Police have again come under fire for their inadequate handling of a recent stalking case, which eventually led to one death and one serious injury in Seoul. A ranking official of the National Police Agency (NPA) on Monday admitted apparent misjudgment by a local police station, which failed on Tuesday of last week to detain a stalker accused of abducting and sexually assaulting his former girlfriend for unclear reasons. (Yonhap)Two workers were found dead and one is missing in connection with

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2021

South Korean stocks retreated for a second straight session Monday as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting later this week. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 8.57 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 3,001.66 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 368 million shares worth some 8.5 trillion won ($7.2 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 495 to 347. Foreigners sold a

Market Dec. 13, 2021

Ven. Seongpa was chosen to be the spiritual leader of the Jogye Order, South Korea's largest Buddhist sect, on Monday, The 82-year-old priest is to start his five-year term as the 15th Supreme Patriarch on March 25 when current leader Ven. Jinje's second five-year term ends, the Jogye Order said. The Supreme Patriarch, or "Jongjeong" in Korean, is the highest authority in the Buddhist sect, but does not oversee its administration. Born in 1939 in Hapcheon, 354 kilometers south of Se

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2021

Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung on Monday was attacked with eggs by a protester opposing the US THAAD anti-missile system in the central county of Seongju while campaigning. The male protester threw two eggs at Lee from across a road while the candidate was heading toward a fruit farm in the county, 217 kilometers southeast of Seoul, as part of his campaign in the region. Lee was not hit, but a bodyguard and Rep. Han Jun-ho were hit by pieces of an egg. The incident cause

Politics Dec. 13, 2021

SK Group, South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate, said Monday it signed a deal with the Vietnamese government to boost cooperation in eco-friendly businesses, such as areas related to carbon emission cuts, hydrogen and digital technologies. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won signed the memorandum of understanding during a meeting with top Vietnamese government officials in Seoul, including Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai and Parliament Speaker Vuong Dinh-hue, SK said. Under the MOU, the two sides wi

Industry Dec. 13, 2021

Outages in the government's digital vaccine authentication system have been reported in large numbers Monday, causing inconveniences around lunch time on the first day of the nation's vaccine pass enforcement. Reports of inability to access COOV, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's smartphone application which offers vaccine certifications in QR codes, began appearing in various online communities at around 11:40 a.m. Authentications of QR codes in other popular services, such as

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2021

Police will consider disclosing the identities of not only distributors of sexually exploitative materials but also their buyers as part of efforts to clamp down on digital sex crimes, officials said Monday. The National Police Agency said it began discussing the matter in an interagency meeting with the government's policy coordination office, the interior ministry, the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), the country's censorship body and others. "To curb online sex crimes,

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2021

South Korea needs to "steadily adjust" high levels of leverage maintained to prop up the pandemic-hit economy as excessive indebtedness could result in financial instability and reduce future policy room, a central bank report showed Monday. Rising household debt, in particular, has been cited as a major economic risk factor and the government has been tightening rules on lending amid worries that the financial imbalances caused by increased debt in the private sector could put a damp

Economy Dec. 13, 2021

The number of mid-sized firms in South Korea went up in 2020 from a year earlier, but their sales dipped due to the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Monday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had 5,526 mid-sized companies as of the end of last year, up 519 from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Mid-sized firms here refer to those which have average annual sales of 40 billion won ($33.9 million) to 150 billion won over the past three y

Industry Dec. 13, 2021

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) said Monday that it has secured a technology to prevent cracks in the welded parts of submarines. DSME has developed the technology after two years of research and development since 2019 in cooperation with steelmaker POSCO and KR, a South Korean ship quality assurance and risk management company, the shipbuilder said. The technology is essential to strengthen the performance of submarines, DSME said. The development of the technology

Industry Dec. 13, 2021

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that South Korea is not considering a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics and has not been asked by any nation to do so. Moon addressed the issue for the first time after the United States announced last week that it will not send an official delegation to the Olympics in February over concerns about China's human rights abuses. "The South Korean government is not considering (a boycott)," Moon said at a joint press conference with Australian

Foreign Affairs Dec. 13, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. named its newly merged unit for mobile and appliances the device experience (DX) division, the company has said, in a sign of its resolve to provide its customers with new, meaningful experiences. Last week, the tech giant announced it had merged the consumer electronics and IT and mobile communications divisions, and named a new CEO, Han Jong-hee, a former head of the visual display business, to lead the new division. The new name shows Samsung's "ongoing commitme

Technology Dec. 13, 2021

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP)'s presidential candidate, Yoon Suk-yeol, was leading his ruling Democratic Party (DP) rival Lee Jae-myung by a thin margin at 42 percent to 40.6 percent, a survey showed Monday. The 1.4 percentage point margin in the poll by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI) is smaller than the 3.3 percentage point gap in favor of Yoon last week, and within the range of the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The poll, commissione

Politics Dec. 13, 2021

South Korea's military on Monday reported 25 additional COVID-19 cases, all of which are breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 2,738. Of the new cases, 19 people are from the Army, four from the Navy, one from a unit under the direct control of the defense ministry, and one civilian employee, officials said. Currently, 379 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,002 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

Defense Dec. 13, 2021

South Korea said Monday it will expand financial support measures for local builders as their overseas orders are expected to fall short of last year's records amid the protracted pandemic. Korean construction firms clinched combined overseas orders worth $24.3 billion between Jan. 1 and Dec. 10, down 21 percent from a yer earlier, according to the government. Last year, local builders secured overseas orders worth $35.1 billion last year, but their combined orders for this year may be around

Economy Dec. 13, 2021