Canada seeks S. Korean model in coronavirus response: Trudeau to Moon

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday his country plans to take a cue from South Korea in responding to the new coronavirus, holding phone talks with President Moon Jae-in for half an hour, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Trudeau lauded South Korea for its "science-based" handling of the problem without excessive burden on the medical system and for producing accomplishments in protecting the people's safety, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok said. The prime minister a

Foreign AffairsMarch 26, 2020

[News Focus] Korean retail investors are victims of ‘unpaid’ stock buying

SEJONG -- Foreigners’ aggressive net-seller position on the local market has not yet subsided as of the fourth week of March. Over the past 16 trading sessions between March 5-26, foreign corporate investors net sold local stocks worth 10.7 trillion won ($8.69 billion), which are listed on the main bourse. Their divesting has continued for the 16th consecutive session since March 5. Their selling spree, which is attributed to fast spreading COVID-19 worldwide as well as the epidemic&rsq

EconomyMarch 26, 2020

Moon asks opposition party leader to present details of relief bond offer

President Moon Jae-in responded prudently to an opposition party's call for a 40 trillion-won ($32.5 billion) government bond program meant to help businesses and households here hit by the coronavirus. He publicly requested that Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the conservative main opposition Future Korea Party, provide details, including how it would be financed and work. Hwang earlier criticized the Moon administration's package of emergency aid to prop up the livelihoods of the people amid a mon

PoliticsMarch 26, 2020

Military reports no new coronavirus cases, total at 39

The military reported no additional cases of the new coronavirus Thursday, with the total number of infections standing at 39, the defense ministry said. Thirty-four COVID-19 patients are active-duty service members, and the remaining five are civilians working for the military, the ministry said. It added that 21 were in the Army, 14 in the Air Force, two in the Marine Corps and one each in the Navy and a unit under the direct control of the ministry. Of the total, 26 have fully recovered fr

DefenseMarch 26, 2020

BTS to join soundtrack for Japanese TV series

BTS will join the recording of the original soundtrack for an upcoming Japanese TV series, the band's second-ever OST project in Japan, news reports said Thursday. According Billboard Japan and Oricon News, BTS's new song, "Stay Gold," has been selected for the original soundtrack of a Japanese TV series, "The Spiral Labyrinth-DNA Science Investigation," which will go on-air next month. The song is one of the tracks to be included on the band's new Japanese album, set for

K-popMarch 26, 2020

104 new COVID-19 cases reported in S. Korea, recovery rate at 45 percent

South Korea reported 104 new novel coronavirus cases Thursday, bringing total infections to 9,241, as the government scrambles to contain a surge in cases imported from Europe and the US. So far, 4,144 patients of COVID-19, or 44.8 percent, in Korea made full recoveries since the country reported the first case on Jan. 20, with 414 more people having been discharged from isolation Thursday. Of the new cases, 30 were identified during airport quarantine screening, according to the Korea Cent

Social AffairsMarch 26, 2020

Korea’s supply chain vulnerable to coronavirus crisis

The novel coronavirus pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of South Korean industries that are deeply integrated with the global supply chain. Korea’s global value chain participation rate was 55 percent and ranked sixth among 18 developed economies of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries as of 2017, according to a recent report of the Korea International Trade Association. The nation’s active role in global production, in turn, has revealed frag

IndustryMarch 26, 2020

NK party officials congratulate artillery unit in rare visit

Officials of two key departments at North Korea's ruling Workers' Party visited a western military unit to congratulate soldiers after they won a recent artillery fire competition overseen by leader Kim Jong-un, state media reported Thursday. The group visit to the artillery battalion of the 3rd Corps of the Korean People's Army is seen as unusual as it came amid intensified efforts to prevent the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus since the North declared a national emergency system in late Janua

North KoreaMarch 26, 2020

USFK: Two American soldiers' deaths unrelated to coronavirus

US Forces Korea (USFK) on Thursday dismissed speculation that the recent deaths of two American soldiers stationed here could be related to the coronavirus. On Wednesday, the military said that Spc. Clay Welch was found dead in his barracks room at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, three days earlier for unknown reasons. It came on the heels of the death of Private First Class Marissa Jo Gloria, also stationed at the camp. Several local media raised suspicions that

Social AffairsMarch 26, 2020

BTS to join lineup for special self-quarantine edition of popular US TV show

K-pop boy band BTS will join a star-studded lineup for a "special self-quarantine edition" of popular American TV show "The Late Late Show with James Corden," set for next week, according to its broadcaster. BTS will be one of the high-profile acts performing from home for the "Homefest: James Corden's Late Late Show Special," to be aired Monday (US time), according to CBS.  The line-up also includes Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, British pop diva Dua Lipa

K-popMarch 26, 2020

BOK to supply 'unlimited' amount of liquidity for next 3 months

The Bank of Korea said Thursday that it will supply an "unlimited" amount of liquidity over the next three months to financial institutions to help prevent a credit crunch caused by the coronavirus pandemic. "The Bank of Korea decided to provide an unlimited amount of liquidity to financial firms to help minimize the economic fallout from the spread of COVID-19 and remove uncertainties in the financial market," the BOK said in a press release. (Yonhap)

EconomyMarch 26, 2020

CGV to shut down 35 theaters due to fallout from coronavirus pandemic

CGV, South Korea's largest multiplex chain, said Thursday that it will shut down about 30 percent of its theaters starting this weekend due to the prolonged fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The company, an affiliate of Korean entertainment giant CJ Group, said 35 out of 116 cinemas under its direct control nationwide will be closed from Saturday, including those in Myeongdong and Daehangno, central Seoul. It will show movies just three times a day on the remaining screens. In addition,

FilmMarch 26, 2020

PM vows no leniency for violating self-isolation rules

South Korea's prime minister said Thursday that the government will keep a no-tolerance stance toward those who do not follow self-isolation rules over the new coronavirus, warning that it will file complaints against them. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun issued a strong warning as some arrivals from Europe and the United States have not abided by two-week self-isolation guidance, spawning concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in communities. "(The government) should apply the no-tolerance

Social AffairsMarch 26, 2020

National football governing body to temporarily cut pay in coronavirus crunch

Faced with a financial crunch stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the South Korean national football federation will temporarily slash the pay of its executives. The Korea Football Association (KFA) said Thursday the monthly salaries for its senior executives, starting from department directors and above, will be cut by 20 percent beginning this month. The pay cut may remain in effect through the end of the year, according to a KFA official. The KFA's revenue is expected to fall by an est

SoccerMarch 26, 2020

Defense chief calls for tighter naval defense on 10th anniversary of NK's sinking of warship

South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo called for tighter defense of the sea border with North Korea on Thursday, the 10th anniversary of the communist nation's deadly sinking of the South's warship Cheonan. The Cheonan went down near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas, on March 26, 2010, killing 46 sailors. After an international probe, the South concluded the sinking was caused by a torpedo attack by a North Korean submarine. "We

DefenseMarch 26, 2020

Ex-FBI agent missing for 13 years died in Iran custody, family says

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A former FBI agent who mysteriously vanished in 2007 died in Iranian custody, his family concluded Wednesday, saying US intelligence had made them give up 13 years of hope. President Donald Trump did not confirm Bob Levinson's death, saying that Iran had not communicated any news on the former agent, who would have turned 72 this month. But Levinson's family said that it had learned that he was dead, although it gave no information on how or when. "We recently receiv

WorldMarch 26, 2020

Moon to join G-20 virtual summit on coronavirus response, share S. Korea's strategy

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will have discussions with major global leaders on a coordinated response to the novel coronavirus during their virtual summit Thursday, Cheong Wa Dae said. The Group of 20 advanced economies plans to open the emergency video session, officially named "Extraordinary Virtual Leaders' Summit on COVID-19," at 9 p.m. following Moon's offer to hold such an event earlier this month. Moon will use it to share South Korea's know-how to counter the virus an

Foreign AffairsMarch 26, 2020

Trump again boasts higher testing numbers than S. Korea despite conflicting time frames

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump boasted again Wednesday that the United States has tested more people for coronavirus than South Korea, even though there were discrepancies in the time frames the tests were conducted in. Facing one of the biggest challenges of his presidency, Trump appeared to want to underscore the testing numbers that Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, shared in a virtual town hall both attended at the White House on Tuesday. Birx sa

Foreign AffairsMarch 26, 2020

Laos to resume flight to Incheon; Czech removes S. Korea from virus-related 'high-risk' country list

HANOI/BERLIN -- Laos plans to resume commercial flight service to South Korea soon and the Czech Republic has decided to lift a ban on the operation of direct flights to the Northeast Asian nation amid reports of slowing spread of the new coronavirus. According to South Korea's Embassy in Laos, Lao Airlines, the national airline of the Southeast Asian nation, agreed during recent consultations to operate one flight per week between Vientiane and Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. T

Foreign AffairsMarch 25, 2020

Rescheduled Tokyo Olympics need sacrifices from all stakeholders: Bach

Lausanne (AFP) -- International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said Wednesday that the postponed Tokyo Games would require "sacrifices and compromises" from all sides to make them work. "These postponed Olympic Games will need sacrifices, will need compromises by all of the stakeholders," Bach told reporters in a conference call the day after the IOC decided to delay the 2020 Games because of the coronavirus pandemic. The IOC's role, Bach said, was "to make t

World NewsMarch 25, 2020