K-pop band BTOB's rapper Jung Il-hoon has left the group, the band's management agency said Thursday, one week after allegations of marijuana use came to light. "(The agency) decided to respect Jung's wish to leave BTOB in order not to inflict more damage on the group," CUBE Entertainment said. "Jung feels a sense of grave responsibility and deeply regrets breaking the trust of fans and letting them down," it added. Last week, police said they referred the 26-year-old rapp

A retired American service member and his spouse tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday. The individuals, who reside in the city of Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, developed symptoms consistent with the virus and were confirmed Wednesday to have been infected, according to USFK. They last visited Camp Humphreys in the city on Dec. 18 and are currently in isolation at a facility at the camp designated for COVID-19 patients, the command s

South Korean civilian workers and troops affiliated with the US Forces Korea (USFK) began getting COVID-19 vaccinations Thursday, the US military said, becoming the country's first citizens to get inoculated against the virus. The first shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for USFK members arrived in South Korea last week, and the command began administering its initial doses to front-line health care workers, first responders and its command team. Korean nationals affiliated with USFK, in

Output in South Korea's bio industry increased 16.2 percent in 2019 from the previous year on the back of robust growth of outsourced business, industry data showed Thursday. The value of output in the local bio industry was estimated at 12.32 trillion won ($11.36 billion) last year, compared with 10.48 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization. Noticeably, the value of outsourced services that include contract manufacturing organizat

President Moon Jae-in has tapped You Young-min, a former science and technology minister, as his new chief of staff, Cheong Wa Dae announced Thursday. You, known for his IT expertise from decades of experience in a related corporate sector, is succeeding Noh Young-min, who tendered his resignation the previous day following a two-year stint. Noh was quoted as saying that he wants to leave room for fresh momentum in Moon's presidency, which is facing a host of challenges from housing market ins

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Thursday for the government to "rectify" a recently legislated ban on sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets into North Korea, saying the law made South Korea a target of international human rights criticism. Ban made the call in his pre-released New Year's speech posted on his foundation's website, as US politicians and other critics voiced concerns that the ban could hurt freedom of expression and efforts to deliver outside information into th

South Korea's central bank will pay more attention to jobs in its monetary policy next year, Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Thursday, as the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the labor market. The BOK will "take into consideration the employment situation as an important factor of decisions in guiding monetary policy," Lee said in his New Year's address. Lee's remarks came amid growing calls for the BOK to have legal responsibility for the job market's stability in an econo

한류스타 박해진(37)이 올해 MBC 연기대상 주인공이 됐다. 배우 박해진은 30일 마포구 상암동 MBC공개홀에서 열린 '2020 MBC 연기대상'에서 '꼰대인턴' 가열찬 역으로 데뷔 이후 첫 번째 대상 트로피를 안았다. 박해진은 수상 소감에서 "이 상을 받아도 될지 모르겠다. 어깨가 무겁다. 2008년 MBC에서 신인상을 받은 후 12년 만에 MBC에서 작품을 하게 됐는데 이런 큰 상을 주셔서 감사하다"고 말했다. 그러면서 "'꼰대인턴'은 촬영장 가는 게 매일 기대될 정도로 고맙고 따뜻한 작품이었다"며 "두 번 다시 받을 수 있을지 모를 이 상을 한 가지 소원과 맞바꿀 수 있다면 우리의 소중한 일상을 되찾고 싶다"고 밝혔다. MBC는 올해 시청률로 보나 화제 몰이 수준으로 보나 '흉작'에 가까웠기 때문에 시상식도 상대적으로 힘이 빠졌다. 작품성을 인정받은 '꼰대인턴'과 '카이로스' 정도가 주요 상을 나눠 가졌다. 전날 열

South Korea was struggling to contain the spread of highly pathogenic bird flu among local poultry farms as the number of such cases reached nearly 40 on Thursday, but the influx of migratory birds continued to strain the antivirus fight. The latest highly contagious H5N8 strain of bird flu was found from a duck farm in Gimpo, just north of Seoul, on the previous day, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Among the 37 farm-related cases reported so far, 10 came from

The unification ministry said Thursday it will allow North Korea aid groups to receive state financial support multiple times a year in an effort to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the impoverished nation. Currently, local nongovernmental organizations providing aid to the North can each receive financial support from the ministry once a year. The aid groups are also required to self-finance at least 50 percent of the costs for projects subject to state support. The ministry said it has

South Korea will be able to develop its own COVID-19 vaccine late next year, in addition to foreign products to be shipped here in the near future, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Thursday. He was speaking in public at the outset of an interagency meeting on the virus response. "(The government) will be able to introduce a COVID-19 vaccine, which we are developing independently, to the people around the end of next year," he said during the session held at the government office co

An Army officer and two civilian workers for the military tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. The Army officer stationed in the city of Incheon, west of Seoul, contracted the virus after coming into contact with a citizen confirmed later to have the virus, according to the ministry. One civilian officer working at an Army base in the southeastern city of Daegu and the other worker for the Navy tested positive after taking tests as a preventive step, the

South Korea's total COVID-19 caseload broke the 60,000 mark on Thursday as new cases have been rising at an alarming pace despite tougher virus curbs put in place ahead of the year-end holiday season. New cases stood at 967 earlier in the day to raise the total to 60,740, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), surpassing the threshold 11 months after the nation's first confirmed case on Jan. 20. A total of 900 people have died from the highly infectious virus. It

South Korean insurance companies saw their financial health improve in the third quarter as more profits and share price gains bolstered capital, data showed Thursday. The risk-based capital (RBC) ratio of local insurance firms stood at 283.9 percent at end-September, up 7.5 percentage points from three months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Their RBC ratio rose for the second consecutive quarter in the July-September period on the back of greater e

South Korea and Japan are expected to inaugurate their new ambassadors to Tokyo and Seoul, respectively, next month after they recently endorsed each other's designations, multiple sources said Thursday. Last week, Tokyo gave diplomatic consent to Seoul's designation of Kang Chang-il, a former four-term ruling party lawmaker, while its nomination of Koichi Aiboshi, the current ambassador to Israel, has also been endorsed by Seoul, the sources said. The diplomatic green light came as Seoul seek

Coronavirus cases tied to a Seoul detention center rose by 126 on Thursday, sending the total to over 900, while another inmate died of COVID-19 complications at a separate facility. The justice ministry said 126 inmates at Dongbu Detention Center in southeastern Seoul tested positive during the prison's fourth mass testing Wednesday, bringing the total to 918, including 21 staff members. No additional workers tested positive this round. At Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, 25 kilometers south

Cash-strapped Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. has improved its financial health this year by selling new shares and assets and receiving financial help from its holding company Doosan Corp. and key shareholders, a local rating appraiser said Thursday. "Doosan Heavy has been improving its financial status and reducing its debts on the back of Doosan Group's self-rescue plan," NICE Investors Service said in its report. The rating agency retained Doosan Heavy's long-term

South Korea said Thursday it will decide this week whether to raise the social distancing scheme to the highest level or maintain the current second-highest measures amid no signs of a letup in the coronavirus resurgence. The country's new virus infections fell below 1,000 Thursday for the first time in three days but the level of new cases remains still high due mainly to cluster infections from churches, private gatherings and other facilities. The country added 967 more COVID-19 cases, incl

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. was the second-biggest supplier of electric vehicle (EV) batteries in the first 11 months of the year following China's CATL, a market research firm said Thursday. LG Energy Solution, which spun off from LG Chem Ltd. earlier this month, shipped 26.4 gigawatt-hour (GWh) equivalents of EV batteries in the January-November period, accounting for 22.6 percent of the global market, according to the data by SNE Research. China's CATL supplied 24.4 G

North Korean delegates participating in an upcoming congress of the ruling Workers' Party have gathered in Pyongyang and were awarded certificates, state media said Thursday, raising the possibility that the meeting could take place as early as this week. The upcoming session, which will be the first party congress in four years, has drawn keen attention as the North is expected to unveil a new economic development plan and could announce its new policy line on the United States and South Korea