A man who was sentenced by a district court to four years in prison for stealing a painting by South Korean abstract master Kim Whan-ki has been given a heavier sentence by an appellate court after he was found to have stolen other paintings, judicial officials said Thursday. The Seoul High Court handed out a six-year prison sentence to the man surnamed Kim, who was indicted for stealing the late painter Kim's painting titled "10-Ⅴ-73 #314," also known as "Sanulrim" (Echo am

Social Affairs Oct. 21, 2021

Yoon Seok-youl, a leading presidential contender of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), expressed regret Thursday after coming under intense criticism for his remarks seeming to praise former authoritarian President Chun Doo-hwan. Yoon said Tuesday that many people think Chun did well in politics, except for his bloody suppression of a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju and his seizing power through a coup. The comments sparked a backlash especially becau

Politics Oct. 21, 2021

  The government is committed to expanding support for police to beef up public safety, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Thursday, as it vowed to increase the law enforcement agency's workforce and budget. Kim expressed his respect and gratitude to some 150,000 police officers in the country for their services at the 76th Police Day ceremony at the Korean Police Investigation Academy in Asan, 90 kilometers south of Seoul. He called on police to win people's trust with responsible and scie

Politics Oct. 21, 2021

South Korean Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook met with Kazakhstani Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar on Thursday and discussed ways to push forward various joint economic projects, Moon's office said. The meeting came two months after the two nations signed a set of memorandums of understanding in various industry fields, such as automobiles, natural resources and healthcare, during Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's visit to  South Korea. During the talks, Moon "expressed

Foreign Affairs Oct. 21, 2021

South Korean power plant builder Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. said Thursday it has signed a maintenance service deal for a reactor at the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Under the deal with Nawah Energy Co., the operator of the nuclear power plant, Doosan Heavy will conduct maintenance services for turbines, generators and parts related to the nuclear reactor of the nuclear power plant for three months beginning in April 2022, it said in an emai

Industry Oct. 21, 2021

POSCO Chemical Co. on Thursday reported its third-quarter net income of 40.9 billion won ($34.8 million), up 496.6 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 31.5 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 19.4 billion won a year ago. Sales rose 29.9 percent to 505 billion won. The operating profit was 9.4 percent lower than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency

Industry Oct. 21, 2021

South Korea was preparing Thursday to launch its first homegrown space launch vehicle in the latest attempt to foster its space program and join the elite global space club. The KSLV-II -- also known as Nuri -- is set to blast off from the Naro Space Center in the country's southern coastal village of Goheung at around 4 p.m., the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) said. The 200-ton Nuri is intended to put a 1.5-ton dummy satellite into orbit, a space launch vehicle technology that Sout

Social Affairs Oct. 21, 2021

South Korea reported fewer than 1,500 daily cases Thursday, continuing a downward trend since the fourth wave of the pandemic peaked in late September, due to the accelerating rate of vaccinations. The country reported 1,441 new cases, including 1,430 local infections, raising the total caseload to 347,529, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.  Thursday's tally is down by 130 from the 1,571 counted the previous day. It is also down by 498 from the number reported a week

Social Affairs Oct. 21, 2021

Actor Kim Seon-ho's alleged former girlfriend has said she received an apology from him and there was an unspecified "misunderstanding" between them, after her claim that he had coerced her into having an abortion suddenly derailed the actor's career. "I received an apology from him, and it seems like there were some misunderstanding between us," an anonymous person who claimed to be Kim's ex-girlfriend said Wednesday in an addition to her previous posting to an online commu

Television Oct. 21, 2021

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Thursday, led by advances in techs and autos. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 4.82 points, or 0.16 percent, to 3,017.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.43 percent to 35,609 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped 0.05 percent to 15,121 points. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics edged up 0.14 percent to 70,400 won, while LG Chem shed 2.62 percent to

Market Oct. 21, 2021

One crew member was found dead and two others were rescued Thursday after a fishing boat capsized in waters near South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo a day earlier, the Coast Guard said. Six people remained unaccounted for after the 72-ton vessel capsized in waters 168 kilometers northeast of Dokdo at 2:24 p.m. on Wednesday, as officials stepped up search and rescue operations, including sending 14 divers into the capsized boat. The nine-member crew consisted of three South Koreans, four

Social Affairs Oct. 21, 2021

Before Ulsan Hyundai FC took on their regional rivals Pohang Steelers for a spot in the final of the top Asian club football tournament Wednesday night, few pundits and oddsmakers had predicted a loss by the mighty K League 1 leaders. After all, Ulsan had much more firepower and boasted superior depth at all positions. They hadn't lost in their past 17 matches in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League. And they were also the defending champions. Ulsan had already taken down an

Soccer Oct. 21, 2021

North Korea said Thursday its recent test-firing of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) was not targeted toward the United States, adding there is no need for Washington to "worry or agonize" over it. A spokesperson for the North's foreign ministry expressed concerns over "nonsensical" reactions from the US and the UN Security Council over its "rightful exercise of right to defense" in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KC

North Korea Oct. 21, 2021

South Korea's exports rose 36.1 percent on-year in the first 20 days of October on the back of robust demand for chips, petroleum products and autos, customs data showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $34.2 billion in the Oct. 1-20 period, compared with $25.1 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports increased 48 percent on-year to $36.7 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $2.49 billion during the cited period, the data show

Economy Oct. 21, 2021

Naver Corp. said Thursday its net profit jumped 37.1 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier largely due to a stellar performance of its content businesses amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Net profit reached 322.7 billion won ($274.8 million) in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 235.3 billion won a year earlier, South Korea's top internet portal operator said in a press release. Operating income reached a quarterly high of 349.8 billion won during the cited period

Industry Oct. 21, 2021