the early resolution of the abductions issue," it a

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it will pay record dividends to shareholders later this year and more through 2023 to improve its shareholder value, a move that is also seen to smooth out leadership succession for Samsung Group heirs. Samsung will pay a total of a record 13.12 trillion won ($11.8 billion) in dividends to shareholders for the 2020 fiscal year in April, the tech giant said. "The board approved a one-time special cash dividend of 10.7 trillion won," the company sa

South Korean stocks opened sharply lower Thursday, taking a cue from overnight drops on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 49.67 points, or 1.59 percent, to 3,072.89 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Foreign selling increased as the US Fed did not announce new measures to quicken the economic recovery. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite retreated 2.61 percent, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closing down 2.05 percent and 2.57

North Korea's official newspaper Thursday urged stepped-up efforts to realize a self-reliant economy and carry out key policy goals unveiled in a rare party meeting earlier this month. At the eighth congress of the ruling Workers' Party earlier this month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un admitted the failure to meet the country's previous five-year development goals and put forward a new five-year plan focusing on self-reliance. "The socialist economic construction is the most crucial tas

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommended Thursday that South Korea further carry out accommodative fiscal and monetary policies, including rate cuts, in a bid to accelerate its economic recovery amid the pandemic. Despite rising budget deficit, the country also has fiscal room for increasing targeted support to people and businesses hit hard by the new coronavirus outbreak, according to Andreas Bauer, Korea mission chief at the IMF. An IMF team, led by Bauer, unveiled the outcome of i

More than 60 percent of North Korea's population is facing food insecurity as the global coronavirus pandemic has undercut food supplies in the impoverished country, a US Department of Agriculture report showed Thursday. According to the report by the department's Economic Research Service, 63.1 percent or 16.2 million people in North Korea suffered food insecurity in 2020. Food insecurity occurs when people fall short of the nutritional target of 2,100 kilocalories per day. The 2020 figure f

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. on Thursday reported its 2020 net profit of 282.6 billion won ($255.9 million), up 40.5 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 558.3 billion won in operating profit for the year, compared with 364.1 billion from the previous year. Annual revenue fell 6 percent to 8.13 trillion won. (Yonhap)

A heavy snow advisory was issued for Seoul and northern Gyeonggi Province on Thursday, the state weather agency said, predicting up to two hours of snowfall in the morning. The Korea Meteorological Administration said the advisory took effect in northwestern Gyeonggi at 8:30 a.m. and in Seoul and northeastern Gyeonggi at 9 a.m. The warning is issued when the expected snowfall is 5 centimeters or more within 24 hours. Incheon, the western coast of Gyeonggi and northwestern Gyeonggi will likely

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. on Thursday reported its fourth-quarter net profit of 112.3 billion won ($101.7 million), up 417.5 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 253.3 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 44.8 billion won a year ago. Sales fell 0.8 percent to 2.29 trillion won. The operating profit was 123.7 percent higher than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Thursday it has confirmed four additional cases of highly pathogenic bird flu, raising concerns over the further spread of the disease in the country. Of the new cases, one case each was confirmed in Pocheon, Paju, Icheon, and Anseong the previous day, all in Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital city, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. A seven-day standstill order has been issued on all poultry farms in the four ar

South Korea's financial watchdog said Thursday it has decided to advise local banks to reduce dividends this year to help them better cope with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. The decision, among other things, recommends lenders to keep their dividends below 20 percent of earnings, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC). But the recommendation doesn't apply to dividends that banks pay out to their holding companies. Two state lenders -- the Korea Development Bank and the

The Biden administration will work to create foreign policies that will endure, even through a change of US administrations, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. The top US diplomat said that is why the new administration seeks to work closely with Congress. "The members of Congress are the representatives of the American people. They provide advice and consent to our policies, and I think one of the things you are going to see from our administration is working as closely

South Korea's imports of Japanese beer plunged nearly 86 percent in 2020 due to a local boycott of goods from the neighboring country, data showed Thursday. Seoul brought in $5.67 million worth of Japanese beer last year, down 85.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and the liquor industry. The tumble follows a drop to $39.76 million in 2019 from a peak of $78.30 million a year earlier. South Koreans launched the boycott in protest of Japan's exp

South Korea's top internet portal operator, Naver Corp., said Thursday its net profit jumped more than twofold in 2020 from the previous year on the back of the non-contact trend amid the coronavirus pandemic. Net profit reached 836.2 billion won ($757.2 million) last year, compared with 396.8 billion won in the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating income reached 1.21 trillion won for all of 2020, up 5.2 percent from the year before. Sales reached 5.3 trillion won