K-pop boy band EXO has topped the iTunes top album chart in 85 regions with its latest release "Don't Fight the Feeling," its management agency said Tuesday. The album, released Monday, ranked No. 1 in regional charts in countries such as the United States, Britain, France, Canada and Germany, according to SM Entertainment. The album also sat atop digital album charts compiled by Chinese music services, like QQ Music, Kugou Music and Kuwo Music, it added. On QQ Music, it earned a tri

K-pop June 8, 2021

As attested by a convincing 5-0 victory over Turkmenistan over the weekend, there's clearly very little, if anything, wrong with South Korea in the ongoing World Cup qualifying campaign. On the eve of the next qualifier against Sri Lanka at home, South Korea head coach Paulo Bento said Tuesday he isn't about to fix anything that isn't broken. "We have not changed our style of play so far, and there's no reason why we should at this moment," Bento said in an online prematch press conf

Soccer June 8, 2021

South Korea's 11 international film festivals on Tuesday called for the release of a Myanmar filmmaker who was recently arrested in the military-controlled Southeast Asian country. "The festivals strongly condemn the ongoing violence in Myanmar and urge the release of the producer, Ma Aeint," the 11 organizations led by the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) said in a statement. "Furthermore, we ask all the related authorities to protect her safety and civil rights fairly.&

Film June 8, 2021

The ruling Democratic Party decided Tuesday to ask 12 sitting party lawmakers suspected of involvement in illegal real estate dealings to leave the party voluntarily. The decision came one day after the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced after a monthslong probe that 12 DP lawmakers are suspected of involvement in illegal real estate dealings by themselves or their families. "Having pledged to sternly respond to this issue during the previous party convention, our p

Politics June 8, 2021

The chief of a minor opposition party was fined 800,000 won ($720) Tuesday for lying about fabricating an internship document for a former justice minister's son. The Seoul Central District Court convicted Rep. Choe Kang-wook of the Open Democratic Party for violating the Public Official Election Act, saying he could have hindered voters from making a fair and reasonable decision during the general elections last year by spreading false information on a matter that had attracted huge public att

Politics June 8, 2021

SK Telecom Co., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Tuesday it will wrap up the testing of a next-generation traffic system in Seoul by the end of this month as it seeks to accelerate efforts to develop self-driving technology based on its high-speed 5G network. The telecom operator has been testing the traffic system, named the Cooperative-Intelligent Transport System (C-ITS), with the Seoul metropolitan government since early 2019 and has installed 1,735 5G sensors across the city's m

Industry June 8, 2021

The number of registered employees, who are eligible for state insurance programs, in South Korea rose 2.2 percent on-year in 2019, data showed Tuesday. There were 24.35 million registered employees in 2019, compared with 23.38 million in 2018, according to the data released by Statistics Korea. About 20.48 million people worked the same job in 2019, while some 3.87 million people changed jobs, the data showed. Of the people who changed jobs in 2019, people aged between 15 and 29 accounted fo

Economy June 8, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. aims to expand the use of its seventh generation V-NAND chip solutions, a senior executive said Tuesday, as the South Korean tech giant eyes to bolster its technology prowess in the memory sector. In the second half of the year, the world's leading memory chip maker will introduce a new consumer solid state drive (SSD) product based on its seventh generation V-NAND chip that boasts the smallest cell size yet in the industry, according to Song Jai-hyuk, head of Samsung's

Industry June 8, 2021

Greenhouse gas emissions fell by 7.3 percent last year from 2019, the first time there has been a decrease for two consecutive years, the environment ministry said Tuesday. The ministry's Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Research Center said total emissions last year are estimated at 648.6 million tons, down 7.3 percent from 2019, and down 10.9 percent from 2018, when the level of emissions was the highest at 727.6 million tons. The decrease was caused in part by less economic activity amid the CO

Social Affairs June 8, 2021

Unionized tower crane operators on Tuesday began a general strike nationwide over safety fears, putting nearly 90 percent of domestic construction sites at risk of being halted. The operators belonging to the Korean Construction Workers' Union (KCWU) went on strike, accusing the government of failing to take sufficient measures to protect citizens and construction workers despite a recent spate of accidents involving tower cranes. The KCWU, affiliated with the militant Korean Confederation of

Social Affairs June 8, 2021

The Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) on Tuesday refused to accept reform measures pushed by the justice ministry and aimed at curbing prosecutors' investigative power. The decision was made during a meeting convened by Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo the previous day with senior prosecutors to discuss the ministry's reform plan, the SPO said. The office said in a statement that it "is not acceptable" that the ministry tries to curb direct investigations by prosecutors and requires them

Politics June 8, 2021

In preparing for two remaining matches in the second round of the Asian qualifying for the next World Cup, South Korean defensive back Kim Min-jae said Monday he wanted to string together two more clean sheets. He may well have been speaking for the rest of his team, with South Korea set to face the heavy underdogs Sri Lanka on Wednesday. It will be the second of three qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be staged at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul. The kickoff is 8 p.m

Soccer June 8, 2021

Three Korean battery makers are set to showcase their next-generation battery products and technologies at a major industry fair to get ahead in the toughening competition in the fast growing electric vehicle battery market, the companies said Tuesday. LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co., and SK Innovation Co. will introduce their latest battery products and sustainable business models at InterBattery 2021, which runs from Wednesday to Friday at the Convention & Exhibition Center in so

Industry June 8, 2021

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday his upcoming participation in the Group of Seven (G-7) summit would serve as an opportunity to upgrade South Korea's diplomacy. He is scheduled to attend the three-day session to open Friday in Britain, the first major in-person multilateral summit since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. South Korea is not a member of the club of the world's most industrialized nations, but Moon is joining the meeting as a guest, along with the leaders of Australia, Indi

Politics June 8, 2021

Unionized workers at SsangYong Motor Co. have voted to accept a proposal for unpaid leave and a wage cut as part of self-help the financially troubled company is struggling to stay afloat with self-help measures, the company said Tuesday. In a vote held on Monday and Tuesday, SsangYong workers agreed to the company's offers of a two-year unpaid leave to half of it 4,700 employees, an extension of lower wages and suspended welfare benefits until June 2023, the company said in a statement. Ssang

Industry June 8, 2021