North Korea is expected to face a food shortage of about 1.35 million tons this year affected by last summer's typhoons, flooding and a lack of farming materials amid the global pandemic, a state-run think tank said Thursday. According to a report by the Korea Development Institute, North Korea is presumed to have produced about 4.4 million tons of grains last year, down around 240,000 tons from a year earlier. Given that the North is thought to be in need of at least 5.75 million tons of food

North Korea June 3, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday unveiled new Galaxy Book laptops as the South Korean tech giant eyes to beef up notebook sales amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend. The Galaxy Book Go and the Galaxy Book Go 5G will be the latest additions to Samsung's notebook portfolio powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon compute platforms. The Galaxy Book Go 5G is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G platform, while the LTE version is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 system.

Technology June 3, 2021

SK Planet, a data analysis subsidiary of top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co., said Thursday it will invest 15 billion won ($13.2 million) in local cancer diagnostics firm Bertis in a move to expand its presence in the digital health care industry. The move will make SK Planet the second major shareholder in the privately held company, which develops artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology in protein analysis for early diagnoses of major diseases, such as breast cancer. SK Planet said in a

Industry June 3, 2021

South Korea's government ministries and state agencies have requested a 6.3 percent hike in their budgets for next year as they seek to cope with post-pandemic economic recovery and implement key policy projects, the finance ministry said Thursday. Their budget proposals amount to a combined 593.2 trillion won ($533.7 billion), up 35.2 trillion won from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Requests for budget spending in the health, social welfare and environmen

Economy June 3, 2021

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed in the 600s for the second consecutive day Thursday due to continued cluster infections, while the country's inoculation drive gains pace on a smooth vaccine supply. The country reported 681 more COVID-19 cases, including 672 local infections, raising the total caseload to 142,157, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Daily infections remained in the 400s for the past three days partly due to fewer tests over the weekend.

Social Affairs June 3, 2021

North Korea's largest youth group on Thursday urged its members to play a leading role in the economic field to help achieve the country's economic goals. The Socialist Patriotic Youth League (SPYL) made the appeal at an enlarged meeting of the 10th congress Wednesday via a teleconference system, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. Mun Chol, chairman of the Central Committee, delivered a report saying that the SPYL is faced with the "honorable task" of developing th

North Korea June 3, 2021

South Korea was the world's largest spender on chip equipment in the first quarter of the year, a report showed Thursday, amid a global semiconductor shortage. South Korea, home to major memory chip producers Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., spent $7.31 billion in chipmaking equipment in the January-March period, up 118 percent from a year ago, according to quarterly billings data from SEMI, a global industry association representing companies in the electronics design and manufactur

Industry June 3, 2021

Hyundai Motor Co. and affiliate Kia Corp., South Korea's two biggest carmakers, said Thursday their combined US sales again broke their monthly record for the third consecutive month in May thanks to the popularity of their SUV models.  Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 170,315 vehicles in the United States last month, up 64.6 percent from a year ago, according to the companies' sales data. Both Hyundai and Kia, which together form the world's fifth-biggest carmaker by sales, reported the

Mobility June 3, 2021

South Korea's dependency on Japanese materials and parts plumbed an all-time low this year in the wake of Tokyo's control on exports of key products, government data showed Thursday. Imports of Japanese materials and parts came to $9.69 billion in the January-April period, accounting for 15 percent of South Korea's overall imports of those goods, according to the data from the industry and trade ministry. The proportion was down 1.1 percentage points from the same period a year earlier and the

Economy June 3, 2021

South Korean university students burned a Japanese flag in Seoul for the second consecutive day on Wednesday in protest of the Tokyo government's claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. Members of the Korean Progressive University Student Union set the Rising Sun Flag, formerly used by the Japanese imperial army, on fire in front of Dongnimmun (independence) Gate in central Seoul in the afternoon after condemning the Japanese government and Tokyo Olympics organizers for claiming Dok

Foreign Affairs June 2, 2021

The newly created No. 2 position at North Korea's ruling Workers' Party likely remains vacant and could be filled by leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister Yo-jong in case of health issues or other emergencies, an expert said Wednesday. The North's ruling party revised its rules at a rare congress in January to include a new "first secretary" post right after leader Kim, drawing keen attention on who will assume the position. The revised rule stipulates that the first secretary is the

North Korea June 2, 2021

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl has privately expressed his willingness to run in next year's presidential election, an opposition lawmaker said Wednesday. Yoon is one of two leading potential presidential candidates, according to various opinion polls, though he has yet to declare his intent to run. "(Yoon) suggested that he will take the lead in the change of government with all his heart and soul," Rep. Kwon Seong-dong of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) told a r

Politics June 2, 2021

The government said Wednesday its special probe team has arrested 20 people and reported over 529 others to the prosecution for further investigation after looking into various allegations of real estate speculation for about three months. Announcing an interim result of the probe, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said the team, involving the police, and tax and financial authorities, has so far investigated 646 cases and some 2,800 individuals. It has also seized profits worth some 90.8 billion w

Politics June 2, 2021

Over half of South Koreans are in favor of lowering the constitutional minimum age required for someone to run for president, a poll said Wednesday. According to Realmeter's poll of 500 adults nationwide, 50.3 percent consented to the need to revise the Constitution to bring down the minimum age for presidential candidacy currently set at 40. The survey found 44.8 percent of the respondents opposed the revision of the minimum candidacy age, the Seoul-based pollster said. Under the Constitutio

Politics June 2, 2021

Indonesia's Ambassador to South Korea Umar Hadi was awarded honorary citizenship of Seoul Wednesday in recognition of his contributions to facilitating friendly exchanges between the two countries, the city government said. Since taking office as Indonesia's top envoy to South Korea in 2017, the ambassador has worked tirelessly to promote bilateral ties and enhance Seoul citizens' understanding of multiculturalism, according to the city government. Hadi, in particular, played a leading role i

Foreign Affairs June 2, 2021