Helping economically vulnerable people hit by the COVID-19 pandemic will be the top election pledge of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP)'s presidential candidate, Yoon Seok-youl, the party's campaign chief said Monday. Kim Chong-in, a veteran politician who recently accepted an offer to head Yoon's campaign, said the PPP nominee will focus on providing solutions for economically disadvantaged people amid growing economic inequality prompted by the pandemic. "How to revive peo

Politics Dec. 6, 2021

South Korea's Navy has selected the 2,500-ton frigate, Jeonbuk, as this year's "top gun" ship following an annual assessment of its warships' combat capabilities, officials said Monday. The frigate of the Third Fleet Command based in Mokpo, 410 kilometers southwest of Seoul, won the title after it passed final gunnery competitions that took place from September to October, the officials said. The competition to pick the top gun vessel has taken place annually since 1988. They are mea

Defense Dec. 6, 2021

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 5,000 for the first time in three days Monday as the country reimposed toughened social distancing rules amid concerns over the spread of the omicron variant. The country added 4,325 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 477,358, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Daily infections soared to a record high of 5,352 cases on Saturday before falling to 5,127 on Sunday. On Monday, the government began

Social Affairs Dec. 6, 2021

As a former stolen base king himself, new Kia Tigers manager Kim Jong-kook would like to see more thieveries from his players going forward. Kim, having been a coach with the Tigers for a decade before being named skipper on Sunday, knows as well as anyone that the Tigers aren't going to slug their way to prominence. But it could be a different story when it comes to stealing bags, Kim said. "Objectively speaking, we're not much of a power-hitting club, but we can be competitive with our

Baseball Dec. 6, 2021

South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to address sticky issues in customs procedures for better implementation of their free trade agreement (FTA), the finance ministry said Monday. Under the agreement, South Korean firms will be able to receive tariff benefits if they submit a copy of certificates of origin when they export goods to the 10 member states of ASEAN, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Korean exporters have had difficulties a

Economy Dec. 6, 2021

South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Monday, tracking losses on Wall Street that stemmed from worries about the omicron variant of the coronavirus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 30.26 points, or 1.02 percent, to 2,938.07 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came off to a weak start, led by foreign and institutional sell-offs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.17 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 1.92 percent amid r

Market Dec. 6, 2021

South Korean small merchants' business confidence worsened for December in the wake of a surge in coronavirus infections, a poll showed Monday. The Small Enterprise and Market Service said its business survey index (BSI) for small merchants came to 85.4 for this month, down 2.2 points from the previous month. It marks the first time in four months that the small merchants' BSI has gone down from the previous month. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. The survey of 2,400

Economy Dec. 6, 2021

South Korean insurance companies saw their lending grow at a slower pace in the third quarter from three months earlier due to tougher rules on household loans, data showed Monday. Insurers' outstanding loans totaled 262.4 trillion won ($222 billion) as of the end of September, up 2.1 trillion won from the prior quarter, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Yet the figure was down from the on-quarter increase of 5.2 trillion won in the previous quarter. From a ye

Economy Dec. 6, 2021

Having recently ended a scoring drought, Son Heung-min has now found the back of the net in the second straight match for Tottenham Hotspur. The South Korean forward had a goal and an assist in Tottenham's 3-0 win over Norwich City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday (local time). For the season, Son has six goals in 13 Premier League matches and seven goals in 19 games across all competitions. He has scored once in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Son had also scored against B

Soccer Dec. 6, 2021

South Korean tour star Choi Hye-jin has made the initial cut at the LPGA Tour's qualifying tournament in Alabama. Choi, a three-time Korea LPGA (KLPGA) Tour Player of the Year, was one of five South Koreans to finish inside the top 70 and ties after the first phase of the LPGA Q-Series concluded in Mobile, Alabama, on Sunday (local time). After the first 72 holes, Choi is in second place at 17-under 269, two strokes back of Pauline Roussin-Bouchard of France. Another KLPGA player, An Narin, i

Golf Dec. 6, 2021

South Korea will focus on containing the omicron variant of the novel coronavirus till the end of this year as the country started to enforce tightened social distancing measures amid rising daily infections, Prime Minster Kim Boo-kyum said Monday. "The threat of the omicron variant is becoming apparent," Kim said during a COVID-19 response meeting in Seoul. "Although we do not have a clear grasp of the omicron variant, what looks certain is that it is highly contagious."

Politics Dec. 6, 2021

Three members of the K-pop superband BTS returned home Monday from Los Angeles where it secured a top music honor and had four sold-out live concerts. Jimin, Jin and Jungkook arrived amid a flurry of camera flashes from their fans and journalists at Incheon International Airport at about 5 a.m. and returned home after undergoing a quarantine procedure. BTS took home the artist of the year, considered the top honor, at this year's American Music Awards, one of the three major music awards in

K-pop Dec. 6, 2021

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors have now gone where no South Korean football team has gone before: they became the champions of the K League 1 for a record fifth straight season Sunday. Jeonbuk clinched their historic title with a 2-0 victory over Jeju United at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, some 240 kilometers south of Seoul, finishing with the league-best 76 points. Ulsan Hyundai FC, the only other team with a chance to win the title in the top league Sunday, blanked Daegu FC 2-0 but still fini

Soccer Dec. 5, 2021

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield will attend a virtual conference on UN peacekeeping hosted by the Seoul government next week, according to her office. Thomas-Greenfield will lead the US delegation to the virtual 2021 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial hosted by Seoul on Dec. 7 and 8 to reaffirm US commitment to improving peacekeeping operations, the US Mission to the UN said Friday (local time). "UN peacekeeping missions are one of the most effective tools the globa

Foreign Affairs Dec. 5, 2021

South Korea's military reported 24 additional COVID-19 cases, including two dozen breakthrough ones, Sunday amid growing concerns over the new omicron variant, raising the total caseload among the armed forces to 2,512. Military personnel from Army, Navy, Air Force and direct units under the defense ministry tested positive for the virus, the military said. Among them, 22 contracted the virus at least two weeks after completing their vaccinations, bringing the total number of breakthrough inf

Defense Dec. 5, 2021