The music video for "Dynamite," the historic BTS song that topped the Billboard's main singles chart last year, has earned 800 million YouTube views, the band's agency said Sunday. YouTube views for "Dynamite" hit 800 million views at 12:26 p.m. on Sunday, becoming the septet's sixth music video to reach the milestone, according to Big Hit Entertainment. The feat came just a month after it earned 700 million views, it added. "Dynamite," an upbeat disco-pop track t

President Moon Jae-in is set to receive a policy briefing on the country's vaccination plans and ongoing efforts to fight the new coronavirus this week, a presidential official said Sunday. Moon will hold a teleconference at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday with relevant ministers -- including Welfare Minister Kwon Deok-cheol, Food and Drug Safety Minister Kim Ganglip and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency chief Jeong Eun-kyeong, according to the official. The officials are expected to report

Posco, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker by output, is expected to have logged double-digit operating profit growth in the fourth quarter on increased demand despite the coronavirus pandemic. Strong demand for steel products in China and a hike in steel prices likely buoyed the company's bottom line in the October-December period, analysts said. Posco is estimated to have posted an operating profit of 838.3 billion won ($760.1 million) in the fourth quarter, up 50.3 percent from a year earl

South Korea's Defense Minister Suh Wook held telephone talks Sunday with newly confirmed US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, where the two reaffirmed the importance of their alliance and agreed to closely cooperate on developing it, Seoul's defense ministry said. During the dialogue, which took place upon Washington's request, the two defense chiefs agreed that the Seoul-Washington alliance is more important than ever and promised to cooperate on improving the relationship, as well as openly com

Air traffic volume in South Korea halved year-on-year in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Sunday. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said the number of flight operations last year totaled 421,000, down 50 percent from 2019. The volume on domestic routes fell 10.4 percent to 221,000, while international flights plummeted 66.4 percent to 200,000. Air traffic had been steadily increasing, from 739,000 flights in 2016 to 842,000 in 2019. Operations beg

미국 CNN 방송의 간판 토크쇼 진행자였던 래리 킹이 23일(현지시간) 사망했다. 향년 87세. AP통신 등 외신에 따르면 킹이 공동 설립한 미디어 네트워크인 오라 미디어는 이날 킹이 로스앤젤레스(LA)의 시더스 사이나이 의료센터에서 사망했다고 밝혔다. 오라 미디어는 성명에서 "오늘 아침 87세로 세상을 떠난 우리의 공동 창업자이자 사회자이며 친구인 래리 킹의 죽음을 알린다"며 킹은 63년간 라디오, TV 및 디지털 미디어에서 수많은 인터뷰를 통해 세계적인 찬사를 받았다고 말했다. 회사 측은 사망 원인을 밝히지는 않았다. 앞서 CNN은 킹의 가족과 가까운 소식통을 인용해 킹이 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나19)에 감염돼 1주일 넘게 입원해 있다고 전했었다. 킹은 오랫동안 미 전역에 송출된 라디오 방송 진행자로 활약했으며 특히 1985년부터 2010년까지 CNN에서 방영된 '래리 킹 라이브'를 진행하며 명성을 얻었다. 그는 25년간 CNN 토크쇼에서 정

The state human rights watchdog is set to announce the results of its investigation into former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's alleged sexual abuse of a secretary as early as this week. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has been looking into allegations Park sexually harassed the former municipal government employee over several years until his death in an apparent suicide in July. The results will be discussed during a plenary meeting of the watchdog's members on Monday, according to

GEOJE -- Search operations were under way off the southern island of Geoje after three crew members of a capsized fishing boat went missing on Saturday, authorities said. The 339-ton vessel capsized at around 4 p.m. in waters 1.11 kilometers southeast of the island, located some 400 km south of Seoul, with 10 crew members aboard -- nine South Koreans and one Indonesian -- according to the Coast Guard. Seven of them, including the Indonesian, have been rescued, but search operations were still

South Korea's two excavator makers are expected to see a steady rise in their shipments to China this year thanks to a boom in the neighbor's construction market, according to industry watchers Sunday. "The Chinese government's policy to boost the economy is forecast to expand the volume of the civil engineering and construction market in 2021, which has an impact on the sales of excavators," said Kim Hong-gyun, an analyst at DB Financial Investment, in his recent report. Exports of

South Korea's health authorities warned Saturday that their efforts to contain COVID-19 face a potentially major challenge from the spread of new variants. Kwon Joon-wook, deputy director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, even raised the possibility that the nation will be drawn back into a "nightmare" similar to that in December last year, when the daily number of infections exceeded 1,000. "Mutant viruses are more contagious than existing ones," he said during

The top national security officials of South Korea and the United States agreed on the need for close bilateral cooperation in advancing the Korea peace process and the handling of global issues during their phone call Saturday, Cheong Wa Dae said. It was the first formal conversation between Suh Hoon, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae, and his new American counterpart, Jake Sullivan, since the launch of the Joe Biden administration this week. Suh congratulated Sullivan on his ina

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun directed the education ministry Saturday to consider expanding in-person classes in schools in the new semester. South Korean schools mostly offered remote learning or limited physical attendance last year to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. "This year should be somewhat different," Chung said at a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters in Seoul. "The Ministry of Education is directed to consult with healt

Three South Korean service members have been newly confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19, bringing the total caseload in the military to 543, the defense ministry announced Saturday. Two Air Force soldiers in a base in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, have been diagnosed with the virus while in quarantine following a report of confirmed cases, the ministry said. A total of 15 infections have been reported so far in the installation. Another solider at an Army unit in Suncheon, South Jeolla

South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases rose back to above 400 on Saturday, health authorities said. The country added 431 more COVID-19 cases, including 403 locally transmitted infections, raising the total caseload to 74,692, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The number of new infections was tallied at 404 on Wednesday and 401 the following day. It then fell to 346 on Friday in the midst of weeks of toughened social distancing restrictions. Seoul, Gyeonggi

South Korea confirmed another case of highly pathogenic bird flu in poultry Firday, raising the total caseload to 69. The latest case of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza (AI) came from an egg farm in Icheon, just south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. All poultry within a 3-kilometer radius of the infected farm were culled, officials said. The farm was raising 478,000 chickens. The country has discovered 69 cases of highly contagious bird flu since

The Japanese government will not appeal a Seoul court order to compensate South Korean women who were forced to work in military brothels during World War II, its foreign minister said Friday. Toshimitsu Motegi made the remarks hours before a midnight deadline to file an appeal against the landmar ruling, which rekindled diplomatic tensions between the two neighbors. On Jan. 8, the Seoul Central District Court ordered Tokyo to pay financial reparations of 100 million won ($91,300) each to 12 s

US Forces Korea (USFK) on Friday imposed movement restrictions on all individuals affiliated with its air base in the western city of Gunsan due to the recent coronavirus outbreak there. Under the order, travel to and from Kunsan Air Base is prohibited until Monday, though members can be granted exceptions “to perform assigned and authorized duties and missions only,” USFK said in a Facebook post. The directive came a day after three service members on the base tested positive for

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has formally invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in to an in-person G-7 summit, scheduled to be held in June, via a personal letter, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. Moon plans to reply it, expressing his commitment to making contributions so that this year's summit of the G-7 nations can produce a significant accomplishment, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. A presidential official later told reporters that they may construe the message as

South Korea's stock exchange ended its three-day winning streak Friday on valuation pressure after hitting another new high the previous session. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) retreated 20.21 points, or 0.64 percent, to close at 3,140.63 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 24 trillion won ($21.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 476 to 384. Foreigners sold a net 270 billion won

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his Costa Rican counterpart, Carlos Alvarado, had phone discussions Friday on the COVID-19 pandemic and other major issues including efforts to promote a green and emissions-free economy, Cheong Wa Dae said. Alvarado expressed his gratitude to South Korea for support related to the antivirus fight. The government has provided the Central American nation with high-efficiency KF-94 face masks, worth a total of around $1 million, and shared its virus control