Navy holds commemorating ceremony ahead of 10th anniversary of Cheonan sinking

The Navy has held a memorial ceremony to honor dozens of sailors killed in North Korea's 2010 deadly sinking of a South Korean warship ahead of its 10th anniversary, the military said Tuesday. The warship Cheonan went down near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas, on March 26, 2010, killing 46 sailors. After an international probe, the South concluded that the sinking was caused by a torpedo attack by a North Korean submarine. On Monday, service membe

DefenseMarch 24, 2020

S. Korean daily box office drops to record low on Monday

The daily number of moviegoers in South Korea dropped to a record low out of fear of the novel coronavirus, data showed Tuesday. According to the data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), 25,873 people went to cinemas on Monday, the smallest daily figure since January 2004 when KOFIC started to compile local box office data. Due to the outbreak of the infectious COVID-19 virus, local movie theaters have been struggling with a sharp drop in ticket sales. A daily average of 64,000 people saw

FilmMarch 24, 2020

Trump calls to protect Asian Americans after virus uproar

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump called Monday for protection of Asian Americans after charges that his use of the term "Chinese virus" had aggravated a backlash. "It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world," Trump wrote on Twitter. "They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form. They are working closely with us to get rid

World NewsMarch 24, 2020

FM Kang discusses anti-virus efforts with Dutch counterpart

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke by phone with her Dutch counterpart, Stef Blok, Monday and discussed ways to cope with the global spread of the new coronavirus, her ministry said. 　 In the telephone talks, made at the Netherlands‘ request, Kang explained that although Korea has seen a marked decline in daily new infection cases, the country has been actively taking measures to prevent the inflow of COVID-19 from overseas and community transmission. 　 Blok praised Korea’s effec

Foreign AffairsMarch 23, 2020

China sends 1m surgical masks to S. Korea as anti-virus relief provision

China sent an additional one million surgical masks to South Korea on Monday, the Chinese Embassy in Seoul said, as part of efforts to help its neighbor cope with the novel coronavirus outbreak. 　 The stock, delivered from Shanghai, is the latest batch of relief goods Beijing has provided to Seoul via the Red Cross in support of its fight against the COVID-19. The previous relief supplies from China included 1 million medical masks, 100,000 N95 respirator masks and 10,000 items of protective

Social AffairsMarch 23, 2020

S. Korea calls on citizens to cancel or postpone overseas trips over coronavirus

South Korea issued a “special travel advisory” Monday calling on its citizens to cancel or postpone their trips abroad over the spread of the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry said. 　 The special travel advisory, effective as of Monday, applies to all countries except those that are already under higher alerts that call for withdrawal of citizens or are subject to a travel ban. It is valid for the next four weeks unless it is extended. 　 The special advisory also calls for peopl

Social AffairsMarch 23, 2020

[Graphic News] S. Korea’s exports of masks up 2,200% in Feb.

　South Korea’s exports of protective masks surged nearly 23-fold in February from a year earlier amid the global outbreak of the new coronavirus, data showed, although the volume is likely to plummet this month in line with the export ban. 　Outbound shipments of textile articles, which include masks, came to $157 million in February, up from $6.85 million a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association. It also more than doubled from $70 mil

BusinessMarch 23, 2020

OCN’s ‘Rugal’ dabbles in biotech action

Known for its action thriller dramas, cable channel OCN is expanding its horizon of genres with an upcoming sci-fi thriller “Rugal.” Based on a popular webcomic of the same title, “Rugal” is an action hero series revolving around a special organization of people whose body parts have been reformed and strengthened through biotechnology. Named Rugal, the organization fights against the country’s biggest and most notorious terrorist group Argos. “‘Rugal

TelevisionMarch 23, 2020

My time: How Jungkook’s time arrived in soulful R&B track

Though the lead single, “On,” made a splash with a surprise No. 4 debut on Billboard’s singles chart, two other songs from BTS’ latest album, “Map of the Soul: 7,” also made it into the Hot 100. “My Time” and “Filter” landed at No. 84 and No. 87, respectively. Jungkook’s solo track remains the highest-charting solo track from the group to date in the US -- a soulful R&B track with a modern finish in which the 22-year-old look

K-popMarch 23, 2020

New law to enhance protection of consumers from humidifier sanitizers

The Ministry of Environment said Monday it will proclaim a revision of the current law regulating humidifier sterilizers this week, seeking to expand the scope of diseases caused by the use of the chemical products and facilitate victims' lawsuits against their manufacturers. A revision of the Special Act on Remedy for Damage Caused by Humidifier Disinfectants will be proclaimed Tuesday before being enforced six months later, the ministry said. Under the revised law, people who become sick wi

PoliticsMarch 23, 2020

Casinos forgotten from government support despite annual tithe

Casinos have been left out from the government’s coronavirus relief loans despite their hefty contributions of 10 percent of sales every year. To support coronavirus-hit tourism and show business, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Wednesday last week had allocated 100 billion won ($79 million) for special loans from its Tourism Promotion Fund. Despite the casino industry being a majority donor for the funds and also suffering significantly from the virus spread, the loans

IndustryMarch 23, 2020

Moon against discussing permanent change in academic calendar, Cheong Wa Dae says

President Moon Jae-in expressed a negative view Monday about formally considering a change to South Korea's academic year in response to a call for a review of whether to introduce the autumn semester system. He said it's "not desirable to discuss" the issue in connection with the current situation, receiving a report from Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae, according to Cheong Wa Dae's deputy spokesman Yoon Jae-kwan. Yoo, who doubles as deputy prime minister for social affairs, briefed

PoliticsMarch 23, 2020

‘Experience from MERS made Korea’s COVID-19 test kits possible’

The outbreak and containment of the novel coronavirus in South Korea have drawn international attention to the country’s ready use of real-time polymerase chain reaction test kits. Korea has allowed for the emergency use of new RT-PCR kits, with which the nation is conducting around 10,000 tests daily at some 90 collaborating research labs, according to the Korean Society of Laboratory Medicine. In the month or so between Feb. 7 and March 10, over 350,000 tests were analyzed at private i

IndustryMarch 23, 2020

Celltrion promises production of trial coronavirus vaccine by end-July

Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin said Monday that the company will be ready to produce COVID-19 neutralizing antibodies by the end of July at the latest, at a capacity to cover 1 million people a month. The company’s researchers are currently working day and night without weekends, Seo said, saying that it may even be possible to begin human administration for clinical trials in mid-July. “It is our wish that Korea will become the first country to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine to th

IndustryMarch 23, 2020

[David Fickling] Looming fall of Gulf’s oil empire

For much of the world, oil wealth is a curse. Endowed with ample reserves of hydrocarbons, the likes of Nigeria, Angola, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Venezuela frittered the benefits away. Only in the Persian Gulf has oil been a nation-building blessing. The discoveries of petroleum in the mid-20th century turned an anarchic, desperately poor region into one of the most affluent places on the planet. Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are all richer than Switzerland. Even Saudi Arabia, Bahrai

ViewpointsMarch 23, 2020

[Stephen Mihm] Roosevelt’s public-private alliance can help beat virus

It would be charitable to describe the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic as sloppy and uncoordinated. Thankfully, there is a model for an epic national comeback. It dates back to the weeks following the attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941, when President Roosevelt created the War Production Board, one of the most dynamic public-private partnerships in history. The US entered World War II woefully unprepared. It possessed staggering economic power, but almost none

ViewpointsMarch 23, 2020

[Shin Hyun-gon] Overcome adversity, prepare to face new challenges　

The coronavirus outbreak is grabbing global headlines. It first appeared in Wuhan City, Hubei province, China, in December 2019 and spread to East and South Asia -- including South Korea, Japan and Singapore. In only three months, virus infections have spread to almost all countries and territories around the world -- Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. Many countries have tried to prevent travelers from coronavirus hot spots from entering with immigration and flight restrictions. But it

ViewpointsMarch 23, 2020

[News Focus] Are foreign investors behind stock market drop?

Amid the accelerating volatility of South Korea’s stock market, discontent is brewing over foreign investors, accused of being responsible with their rampant short selling. Short sellers, either institutional investors or foreign investors here, place bets on stocks that they think would fall in value. They sell borrowed shares in companies, and later repurchase them at lower prices to profit, which is called short covering. Short selling is often criticized for causing excessive pric

MarketMarch 23, 2020

Ministry official hints at possibility of imposing quarantine costs for arrivals from overseas

A foreign ministry official on Monday left open the possibility of a change in South Korea's policy to shoulder all coronavirus quarantine costs for people flying from overseas, as more countries quarantine inbound travelers at their own expense. The South Korean government has so far covered all the costs of its beefed-up quarantine program for both citizens and foreigners, fueling criticism that the efforts to curb imported infections could chip away at state coffers. "We are closely m

Foreign AffairsMarch 23, 2020