Samsung Electronics Co. retained the top spot in the global smartphone market in the third quarter of the year, a report showed Wednesday. The world's largest smartphone maker held a market share of 20 percent in the July-September period, followed by Apple with 14 percent and Xiaomi with 13 percent, according to a report from market researcher Counterpoint Research. During the three months, the South Korean tech giant shipped 69.3 million smartphones, up 20 percent from the previous quarter

Industry Dec. 15, 2021

Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI) said Wednesday it has received a 180 billion-won ($152 million) deal to supply parts and maintenance services to the T-50 trainer jets operated by the Korean military. Under the deal signed with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer will provide parts to the T-50 advanced trainer jets, the FA-50 light attack aircraft and the TA-50 lead-in fighter aircraft until July 2025, the company said in a statement. &

Industry Dec. 15, 2021

A court on Wednesday ruled that a bioscience question in this year's college entrance exam had errors and ordered the state-run agency responsible for producing the test to cancel its designated answer. The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of 92 examinees disputing question No. 20 of the bioscience part 2 section of this year's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) developed by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE). The examinees argued the question centering aroun

Social Affairs Dec. 15, 2021

South Korea's nuclear safety watchdog on Wednesday approved the restart of a nuclear reactor in the country's southwestern nuclear complex that was shut down for an inspection. The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said it has given the go-ahead to restart the Wolsong No. 4, 700-megawatt reactor, in Gyeongju, 371 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The Wolsong No. 4 nuclear power reactor, which first started operations in 1999, has been shut down since Oct. 10 for regular maintenance. The com

Economy Dec. 15, 2021

South Korea has a duty and obligation to take a special interest in the Beijing Olympics as the host of the previous games and will decide later whether it is appropriate for President Moon Jae-in to attend the opening ceremony, a Cheong Wa Dae official said Wednesday. Moon earlier said South Korea is not considering a diplomatic boycott of February's Beijing Olympics after the United States decided not to send an official delegation to the games over concerns about China's human rights abuses.

Foreign Affairs Dec. 15, 2021

Police will take stalking suspects into custody in high-risk cases as part of efforts to bolster victim protection, officials said Wednesday, after facing criticism for failing to provide due protection to victims in two recent stalking murder cases. The measure was announced as part of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's plan to strengthen its response capability against stalking crimes after two people were recently killed in stalking cases that had been reported to police. Last week, a 2

Social Affairs Dec. 15, 2021

Two men have been arrested for allegedly locking up an elementary school girl for over 10 hours for sex, police said Wednesday. The two unidentified men, both in their early 20s, were suspected of locking up the 12-year-old at a residential "officetel" building in Shindang-dong, central Seoul, for about 11 hours from 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The girl was discovered after her mother filed a missing report with police. Police believe the two had sex with the juvenile during the lockup. The s

Social Affairs Dec. 15, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's two biggest consumer electronics companies, will unveil a slew of innovative products at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) set to open early next month in Las Vegas. The two companies are among the approximately 1,700 businesses from around the world and about 300 South Korean companies that will attend the event to showcase their consumer electronics and latest technologies, promising to change the way people live their

Industry Dec. 15, 2021

Expanded use of robots has resulted in a "meaningful" decline in demand for human labor in the manufacturing industry while replacing mostly "routine" and "repetitive" jobs, a central bank report said Wednesday. The Bank of Korea's report was based on data related to introduction of robots in industries and the impact on employment from 2010-2019. It analyzed the net effect of the "displacement effect" in which robots replace workers and "productivit

Economy Dec. 15, 2021

South Korea's money supply grew in October on increased savings amid higher interest rates on deposits, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's M2, a key gauge of the money supply, stood at 3,550.6 trillion won ($3 trillion) as of end-October, up 1.1 percent, or 38 trillion won, from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The growth slightly quickened from the previous month's 0.5 percent gain. Compared with a year earlier, the money supply

Economy Dec. 15, 2021

South Korea's automobile exports fell nearly 5 percent in November from a year earlier due to a global shortage of automotive chips, data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments of automobiles came to 178,994 units last month, down 4.7 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, however, exports advanced 3.3 percent to $4.12 billion in November, the largest monthly tally since April when the supply bottlene

Economy Dec. 15, 2021

South Korea's military has started deploying a homegrown 30 mm-caliber wheeled antiaircraft gun for field operations under a project to replace decades-old Vulcan cannons, the state arms procurement agency said Wednesday. Developed in 2019, the new gun will supplant the 20mm cannons that the country's Army, Air Force and Marine Corps have operated for over 40 years, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said. The new gun's firing range is 3 kilometers, 1.2 km longer than the ex

Defense Dec. 15, 2021

The number of new daily COVID-19 cases in Seoul surpassed 3,000 for the first time on Wednesday, setting a grim milestone for the capital since the onset of the pandemic, according to officials. The city reported 3,166 new cases, 265 higher than the previous record of 2,901 on Dec. 7. The latest tally was 1,104 larger compared to Tuesday's figure of 2,062. Of the total, only nine were cases of travelers from abroad. Seoul has seen an alarming rate of increase in infection cases following last

Social Affairs Dec. 15, 2021

President Moon Jae-in departed Sydney on Wednesday to return home from a four-day state visit to Australia during which the countries agreed to expand cooperation on securing stable supply chains. Moon began his visit in Canberra on Sunday where he met with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison for a summit on deepening ties in defense, pandemic response and strengthening supply chains with the help of resource-rich Australia's critical minerals. The two leaders also agreed to upgrade the b

Foreign Affairs Dec. 15, 2021

South Korea's military on Wednesday reported 45 additional COVID-19 cases, including 41 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 2,822. Of the new cases, 18 people are from the Army, 10 from the Air Force, 11 from units under the direct control of the defense ministry, four from the Marine Corps and one from the Navy, officials said. An officer from the ministry was also infected. Currently, 328 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military cas

Defense Dec. 15, 2021