Public jobs account for 9.1% of labor market in 2018

Jobs offered by the government and state-run companies accounted for 9.1 percent of South Korea's labor market in 2018, government data showed Thursday. A total of 2.45 million people were employed in 2018 by the public sector, including the central and provincial governments and state-run financial and non-financial firms, compared with 2.43 million people in 2017, according to the data by Statistics Korea. Government ministries and agencies had 2.09 million employees in 2018, with the comp

EconomyFeb. 6, 2020

LIG Nex1 vies to enter defense industry in India

LIG Nex1 said it is participating in DefExpo India 2020, a biennial defense and aerospace exhibition being held from Wednesday to Sunday in Lucknow, India, the world’s second-biggest arms importer that ranks fourth in military spending. The Korean defense company will showcase weapons including its land-based short-range surface-to-air missile Chiron that is mounted on the Hybrid Biho, a 30 mm complex gun and air defense system designed to target low-flying aircrafts and helicopters. T

IndustryFeb. 6, 2020

Smilegate sends 10m yuan donation to Wuhan

Game company Smilegate said Thursday it made a 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) donation to help the people in Wuhan, China, epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The donation has been delivered to China’s Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming. “China and Korea are long-time neighbors who must help each other to overcome hardships. I thank the support from Smilegate, as well as many other Korean companies,” the envoy said. Smilegate is the third Korean game company to reac

IndustryFeb. 6, 2020

S. Korea to invest W385b in R&D for eco-friendly auto parts

SEJONG -- South Korea said Thursday it will spend 385.6 billion won ($326.2 million) on research and development projects for auto parts for eco-friendly vehicles, such as electric cars, in line with the country's latest clean energy drive. The project that will run through 2026 will center on lending hands to small and midsized enterprises, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "Amid a change in the industrial paradigm in the automobile segment, the project will help

IndustryFeb. 6, 2020

S. Korea vows deregulation in 10 sectors

South Korea's finance ministry said Thursday it has designated 10 industrial sectors for deregulation, including artificial intelligence and biotechnology, to help them develop technologies and services with fewer regulatory hurdles. Other industrial sectors include mobility service, new medical technologies, biotechnology, fintech, tourism and e-commerce, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a statement. Companies in the industrial sectors are expected to develop products without re

EconomyFeb. 6, 2020

Korean builders' overseas orders hit 13-year low in 2019

Overseas orders won by South Korean construction companies hit the lowest point in 13 years in 2019 due mainly to slowing orders from the Middle East, the construction ministry said Thursday. The combined overseas orders by the builders came to $22.3 billion last year, down 31 percent from 2018, marking the lowest since 2006, when the combined overseas orders by the builders stood at $16.4 billion, according to the ministry. For decades, oil-rich Middle Eastern countries have been the largest

IndustryFeb. 6, 2020

Virus-caused supply chain disruptions to affect Hyundai: S&P

Supply chain disruptions in China caused by the new coronavirus outbreak will likely hurt the first-quarter performance at Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., S&P Global Ratings Services has said. In a report released Wednesday, S&P said if the Lunar New Year break in China is not extended beyond Sunday, Hyundai and Kia are expected to normalize Korean production, which accounts for 40-50 percent of total production, in the coming weeks through utilization management. "Howeve

MobilityFeb. 6, 2020

S. Korea vows swift budget spending amid growing virus concerns

SEJONG -- South Korea will swiftly implement its fiscal spending as China's rapidly spreading coronavirus epidemic is expected to cast a shadow on the nation's fragile economic recovery, a senior official said Thursday. The spread of the virus is likely to have an "unexpected" impact on the nation's economic growth, Vice Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said in a meeting with relevant economic officials earlier in the day. South Korea has planned to spend 62 percent of its budget in t

EconomyFeb. 6, 2020

In political triumph, Trump acquitted of all impeachment charges

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump drew on staunch Republican support to defeat the gravest threat yet to his three-year-old presidency on Wednesday, winning acquittal in the Senate on impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Only the third US leader ever placed on trial, Trump readily defeated the Democratic-led effort to expel him from office for having illicitly sought help from Ukraine to bolster his 2020 re-election effort. Trump immediately claimed &

World NewsFeb. 6, 2020

Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas dead at 103

LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- US silver screen legend Kirk Douglas, the son of Jewish Russian immigrants who rose through the ranks to become one of Hollywood's biggest-ever stars, has died, his family said Wednesday. He was 103. One of the last survivors of the golden age of cinema and the father of Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker Michael Douglas, the "Spartacus" actor was renowned for the macho tough guy roles he took on in around 90 movies over a six-decade career. "It is with trem

PeopleFeb. 6, 2020

S. Korea reports 4 more cases of novel coronavirus, total now at 23

South Korea confirmed four more cases of novel coronavirus infections Thursday, bringing the total here to 23, with one case being a person who initially tested negative for the illness but was found to be infected later in a check-up. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said of the four new cases, three are believed to be person-to-person transmissions involving South Korean nationals, with the other one being a Chinese woman who arrived in the country on Jan. 23. The publi

Social AffairsFeb. 6, 2020

Son Heung-min stays hot, scores in 4th straight

Son Heung-min has done it again. The in-form South Korean star for Tottenham Hotspur scored in his fourth straight match, converting a late penalty to take his club over Southampton 3-2 in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday (local time) at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. With his monthslong drought a distant memory, Son now has 14 goals in 31 matches this season in all competitions. Tottenham took the first-half lead on Jack Stephens' own goal, but Shane Long and Danny Ings sco

SoccerFeb. 6, 2020

Korea's current account surplus narrows in Dec.

South Korea's current account surplus narrowed sharply in December as its exports fell at a faster rate than imports, central bank data showed Thursday. The country's current account surplus came to $4.33 billion in the month, down $1.64 billion from the month before, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The reading also marks a $580 million drop from the same month in 2018. The country's current account balance has been in the black for eight consecutive months since May 201

EconomyFeb. 6, 2020

Korea reports 1 more case of novel coronavirus, total now 19

South Korea on Wednesday evening confirmed another case of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total here to 19.  The latest case was related to one of the two patients confirmed earlier in the day. The 36-year-old Korean man visited Singapore for work from Jan. 18-24 to attend the same conference as the 38-year-old Korean man already confirmed to be infected with the virus earlier Wednesday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. They both came into contact with

Social AffairsFeb. 5, 2020

42 kindergartens, schools in Seoul ordered to close amid coronavirus scare

The Seoul city education office on Wednesday ordered a week-long suspension of classes for 42 kindergartens and schools in the two Seoul districts where a person infected with the new coronavirus had resided or moved around. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said it had ordered 5 kindergartens and elementary schools close to where one 33-year-old patient lives, as well as 37 kindergarten and schools within one kilometer from a place where the patient had stayed for some time, to be sh

Social AffairsFeb. 5, 2020

[Graphic News] Movie ticket sales fall to 8-year low in Jan.

　Korean movie theaters saw their total monthly admissions for January drop to an eight-year low, data showed, amid fears of the rapid spread of the new coronavirus. 　According to data compiled by the Korean Film Council, a total of 16.8 million people went to theaters over the one-month period. 　It is the lowest January figure since 2012, when the local box office posted 16.6 million in admissions in the month. 　The decrease came as people have refrained from going to cinemas in the last t

Latest NewsFeb. 5, 2020

[팟캐스트] (338) 주한 중국대사 코로나바이러스 회견/ 한국내 혐중

진행자: 임정요, Kevin Lee Selzer 1.   China envoy urges Seoul to follow WHO advice on virus response 아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2 팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638 [1] New Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming on Tuesday called on Seoul to follow the World Health Organization’s recommendations on handling the new coronavirus, as Korea began barring entry of noncitizens who have visited China’s v

PodcastFeb. 5, 2020

Orion records highest operating profit of W327b in 2019

Korean confectionary firm Orion said Wednesday it recorded operating profit of 327.3 billion won ($275.9 million) in 2019, marking the highest figure in company history. According to the company, it saw its net profit increase 54.1 percent on-year to post 220.3 billion won, and its annual revenue hit 2.02 trillion won, up 5 percent from the year before. The company’s operating profit in the fourth quarter last year was 97.8 billion won, up 39.2 percent in the same period on-year, and t

ConsumerFeb. 5, 2020

Kyobo Securities to establish dual CEO system

Kyobo Securities is set to launch a dual CEO system to strengthen the company’s two business pillars -- investment banking and wealth management -- the company said Wednesday. The board of directors approved the nomination of Park Bong-kweon, the former vice president of Kyobo Life Insurance, as the firm’s new CEO in charge of wealth management. Park’s CEO designation will be finalized at the general meeting of stockholders in March. The securities firm has been led by incu

MarketFeb. 5, 2020

Liberty Korea Party launches satellite group

General elections are about two months away and South Korea’s political landscape is undergoing a transformation, with party splits, mergers and even the arrival of the nation’s very first “satellite” party. 　The main opposition Liberty Korea Party on Wednesday launched the Future Korea Party, the satellite group created for the sole purpose of securing additional proportionate representative seats in the next parliament. LKP’s four-term lawmaker Han Sun-kyo switc

PoliticsFeb. 5, 2020