Having dug themselves into an early hole in the Korean Series, the Doosan Bears will now turn to their best starter from the regular season. The Bears have dropped the first two games of the best-of-seven set against the KT Wiz. They will have left-hander Ariel Miranda start Game 3 when the series resumes at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. But it will be a much different version of Miranda than the one the Bears saw during an MVP-worthy regular season. This will be the first

Baseball Nov. 16, 2021

Korean Air Lines Co. said Tuesday it has received regulatory approval from Vietnam for its integration with smaller local rival Asiana Airlines Inc. Korean Air expects the latest approval to help speed up its process to acquire Asiana Airlines. In January, Korean Air submitted documents to anti-trust regulators of 14 countries for the review of its business combination with Asiana.  As of Tuesday, it had received approvals from six countries -- Vietnam, Thailand, Turkey, Taiwan, Malay

Industry Nov. 16, 2021

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday as investors attempted to cash in gains from the recent rally. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.66 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,994.86 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI got off to a lackluster start amid losses in tech and auto heavyweights. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both retreated 0.04 percent amid lingering inflation concerns. Top cap Samsung E

Market Nov. 16, 2021

Entering this year's Korean Series against the Doosan Bears, the KT Wiz only carried two players with prior experience in the South Korean baseball championship stage. One was 40-year-old designated hitter Yoo Han-joon, who'd played in one in 2014. The other was backup catcher Hur Do-hwan, who'd only been a part-time player in the 2014 and 2018 Korean Series. Compare that to the Bears, who are playing in their seventh consecutive Korean Series. Other than rookies, virtually everyone has some e

Baseball Nov. 16, 2021

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the northwestern city of Samjiyon, near the border with China, where a major development project is underway, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday. It marks his first public activity in more than a month. Located at the foot of Mount Paekdu, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, Samjiyon is known to be the birthplace of Kim's late father and former leader Kim Jong-il. Developing the city has been one of Kim's pet projects since taking office i

North Korea Nov. 16, 2021

The Seoul-proposed end of the Korean War declaration seeks to create a denuclearization process that North Korea cannot walk away from, South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun said Monday. Choi also said such a framework will likely be a long and even torturous process. "The peace process could likely be long, arduous and even torturous. On the way, North Korea might be tempted to look back and doubt or hesitate to stay the course," he said in the annual South Korea-U

North Korea Nov. 16, 2021

Finland's flag carrier Finnair said Tuesday it will open the Busan-Helsinki route early next year, being the first European carrier that offers flight services from the port city to the Finnish capital city. Finnair plans to inject an A350 plane to operate three flights a week in late March, the company said in a statement. "On top of the existing Incheon-Helsinki route, the Busan-Helsinki route will be able to meet rising transfer passengers heading for Asian and other European cities, a

Industry Nov. 16, 2021

Presidential candidates from the ruling party and the main opposition on Monday criticized a panel's decision to ban articles by Yonhap News Agency on mainstream internet portals. A committee jointly formed by leading web portals -- Naver and Daum -- in 2015 to evaluate news partnerships on Friday announced that the two portal operators should cancel their partnerships with Yonhap, in a measure that limits readers from viewing the agency's news articles on the portal sites for one year, as the

Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2021

The number of small shareholders in global tech giant Samsung Electronics surpassed 5 million amid massive stock investment by local retail investors, data showed Monday. Some 5.18 million investors held shares in the top-cap company as of the end of September, triple the tally a year earlier, according to the data from Samsung. Market watchers said a considerable number of local retail investors had bought into Samsung Electronics this year, given foreigners' continued selling of the mos

Market Nov. 15, 2021

The first tourists from Singapore since the start of the coronavirus pandemic arrived Monday in South Korea under a bilateral travel bubble agreement. A travel bubble refers to a quarantine-free travel partnership between two or more cities or countries with similar levels of COVID-19 cases. The tourists landed at Incheon International Airport earlier in the day and will be free to travel around the country without quarantine if they test negative on a polymerase chain reaction test, the Korea

Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2021

Both the leader and the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) met with a veteran politician Monday and publicly asked for his help in the 2022 presidential campaign. The request was made by PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok and presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl during a book event for Kim Chong-in, a former five-term lawmaker credited with steering both the ruling and opposition parties to key election victories as their interim chief. Kim is reportedly being conside

Politics Nov. 15, 2021

President Moon Jae-in on Monday sent a pot of orchids to the main opposition People Power Party's presidential candidate, Yoon Seok-youl, to congratulate him on his nomination and pledged to remain politically neutral during the presidential race, a lawmaker said. Lee Cheol-hee, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, paid a visit to Yoon to deliver the orchids with a message from Moon that he hopes Yoon will stay healthy during the election campaign. In response, Yoon sent his g

Politics Nov. 15, 2021

South Korea said Monday local firms have inked deals to import urea solution from other countries, including Malaysia and Mexico, a move expected to help ease a supply shortage of the key fluid needed in diesel cars to cut emissions. Three Korean firms have signed contracts to import a combined 1.28 million liters of urea solution from Malaysia, Mexico and Australia, according to the government. South Korea needs 600,000 liters of the solution for diesel cars per day. A fourth South Korean fir

Industry Nov. 15, 2021

The South Korean stock market closed just shy of the 3,000-point mark Monday after a bullish session, led by strong foreign and institutional buying. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 30.72 points, or 1.03 percent, to close at 2,999.52 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 631 million shares worth some 11.2 trillion won ($9.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 626 to 238. Foreigners bought a net 397 billion w

Market Nov. 15, 2021

Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems Co. (HE) said Monday it will launch a 26.6-billion won ($22.5 million) project to build an eco-friendly electricity generation and supply system in an industrial complex in South Korea. To that end, HE signed a deal to carry out the project with Korea Industrial Complex Corp., an operator of industrial complexes in South Korea, the company said. HE has formed a consortium with 13 entities, including industrial artificial intelligence company Thingspire, to

Industry Nov. 15, 2021