South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 6,000 for the first time in six days Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend amid concerns over the spread of the new omicron variant. The country added 5,817 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 523,088, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Daily infections soared to a record high of 7,174 cases on Wednesday and remained above 7,000 for the following two days before falling to 6,977 on Saturday

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2021

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the United States, China and North Korea agree in principle on declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War and Seoul will push to make it happen. Moon was speaking at a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison after bilateral summit talks in Canberra. He said he believes an end-of-war declaration will help revive stalled talks between South and North Korea and between North Korea and the US. (Yonhap)  

North Korea Dec. 13, 2021

Australia has signed a contract to buy 30 units of the K-9 Thunder self-propelled howitzer from South Korea, its manufacturer said Monday. The Australian Army will also acquire 15 units of K-10 armored ammunition resupply vehicles under the deal signed between the nation's Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) and Hanwha Defense Australia, according to Hanwha Defense, based in Seoul. The contract is worth 930 billion won ($788 million), an industry source said. Australia is the

Defense Dec. 13, 2021

South Korea has the third-highest ratio of youth not in education, employment or training (NEET) among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a report showed Monday. The average monthly number of NEET people aged 15-29 in the country is estimated at 1.56 million in the January-October period, according to the report from the Korea Employment Information Service. Of the total, 778,000 were preparing for employment or seeking jobs, with another 507,000 unwilling to

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2021

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday, led by advances of tech and auto stocks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.09 points, or 0.47 percent, to trade at 3,024.32 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks climbed despite a high number of coronavirus cases, with investors keeping an eye on the Federal Reserve for signals about the tapering of stimulus measures. The Fed is set to announce its two-day meeting results Wednesday (US time). In Seoul, market

Market Dec. 13, 2021

South Korea's exports grew 20.4 percent on-year in the first 10 days of December on the back of solid demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $19.5 billion in the Dec. 1-10 period, compared with $16.2 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. (Yonhap)

Economy Dec. 13, 2021

South Korean golfer An Narin has captured her LPGA Tour card with a flourish, winning the grueling qualifying tournament by shooting the best score in the field on the final day. An finished in first place at the LPGA Q-Series, an eight-round marathon that wrapped up at Highland Oaks Golf Club in Dothan, Alabama, on Sunday (local time). An, a two-time Korea LPGA (KLPGA) winner, carded a six-under 66, with seven birdies against one bogey, in the final round to finish at 33-under 541 overall. Th

Golf Dec. 13, 2021

President Moon Jae-in and Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday held summit talks expected to focus on deepening bilateral ties and securing a stable supply chain of raw materials and core minerals. Moon, who arrived in Canberra on Sunday, is the first South Korean president to pay a state visit to Australia in 12 years. He is also the first foreign leader that the country has invited since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said. A senior presidential official said th

Foreign Affairs Dec. 13, 2021

Nearly half of South Korea's large companies have yet to come up with their investment plans for next year due mainly to high economic uncertainty, a poll showed Monday. The survey of 101 big firms out of the country's top 500 companies showed 49.5 percent having no investment plans for 2022 or having not decided on their investments. The poll was commissioned by the Korea Economic Research Institute, the research arm of South Korea's conglomerate lobby Federation of Korean Industries. Nearly

Industry Dec. 13, 2021

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong has met bilaterally with his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi for the first time since Hayashi's inauguration last month as they attended a Group of Seven foreign ministers' meeting in Britain, Seoul's foreign ministry said Sunday. The two top diplomats briefly held a meeting on the sidelines of the G-7 meeting in Liverpool on Saturday and shared the consensus to improve strained bilateral ties, the ministry said. Chung delivered the Seoul gov

Diplomatic Circuit Dec. 12, 2021

The South Korean economy is expected to expand 2.8 percent on-year in 2022, slower than this year's projected 3.9 percent growth, amid weaker private consumption and global demand, a local think tank said Sunday. The projection by the LG Economic Research Institute (LGERI) is lower than that by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of 3.3 percent and the 3.0 percent estimate by both the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Bank of Korea. "The export-led gro

Economy Dec. 12, 2021

Deputy Trade Minister Jeong Dae-jin plans to visit Washington this week for talks on supply chains of key materials and steel tariff issues, the trade ministry said Sunday. During the three-day visit starting on Monday, Jeong will have a series of meetings with officials of the White House, the Commerce Department, the US Trade Representative office, Congress and major think tanks to boost cooperation on a range of bilateral trade and industry issues, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industr

Foreign Affairs Dec. 12, 2021

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol said Sunday he will seek to revise a law designed to filter out illegally filmed content from major internet platforms amid criticism the measure amounts to censorship. A revision to the Telecommunications Business Act and a related law went into effect on Friday, requiring large internet platforms with annual sales of 1 billion won or the number of daily users 100,000 or more to remove illegal content from their servers. The revision was ma

Politics Dec. 12, 2021

The South Korean baseball club Lotte Giants hired former major league backstop Gerald Laird as their new catching coach on Sunday. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) team said Laird, 42, will be replacing Hank Conger, who recently joined the Minnesota Twins as first base and catching coach following two seasons with the Giants. Laird played 13 seasons in the majors for five franchises, including six years with the Texas Rangers. He won his first and only World Series ring with the St. Louis

Baseball Dec. 12, 2021

The British-Belgian teen pilot Zara Rutherford has made a stop in South Korea during her bid to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world. The 19-year-old landed at Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul Saturday afternoon, after flying in from Vladivostok, Russia, in her ultralight plane Shark. She began her 51,000-kilometer journey in August from Kortrijk-Wevelgem Airport in western Belgium and has since covered Britain, Greenland, the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Cana

Social Affairs Dec. 12, 2021