SEOUL/SUWON -- An elderly South Korean man, who recently returned from Britain, has posthumously tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Sunday, prompting authorities to look into whether he contracted a new variant fast spreading in the European nation. The man in his 80s had remained in self-quarantine at home in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, after arriving from Britain on Dec. 13. He passed away Saturday morning at a hospital after experiencing cardiac arrest. Samples from the man's body

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Sunday 42 large business groups earned a combined 1.42 trillion won ($1.29 billion) by selling brand licenses to their affiliates last year amid concerns conglomerate owners could glean profits from such transactions. The 2019 tally marked a 7.6 percent rise from the previous year's 1.32 trillion won, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). Of 64 business groups that are required to disclose such data, 42 conglomerates, or 65.6 percent, raised

South Korea's medicine regulator said Sunday it will shorten an approval process of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, as the nation signed deals to import coronavirus vaccines amid the winter wave of the pandemic. It usually takes about 180 days for a vaccine to be approved under a standard licensing procedure, but the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it aims to shorten the approval process to as low as 40 days due to the pandemic's urgency. In South Korea, a vaccine must win additional a

The military will provide vegetarian and Muslim enlistees with a vegan diet excluding any meat and ham starting next year, the defense ministry said Sunday. From February, prospective draftees will be asked to mark if they are a vegetarian when they take physical examinations, the ministry said. Two columns marked as "vegetarian" in both Korean and English will be available on the form. Such personal information will be sent to the unit that the enlistees will serve in, allowing for

이탈리아 폼페이에서 고대 로마 시대 서민들이 요기하던 간이 식당이 세상에 모습을 드러냈다. 폼페이 유적을 보존·관리하는 폼페이고고학공원은 2천 년 전 거리 음식을 팔던 간이 식당 유적을 발굴해 26일(현지시간) 언론에 공개했다. 이번에 발굴된 유적에서 가장 눈에 띄는 것은 색감과 이미지 형태가 생생하게 살아있는 벽화다. 판매대로 짐작되는 곳의 벽면에는 오리와 수탉, 목줄로 묶인 개, 해마를 타는 바다의 님프(그리스·로마 신화에 나오는 여신 또는 요정) 등이 그려져 있다. 이 가운데 그림으로 표현된 동물은 음식 재료로 쓰인 것들로 파악된다. 아울러 생선과 고기를 넣어 만든 '파에야'류와 새끼염소, 돼지, 소, 달팽이, 콩을 갈아 넣은 와인 등 당시 먹던 음식의 잔재가 묻은 여러 도기 항아리도 발굴돼 눈길을 끈다. 고대 로마 시대 간이 식당은 주로 하층민들이 저렴한 비용으로 간단하게 한 끼를 해결하던 곳으로 알려져 있다. 폼페이 등에서는 지금까지 8

South Korea issued a 24-hour standstill order on Sunday on all poultry farms across the country following a series of highly pathogenic bird flu cases. Until Sunday, all poultry farms and livestock production facilities, including their vehicles and personnel, will be subject to the movement ban, with disinfection work to be carried out during the period, authorities said. It was the second time this month that a nationwide standstill order was issued over bird flu cases. On Dec. 12, a 48-hour

SEJONG -- South Korea will offer relief grants of up to 3 million won ($2,700) for small business owners hit by the new coronavirus outbreak, ruling party and government officials said Sunday. The decision on the country's third round of emergency relief package was reached during a high-level policy discussion between officials from Cheong Wa Dae, the government and the ruling party at the National Assembly. After the meeting, the ruling party announced the decision to offer 1 million won to

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,000 on Sunday, mainly due to less testing over the weekend, as the government is considering whether to raise social distancing rules to the highest level to contain the winter wave of the virus. The country added 970 more COVID-19 cases, including 946 local infections, raising the total caseload to 56,872, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally marked a decline from 1,132 cases Saturday, 1,241 cases

The defense ministry is in talks with related authorities to see if South Korean Army troops assigned to the US Forces Korea (USFK) can get the COVID-19 vaccine shipped from America for its soldiers here, officials said Saturday. A cargo plane carrying Moderna's vaccine arrived in South Korea on Friday from Memphis, in the first shipment of vaccines to be administered to American troops and citizens here. The shipment was delivered to Allgood Army Community Hospital inside Camp Humphreys, the

South Korea reported more than 1,100 daily new coronavirus cases on Saturday, despite all-out efforts to lower the curve of infections with the toughest distancing rules yet in place. The country reported 1,132 more COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, including 1,104 local infections, putting the total caseload at 55,902, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally is slightly lower than Saturday's new record high of 1,241. The death toll rose by 20 to 79

The first shipment of US biotech company Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for American troops arrived in South Korea on Friday. It is the first coronavirus vaccine that has been brought into the country. A cargo plane of US delivery company FedEx Corp. carrying the vaccine landed at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, from Memphis at around 12:54 p.m., according to the airport authority. The shipment, believed to be 1,000 doses of the vaccine, was being transported to Allgood Army Communi

Mexico has agreed to increase its import quota of South Korean cold-rolled steel products, South Korea's foreign ministry said Friday. Last month, Mexico said it will import 662,000 tons of cold-rolled steel sheets in 2023, up from 548,000 tons in 2019, according to the ministry. The move came after South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Gunn made the request for an import quota hike of cold-rolled steel sheets during his visit to the Latin American country in October. Cold-rolled sheets a

President Moon Jae-in apologized to the nation Friday for causing "inconvenience and confusion" over the top prosecutor's suspension and subsequent reinstatement by a court. Moon said he "respects" the court's decision Thursday to return Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl to his post, according to presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok. Yoon won an injunction against the justice ministry's decision to suspend him for two months over a series of alleged misdeeds, including sur

  The Dongbu Detention Center in eastern Seoul reported 288 new cases of the coronavirus in its second mass outbreak, bringing the total number of infections linked to the facility nationwide to 514, the justice ministry said Friday. In its second mass testing on Wednesday, the prison found 286 cases among prisoners and two infected staff members, according to the ministry. A total of 2,021 prisoners and 416 staff members took part in the tests. Former President Lee Myung-bak, who has be

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases hit a new record high on Friday, despite the most stringent social distancing rules to contain the winter wave of the virus. South Korea reported 1,241 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,216 local infections, raising the total caseload to 54,770, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally marked a hike from 985 on Thursday, according the public health agency. The hike is mainly blamed on 288 new cases at Dongbu Detent

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday it will maintain an accommodative monetary policy next year to help the nation's economic recovery from the pandemic, but it will closely watch the side-effects of monetary easing. "Under the direction of its monetary policy in 2021, the Bank of Korea will maintain the easing stance of its monetary policy to support the recovery in growth and to ensure the rise in consumer prices will be stabilized at around the target level," the BOK said in a stat

Temporary testing centers in the greater Seoul area detected 121 asymptomatic coronavirus cases in a day, or 10 percent of all locally transmitted infections, the health authorities said Friday. According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, 60,931 tests were carried out at the temporary screening facilities Thursday, and 121 came back positive, equivalent to 10 percent of the day's 1,216 local infections. The facilities have detected a total of 1,025 positive cases since they first o

South Korea staged an annual military exercise on and around its easternmost islets of Dokdo earlier this month, sources said Friday. The drill, which took place on Dec. 4, involved the Navy and the Coast Guard and was held on a smaller scale than previous drills, given the coronavirus pandemic and other factors, according to the military and government sources. The Air Force and the Marines did not take part in the drill this time, they added. The defense ministry and the Navy refused to of

South Korea reported 1,241 daily cases of the coronavirus in a new record high for the country, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Friday. Chung made the remark during a government COVID-19 pandemic response meeting, calling on health authorities and local governments to respond "strictly" to violations of social distancing rules. "A joint government monitoring team found through onsite inspections that there were still many places that were not following the antivirus measures

South Korean stocks broke the 2,800 mark for the first time Thursday to close at an all-time high, as the country's additional deals to purchase COVID-19 vaccines boosted hopes for a faster-than-expected economic recovery. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 47.04 points, or 1.7 percent, to close at 2,806.86. Trading volume was moderate at about 1 billion shares worth some 20 trillion won ($18.1 billion), with gainers outnumbe