Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday the government will allow hospitals to extend the application period for trainee doctor programs this week to help them recruit more junior doctors. Han made the remark after only 104 candidates, or 1.4 percent of trainee doctor positions available at 126 hospitals, had applied for the training programs that begin next month amid a prolonged standoff between the government and the medical community. "Within this week, the government will extend the

Politics Aug. 7, 2024

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended a ceremony to dispatch young workers to flood-affected areas on the northern border, describing the restoration efforts as a "gigantic revolutionary construction campaign," state media said Wednesday. The border city of Sinuiju and Uiju County in North Phyongan Province were recently struck by heavy rains. While North Korea has not released detailed information on the damage, South Korean media outlets have reported that the number of dead o

North Korea Aug. 7, 2024

Seoul shares opened higher Wednesday, tracking gains on Wall Street, two days after their worst rout over fears of a US recession. However, some analysts said worries about market turmoil linger. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 12.17 points, or 0.48 percent, to 2,534.32 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Kospi ended 3.3 percent higher Tuesday after plunging nearly 9 percent Monday due to massive selloffs amid concerns over a recession in the United States. Overn

Market Aug. 7, 2024

The government will push to shorten the period of payment settlement for e-commerce platforms to their vendors and require that companies separately manage funds needed for payments in an effort to prevent a recurrence of the crisis involving Qoo10-owned marketplaces, the finance ministry said Wednesday. They are part of follow-up measures by the government to respond to payment delays by TMON and WeMakePrice, which also called for an additional 600 billion won (US$435.57 million) of financial s

Social Affairs Aug. 7, 2024

South Korea posted its largest current account surplus in about seven years in June, driven by robust exports led by semiconductors, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's current account surplus reached US$12.2 billion in June, marking a surplus for two consecutive months, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea. The June surplus is the largest since September 2017, when the surplus was $12.3 billion. The latest performance was driven by a robust goods account, which tot

Economy Aug. 7, 2024

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday announced the governor of Minnesota as her running mate for the Nov. 5 general election, capping a dayslong high-stakes selection process ahead of her tour through seven battleground states this week. Harris named Gov. Tim Walz, a former six-term lawmaker, social studies teacher and American football coach, as her vice presidential pick hours before they made their first joint appearance at a rally in Pennsylvania, the first leg of her five-day tour, am

Foreign Affairs Aug. 7, 2024

North Korea criticized Germany for its recent entry into the United States-led UN Command, calling it an act of ruining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, its state media said Tuesday. On Friday, Germany formally joined the multinational mechanism overseeing the armistice of the 1950-53 Korean War as the 18th official member state. The North "strongly denounces Germany's entry into the United Nations Command, regarding it as an act of wrecking peace and stability on the Korea

North Korea Aug. 6, 2024

South Korea cruised past Croatia in its first knockout match of the men's table tennis team event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, with the top-ranked China up next in the quarterfinals. Jang Woo-jin, Cho Dae-seong and Lim Jong-hoon carried South Korea past Croatia 3-0 after one doubles match and two singles matches in the round of 16 at South Paris Arena in the French capital. In the opening doubles, Jang and Cho dispatched Filip Zeljko and Andrej Gacina 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-6) without bre

More Sports Aug. 6, 2024

South Korea had proposed Japan use the expression "forced" in the museum exhibits on an old Japanese mine complex linked to its wartime forced labor of Koreans prior to its UNESCO inscription, but Tokyo refused, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The ministry had made the call during the negotiations with Japan on the Sado gold and silver mines as a precondition for Seoul's consent to the site's listing as a UNESCO World Heritage, its response submitted to Rep. Lee Jae-jung o

Foreign Affairs Aug. 6, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday instructed the government to take swift and preemptive responses to heightened volatility in the financial market, his office said, refuting opposition criticisms over his vacationing despite a recent market rout. South Korean stocks suffered the worst sell-off since late 2008 on Monday, along with its global peers, on growing fears over an economic recession in the United States, before rising more than 3 percent Tuesday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Pr

Politics Aug. 6, 2024

South Korean diving medal hopeful Woo Haram and teammate Yi Jae-gyeong advanced to the semifinal in the men's 3-meter springboard event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. With the top 18 divers out of 25 in the preliminary advancing to the next phase, Woo finished 12th with 389.10 points after six dives at the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis, north of Paris. Yi finished 16th with 381.40 points. The semifinal is Wednesday, and the top 12 divers from there will qualify for the final Thursday. W

More Sports Aug. 6, 2024

South Korean chip giant SK hynix Inc. said Tuesday it is set to receive up to $450 million in grants from the US government for its investment to build a production base for advanced semiconductor packaging in Indiana. In April, the company announced a plan to invest $3.87 billion to build a memory packaging plant for artificial intelligence (AI) products and an advanced packaging research and development (R&D) facility in West Lafayette of the U.S. state to produce next-generation memory ch

Technology Aug. 6, 2024

South Korean stocks rose more than 3 percent Tuesday, rebounding from the previous day's worst market sell-off, sparked by fears over a US recession and the sluggish performance of big tech firms. The local currency slightly fell against the US greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 80.6 points, or 3.3 percent, to close at 2,522.15. It marked a turnaround from a whopping 8.77 percent crash Monday as investor sentiment was undermined by fears that the US economy is

Market Aug. 6, 2024

The Cabinet passed a motion Tuesday calling for parliamentary reconsideration of four bills aimed at changing the governance structure of public broadcasters. The motion, passed a week after the last of the four bills was railroaded by the opposition-controlled National Assembly, will be sent to President Yoon Suk Yeol. Should Yoon endorse it, the bills will be sent back to the Assembly for a revote. Three of the bills call for amending the Broadcasting Act, the Foundation for Broadcast Culture

Politics Aug. 6, 2024

Police have referred a man to the prosecution Tuesday on charges of slashing a random neighbor to death with a Japanese longsword last week. The 37-year-old assailant, surnamed Baek, brandished a 75-centimeter Japanese blade at the entrance of his apartment complex in Seoul's northern Eunpyeong district on July 29 and killed the neighbor, who was smoking outdoors at the time. The victim, a 43-year-old father of two sons aged 4 and 9, did not know the assailant personally. During the police

Social Affairs Aug. 6, 2024