Online shopping in South Korea grew 20 percent in October from a year earlier as the new coronavirus outbreak prompted people to buy goods via e-commerce platforms, data showed Thursday. The value of online transactions stood at 14.2 trillion won ($12.9 billion) in October, compared with 11.9 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The use of online shopping has been on the rise this year amid the pandemic as people refrained from visiting offline stores on

South Korea's won currency surged to a 30-month high against the US dollar Thursday and broke a key psychological level, buoyed by optimism over US stimulus talks and developments of coronavirus vaccines. The won was quoted at 1,097.00 won per US dollar at Thursday's closing, up 3.8 won from the previous session's close. It was the strongest level since June 14, 2018, when the risk-sensitive currency closed at 1,083.10 won against the US dollar. The won also broke the key psychological leve

JYP Entertainment's new girl group NiziU has landed at No. 1 on Japan's Oricon music chart with its debut single album, the company said Thursday. The nine-piece group's album "Step and a Step" topped the daily CD single chart on the Oricon, according to the agency. The album, released on Wednesday, includes the lead track "Step and a Step," written by JYP chief and K-pop guru Park Jin-young, as well as the pre-debut track "Make You Happy." "Make You Happy&q

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Thursday it has clinched a 100 billion won ($91 million) order to build two liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers from a Liberian company. The 40,000-cubic meter LPG carriers to be built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., a unit of Korea Shipbuilding, will be delivered from the second half of 2022, Korea Shipbuilding said in an emailed statement. The company also said it is in talks with the Liberian company for an additional order of the sa

The military reported seven new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday. Four enlisted soldiers -- two each from the border counties of Yeoncheon and Cheorwon -- tested positive while in quarantine after cluster infections were reported at their units, while another enlistee based in the eastern city of Wonju was confirmed to have the virus upon returning from vacation, according to the defense ministry. In addition, an officer based at another Army unit in Yeoncheon and an officer based in Buche

Those who engage in sex trafficking of children or youths below the age of 16 will face tougher punishment in South Korea. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Thursday that the revised act on the protection of children and juveniles against sexual abuse passed at the parliament the previous day. According to the law revision, purchasing sex from minors or inducing them to engage in prostitution will result in an additional penalty of up to 10 years in prison or a fine of 50 million

Shares in Samsung Electronics Co. continued to surge on the Seoul bourse Thursday on the back of rosy outlook for its semiconductor business. Samsung shares advanced 0.29 percent to close at a new all-time high of 69,700 won ($63). During the session, Samsung shares surpassed the 70,000-won mark for the first time, reaching as high as 70,500 won at one point. Shares in Samsung have been skyrocketing recently with massive foreign buying on expectations of a big boom in the chip industry next y

South Korea on Thursday confirmed another case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in wild birds, with local authorities raising their guard against its transmission into poultry farms. The latest case came from wild birds in Buan, 280 kilometers south of Seoul in North Jeolla Province, raising the total bird flu cases here since October to 13, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The country is currently carrying out investigations on droppings of wild birds gath

The US-led United Nations Command (UNC) on Thursday rebutted allegations that it blocked South Korea's attempt to send antiviral medication to North Korea last year. South Korea tried to send 200,000 doses of Tamiflu to the North in early 2019 as a follow-up on an agreement between their leaders to closely cooperate in fighting the spread of infectious diseases. But the plan never materialized. In a recent media interview, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung said the influenza medication coul

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Thursday on valuation pressure, after the benchmark index closed at an all-time high the previous session despite the new coronavirus concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.45 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,676.35 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks traded choppy, with strong advances by chipmakers offset by institutional and foreign selling. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.2 percent to 29,8

South Korea plans to nurture 100,000 talented individuals in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector by 2025 by supporting related graduate schools and colleges centering on software development, the finance minister said Thursday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki also said the country plans to spend more than 23 billion won ($21 million) next year to support software firms' marketing in and forays into overseas markets. "Through AI-related graduate schools and colleges focusing on software d

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea rose 7.5 percent in November from a year earlier due to strong demand for German cars, an industry association said Thursday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 27,436 units last month from 25,514 a year earlier despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. From January to November, foreign carmakers sold 243,440 autos, up 13 percent from 214,780 in the

The music video of "Idol," K-pop superstar BTS' 2018 hit song, has surpassed 800 million views on YouTube, its agency said Thursday. The video reached the milestone at around 6:14 p.m. Wednesday, just a day after the BTS music video "MIC Drop (Steve Aoki Remix) topped 800 million views, according to Big Hit Entertainment. Big Hit said the 2018 song has exceeded 900 million views when including another version of the "Idol" music video featuring American pop star Nicki

President Moon Jae-in's job approval rating has fallen to a record low of 37.4 percent, a poll showed Thursday, with a rift between the justice minister and the top prosecutor deepening and housing prices in major areas continuing to rise. Public approval for the ruling Democratic Party (DP) also dropped to 28.9 percent, the lowest since the launch of the Moon administration in May 2017, while that of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) rose to 31.2 percent, according to Realmeter. Th

Tizen, a Linux-based operating system developed by Samsung Electronics Co. and Intel Corp., is the world's largest TV streaming platform, a report showed Thursday, thanks to Samsung's robust smart TV sales in the third quarter of the year. Tizen accounted for 12.5 percent of connected TV devices in use, beating other platforms like LG's WebOS, Sony PlayStation, Roku TV OS, Amazon's Fire TV OS and Google's Android TV to top the global TV streaming platform market, according to industry tracker

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 500 for the second consecutive day Thursday as locally transmitted cases continued to pile up across the country, further raising concerns over a bigger wave of the pandemic in the winter season. The country added 540 more COVID-19 cases, including 516 local infections, raising the total caseload to 35,703, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The capital city of Seoul accounted for 26

North Korea has been enforcing tougher antivirus measures in Pyongyang since the capital was recently put on the highest level of alert against the global coronavirus pandemic, according to state media. "Preventive efforts to block the inflow of the vicious virus into Pyongyang have been under way in a more proactive manner," the state-run Korean Central Broadcasting station said. All people entering through the Mankyongdae region, a western gateway to Pyongyang, should get their tem

WASHINGTON -- The incoming US administration will need to quickly make a decision about how it will deal with North Korea to have a better chance of engagement, a former US diplomat said Wednesday. Kurt Campbell, former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, also insisted the new administration under Joe Biden would have to send an "early signal" to the North. "There are always areas of unpredictabilities and, generally speaking, at the top of that list

가수 이찬원이 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나19) 확진 판정을 받았다. 이찬원의 매니지먼트를 대행하는 뉴에라프로젝트는 이찬원이 3일 오전 코로나19 확진 판정을 받았다며 "즉시 자가격리에 들어갔으며 방역 당국의 지침에 따라 필요한 조치를 하고 있다"고 이날 밝혔다. 뉴에라는 "이찬원 관계인들 역시 코로나19 검사를 진행하고 있으며 일부는 이미 검사를 완료하고 자가격리 중"이라며 "즉시 모든 활동을 중단하고 충분히 안전한 상황이 확보될 때까지 방역당국의 지침을 따라 사회적 책임을 다할 것"이라고 말했다. 이어 "아티스트 관리에서 부족했던 점에 대하여 매니지먼트 담당자로서 송구하다는 말씀을 드린다"고 사과했다. 이찬원은 TV 조선 '미스터트롯' 3위인 미(美) 출신으로, 현재 '뽕숭아학당' 등 방송가에서 활약하고 있다. (연합뉴스)

WASHINGTON -- North Korea continues to develop its nuclear and long-range missile capabilities, but so are South Korea and the United States to deter provocations, the top US military officer said Wednesday. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, also noted the communist state may stage military provocations but said the allies are fully ready and capable to deal with any provocation. "It is also true that North Korea has advanced their nuclear weapon and missile deli