South Korean state bonds worth nearly 48 trillion won ($44 billion) are slated to mature in 2021, with the amount rising further in the next couple of years due to more fiscal spending to weather the coronavirus fallout, government data showed Monday. Treasurys worth 48.2 trillion won, including state debt and inflation-indexed bonds, are scheduled to come due this year, according to the data from the finance ministry. The value of maturing state bonds is forecast to soar to an all-time high o

Hyundai Motor Co. said it halted operations at one of its domestic plants Monday morning as an employee was infected with the new coronavirus. Hyundai Motor suspended its Asan plant, which produces the Sonata and Grandeur sedans, at 6:45 a.m., and the suspension will continue until 3:30 p.m., a company spokesman said over the phone. Hyundai has adjusted production at its local plants since early last year when the coronavirus outbreak began to affect vehicle sales. Last month, Hyundai halted

South Korean brokerage houses have slightly revised down their fourth-quarter earnings outlook for major listed companies amid the coronavirus pandemic, a market tracker said Monday. The combined operating income forecast for 164 major listed firms came to 32.7 trillion won ($29.9 billion) for the October-December period as of Friday, up 52.4 percent from a year earlier, according to FnGuide. Yet it represents a 2.6 percent decrease from their estimate of 33.6 trillion won made a month earlier

South Korea's electricity consumption fell more than 2 percent in the first 11 months of 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. Power sales in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 464,243 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the January-November period, down 2.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from state utility Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco). Electricity sales are thus projected to decline for all of 2020 from a year earlier due to sluggish demand stemmin

President Moon Jae-in's job approval rating has dropped to 35.5 percent, while the proportion of those critical of his leadership has hovered above 60 percent, a poll showed Monday. In the five-day tracking survey by Realmeter of 2,513 voters nationwide from last Monday, his approval rating fell 1.1 percentage point to 35.5 percent from a week earlier. It marked the sixth consecutive week that Moon's approval rating has stayed in the 30 percent range. Furthermore, 60.9 percent of respondents

North Korea has endorsed leader Kim Jong-un as the general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party at its ongoing congress, state media said Monday, in an apparent move to tighten his grip on power. The election took place at the sixth-day session of the party's eighth congress in Pyongyang on Sunday, following the North's revision of party rules to reinstate the secretariat system that was scrapped in 2016, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "The 8th Cong

The number of highly pathogenic bird flu cases in South Korea stood at 51 on Sunday after the country added another confirmed case from a duck farm in a southeastern county, officials said. The latest case was found in a broiler duck farm in Geochang, South Gyeongsang Province, about 300 km away from Seoul, according to officials. It was confirmed as the malign H5N8 type. A standstill order has been issued for all poultry farms in Geochang. The agriculture ministry said Saturday that tests

The management and labor union of Samsung Display Co. said Sunday that they will sign a collective agreement this week for the first time among the electronic affiliates of Samsung Group, which declared it would scrap its "no labor union" policy last year. A ceremony to sign the agreement will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday, they said. The labor union launched in February last year as a member of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), one of the two largest local labor umbrella

South Korea's economic recovery momentum is slowing down as the service sector has remained sluggish amid a resurgence in new coronavirus cases, a state-run think tank said Sunday. The country's manufacturing sector sustained a recovery due mainly to robust exports, but the service industry is suffering sluggishness due to a flare-up in COVID-19, according to a monthly economic assessment report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). "Despite the recovery in the manufacturing industry,

Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-largest automotive group, said Sunday that it will carry out a pilot project to reuse batteries used for electric vehicles (EVs) at solar power plants. The move follows the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's recent decision to give regulatory exemptions for new business models based on reusing EV batteries. Before, it was difficult for companies to push for such projects as the country has no regulations related to the reuse of worn-out EV batteries.

South Korea plans to restrict or phase out its imports of 10 kinds of industrial waste to increase the recycling of domestic waste, the Ministry of Environment said Sunday. The ministry said the importation of half of the 10 waste items, including plastic waste, mixed waste paper and coal ash, will be banned between 2022 and 2023. According to the ministry's road map, imports of all kinds of industrial waste, excluding metal scraps and a few others, will be banned in principle by 2030, while t

South Korea's new coronavirus cases remained at the 600 mark for the third consecutive day on Sunday as social distancing measures had a slight effect despite steady cluster infections. The country added 665 more COVID-19 cases, including 631 local infections, raising the total caseload to 68,664, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure was slightly up from a one-month low of 641 on Saturday, the fewest daily infections since Dec. 8, when the country add

An exhibition highlighting foreign critics and historians who have explored and documented Korean art is under way at a museum in central Seoul. "Homebound Journey: Non-Korean Researchers' Study of Korean Arts" is taking place at the Kimdaljin Art Archives and Museum in the central Seoul neighborhood of Jongno. The museum has curated an archive of foreigners who have studied Korean Art from the late Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) to modern day. The 100 items on display include books, exh

직장인 정모(34) 씨는 요즘 재택근무 기간이 길어지면서 인근 카페에서 아이스 아메리카노를 사 오는 것이 일과 중 하나가 됐다. 정씨는 "집에서 일을 보려니 집중하기가 쉽지 않아 차가운 음료를 먹고 정신을 차리곤 한다"며 "혼자 재택근무를 하기에는 아이스 커피가 제격"이라고 말했다. 한겨울에 따뜻한 커피 대신 아이스 커피가 인기를 끌고 있다. 10일 외식업계에 따르면 지난해 12월 스타벅스의 뜨거운 음료와 차가운 음료 판매 비중은 5대 5 정도로 집계됐다. 1년 전 6대 4에서 지금은 비슷해진 것이다. 통상 더운 여름에는 아이스 음료 판매 비중이 늘어나지만, 날씨가 추워지면 뜨거운 음료가 더 많이 팔리는 게 일반적이다. 그러나 이번 겨울에는 사회적 거리두기 강화로 카페 내 취식이 금지되고 포장·배달만 허용된 상황에서 고객들이 찬바람을 맞아 가며 굳이 아이스 음료를 포장해가는 일이 많아졌다. 매장 수로는 국내 1위 프랜차이즈인

North Korea has clarified the importance of powerful defense capabilities in containing military threats in its revised rules for the ruling Workers' Party, state media reported Sunday. The revision was adopted at the fifth-day session of the eighth party congress in Pyongyang on Saturday, a day after leader Kim Jong-un defined the United States as the country's "foremost principal enemy" and vowed to bolster its nuclear arsenal, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). &q

The unification ministry on Saturday said it has a firm determination to implement inter-Korean agreements, shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un accused the South of going against it at a rare party congress. 　 Kim made the remarks during the eighth congress of the ruling Workers‘ Party currently under way in Pyongyang, calling on Seoul to abide by the inter-Korean peace-building and tension-reduction deals and halt its joint military exercises with the United States. 　 “As

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called the United States the “biggest enemy” of his country, threatening to continue to advance its nuclear capabilities, state media said Saturday. 　 Kim added that Washington‘s policy against Pyongyang won’t change regardless of who rules the White House, saying that an end to its hostile stance will be the key to future relations between the two countries, according to the Korean Central News Agency. 　 Kim made the remarks reporting

A Navy officer was found dead Saturday after going missing while on duty aboard a patrol boat off the western border island of Baengnyeong, military authorities said. 　 The chief petty officer disappeared at around 10 p.m. on Friday in waters south of the island in the Yellow Sea, as the 450-ton patrol killer he was aboard was sailing for night guard operations, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). 　 After hours of search operations, the authorities found the man at around 10 a.m. Satur

South Korea‘s new coronavirus cases dropped to the lowest level in a month on Saturday, but authorities are vigilant over chains of cluster infections coupled with looming concerns over a COVID-19 variant. 　 　The country added 641 more COVID-19 cases, including 596 local infections, raising the total caseload to 67,999, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). 　 　It was the lowest daily figure since Dec. 8, when the country added 594 additional cases. The natio

  The South Korean baseball club Doosan Bears announced Friday they will bring back veteran shortstop Kim Jae-ho on a new three-year deal. The Korea Baseball Organization club said Kim has agreed to a three-year deal worth 2.5 billion won ($2.3 million). He'll make 1.6 billion won in salary and 900 million won in signing bonus. Kim, 35, became a free agent, for the second time, this winter. After debuting with the Bears in 2008, Kim first entered the open market in 2016 and re-signed wi