South Korea's antitrust regulator said Monday it will fine 24 producers of concrete piles a combined 102 billion won ($88.4 million) for colluding to fix prices of the products used for construction. Samil C&S and 23 others colluded to fix prices of concrete piles and slash production between April 2008 and January 2017 in a bid to stem price falls and maintain inventory levels, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission. Concrete piles are used to buttress the ground when building apart

Economy July 26, 2021

The daily foreign exchange (FX) trading by banks in South Korea fell 5.1 percent in the second quarter from three months earlier, as transactions declined over cooling volatility, central bank data showed Monday. The daily FX turnover came to an average $57.85 billion in the April-June period, down $3.09 billion from the first quarter, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The average daily turnover of foreign exchange spots reached $22.88 billion during the second quarter, down

Economy July 26, 2021

BTS member V's message supporting self-proclaimed BTS fan and teenage ping pong sensation Shin Yu-bin has gone viral. Shin Yu-bin, the youngest member of the South Korean women's table tennis team at 17, is a fan of the South Korean supergroup. Shin, who beat Luxembourg's Xia Lian Ni, a 58-year-old veteran athlete, at the Tokyo Olympics Women's Singles Round 2 on Sunday, has often mentioned how she is a huge fan of the septet. Previous interviews showed her carrying photos of BTS members in he

K-pop July 26, 2021

TOKYO -- South Korea has dominated archery in the Olympics the way few other countries have in other sports. South Korea leads everyone with 26 gold medals, including two over the first two days of competition at the Tokyo Olympics this month. South Korea won the inaugural gold medal in the mixed team event Saturday and then captured its ninth consecutive gold medal in the women's team event Sunday. This leads to the question: Why is the country so good at archery? Theories abound, and gold m

Olympic Games July 26, 2021

TOKYO -- South Korean teen swimming sensation Hwang Sun-woo reached the men's 200m freestyle final of the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, becoming the first swimmer from the country to reach that stage in nine years. Hwang finished his semifinals race in 1:45.53 at Tokyo Aquatics Centre, fifth in his heat but sixth overall among 16 swimmers. The top eight will race in the final, scheduled for 10:43 a.m. Tuesday. Hwang, 18, set a new national record in Sunday's heats with 1:44.62 and led everyone in

Olympic Games July 26, 2021

Financially troubled SsangYong Motor Corp. on Monday revealed a design sketch of its new sport utility vehicle under development as it tries to revive sales with next-generation models. The SUV-focused automaker teased the design sketch of the new SUV codenamed KR10, saying its design language is "Powered by Toughness." SsangYong said its upcoming SUVs will be equipped with "eco-friendly power trains" to meet growing market demand. Last month, the automaker said it will la

Industry July 26, 2021

LG Electronics Inc. on Monday unveiled its upgraded wireless earbuds with enhanced sound and hygiene features as the tech giant eyes to increase wearable sales. Three new models of the LG TONE Free -- TONE-TFP9, TONE-TFP8 and TONE-TFP5 -- were launched in South Korea with prices ranging from 169,000 won (US$146) to 249,000 won. They will be available in North America and Europe later this month. In collaboration with Ergonomic Design Technology Lab at POSTECH, a leading science technology univ

Industry July 26, 2021

South Korea said Monday it seeks to provide pandemic emergency funds to most of its citizens next month, but the timing could be flexible depending on the virus situation. The government plans to provide stimulus checks of 11 trillion won ($9.5 billion) to people in the bottom 80 percent income bracket and double-income and one-person households, as the National Assembly approved an extra budget of 34.9 trillion won last week. Parliament endorsed the extra budget larger than the government's p

Economy July 26, 2021

A North Korean propaganda outlet slammed Japan on Monday for labeling cheer banners that South Korea's Olympic delegation hung at the athletes' village as anti-Japanese and forcing them to be taken down. Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda website, said in a commentary that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's "gang" has accused South Korea of hanging anti-Japanese banners and went so far as to have "far-right gangsters" display the Japanese imperialist flag in front of the

North Korea July 26, 2021

South Korea's exports of biopharmaceutical products more than doubled in 2020 from a year earlier on the back of the growing demand for pharmaceutical products amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a report showed Monday. Outbound shipments of high-end biopharmaceutical products came to $5.1 billion in 2020, compared with around $2.1 billion tallied the previous year, according to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). Asia's fourth-largest economy stood in seventh place in terms of exports i

Economy July 26, 2021

A suspect in the suicide death of an Air Force sexual abuse victim has been found dead at a military detention facility, a human rights group said Monday. The senior master sergeant was indicted on charges of inflicting secondary harm and threatening retaliation against the master sergeant who took her own life in May, three months after she was allegedly groped and suffered other abuse by a colleague of the same rank. "The senior master sergeant was found unconscious at 2:55 p.m. Sunday

Defense July 26, 2021

South Korea is considering deploying only vaccinated service members on overseas missions, the defense ministry said Monday, following a mass COVID-19 outbreak at the anti-piracy Cheonghae unit in waters off Africa that infected 90 percent of its members. According to a report submitted to the parliament's defense committee, the ministry's legal affairs bureau is reviewing adding COVID-19 vaccination as a requirement for overseas deployment. Last week, all 301 members of the Cheonghae unit's 3

Defense July 26, 2021

CHIBA -- South Korean fencer Park Sang-young came out of nowhere to snatch gold in the men's epee event at the 2016 Olympics, capturing the imagination of his country. The affable athlete with an easy smile and a dogged determination -- Park rallied from a 14-10 deficit against Geza Imre of Hungary and won 15-14 -- became an instant star of the Rio de Janeiro Games for South Korea. But along with newfound fame came the weight of expectations, something Park now admits became unbearable at time

Olympic Games July 26, 2021

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,400 Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but more cases continued to pop up outside the greater Seoul area amid the summer vacation season. The country added 1,318 COVID-19 cases, including 1,264 local infections, raising the total caseload to 190,166, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily caseload was down 169 from the previous day. The country added four more COVID-19 deaths, raising the d

Social Affairs July 26, 2021

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Monday as investors remain cautious about the country's resurgence of new coronavirus cases. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 2.02 points, or 0.06 percent, to 3,252.4 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks retreated after a two-day gain, as the spiking cases sapped demand for risky assets. On Friday, the government extended the highest Level 4 quarantine measures in the Seoul metropolitan area for another two wee

Market July 26, 2021