Samsung clinches 5G deal with New Zealand’s biggest mobile carrier

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has clinched a 5G network supply deal with New Zealand’s largest mobile carrier Spark. The South Korean tech giant said it will help establish Spark’s 5G network later this year with its latest new radio solutions -- including slim and lightweight massive multiple-input and multiple-output units. The equipment provides carriers with more flexible and scalable solutions that are simple and cost-effective to deploy, to accelerate commercial 5G

TechnologyMarch 5, 2020

S-Oil CEO donates W500m to help combat coronavirus outbreak

S-Oil said Thursday its chief executive has donated 500 million won ($421,440) to a local disaster relief organization to help people hit by the coronavirus outbreak. Hussain Al-Qahtani, who was appointed as the company’s new CEO last June, made the donation to Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association. “As Koreans are facing difficult times due to the virus spread, S-Oil has decided to share the pain and participate in the national efforts to overcome the crisis,” he sa

IndustryMarch 5, 2020

Shinsegae to spend W900b to help small suppliers amid outbreak

Shinsegae Group is set to provide a total of 900 billion won ($758 million) to help small and medium-sized business partners that are struggling as a result of the new coronavirus outbreak. Shinsegae Department Store and E-Mart decided to pay about 800 billion won in advance to some 5,000 small and medium-sized suppliers to help them remain stable at a time of plunging sales. Shinsegae TV Shopping also plans to pay its smaller partner companies 25 billion won in advance. The department store

IndustryMarch 5, 2020

Australia to impose entry ban on people from Korea on Thursday

Australia plans to impose a temporary entry ban on foreigners from South Korea on Thursday, the country's embassy in Seoul said, as the number of COVID-19 infections here reached 5,766. Seoul's foreign ministry voiced "strong regrets" over the measures that it claimed came without sufficient prior consultations, officials said, stressing its all-out efforts to contain the novel coronavirus. Shortly before Australia's official announcement on the measures, Australian Ambassador to So

Foreign AffairsMarch 5, 2020

Seoul to further boost content, 'hallyu' in 2020 after BTS, 'Parasite' win big

After historic global successes by South Korean movie "Parasite" and K-pop band BTS, South Korea will focus on further nurturing local creativity and the global sales of Korean cultural content in 2020, the culture ministry said Thursday. To meet the policy direction, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will pour a total of 1.69 trillion won ($1.42 billion) into assistance funds to help local content creators better finance their projects, including an 80 billion-won venture

CultureMarch 5, 2020

Hyundai unveils images of next-generation G80

Hyundai Motor Group on Thursday unveiled images of its luxury brand Genesis’ third-generation G80. The new G80 comes back in seven years. It is Genesis’ flagship model since 2008 when it was launched. An accumulated 210,000 units of G80 have been sold in the local market as of 2019.  Genesis Design Center chief Lee Sang-yub said that the latest G80 has been designed under the concept “athletic elegance,” putting its representative design features such as quad lamp

MobilityMarch 5, 2020

Big firms join 'social-distancing' drive amid virus crisis

Big businesses in South Korea are introducing more "social-distancing" measures to help contain the disruptive coronavirus outbreak, sources said Thursday. It comes as the government has proposed a social-distancing drive to slow the fast spread of the pneumonia-causing disease, seeing the next couple of weeks as a turning point for containing it. Social distancing refers to a series of tactics designed to keep people from gathering in large crowds, including working from home, can

IndustryMarch 5, 2020

[News Focus] South Korea’s population dips by 6,800 in 3 months

SEJONG -- South Korea continued to post a negative growth in population in February -- for an unprecedented third consecutive month. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the nation’s population declined by 2,882 as of February, compared to a month earlier, to post 51.844 million. The pace of negative growth has increased since the nation entered the era of population decline in December 2019, when it fell by 1,566. The figure for January 2020 was minus 2,352. Over the past

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2020

96 countries, territories restricting entry from S. Korea over coronavirus concerns

A total of 96 countries and territories are imposing entry restrictions or tougher quarantine procedures on people from South Korea on Thursday, amid fears about the new coronavirus outbreaks, Seoul's foreign ministry said. As of 9 a.m., 36 countries and territories, including Singapore and Hong Kong, had imposed entry bans on people who have traveled to South Korea in the past two weeks, according to the ministry. Four countries and territories, including Japan, have imposed entry bans on pe

Foreign AffairsMarch 5, 2020

S. Korea reports 438 new virus cases, total now at 5,766

South Korea reported 438 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the nation's total number of infections to 5,766, with most new virus infections still identified in the southeastern city of Daegu, the epicenter of the virus outbreak here.   So far, 35 people, mostly elderly patients with underlying illnesses, have died in South Korea from the respiratory virus that emerged in China late last year, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.   Abo

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2020

[Newsmaker] How the coronavirus has hit global sport

  PARIS (AFP) -- The International Olympic Committee insist that a potential cancellation or postponement of this year's Tokyo Olympics due to the global spread of the deadly coronavirus were "not mentioned" at a meeting of their Executive Board on Wednesday. However, the virus, which has killed 3,200 people while infecting 90,000 in more than 60 countries worldwide, is having a major impact on world sport. AFP Sport looks at the latest effects on Wednesday: TOKYO OLYMPICS Int

World NewsMarch 5, 2020

Hungary, Slovenia report first coronavirus cases

BUDAPEST (AFP) -- Hungary and Slovenia reported their first confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday in two Iranian students and a third patient who recently travelled back from Morocco via Italy. "Two patients have been taken into medical care due to coronavirus infections," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a Facebook video message. "Two foreigners, students studying in Hungary, Iranians, they are currently symptom-free it seems, but confirmed as inf

World NewsMarch 5, 2020

Korea's current account surplus narrows sharply in Jan.

  South Korea's current account surplus narrowed sharply in January on shrinking exports, central bank data showed Thursday. The country's current account surplus came to $1.01 billion in the month, compared with a surplus of $4.33 billion the previous month and a $3.3 billion surplus the same month last year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The drop was largely attributed to a dip in South Korea's goods account surplus, which shrank to $1.93 billion in January from $5

EconomyMarch 5, 2020

Blue Jays' Ryu Hyun-jin strikes out 7 in simulated game

Toronto Blue Jays' Ryu Hyun-jin has completed his second start of spring training -- just not in an actual game. Instead of starting a proper Grapefruit League game, the South Korean left-hander pitched a simulated game against Blue Jays minor league hitters at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida, on Wednesday (local time). His big league teammates were in Port Charlotte, about a two-hour drive south from Dunedin, to face the Tampa Bay Rays. Ryu threw 32 of his 50 pitches for strikes over 3 2/3

BaseballMarch 5, 2020

Three children dead in house fire

Three children were killed in a house fire in Seoul on Wednesday, police and fire fighters said. The fire occurred on the third floor of a commercial-residential building in Godeok-dong, southeastern Seoul, at around 3 p.m., they said. The fire was extinguished about 20 minutes later, but three children -- a four-year-old boy, four-year-old girl and seven-year-old girl -- were found with third-degree burns.   Rescue authorities performed CPR and took them to a nearby hospital wher

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2020

New boost for Biden as Bloomberg quits White House race

  NEW YORK (AFP) -- US media tycoon Michael Bloomberg quit the Democratic presidential race and endorsed frontrunner Joe Biden on Wednesday, after blowing more than half a billion dollars on a gamble that failed to inspire voters. The billionaire had bet his White House run on Super Tuesday but failed to win any of the 14 states up for grabs on the most important day in the primary season. A lack of charisma, limping debate performances, controversy over "stop and frisk" policie

World NewsMarch 5, 2020

Hackers hack Shincheonji website

The website of Shincheonji, a minor Christian sect in South Korea linked to more than half of the country’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases, was hacked at 9:48 a.m. Wednesday for around 10 minutes and multiple times in the afternoon. The website was built Feb. 21 to debunk what the group called fake news about the religion and the new coronavirus. The Q&A section of the website showed a pop-up message saying, “A middle school student hacked all of Shincheonji’s website

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2020

Property transactions between parents-children grow

An increasing number of multiple homeowners in South Korea are choosing to give real estate to their children instead of selling it, data showed Wednesday. The number of apartments transferred from parents to children stood at 1,632 in January -- an increase of 305 from December and the third-highest jump since the compilation of relevant data began in 2006, the Korea Appraisal Board said. Meanwhile, separate data released by the Seoul City government showed that apartment transactions in

MarketMarch 5, 2020

Jailed ex-president Park urges conservative forces to unite

Park Geun-hye, an impeached former president of South Korea, stepped back into politics Wednesday while in prison by sending a message calling for the country's conservatives to unite ahead of the April 15 parliamentary elections. In a handwritten letter made public by her lawyer, Yoo Young-ha, Park asked them to come together around the "existing giant opposition party." Yoo read the letter aloud at a press briefing he held at the National Assembly. Park was apparently referring t

PoliticsMarch 4, 2020

S. Korea to sharply restrict face mask exports, rev up weekend production

Government, ruling party and presidential officials agreed Wednesday to sharply restrict exports of face masks and spur their production even during weekends to fight against the new coronavirus. The government has begun to provide face masks via public organizations since last week amid a surge in infections. But many people still find it difficult to buy protective goods due to a sharp supply shortage. The ruling Democratic Party (DP), the government and the presidential office Cheong Wa D

Social AffairsMarch 4, 2020