The remains of a public toilet with an advanced purification facility, presumed to be built about 150 years ago, were discovered at a Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) palace in Seoul, a government agency said Thursday. The toilet ruins, which have the form of a rectangular stone pit measuring 10.4 meters in length, 1.4 meters in width and 1.8 meters in height, were uncovered at Gyeongbok Palace in the heart of the capital, according to the Ganghwa National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. Th

Social Affairs July 8, 2021

BTS and Tomorrow X Together (TXT) -- both managed by K-pop powerhouse Big Hit Music -- have simultaneously landed on Billboard's Pop Airplay chart with their all-English tracks. BTS ranked No. 11 with "Butter" on the latest version of the radio chart, which reflects weekly data from around 160 U.S. radio stations. The chart, which counts the top 40 songs, is seen as a gauge of local popularity. The upbeat summer number, which has topped Billboard's main singles chart for the sixth st

K-pop July 8, 2021

The number of video content evaluated by the local media rating authority increased more than 80 percent in the first half of this year from a year ago amid the protracted novel coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday. The Korea Media Rating Board (KMRB) reviewed 6,784 shows for online streaming platforms and video-on-demand services in the first six months of 2021, up 81.3 percent from the same period last year, according to the data by the KMRB. A total of 1,674 films were evaluated by th

Television July 8, 2021

South Korea's tax revenue increased 10.8 trillion won ($9.5 billion) in May from a year earlier amid an accelerating economic recovery and a boom in property and stock markets, the finance ministry said Thursday. The country collected 28.4 trillion won in taxes in May, compared with 17.6 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The government said capital gains tax income rose amid a boom in asset markets and corporate tax income also extended gains. I

Economy July 8, 2021

South Korea reported the highest daily COVID-19 cases since the pandemic hit the nation early last year on Thursday as the country braces for another wave of the pandemic, prompting authorities to consider imposing tougher virus curbs. The country recorded 1,275 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,227 local infections, raising the total caseload to 164,028, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It marked the highest number since Jan. 20 last year, when the nation reported i

Social Affairs July 8, 2021

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as the US Federal Reserve's minutes signaled that the world's largest economy would not hurry its timeframe for tapering its asset purchasing program. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 7.43 points, or 0.23 percent, to trade at 3,292.77 points as of 9:15 a.m. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.3 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 adding 0.01 percent and 0.34 percent, respecti

Market July 8, 2021

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors have become the first South Korean team to secure a knockout spot at the top continental club football tournament. Jeonbuk defeated Chiangrai United 3-1 in their Group H match at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League at Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent on Wednesday (local time). Jeonbuk improved to 13 points on four wins and a draw to secure the top spot in the group with one match remaining against Gamba Osaka on Saturday. The AFC Champions League expand

Soccer July 8, 2021

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a mausoleum for his late grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung to mark the anniversary of his death, state media reported Thursday, dismissing rumors about his health. Kim paid tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where Kim Il-sung's body lies in state, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, a day after rumors surfaced in South Korea that Kim fell unconscious after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage and his uncle Kim Pyong-il had forced him

North Korea July 8, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. accounted for nearly half of the global smartphone memory market in the first quarter of the year, a report showed Thursday, as it tries to boost its presence in 5G devices. The South Korean tech giant, the world's top memory chip producer, dominated the market with a 49 percent share in the January-March period, according to a report from industry tracker Strategy Analytics. Samsung was followed by its South Korean compatriot SK hynix Inc. with a 23 percent share and U

Industry July 8, 2021

WASHINGTON -- Growing US competition with China may lead to a second Cold War, a US military intelligence officer said Wednesday. Rear Adm. Mike Studeman, director for intelligence at the US Indo-Pacific Command, also argued other US adversaries such as North Korea consider every day a war with the US for the upper hand. "You can avoid the word 'Cold War' and that's fine, but the degree of action that we need to take is of the magnitude of what we applied in the previous century," St

Foreign Affairs July 8, 2021

Over 600 hacking attempts against South Korea's unification ministry were detected last year, government data showed Wednesday. According to the data released by the ministry, 633 cyber attacks against the ministry were detected last year, including 46 hacking attempts through the website. The number of cyber attacks against the ministry, which stood at 336 in 2017, jumped to 630 in 2018 and to 767 in 2019 and slightly fell to 633 last year. Web hacking attempts against the ministry increa

Defense July 7, 2021

  The ruling Democratic Party (DP) is pushing for a bill aimed at dramatically increasing the media's burden of responsibility for false or fake news, sources said Wednesday. According to the political sources, a subcommittee of the parliamentary Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee on Tuesday tabled a bill to revise the Act on Press Arbitration and Remedies, Etc. for Damage Caused by Press Reports, at the initiative of the ruling party. The subcommittee meeting, however, ended shortly,

Politics July 7, 2021

More than 50 newly enlisted soldiers at an Army boot camp have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday, amid fears of a fourth wave of infections across the country. After one conscript at the Korea Army Training Center in the central city of Nonsan was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19, 35 others who had contact with him were also found to be infected as of 10 a.m., according to the ministry. The ministry announced 16 more cases were confirmed as 6

Social Affairs July 7, 2021

The head of South Korea's largest labor umbrella group was summoned by police on Wednesday for questioning over alleged illegalities during rallies that took place in Seoul between May and June amid COVID-19-related warnings by health authorities. According to officials at Seoul's Yeongdeungpo Police Station, Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), was grilled as a suspect for about four hours, beginning at 10 a.m., in connection with alleged violations of t

Social Affairs July 7, 2021

The United States wants to work with like-minded countries, including South Korea, based on the shared values of democracy and freedom that are being challenged by an assertive China, a US congressman said Wednesday. Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) made the remark during a media event in Seoul, noting that standing by those values could be a path for South Korea to take, rather than the frame of having to "choose" either the US or China amid their intensifying rivalry. "We never expect thi

Foreign Affairs July 7, 2021