K-pop supergroup BTS' new single "Butter" has stormed major music charts in the United States and Japan following its release last week, the band's agency said Wednesday. The English-language single debuted at No. 26 on the Billboard's pop airplay chart, which measures airplay of pop songs at some 160 key US radio stations from every Monday to Sunday. The song's debut ranking is higher than the band's 2020 smash hit "Dynamite," which debuted at No. 30 on the same chart. &q

K-pop May 26, 2021

After more than four years away, South Korean international midfielder Kwon Chang-hoon is rejoining his old club. Suwon Samsung Bluewings of the K League 1 announced Wednesday they've reacquired the 26-year-old midfielder. Financial terms were not disclosed. Kwon made his professional debut for Suwon in 2013 and spent four seasons there, notching 22 goals and nine assists in 109 matches at all competitions. He embarked on a European career in January 2017, first signing with the French club D

Soccer May 26, 2021

South Korean luxury car brand Genesis' G80 sedan has earned the highest safety rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the US auto safety organization said Wednesday. The G80 earned TOP SAFETY PICK+ by qualifying for a wide range of IIHS collision tests, including front crash prevention in vehicle-to-vehicle crashes and pedestrian front crash prevention, the US institute said on its website. To qualify for the IIHS' highest safety rating, a vehicle has to earn a high sc

Mobility May 26, 2021

LG CNS Co., South Korea's major IT service firm, on Wednesday introduced upgraded security services under a new brand in a move to expand its presence in the cybersecurity sector. LG CNS said all of its security-related services, covering from cloud to smart factories, will be named under the brand of SecuXper, which combines the words "security" and "expert." With the new brand, LG CNS said it reinforced its security workforce, which includes some 200 cybersecurity exper

Industry May 26, 2021

South Korea's top construction equipment maker Doosan Infracore Co. said Wednesday that it has signed a deal to provide 75 excavators to Saudi Arabian builders. The deal consists of 70 22-ton excavators and five 50-ton excavators, the company said in an emailed statement. But it did not reveal the value of the deal. The excavators will be used for the construction of Neom City being built in the western part of the Middle Eastern country and to maintain and repair the country's power generat

Industry May 26, 2021

The number of tourist hotels in Seoul decreased for the first time last year due to the outbreaks of COVID-19, government data showed Wednesday. As of the end of 2020, there were 331 tourist hotels in Seoul, down two from a year ago, according to the data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It was the first such decline in the capital since records began in 2008. The figure had steadily increased in the previous years, rising from 125 in 2008 to 151 in 2012, 211 in 2014, 308 in 2

Social Affairs May 26, 2021

North Korea's official newspaper called Wednesday for competition among cities and counties to promote a balanced economic growth across the country. "In order to achieve a balanced and simultaneous growth in accordance with the party's initiatives and intentions, we need socialism competition in a fiercer way among cities and counties," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the ruling Workers' Party, said. "For the development of cities and counties, competition among them is a ver

North Korea May 26, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. was the world's second-largest semiconductor vendor in the first quarter of the year, a report showed Wednesday, after posting double-digit year-on-year sales growth. The South Korean tech juggernaut logged $17.07 billion in chip sales in the January-March period, up 15 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest McClean Report released by market researcher IC Insights. Samsung, the world's largest memory chip supplier, racked up $16.15 billion in integrated

Technology May 26, 2021

The Bank of Korea (BOK) may raise its 2021 growth forecast to some 4 percent this week as exports showed signs of a strong recovery amid an aggressive fiscal stimulus, economists said Wednesday. The BOK is widely expected to freeze its key rate at a record low of 0.5 percent at Thursday's monetary policy meeting, but market observers will closely monitor the central bank's revised growth outlook. The BOK's February forecast was that South Korea's economy would grow 3 percent this year. So

Economy May 26, 2021

The new US special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, spoke by phone with his Japanese counterpart and the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the State Department said Tuesday. US President Joe Biden announced Kim's appointment last week after summit talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Kim, a career diplomat, has served as ambassador to South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia as well as a special envoy for six-party t

Foreign Affairs May 26, 2021

Large companies in South Korea cut their workforce nearly 1 percent in 2020 from a year earlier in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. According to CEO Score, 309 out of the country's top 500 corporations had a combined headcount of 1,203,835 as of the end of March, down 0.8 percent or 9,756 from end-December 2019. The number of their regular workers declined 1 percent to around 1.13 million over the cited period, with that of irregular employees edging up

Economy May 26, 2021

South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment fell for June, marking the first on-month decline since January, as chip shortages cost automakers, central bank data showed Wednesday. The business sentiment index (BSI) for local manufacturers came to 97 for June down from 98 for May, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index measures manufacturers' outlook on business conditions in the following month. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. Hyundai Motor

Economy May 26, 2021

WASHINGTON -- The United States supports the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games, but only "very limited" categories of Americans, including athletes, will travel to the host nation, a White House spokeswoman said Tuesday. Jen Psaki also said US athletes and other visitors will follow a very strict set of safety protocols while taking part in the quadrennial sporting event that has already been delayed by a year. "Our position has not changed on the Olympics. We respected the decision

Foreign Affairs May 26, 2021

South Korea announced Wednesday that people who have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine will no longer be required to wear masks outdoors starting in July, as part of incentives for those participating in the public vaccine campaign. The incentive program announced at a daily interagency coronavirus response meeting also included a plan to lift the gathering ban for direct family members who have had their first vaccine dose. South Korea launched its two-dose vaccination regimen campa

Social Affairs May 26, 2021

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases sharply bounced back to a nearly two-week high Wednesday as sporadic cluster infections, along with more transmissible variant cases, continued to pop up across the country. The health authorities said those who are vaccinated will be partly exempted from wearing masks and other virus restrictions in an effort to encourage more people to get COVID-19 jabs. The country reported 707 more COVID-19 cases, including 684 local infections, raising the total c

Social Affairs May 26, 2021