South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed above 2,100 for the second consecutive day Friday, as worries persist over a virus resurgence with the country set to relax antivirus measures for a return to normalcy. The country added 2,124 fresh COVID-19 cases, including 2,094 local infections, raising the total caseload to 360,536, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily tally surpassed the 2,000 mark after 20 days on Thursday. The daily infection tally has moved in

Social Affairs Oct. 29, 2021

ATLANTA -- The US state of Georgia on Thursday welcomed SKC Co.'s decision to build a glass-based substrate plant there, saying it would help create jobs. Hailing SKC's decision as an unprecedented big project, Georgia Gov. Brian P. Kemp tweeted that it would help create more jobs and shows the state is one of the supply chain hubs in America. "400 new jobs coming to Covington, GA via SKC's $473M investment to manufacture glass-based substrates for semiconductor chips," Kemp said. &q

Foreign Affairs Oct. 29, 2021

SK Innovation Co. on Friday reported its third-quarter net income of 511 billion won ($436.6 million), shifting from a loss of 16.1 billion won a year earlier. Operating profit for the July-September period was 618.5 billion, compared with a loss of 53.6 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales rose 48.1 percent to 12.3 trillion won. The operating profit was 30.8 percent higher than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial dat

Industry Oct. 29, 2021

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday as investor sentiment was uplifted by overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.25 points, or 0.47 percent, to 3,023.80 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.68 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 1.39 percent. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics added 0.99 percent, and LG Electronics rose 5.74 percent and No. 2 chipmaker SK

Market Oct. 29, 2021

K-pop superband BTS has been nominated for three categories in this year's American Music Awards, including for the top Artist of The Year prize for the first time. In the 2021 AMA nomination list released Thursday (US time), BTS was recognized in the Artist of The Year, Favorite Duo or Group and Favorite Pop Song categories. It is the first time that the Korean boy band has made the cut for Artist of The Year, the grand prize of the fan-voted AMA, one of the largest music shows in the United

K-pop Oct. 29, 2021

South Korea's industrial output and retail sales rebounded in September in the latest sign that economic recovery momentum has been maintained despite the fourth wave of the pandemic, data showed Friday. Industrial output rose 1.3 percent in September from the previous month, following a 0.2 percent on-month decline in August, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. From a year earlier, industrial output rose 1.4 percent. Retail sales, a gauge of private spending, also rebounded i

Economy Oct. 29, 2021

ROME -- President Moon Jae-in was set to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday to discuss peace on the Korean Peninsula and efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic, the presidential office said. The Friday meeting will take place as Moon visited Rome to attend the Group of 20 Leaders' Summit over the weekend before traveling to Glasgow to join the global summit of the COP26 climate change gathering. It will be Moon's second meeting with Pope Francis since October 2018. Moon and Pope

Politics Oct. 29, 2021

WASHINGTON -- The United States is reviewing the possibility of declaring a formal end to the Korean War from various angles, a ranking US diplomat has said, according to a South Korea official visiting the US. Mark Lambert, deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan, made the remark in a meeting with Lee Seok-hyun, vice chairman of South Korea's National Unification Advisory Council, according to Lee. The council offers policy recommendations to the South Korean president. Lamber

Foreign Affairs Oct. 29, 2021

South Korean baseball's postseason will begin next Monday, two days after the end of the regular season. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced its postseason schedule Thursday. It will begin with the wild card game between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds Monday. The higher seed will advance to the next round with a win or a tie, while the lower seed must win two straight games to move on. The wild card winner will then face the No. 3 team from the regular season in the best-of-three first

Sports Oct. 28, 2021

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Thursday it will allot part of new shares to six Samsung Group affiliates, including Samsung Electronics Co. Samsung Heavy Industries, suffering from continued losses, plans to raise 1.28 trillion won ($1.1 billion) by selling 250 million common shares at 5,130 won per share to repay its debt and develop eco-friendly shipbuilding technologies. Of them, 50 million shares, or 20 percent, have been sold to the company's workers for 256.5 billion won. Later in

Industry Oct. 28, 2021

Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH) said Thursday that its third-quarter net income rose 28.6 percent from a year earlier on gains from equity investment in subsidiaries. Net profit came to 44.5 billion won ($38 million) in the July-September period, compared with 34.6 billion won in the same period a year ago. "The strong performance came from a turnaround in the shipbuilding units and robust earnings of refining subsidiary," the company said in an emailed statement. Opera

Industry Oct. 28, 2021

A South Korean consortium led by local electric carmaker Edison Motors Co. has been selected as the preferred bidder to acquire SsangYong Motor Co., the company said Thursday. SsangYong and the court-appointed lead manager EY Hanyoung accounting firm submitted an official document for the selection of the Edison consortium for the debt-laden carmaker last week and the court approved the preferred bidder early this week, a company official said over the phone. SsangYong and EY Hanyoung will sig

Industry Oct. 28, 2021

LG Electronics Inc. said Thursday its net profit dropped 20.4 percent on-year in the third quarter due to costs incurred in a recall of General Motor's Bolt electric vehicles. The South Korean tech giant said in a regulatory filing that net income came to 516.5 billion won ($440 million) in the July-September, down from 649.2 billion won during the same period of last year. LG Electronics said the recall of General Motor's Bolt electric vehicles hurt its bottom line. LG Electronics said its t

Industry Oct. 28, 2021

South Korean stocks retreated for a second straight day Thursday, weighed down by concerns about the increasing inflationary pressure. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) slumped 15.94 points, or 0.53 percent, to close at 3,009.55 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 608 million shares worth some 12.2 trillion won ($10.4 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 661 to 210. Foreigners sold a net 249 billion won worth of s

Market Oct. 28, 2021

     First-generation electric carmaker Saean has quickly grown into a global company, and plans to focus on strengthening its headquarters as well as research and development for new models, including a sports car.   　Saean said it will merge affiliated companies in America, Japan and Korea, and Saean Corp., its headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, will have all business rights, patent and technological rights.   　Saean R&D will focus on developing new models.

Industry Oct. 28, 2021