South Korean movie theaters said Wednesday that they have started a program to give price discounts to vaccinated people for this month as part of marketing strategies to fill virus-hit empty cinemas. Under the one-month campaign starting Tuesday, those who have received at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccines can buy two tickets at 5,000 won ($4.50) or 6,000 won each at three major multiplex chains, CJ CGV, Lotte Cinema and Megabox. A ticket for a weekday movie screening costs around 12,000 wo

Film June 2, 2021

South Korean female golfers will try to crash the party at the American national championship for the third straight year this week. The US Women's Open, the second major tournament of the LPGA season, will tee off in San Francisco on Thursday, with 20 South Koreans in action. The country has produced the past two champions and three of the last four: Park Sung-hyun (2017), Lee Jeong-eun (2019) and Kim A-lim (2020). The Lake Course at the Olympic Club, the par-71 layout at 6,547 yards, will p

Golf June 2, 2021

The Supreme Court said Wednesday it has confirmed the not-guilty verdict for South Korean-born short track speed skater Lim Hyo-jun in a sexual harassment case. The top court has upheld the appellate court's decision to acquit Lim of sexually harassing a male teammate at South Korea's national skating team in June 2019. The 2018 Olympic gold medalist was accused of pulling down his male teammate's pants and exposing a body part, with female skaters present, during practice at a national train

Social Affairs June 2, 2021

Financially troubled SsangYong Motor Co. has offered unpaid leave and a wage cut to its employees in its efforts to stay afloat, industry sources said Wednesday. SsangYong Motor, under court receivership, offered a two-year unpaid leave to half of its 4,732 employees, while demanding them to accept an extension of lower wages and suspended welfare benefits until June 2023, a person familiar with the matter told Yonhap News Agency over the phone. The company also offered an additional 20 percen

Industry June 2, 2021

KT Corp., a South Korean telecom giant, said Wednesday it has teamed up with local virtual reality (VR) content and visual effects companies to develop "metaverse" services in a move to boost its efforts in virtual platforms. The metaverse refers to virtual environments, in which users interact with one another often through virtual or augmented reality technology, and is found in the form of online games or social networking services. KT said in a statement it has formed the "M

Industry June 2, 2021

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to over 600 for the first time in six days Wednesday due to continued cluster infections, while health authorities are ramping up efforts to speed up the nationwide vaccination campaign to slow down the spread of the virus. The country reported 677 more COVID-19 cases, including 654 local infections, raising the total caseload to 141,476, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily caseload stayed in the 400s for

Social Affairs June 2, 2021

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday as strong economic data fueled expectations of an increase in corporate earnings and quick economic rebound from the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 6.23 points, or 0.19 percent, to 3,228.1 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks were lifted by the announcement that South Korea's consumer price index rose 2.6 percent on-year in May, marking the fastest on-year increase since April 2012. Top cap Samsun

Market June 2, 2021

President Moon Jae-in talked about whether to grant Lee Jae-yong, the de-facto head of Samsung Group, a special pardon, during a meeting with a group of business leaders, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday. Moon had a luncheon meeting with the leaders of South Korea's four major conglomerates -- SK, Hyundai, LG and Samsung -- at Cheong Wa Dae earlier in the day. The attendees were SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo. Samsung E

Politics June 2, 2021

Former US Forces Korea Commander (USFK) Vincent Brooks has not been given any offer from the administration of US President Joe Biden to serve as the new ambassador to South Korea, an aide said Wednesday. A local TV station reported earlier this week that Brooks is likely to be nominated for ambassador to South Korea. The post has been vacant since former Ambassador Harry Harris left it in January following Biden's inauguration. "General Brooks has not been contacted by anyone from the U

Foreign Affairs June 2, 2021

Transactions among affiliates of South Korea's major family-controlled conglomerates fell nearly 9 percent in 2020 from a year ago due to tough regulations, data showed Wednesday. The value of in-house transactions by 2,197 units of 54 business groups came to 158.9 trillion won ($143 billion) last year, down 8.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by corporate tracker CEO Score. Internal transactions accounted for 11.7 percent of their total sales in 2020, down from 12.5 percent

Industry June 2, 2021

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on NATO members to deepen their cooperation with South Korea, the State Department said Tuesday, amid US efforts to enhance cooperation between US allies. "Secretary Blinken underscored the importance of Alliance partnerships, including NATO-EU cooperation, and encouraged NATO to deepen its cooperation with Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea," the department said, referring to South Korea by its official name. Blin

Foreign Affairs June 2, 2021

WASHINGTON -- The United States' commitment to the defense of South Korea remains unaffected following the lifting of decades-old guidelines on South Korean missiles, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday. John Kirby also said the removal of the missile guidelines will not lead to any change to the South Korea-US alliance. "Nothing about this changes the alliance between South Korea and the United States or our commitments to that alliance, which...is a defensive alliance," the departmen

Foreign Affairs June 2, 2021

Global monitor panel shipments declined in the first quarter of the year, a report showed Wednesday, mainly due to Samsung Display Co.'s exit from the monitor LCD display manufacturing business and a shortage of semiconductors. The worldwide monitor panel shipments fell 8.6 percent on-quarter to 39.9 million units in the January-March period, according to the latest report from market researcher TrendForce. "TrendForce indicates that SDC will exit the monitor LCD panel manufacturing busin

Industry June 2, 2021

South Korean investors' purchase of shares in electric vehicle leader Tesla Inc. hit a one-year low in May amid a drop in its price, data showed Wednesday. Domestic investors bought a net $80.8 million worth of Tesla shares in May, the lowest amount in one year, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository. It was down 45 percent from the previous month and less than one-tenth of the $939 million in January, when Tesla's share price hit an all-time high. The May tally also repre

Market June 2, 2021

South Korea's consumer prices grew at the fastest pace in more than nine years in May on higher prices of farm and oil products, data showed Wednesday, underscoring that inflationary pressure is building up amid an economic recovery from the pandemic-caused slump. The consumer price index rose 2.6 percent on-year in May, faster than a 2.3 percent on-year gain the previous month, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the fastest on-year increase since April 2012, when th

Economy June 2, 2021