South Korea has asked for Russia's cooperation to ensure the stable supply of urea, grain and other major items amid Russia's export quotas, Seoul's finance ministry said Wednesday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the request Tuesday during a virtual South Korea-Russia joint committee meeting on the economy, science and technology with Yury Trutnev, Russia's deputy prime minister and presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District. During the video conference, Hong asked for the smoot

Economy Dec. 8, 2021

Seoul's daily coronavirus cases reached a record high of 2,901 on Wednesday as the country's total surpassed 7,000 for the first time since the pandemic began, officials said Wednesday. Seoul's total was up 781 from the previous day and up 628 from the previous high of 2,273 logged Friday, according to the Central Disease Control Headquarters. Of the total, 2,890 were local infections and 11 were from overseas. Seoul saw its daily virus figure exceed 2,000 every day except for Sunday in the p

Social Affairs Dec. 8, 2021

South Korea's average temperature in the January-November period reached an all-time high of 14.4 degrees Celsius, making this year likely to be the warmest year ever, the state weather agency said Wednesday. The 11-month average temperature marks the highest since 1973 when the country beefed up weather observation networks across the nation, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. With the average daily temperature in December projected to be warmer than previous years, the yea

Social Affairs Dec. 8, 2021

Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party, is leading his rival Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party by 8.2 percentage points in a hypothetical multicandidate race, a survey showed Wednesday. Yoon earned 45.3 percent support against Lee's 37.1 percent in the survey of 1,036 adults conducted Monday and Tuesday by Realmeter. Yoon gained 1.6 percentage points from the previous Realmeter survey released on Nov. 29, while Lee added 2 points. The poll

Politics Dec. 8, 2021

South Korea's new coronavirus cases hit an all-time high on Wednesday as infections continued to surge around the country amid waning immunity and colder weather. The country confirmed 7,175 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 489,484, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily tally was up by 2,221 from a day earlier, the biggest daily jump since the pandemic began early last year. The previous record of 5,352 was set on Saturday. The av

Social Affairs Dec. 8, 2021

South Korean stocks opened steeply higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street that stemmed from easing concerns about the omicron variant. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 25.72 points, or 0.86 percent, to trade at 3,017.44 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Kospi got off to a bullish start, backed by comments by Anthony Fauci, top medical adviser to the US president, that the symptoms of the omicron variant are most likely lighter than other var

Market Dec. 8, 2021

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Wednesday housing prices have markedly stabilized on the back of housing supply measures, the central bank's rate hike and tougher rules on household loans. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said prices of apartments in some areas of Seoul have stabilized to a level before possible decline. "The government will make efforts to help housing prices further stabilize by increasing home supplies in a way that exceeds the market's expectations and by acti

Economy Dec. 8, 2021

Corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by big South Korean firms rose sharply in the first nine months of this year as they revved up efforts to find new growth engines, data showed Wednesday. The country's top 500 companies spent a combined 28.8 trillion won ($24.4 billion) on M&As in the January-September period, more than double last year's spending of 12.6 trillion won, according to the data from corporate tracker CEO Score. The number of M&A cases came to 126 in the nine-mo

Economy Dec. 8, 2021

South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases have surpassed 7,000 for the first time, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Wednesday, amid concerns over the omicron variant and the rising number of critical virus patients. "In the capital area, where 80 percent of total cases are reported, we continue to add hospital beds with active cooperation from the medical community, but still it is tough to catch up with the pace of rising virus cases," Kim said at the government's COVID-19 response meeting

Social Affairs Dec. 8, 2021

WASHINGTON -- The United States remains committed to engaging with North Korea diplomatically despite having no success so far, White House policy coordinator for Asia Kurt Campbell said Tuesday. "To date, we have not had success, but we are still determined to put our best foot forward with respect to diplomacy," Campbell told reporters after taking part in a forum hosted by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, a think tank run by South Korean conglomerate SK Group. His remarks

Foreign Affairs Dec. 8, 2021

South Korean stocks extended their winning streak to a fifth session Tuesday after choppy trading, led by advances in tech and auto shares. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 18.47 points, or 0.62 percent, to close at 2,991.72 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 528 million shares worth some 9.9 trillion won ($8.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 586 to 268. Foreigners bought a net 207 billion won, whi

Market Dec. 7, 2021

The Supreme Court has raised the maximum recommmended sentence for those convicted of child abuse resulting in death to 22 1/2 years in prison amid calls for tougher punishment for such heinous crimes, sources said Tuesday. The highest court's sentencing commission held a meeting Monday and raised the standard sentence for the crime to 4-8 years in prison, with up to 15 years of imprisonment possible for aggravated cases, from the current 4-7 years in prison and up to 10 years for aggravated ca

Social Affairs Dec. 7, 2021

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), on Tuesday defended his election pledge to provide low-interest loans for youths, saying there are "good debts." "Whether they are national debts or personal debts, it is a foolish thought to say all debts are bad," Lee said at a lecturing event at Seoul National University. "If using your future assets in advance is more valuable, I think it is right to do it." Lee's election pledge of

Politics Dec. 7, 2021

The Ministry of Science and ICT on Tuesday unveiled a guideline on a revised law requiring Netflix and other tech giants to improve their online service quality. Last December, South Korea passed a law revision holding online content service providers accountable if they fail to maintain stable services amid growing complaints against streaming giants Netflix and Google after their services experienced a number of outages. The revised law, informally dubbed the "Netflix law" in the c

Technology Dec. 7, 2021

South Korea will be able to import around 120,000 tons of urea per year from Indonesia over the next three years, a move expected to help prevent a supply crunch of the key industry material here, Seoul's industry ministry said Tuesday. The agreement was made as Seoul's Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook and Indonesia's State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) meant to boost bilateral cooperation in the urea supply earlier in the day. South Korea h

Industry Dec. 7, 2021