The National Assembly on Monday is set to vote on a string of contentious bills in a plenary session. The ruling Democratic Party (DP), holding an absolute parliamentary majority, initially planned to push a highly contested media reform bill through the meeting scheduled for 5 p.m., but the prospect of its imminent passage remains slim amid the main opposition's threat to launch a filibuster. Among the bills likely to be submitted to the session are one to block US tech giant Google's upcomin

Politics Aug. 30, 2021

South Korea's combined area of rice paddies moved up 0.8 percent on-year in 2021, data showed Monday, with the country expected to maintain a stable supply of the staple grain despite heavy rains. The combined size of rice paddies is estimated at 732,000 hectares -- slightly more than half the size of the US state of Connecticut -- compared with 726,000 hectares last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The producer price of rice per 20 kilograms came to 55,3

Economy Aug. 30, 2021

The Ministry of Justice said Monday it will devise measures to step up monitoring of convicts wearing electric ankle bracelets, following the incident over the weekend where a man, who had cut off his monitoring device and took off, turned himself in to police and said he killed two women. The ministry said at a briefing it will make the device harder to cut off, enhance cooperation with police by swiftly sharing information on criminals wearing such a device and introduce an improved system to

Social Affairs Aug. 30, 2021

South Koreans' overseas card spending jumped 80 percent on-year in the second quarter as many nations eased lockdown rules following the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Monday. The amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans with cards, including credit and debit cards, totaled $3.37 billion in the April-June period, compared with $1.87 billion for the same period last year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Compared with three months earlier, overseas card sp

Economy Aug. 30, 2021

South Korea's science ministry said Monday the country's first lunar exploration mission is on track for launch in August next year after it strengthened ties with the United States earlier this year in space exploration. South Korea aims to conduct a yearlong mission to observe the moon through an orbiting spacecraft, with hopes of securing technologies for future space exploration missions. The Ministry of Science and ICT said it has completed rigging a high-precision camera, developed by th

Technology Aug. 30, 2021

The United States on Sunday stressed the "urgent need for dialogue and diplomacy" with North Korea after the UN nuclear watchdog reported that Pyongyang appears to have restarted its plutonium-producing nuclear reactor. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report to its board of governors that the five megawatt reactor at the North's Yongbyon nuclear complex has shown indications it has been in operation since July. "We are aware of this report. We are closely

Foreign Affairs Aug. 30, 2021

South Korea said Monday it has launched a new round of negotiations to clinch a free trade agreement with Mercosur, South America's leading trading bloc, as it aims to further expand its export portfolio. Asia's fourth-largest economy and Mercosur began a five-day virtual meeting that will run through Friday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Mercosur -- made up of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay -- accounts for around 70 percent of the population in South Ameri

Economy Aug. 30, 2021

South Korea said Monday it will begin providing emergency relief funds to people in the bottom 88 percent income bracket next week in the latest move to help them cope with the fallout from the pandemic. The government will begin to provide up to 250,000 won ($215) per recipient on Sept. 6 as part of an 11 trillion-won cash handout program, according to the interior and finance ministries. The money must be spent by end-December. In July, the country drew up an extra budget of 34.9 trillion wo

Economy Aug. 30, 2021

South Korea's wine imports hit a fresh high in 2020 as more people enjoyed drinking at home and alone due to the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. Asia's fourth-largest economy imported $330 million worth of wine last year, up 27.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service. It was an all-time high, and wine imports exceeded those of beer, which sank 19.2 percent on-year to $227 million. The customs office said wine imports soared last year as peop

Industry Aug. 30, 2021

Almost 70 percent of South Koreans support the government's plan to grant long-term stay visas to hundreds of Afghan civilians who fled their homeland to be sheltered here from the Taliban, a poll showed Monday. According to the poll of 500 people aged 18 and above conducted by Realmeter on Friday, a combined 68.7 percent of the respondents said they approve of the plan to issue long-term visas to Afghan evacuees who arrived here last week, allowing them to get jobs here. Among those who sup

Foreign Affairs Aug. 30, 2021

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,500 on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend, with the country planning to offer booster shots to those who have been fully vaccinated in the fourth quarter to cope with the variant strains. The country added 1,487 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,426 local infections, raising the total caseload to 250,051, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Monday's tally marked a drop from 1,793 on Saturday and 1,6

Social Affairs Aug. 30, 2021

South Korea will increase its spending on chips, bio-health and next-generation vehicles by 43 percent next year as the country seeks to nurture new industries, the country's finance minister said Monday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government will earmark 6.3 trillion won ($5.4 billion) to support the three key industries in its 2022 budget proposal. The country has set the non-memory chip, bio-health and next-generation vehicle sectors as the "BIG 3" industries where it s

Industry Aug. 30, 2021

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday as investors are relieved by the US Federal Reserve's cautious stance about withdrawing its ultra-easing monetary policy. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 16.7 points, or 0.53 percent, to trade at 3,150.6 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Kospi advanced, following Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's Friday address that the Fed could begin tapering its asset purchases this year, but that the move should be made separatel

Market Aug. 30, 2021

South Korean firms are suffering from the triple whammy of rising raw material costs, a coronavirus resurgence and an interest rate hike, a poll showed Monday. The survey of 310 large and smaller companies, taken by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), showed that 81.6 percent of the respondents to the poll, in which multiple choices were possible, cited an increase in raw material prices as their top concern. The resurgence of COVID-19 infections came next with 80.6 percent, fol

Economy Aug. 30, 2021

The UN nuclear watchdog has detected "deeply troubling" indications that a key nuclear reactor at North Korea's main Yongbyon complex has been in operation since July, including the release of cooling water, an annual report showed Monday. Submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors on Friday, the report covered new developments of the five megawatt reactor, from which the North obtained spent fuel rods to extract plutonium -- a fissile material used for a

Foreign Affairs Aug. 30, 2021