South Korea will closely monitor the financial market as market volatility could increase from a spike in virus cases and talks of an early tapering of the Federal Reserve's bond purchase, a senior government official said Thursday. After a two-day policy meeting, the Fed on Wednesday kept its key interest rate near zero and left unchanged its bond-buying program. The Fed said the US economy is on a solid recovery track despite a flare-up in COVID-19 cases, but it did not provide a timetable fo

Economy July 29, 2021

North Korea's annual trade plunged a whopping 73.4 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, as the country shut down its border amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Thursday. The combined amount of North Korea's trade came to $863 million in 2020, compared with $3.24 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). "The decrease came as both exports and imports lost ground after North Korea closed down its bord

North Korea July 29, 2021

A Navy officer and a civilian worker for the military tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. The officer in the southern city of Changwon was confirmed to have been infected while in quarantine, and the civilian worker in Seoul tested positive after one of his family members recently contracted the virus, according to the ministry. The latest cases brought the total caseload among the military population to 1,497, with 305 of them under treatment, it added

Defense July 29, 2021

Direct military communication lines between South and North Korea are back to normal operation Thursday after technical problems with one of the lines were fixed, the defense ministry said. On Tuesday, the two sides reopened all cross-border communication lines, 13 months after Pyongyang cut them off in protest over anti-regime propaganda leaflets flying in from the South. Of the two cross-border military hotlines, the western channel worked well from the first day, but the other one, known as

North Korea July 29, 2021

Four American service members and a family member of an American worker for the US military tested positive for the new coronavirus upon arrival here from the United States, US Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday. One of the service members arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on a US government-chartered flight, and three service members and a USFK contractor's family member arrived on international commercial flights at Incheon International Airport, west of Seo

Defense July 29, 2021

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell slightly Thursday after reaching a record high the previous day as health authorities weigh implementing more virus restrictions to slow down the spread of the delta variant and growing infections outside the greater Seoul area. The country added 1,674 COVID-19 cases, including 1,632 local infections, raising the total caseload to 195,099, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest tally is a fall from a record

Social Affairs July 29, 2021

TOKYO -- South Korea began the team portion of the Tokyo Olympic fencing competition with a silver medal in the women's epee Tuesday. Then the men's sabre team won gold on Wednesday. South Korea doesn't have a team for the women's foil event for Thursday. Next up: the men's epee team on Friday. Hey, no pressure. Park Sang-young, the 2016 individual epee champion who failed to defend his title, will lead the epee team of Kwon Young-jun, Ma Se-geon and Song Jae-ho at the team competition at Mak

Olympic Games July 29, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday reported robust second-quarter earnings on the back of its semiconductor business and a one-off gain from its display panel business. Its net profit stood at 9.63 trillion won ($8.3 billion) in the April-June period, up 73.4 percent from a year earlier, the world's largest memory chip and smartphone vendor said in a regulatory filing. Its second-quarter operating profit jumped 54.3 percent on-year to 12.56 trillion won, the largest since the third quarter o

Industry July 29, 2021

CHIBA -- There are few things more exciting in sports than watching Olympic athletes at the top of their game. In winning their team gold medal Wednesday night at the Tokyo Olympics, the South Korean sabre fencers Kim Jung-hwan, Gu Bon-gil, Oh Sang-uk and Kim Jun-ho performed with power, grace and ease that defy the difficult nature of the sport. They manhandled Italy 45-26 at Makuhari Messe Hall B in Chiba, east of Tokyo, to bring South Korea its second straight gold in the men's sabre team e

Olympic Games July 29, 2021

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed that "kindred ties" with China will carry on generation after generation as he visited a monument symbolizing friendly relations between the two countries, state media said Thursday. On Wednesday, Kim visited the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang, which was erected to commemorate China's participation in the 1950-53 Korean War, and sent a wreath to mark the 68th anniversary of the armistice that ended the war, the Korean Central News Agency said.

North Korea July 29, 2021

President Moon Jae-in sent congratulatory messages Wednesday to the members of South Korea's female epee fencing team and two taekwondo players for winning medals at the Tokyo Olympics. Moon pointed out that the fencing squad has proved its world's best-level ability by securing silver again the previous day after doing the same during the 2012 London Olympics. "Thank you for bringing joy to the people," Moon wrote in his message for each member of the contingent -- Kang Young-mi,

Olympic Games July 28, 2021

South Korean swimmer Lee Ju-ho set a national record in the men's 200m backstroke at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday, the second swimming national mark to fall on this day. Lee finished his heat in 1:56.77 at Tokyo Aquatics Centre to qualify for the semifinals with room to spare. He was fourth overall among the 16 qualifiers. The semifinals are scheduled for Thursday morning. The top eight from there will reach the final for Friday. No South Korean swimmer has reached an Olympic final in a ba

Olympic Games July 28, 2021

This week's restoration of inter-Korean communication lines underscores the commitments by President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to restore mutual trust and improve bilateral ties, Seoul's top diplomat said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong made the remarks, after the two Koreas reactivated communication lines on Tuesday, 13 months after North Korea severed them in anger over activists having sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border into the North. The react

Foreign Affairs July 28, 2021

South Korea captured its second straight gold medal in the men's team sabre fencing on Wednesday, joining a short list of fencing powerhouses with multiple Olympic titles in the discipline. The team of Kim Jung-hwan, Gu Bon-gil, Oh Sang-uk and Kim Jun-ho took down Italy 45-26 in the gold medal match at Makuhari Messe Hall B in Chiba, east of Tokyo, on Wednesday. This is the fourth gold medal for South Korea at the Tokyo Olympics, and the first to come from a sport other than archery. South K

Olympic Games July 28, 2021

South Korea cruised into the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympic men's football tournament on Wednesday with a 6-0 victory over Honduras. Striker Hwang Ui-jo scored a hat trick in the first half against 10-man Honduras at International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. South Korea won Group B with six points from two wins and a loss. South Korea entered this match in first place in the group and only needed a draw to advance to the knockouts. They instead beat up on a hapless Hondu

Olympic Games July 28, 2021