Sim Sang-jeung, the presidential candidate of the minor progressive Justice Party, said Monday she will make the military switch to a full volunteer system from 2030 and reduce the number of standing troops if elected president. Currently, all able-bodied South Korean men are mandated to serve about two years in the military. Sim vowed to change the country's compulsory military draft system if she wins the presidential election in March next year. "Under the current compulsory system, t

Politics Nov. 15, 2021

Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), is leading his opponent Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) by some 13 percentage points in a hypothetical multicandidate race, a survey showed Monday. Yoon garnered 45.6 percent support against Lee's 32.4 percent in the survey conducted on 1,009 adults nationwide on Friday and Saturday, according to the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI). Yoon's rating rose 2.6 percentage points from th

Politics Nov. 15, 2021

SsangYong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said Monday its third-quarter net losses narrowed from a year earlier due to self-help measures. SsangYong Motor's net losses narrowed to 59.29 billion won ($50 million) for the three months ended in September from 102.44 billion won in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement. "An extended global chip shortage affected vehicle production and sales but employees' acceptance of pay cuts

Industry Nov. 15, 2021

South Korea said Monday it plans to provide $100 million in financing for a joint project with multilateral lenders to help Bangladesh recover from the fallout of the pandemic. South Korea's Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) will offer its low-interest rate loans for the $700 million joint project to support Bangladesh's economy, the finance ministry said. The project will also be supported by the Asian Development Bank with $250 million, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AI

Economy Nov. 15, 2021

South Korea has lowered Indonesia's planned payment for its share of the cost for a joint fighter development project, as the warplane has been designated as "defense goods" eligible for a tax exemption, the state arms procurement agency said Monday. Accordingly, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Indonesia is to pay 1.6 trillion won ($1.35 billion) in total, down 100 billion won, for the 8.1 trillion-won project, called KF-X. DAPA announced the change after i

Defense Nov. 15, 2021

INCHEON -- The customs office at Incheon International Airport will launch a special crackdown on drug smuggling ahead of Black Friday and other seasonal sales in the United States, officials said Monday. The seven-week crackdown will last for seven weeks through the end of the year, officials said. Smuggling of marijuana could jump during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which fall after Thanksgiving in the fourth week of November, as discounts are offered during the holiday shopping period in

Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2021

The Seoul city government will temporarily lift operating day restrictions on privately-owned taxis in an effort to increase nighttime taxi services, as eased anti-virus restrictions are jacking up demand for nocturnal transportation, officials said Monday. The city will temporarily remove the restrictions under which privately-owned cabs were required to take every third day off, allowing them to run services in the nighttime period from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. on the otherwise off day, the city gove

Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2021

South Korea's rice output rose for the first time in six years due mainly to favorable weather conditions and an increase in the cultivation area, data showed Monday. The country's rice production reached 3.88 million tons in 2021, up 10.7 percent from a record low of 3.51 million tons the previous year, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the first rebound since 2015 when rice output rose 2 percent on-year to 4.33 million tons. The figure declined for the fifth strai

Industry Nov. 15, 2021

About 10,000 police officers will be deployed for security and safety activities related to this week's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), the National Police Agency (NPA) said Monday. On Thursday, about 509,800 high school seniors and graduates are set to take this year's CSAT, seen as one of the nation's most important annual academic events. The NPA said 10,506 officers will be mobilized to safeguard the delivery of exam papers and answer sheets from Monday to Thursday and guard the te

Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2021

President Moon Jae-in on Monday attended a christening ceremony for a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility set to head to Mozambique, saying the platform will expand energy cooperation between the two nations. The christening ceremony of the Coral-Sul floating facility came about four years after Samsung Heavy Industries Co., a major Korean shipyard, won a $2.5 billion deal to build the offshore facility. Moon said the floating LNG facility will become a symbol of friendly cooperati

Politics Nov. 15, 2021

The South Korean customs agency said Monday it has confiscated some 4 tons of smuggled urea solution and is planning to distribute them to the market. The Korea Customs Service (KCS) said it had caught a group of local importers Friday for attempting to bring in 416 10-kilogram containers of urea solution hidden in lawfully imported goods from China through the western port of Incheon. The service said it was investigating those smugglers of urea solution, a key fluid used in diesel vehicles t

Industry Nov. 15, 2021

Fresh off a wildly entertaining performance, South Korea will seek to give their fans even more to cheer about in their next World Cup qualifying match against Iraq. The second meeting between the two teams in Group A of the final Asian qualifying round will kick off at Thani bin Jassim Stadium in Doha at 6 p.m. Tuesday local time, or midnight in Seoul. Iraq are playing their home matches at neutral venues for security reasons. Following a 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last Thur

Soccer Nov. 15, 2021

South Korea's military has unveiled a computer-generated video of a homegrown fighter and radar-evading drones in a joint sortie, offering a glimpse into a future battle concept mixing the manned and unmanned assets currently under development. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) recently posted the short video on its YouTube channel, depicting the KF-21 fighter flanked by three stealth drones in joint air operations over South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. The KF-21 f

Defense Nov. 15, 2021

South Korea's military reported three additional COVID-19 cases Monday, bringing the total caseload among its personnel to 2,126, the defense ministry said. Among the new cases were an Army officer stationed in Hwacheon, 118 kilometers northeast of Seoul, and another Army officer based in Yeoncheon, also north of the capital city. The two tested positive following their vacations. An Army officer based in Cheorwon, 88 kilometers north of Seoul, contracted the virus after staying at the same sp

Defense Nov. 15, 2021

K-pop megastar BTS has clinched four trophies at this year's MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA), the most at the annual ceremony. In the ceremony held in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday (local time), the seven-member act took home Best Pop, Best Group, Best K-pop and Biggest Fans. BTS is one of just two names to clinch more than one trophy at this year's MTV EMA, along with British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran who claimed the most coveted Best Song for "Bad Habits" and Best Artist. The Kor

K-pop Nov. 15, 2021