Moon vows support for proposed legislation on April 3 Jeju incident

President Moon Jae-in assured Jeju residents Friday that his administration would make every possible effort to legislate compensation for the victims and bereaved families of the April 3 massacre there seven decades ago. He was addressing an annual ceremony to commemorate the tragic incident, during which tens of thousands of civilians were killed by the authorities in a yearslong bloody crackdown on the southern island. They were protesting against US military-led rule following Korea's liber

PoliticsApril 3, 2020

S. Korea pushing to deploy Global Hawk aircraft this year

The Air Force is pushing to deploy its first advanced unmanned aircraft Global Hawk within this year, sources said Friday. South Korea brought in the RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) in December and has been working to put it in operation. A reconnaissance squadron was established in charge of the asset that month. "Related work for its operational deployment has been going on without a hitch," a military source said, adding that the exact time frame is subje

DefenseApril 3, 2020

Airlines call for immediate govt. support on bigger virus impact

South Korean airlines pressed the government Friday to take immediate action to help the financially troubled airline industry stay afloat amid the growing coronavirus impact. The Korea Civil Aviation Association (KCA) asked the government to offer massive low-rate loans, payment guarantees for airlines' corporate bonds and steep tax cuts to airlines as the airlines' self-rescue measures won't be of a big help in the unprecedented crisis. "The airline industry is collapsing, with 840,000

MobilityApril 3, 2020

Hana Bank, Woowa Brothers to create rating model based on online food orders

Restaurants available on delivery app Baedal Minjok will have a broader access to loans from a commercial bank, if they show proof that they were winning more online food delivery orders. This will be part of commitments in a memorandum of understanding by Korea’s mobile food delivery unicorn Woowa Brothers and commercial lender Hana Bank, Woowa Brothers said Friday. Under the MOU, the door-to-door food delivery company and the bank pledged to create a credit rating model that uses the

MarketApril 3, 2020

[Digital Simplicity] Mask up for yourself and others

When I got out of my apartment and took the elevator down to the first floor, I happened to stand with a neighbor who did not wear a face mask. I got a little nervous about his apparent violation of basic guidelines to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, but tried not to express such a feeling. But the thought of getting infected in an enclosed space made me feel uneasy during the brief elevator ride. Is this too much? Perhaps I overreacted a bit. But a number of people in South K

ViewpointsApril 3, 2020

Samsung to post relatively solid Q1 earnings despite coronavirus pandemic: analysts

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to post relatively solid earnings in the first quarter of the year despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, analysts here said Friday, as its chip business is likely to offset losses in the smartphone and consumer electronics sectors. Samsung, the world's largest memory chip and smartphone vendor, was expected to log 55.31 trillion won ($44.9 billion) in sales in the first three months of 2020, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier, while operating profit was est

IndustryApril 3, 2020

Seoul city to run taxis for int'l arrivals to contain virus

In its latest efforts to contain the new coronavirus, the Seoul city government said Friday that it has started providing taxis connecting Incheon International Airport to the city. The taxis drive passengers to health community centers near their homes or the Seoul Sports Complex in eastern Seoul, where a mass walk-through screening center will be set up, according to the Seoul metropolitan government. A total of 200 taxis are available from Terminal 1 and 2 of the main airport, west of Seoul

Social AffairsApril 3, 2020

USFK reports 2 additional virus cases, total at 17

Two American citizens working for the US Forces Korea tested positive for the coronavirus Friday, USFK said, bringing the total number of infections among its population to 17. One of the contractors works at Osan Air Base and the other at Camp Humphreys, both located in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, USFK said, adding that they are currently in isolation at their respective off-base residences. The first patient last visited the base on Wednesday, and authorities have conducted co

DefenseApril 3, 2020

Govt. unveils standard in sorting out emergency relief fund recipients over coronavirus

The government said Friday it will use health insurance premiums as a standard in deciding on the recipients of emergency disaster relief funds as it seeks to help households cope with the economic fallout of the coronavirus outbreak. In a one-off stimulus program, South Korea plans to offer 1 million won ($814) to four-person households in the bottom 70 percent income bracket. About 14 million households or 35 million people are expected to be granted the rare aid worth 9.1 trillion won total

Social AffairsApril 3, 2020

ADB trims S. Korea's growth outlook for 2020 amid virus pandemic

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday slashed its outlook for South Korea's economic growth for 2020 by 1 percentage point to 1.3 percent amid the new coronavirus pandemic. The ADB's latest downward revision hovers far below the 2020 growth outlook suggested by the Bank of Korea, which expects Asia's No. 4 economy to expand 2.1 percent this year, with a possibility of a further cut. The Manila-based lender had slashed South Korea's growth outlook by 0.1 percentage point in December. The

EconomyApril 3, 2020

Seoul city to take legal measure against virus rule-breaching church

The Seoul city government said Friday it plans to take legal action against members of a Protestant church for violating the city's administrative order not to hold mass gatherings to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. The metropolitan government plans to file complaints against two pastors and a lawyer who led Sarang Jeil Church's Sunday service, as well as those who attended, the government said in a press release. The church had been banned from hosting mass events after it was foun

Social AffairsApril 3, 2020

S. Korea speeds up supply of filters to boost mask production

South Korea said Friday it will supply around 10 tons of filters to mask producers to boost production of protective masks, which are in short supply due to the coronavirus pandemic. The filters, which will be enough to make at least 7 million protective masks, will be sent to 14 local mask producers, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. South Korea has imported 4.5 tons of filters, while another 5.7 tons have been produced by Toray Advanced Materials Korea Inc., an affilia

EconomyApril 3, 2020

500 North Koreans remain under coronavirus quarantine: state media

Around 500 people remain under coronavirus quarantine across North Korea, state media reported Friday, a sharp drop from some 2,280 people a week earlier as the communist nation keeps lifting the quarantine for people with no symptoms during the isolation period. North Korea has insisted it has no confirmed COVID-19 infections but has taken various anti-virus measures, including shutting down its border and putting thousands of people in isolation. The regime has said that preventing the virus

North KoreaApril 3, 2020

S. Korea’s virus tally tops 10,000, 74 days after first case reported

S. Korea’s coronavirus tally surpassed 10,000 on Friday, 74 days after the first case was reported. The country counted 86 new infections in the 24 hours to midnight Thursday, bringing the total accumulated cases of confirmed COVID-19 infections to 10,062, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Five more virus patients died. The death toll from the disease now stands at 174. Of the total 10,062, 6,021 are fully recovered. Of the 86 new infections, 42 were r

Social AffairsApril 3, 2020

Some 100 S. Koreans to return home from coronavirus-hit Morocco

About 100 South Koreans returned home from coronavirus-hit Morocco on Friday on a special flight that the North African nation arranged to transport medical items from South Korea. Morocco had originally planned to send a cargo plane to South Korea to pick up the medical supplies related to COVID-19, but King Mohammed VI agreed to switch to a passenger jet at Seoul's request so as to help South Koreans in the country return home, officials said. The Royal Air Maroc plane carrying 105 people,

Foreign AffairsApril 3, 2020

USFK commander strongly disputes N. Korea's claim of no coronavirus cases

The commander of US Forces Korea said Thursday he does not believe North Korea's claim that it has no coronavirus cases, according to CNN and Voice of America. "That is an impossible claim based on all of the intel we have seen," Gen. Robert Abrams said in a joint interview with the two US outlets in Seoul. "We're not going to reveal our sources and methods. (But) that is untrue. How many, I couldn't tell you." North Korea has said it has no cases of COVID-19 and boasted ab

North KoreaApril 3, 2020

Global coronavirus cases top 1 million as pandemic spreads

PARIS (AFP) -- The number of officially reported coronavirus cases worldwide topped the one million mark on Thursday, signifying a sharp acceleration in the number of infections and deaths over the past few weeks as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads exponentially. What do the latest figures tell us? At least 1,000,036 infections have been reported worldwide and 51,178 deaths, according to an AFP tally on Thursday at 1900 GMT. In the past seven days, as many new cases have been diagnosed

World NewsApril 3, 2020

Pakistan overturns Briton's death sentence in Daniel Pearl murder

A Pakistani court on Thursday overturned the death sentence for British-born militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was convicted 18 years ago in the kidnapping and beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl. Pearl's brutal murder sparked revulsion and an international outcry in early 2002, putting pressure on Pakistan's military government just as it was trying to remake its image following years of backing for the hardline Islamist Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan. Omar Sheikh's lawyer

World NewsApril 2, 2020

S. Korea halts overseas voting in 5 more countries

South Korea's election watchdog said Thursday it has decided to stop absentee voting for the April 15 parliamentary elections in five more overseas missions due to the coronavirus pandemic. The process will be suspended at Seoul's embassies in India, El Salvador and Oman, and two consulates in Russia and Iraq, according to the National Election Commission. Following the move, votes will not be cast at a total of 91 missions in 55 countries and territories. An estimated 87,252 voters will be

PoliticsApril 2, 2020

Trump casts doubt on Chinese coronavirus figures

President Donald Trump cast doubt on the accuracy of official Chinese figures on its coronavirus outbreak after US lawmakers, citing an intelligence report, accused Beijing of a cover up. "How do we know" if they are accurate, Trump asked at a press conference. "Their numbers seem to be a little bit on the light side." Trump insisted that "the relationship with China's a good one" and that he remained close to President Xi Jinping. However, controversy around Bei

World NewsApril 2, 2020