Moon wishes for British prime minister's recovery

South Korean President Moon Jae-in sent a message Tuesday to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is receiving medical treatment for novel coronavirus. Moon wrote, in English, on his social media account, "I was struck by the news that you had been admitted to intensive care," recalling that Johnson seemed to be "in good shape" two weeks earlier when he took part in the virtual summit of the Group of 20 major economies on the pandemic. Moon added, "I send my best

Foreign AffairsApril 7, 2020

Moon’s ‘telephone diplomacy’ continues in wake of pandemic

President Moon Jae-in continued telephone conversations with foreign leaders on Tuesday, in a sign of the bolstered profile of the country amid the deepening global COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, he spoke with Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia and President Andrzej Duba of Poland, continuing the series of telephone conversations. Moon has spoken with leaders of 19 countries since Feb. 20, when he held a phone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The other leaders include

Foreign AffairsApril 7, 2020

[Market close-up] Market eyes KDB's bail-out plan on coronavirus-hit companies

A number of companies in South Korea, both big and small, are standing on the edge of a cliff due to a liquidity crisis stemming from the ongoing virus pandemic. With dark clouds hovering, the Korea Development Bank, a state-owned development policy bank that finances industrial projects, is bending over backward to prop up Korea Inc., injecting vast amounts of emergency public funds into cash-strapped businesses. The industry is keenly watching the next moves of KDB Chairman Lee Dong-gull,

MarketApril 7, 2020

[Graphic News] Retail sales up 9.1% in Feb. amid virus pandemic

　Retail sales in South Korea rose 9.1 percent in February from a year earlier as more people purchased daily necessities through online platforms amid the spread of the new coronavirus here, data showed. 　The combined sales of 26 major offline and online retailers reached 10.6 trillion won ($8.68 billion) last month, compared with 9.71 trillion won a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. 　The sharp increase came as online stores enjoyed a w

ConsumerApril 7, 2020

Tax payment deferred for petroleum industry

The South Korean government has initiated a temporary tax relief program for domestic petrochemical companies as global demand has plummeted amidst the worsening coronavirus pandemic. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Tuesday it will allow 54 petrochemical companies to delay their tax payments on oil imports and sales of petroleum products for 90 days, giving financial room to cope with the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. “Tax payments for April, May and June will be p

IndustryApril 7, 2020

Bar employee tests virus positive after contact with infected K-pop singer

Night clubs and bars here were on high alert after it was revealed Tuesday that a female bar employee at one of Seoul’s biggest bar districts was confirmed with COVID-19. The employee, 36, whose test results turned out to be positive last Thursday, is believed to have contracted the COVID-19 after coming into contact with a virus patient, Yoon Hak of K-pop group Supernova, on March 26. The singer, 37, was diagnosed with the infection on April 1 and has since been in isolation at a medic

Social AffairsApril 7, 2020

South Korean research institute develops low-cost cold-chain safety sticker

The Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology on Tuesday announced that it has invented a cold-chain safety sticker that allows one to tell whether frozen food products have been mishandled during delivery. The nanofiber-film sticker, which costs around 120 won (1 cent) to produce, can be used when transporting different types of frozen foods, as well as expensive medicines and medical supplies, the research team said. The cold-chain sticker is designed to indicate how long frozen food

TechnologyApril 7, 2020

Hit by coronavirus, overseas voter turnout at record-low

Disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, overseas citizens' voting in South Korea's parliamentary elections recorded the lowest-ever turnout of 23.8 percent, the National Election Commission (NEC) said Tuesday. Only 40,858 of 171,959 people eligible for overseas voting for the April 15 elections cast their ballots, amounting to the lowest rate since the system was introduced in 2012. The number was 45.7 percent in 2012 and 41.4 in 2016, according to NEC. Overseas voting was conducted from April

PoliticsApril 7, 2020

'Thank God, I'm in Korea'

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and the new academic year began online in Korea, international students expressed both satisfaction at how the situation is being handled and the anxiety of being in a foreign country away from family. “There isn’t any other country in the world I would rather be in right now. The good things are that it is being taken seriously, with rigorous testing and quarantine rules, and a culture that was preexisting in Korea when it came to the usage of ma

Social AffairsApril 7, 2020

FSS urges retail investors to shun loan stock buying

The Financial Supervisory Service on Tuesday cautioned local retail investors to refrain from borrowing money when investing stocks, pointing at the excessive market volatility. In a rare message, the financial regulator noted that the current market condition is somewhat different from the 2008 global financial crisis, stressing that it has become more unpredictable than before. “Some existing investors think that now is the time to purchase undervalued shares, since they have seen e

MarketApril 7, 2020

Moon appreciates quarantine workers' service at Incheon airport

President Moon Jae-in visited Incheon International Airport on Tuesday for a meeting with quarantine workers fighting the coronavirus on World Health Day, according to his Facebook message. He expressed gratitude to them for their dedicated service at the main gateway of South Korea, the front line of the country's fight against COVID-19. It is located an hour's drive west of Seoul. "Thank you, and thank you again," Moon wrote, praising them for working "day and night" to

PoliticsApril 7, 2020

Seoul stocks up for 4th day on hopes for virus slowdown

South Korean stocks ended higher Tuesday, extending their gains to a fourth straight session as investor sentiment improved over signs that the spread of the coronavirus could be slowing. The Korean won sharply rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 31.72 points, or 1.77 percent, to 1,823.60. Huh Jae-hwan, a strategist at Eugene Investment Co., said expectations for the slowing spread of the coronavirus in the United States and Europe pushed u

MarketApril 7, 2020

Beauty app Zamface accumulates over 10m clicks on AI service

Zamface, a beauty video app, said Tuesday that its “Time Jump” service function accumulated over 10.17 million clicks from users since its launch in June 2019. The app’s Time Jump service allows users to skip ahead to parts of beauty YouTube videos to search out specific information, without having to watch the whole video. Time Jump, which is based on artificial intelligence, automatically analyzes a video to mark different chapters and create the time jump options -- shad

IndustryApril 7, 2020

FTC vows for strict evaluation of Baemin-Yogiyo merger

The Korean Fair Trade Commission, which is currently investigating the corporate merger of the nation‘s No. 1 and 2 delivery apps, Baedal Minjok and Yogiyo, respectively, vowed stricter evaluation Tuesday, after Baemin’s attempt to change the commission system took flak. Baemin restructured its fee system starting April 1, basically changing from a flat-sum system that requires restaurant owners to pay a monthly fee to a fixed-rate commission of 5.8 percent per order made on the a

IndustryApril 7, 2020

[Newsmaker] S. Korea considers wristbands to track those in quarantine

South Korea is considering using electronic wristbands to track whereabouts of those placed under compulsory home quarantine, authorities said Tuesday. 　 But faced with concerns over privacy and human rights, the authorities stressed using wristbands is only one of the several options under consideration to counter increasing cases of self-quarantine violations. 　 The government is considering connecting the wristband to a mobile application installed on a smartphone. The wristband would trig

Social AffairsApril 7, 2020

Churches prepare for Easter with online services, drive-in-worship

Local churches laid out their plans for Easter this coming Sunday after the government announced Saturday that it was extending its social distancing campaign for another two weeks. Initially, South Korean churches hoped they could normalize their activities this Monday, the day after Palm Sunday. Holy Week, the week preceding Easter, is a meaningful time in the church calendar. Nonetheless, due to COVID-19, most of Korea’s Protestant megachurches have decided to hold their Easter serv

CultureApril 7, 2020

S. Korea’s national debt hits record W1,700tr in 2019

South Korea’s national debt last year surpassed 1,700 trillion won ($1.39 trillion) for the first time, weighed down by increased treasury bond issuance coupled with the government’s consequent fiscal expansion, a government report showed Tuesday. The national debt jumped 60.2 trillion won on-year to 1,743.6 trillion won as of end of 2019, according to the annual national financial report reviewed and endorsed by the Cabinet. The Cabinet meeting was presided by Prime Minister Chung

EconomyApril 7, 2020

Can Lotte Food’s leveraging plan be litmus test for stimulus package?

South Korea’s food service firm Lotte Food saw a moderate success in raising cash through investment-grade corporate bonds, as a state fund has helped fend off risks from the escalating coronavirus crisis. But analysts said Tuesday Korea is still a tough test bed to check whether the government’s stimulus package can normalize the funding market. On Monday, Lotte Food decided to raise 100 billion won ($81.77 million) after it carried out an institutional investor tranche for its AA

MarketApril 7, 2020

Defense ministers of Seoul, Washington discuss defense cost-sharing deal

Amid drawn-out negotiations on military cost-sharing between South Korea and the US, the defense chiefs of both countries spoke by phone and discussed the importance of reaching an “equitable” agreement quickly. 　 US Defense Secretary Mark Esper called Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo at around 8:30 p.m. on Monday evening, and discussed the ongoing negotiations for about 20 minutes, according to Seoul’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday. 　 “I appreciate Korean Defen

DefenseApril 7, 2020

Two virus patients recover after plasma therapy: hospital

Two patients infected with COVID-19 have recovered after plasma treatments, in the first such cases here, a Seoul-based hospital said Tuesday. Doctors at Severance Hospital in Shincheon had plasma of virus survivors injected into the two patients, who were in critical condition, and both have since been declared free of the virus. No side effects have been reported, the hospital said. “Both patients showed improvements in inflammation and the number of lymphocytes, among others, after

Social AffairsApril 7, 2020