Female US soldier stationed in Pyeongtaek dead, cause unknown

An American soldier stationed in South Korea was found dead in her barracks room last week, the US military said Tuesday. Private First Class Marissa Jo Gloria was found unresponsive in her room at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on Saturday and pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical personnel, according to the 2nd Infantry Division. The cause of her death is under investigation, the military said, though officials said they do not believe her death has

Social AffairsMarch 24, 2020

Business loans soar in March amid looming coronavirus recession

As the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to cause an economic contraction worldwide, South Korean conglomerates, the main locomotives of the nation’s economy, are increasingly borrowing money from banks in a bid to improve liquidity, according to data Tuesday. The loan balance of Korean conglomerates at five banks -- KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank and NH Bank -- came in at 78.7 trillion won ($62.9 billion) as of Friday, up 1.78 trillion won from late February. T

MarketMarch 24, 2020

Samsung, LG to send engineers to Vietnam upon govt. permission

Affiliates of Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics will send a total of 430 engineers to Vietnam in order to support their plants’ operations there, as the Vietnamese government has decided to exempt Korean staff from its two-week quarantine policy, according to industry sources Tuesday. Samsung Display will dispatch 180 engineers via a chartered flight from Asiana Airlines to Bac Ninh in northern Vietnam on Saturday, a source said. The engineers will stay in a quarantine facility e

TechnologyMarch 24, 2020

New albums to warm up K-pop scene hit by coronavirus

K-pop concerts, showcases and various other promotional events have been canceled due to the spreading of the new coronavirus. But that does not mean the industry is at a total standstill. Many established and rising K-pop artists, including Kang Daniel and EXO leader Suho, are ready to drop new albums in coming weeks to warm up the scene hit by the virus, according to their management agencies. Kang's first EP, "CYAN," is set for release Tuesday evening, officially bringing him bac

K-popMarch 24, 2020

NK’s foreign currency income likely to shrink over virus spread

North Korea’s foreign currency income looks set to shrink this year, as the coronavirus halts Chinese tourism, one of the few remaining legitimate sources of hard currency for the cash-strapped regime, a Seoul-based think tank said in its latest report. Pyongyang, which closed its borders with Beijing to contain COVID-19, has long relied on tens of thousands of its people working in China, Russia and elsewhere to send dollars back home, but many workers have been sent back because of UN s

North KoreaMarch 24, 2020

Financial support to NGOs for anti-virus cooperation possible if N. Korea agrees: official

Local non-government organizations can receive government financial support for coronavirus-related North Korea aid projects if they have an agreement with Pyongyang, a unification ministry official said Tuesday. The remark came amid hopes for resuming aid projects in North Korea after US President Donald Trump expressed an intention to help with Pyongyang's fight against the coronavirus in a recent personal letter to leader Kim Jong-un. "We have established regulations on humanitarian a

North KoreaMarch 24, 2020

Asiana Airlines to extend unpaid leave of absence

With the coronavirus spread clipping the wings of the South Korean aviation industry, Asiana Airlines has decided to take stringent measures to further tighten its belt. The air carrier has extended the unpaid leave of absence for all employees to 15 days at the least from April, compared to 10 days this month. This would leave it operating with half of the workforce for the time being. Executives will also have their wages slashed by 60 percent, an additional 10 percent cut. “We wil

IndustryMarch 24, 2020

BLACKPINK's 'Ddu-du Ddu-du' tops 1.1b YouTube views

The music video of K-pop girl band BLACKPINK's 2018 song "Ddu-du Ddu-du" topped 1.1 billion YouTube views Tuesday, the strongest YouTube feat yet by a K-pop band. The sensationally popular song achieved the feat in one year and nine months after its official release in June 2018. That makes "Ddu-du Ddu-du" the most-watched YouTube music video by a K-pop band, as well as the only music video by a K-pop band that topped the 1 billion YouTube view milestone. BLACKPINK is

K-popMarch 24, 2020

USFK employee tests positive for virus, total at 10

A US citizen working for US Forces Korea (USFK) has tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of USFK-related infection cases to 10, the military said Tuesday. The COVID-19 patient, who works at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, is now in isolation at his off-base residence as directed by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), USFK said, adding he last visited the base Friday. "KCDC and USFK are actively conduc

DefenseMarch 24, 2020

With season canceled, basketball coaches rue loss of championship duel

With their season canceled on Tuesday due to the coronavirus outbreak, two coaches tied at the top of the Korean Basketball League (KBL) standings were at a loss for words. "I don't know if I should be congratulated for finishing in first place," said DB Promy head coach Lee Sang-beom, whose team ended up with a 28-15 record identical to the SK Knights. "We didn't win a championship after all." Indeed, the KBL, as it announced the cancellation of the remainder of the regul

More SportsMarch 24, 2020

Hanjin KAL appeals to shareholders to vote for current chairman

Hanjin KAL, the holding company of Hanjin Group that owns the country’s largest airline Korean Air, said Tuesday that it would ask shareholders to make the “wise decision” to vote for a current Chairman Cho Won-tae to retain his top seat.  The vote will take place during the shareholders meeting slated for Friday. Hanjin KAL said in a statement that as the global aviation industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, Korean Air faces an “unprecedented crisis

MobilityMarch 24, 2020

Hyundai Glovis launches cloud-based used car auction system

Hyundai Glovis said Tuesday that it has launched the first noncontact used car auction system by integrating information at different centers into one cloud server. The system, called “Autobell smart auction,” offers three times more sales items than other used car dealers, the supply chain management unit of Hyundai Motor Group said. It combines auction data in a cloud server gathered from its auction centers in Bundang, Sihwa in Gyeonggi Province and Yangsan in South Gyeongsang P

MobilityMarch 24, 2020

S. Korean baseball season pushed further back to late April

The South Korean baseball league decided Tuesday to postpone the start of the 2020 season even further to late April, with its hope of beginning in the middle of next month dashed by the coronavirus pandemic. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said the new season will not begin before April 20, following a three hour-plus meeting with a board of governors, made up of 10 club presidents. The new regular season was slated to begin this Saturday, but the COVID-19 outbreak forced the KBO to de

BaseballMarch 24, 2020

[Contribution] In confronting COVID-19, US and Korea are stronger together

A crisis always reveals a nation’s true character and strength. In the case of their response to the emergency caused by COVID-19, the people and government of the South Korea won praise from around the world for their collective resilience and collaboration. As the first country outside of China to face a major outbreak of COVID-19, Korea’s response was rapid, smart and effective. Through innovative drive-thru testing, rapid diagnosis and transparent information sharing, Korea h

IndustryMarch 24, 2020

KT teams up with government to develop AI-based healthcare system

Korean telecommunications firm KT has teamed up with ministries here to develop an artificial intelligence-based health care system that could track the novel coronavirus spread, the company said Tuesday. In the research project led by the ICT Ministry and Ministry of Interior and Safety, KT will offer cellular data, which can be used to generate maps that could allow authorities to understand how populations move, as well as how the virus spreads. The data will only be used in a closed datab

TechnologyMarch 24, 2020

LSIS changes name to LS Electric

LS Industrial Systems said Tuesday it will change its name to LS Electric and accelerate the expansion of its global business. The South Korean electric power and automation equipment provider has retained the name LSIS since 2005 after previously being known as LG Industrial Systems. The firm separated from LG Group in 2003. LS Electric said the change reflected the company’s strong commitment to strengthening its global business and customer-centered management. “(The name) I

IndustryMarch 24, 2020

Korean firms buy back shares amid coronavirus crisis

With South Korea’s stock market staring at a prolonged bearish phase amid the coronavirus spread, major conglomerates have begun to buy back their own shares to reassure fleeing investors. Over the past two months, Korean stocks have crumbled and major firms have lost their market value by a third. To assure investors, major listed firms have decided to either buy or cancel their treasury stocks. The nation’s largest steelmaker Posco said Tuesday Chairman Choi Jung-woo and 51 ex

IndustryMarch 24, 2020

Samsung shuts factory in Brazil amid rapid virus spread

Samsung Electronics is shutting down one of its factories in Brazil as the novel coronavirus is rapidly spreading across the Latin American country, according to the company on Tuesday. Samsung is closing the smartphone and home appliance manufacturing facilities in Manaus in the north of Brazil from Tuesday through Sunday in support of the Brazilian government’s efforts to contain the virus spread, the company said. Another factory in Campinas, in the state of Sao Paulo, is running a

TechnologyMarch 24, 2020

German business community donates over W1b for coronavirus relief

The Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Tuesday that donations amounting to 1.06 billion won ($84,300) have been made by 14 German companies and eight individual members to support those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak here. According to KGCCI, the proceeds have been donated directly or via the Korea Red Cross, Hope Bridge Korea Disaster and Community Chest of Korea to provide hospitals, disaster response facilities as well as self-isolated people and vulnerable low-income f

IndustryMarch 24, 2020

Samsung introduces all-in-one power ICs for wireless earbuds

Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday introduced the industry's first all-in-one power management integrated circuits (PMIC) for wireless earbuds. The South Korean tech giant said its MUA01 and MUB01 PMICs will allow companies to manufacture true wireless stereo (TWS) devices with "greater flexibility." "Samsung was able to integrate up to 10 discrete components into one, including switching chargers and discharge circuits, enabling the PMICs to occupy less than half the space co

TechnologyMarch 24, 2020