K-pop sensation BTS is featured on the cover of the latest issue of US popular culture magazine Rolling Stone. "BTS appears on our June cover," the magazine tweeted Thursday (local time), posting an interview with the septet as the cover story on its website. The magazine said it is the first time that an all-Asian act has fronted the magazine in its 54-year history. The cover story, titled "The Triumph of BTS," features the birth of the seven-member boy band -- RM, Jin,

K-pop May 14, 2021

K-pop superstars BTS will make a guest appearance on a reunion special of the popular American sitcom "Friends" later this month, according to Billboard. The seven-piece act will join the original cast of the '90s comedy and other top stars in the special to air May 27 on streaming service HBO Max, the US magazine said on its website Thursday (local time). Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and David Beckham will be among the others to be featured on the show. The reunion special comes 17 yea

K-pop May 14, 2021

President Moon Jae-in on Friday emphasized the importance of close cooperation between his Cheong Wa Dae team and the ruling party in handling major policy issues during the remainder of his tenure. Meeting with the leaders of the Democratic Party (DP) at Cheong Wa Dae, he recalled frequent rifts between South Korea's ruling parties and lame-duck presidents. When a presidency was on the home stretch, there used to be a chasm between a ruling party and the government, Moon pointed out. "T

Politics May 14, 2021

South Korea is considering ways to hold bilateral consultations with Japan on Tokyo's planned release of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, the foreign ministry said Friday. A local news outlet reported earlier that the two countries agreed to form a consultative group to exchange information and views on risks, verification and legal issues and other details related to the Fukushima water release. South Korea has expressed concerns about potential health risks

Foreign Affairs May 14, 2021

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Friday they will suspend some of their assembly lines for several days next week due to semiconductor shortages. Hyundai Motor plans to halt the No. 5 Ulsan plant, which produces the Tucson sport utility vehicle and the Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle, from Monday to Tuesday and the No. 3 Ulsan plant that produces the Avante compact and the Venue subcompact on Tuesday, a company spokesman said. Hyundai suspended the No. 1 Ulsan plant

Industry May 14, 2021

The foreign ministry on Friday extended the special advisory against overseas travel for another month amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic. The advisory calls for South Koreans not to go abroad unless the trip is essential and for those staying outside of the country to take extra precautions for safety. The measure will be effective until June 15 and can be extended again. The extension came as foreign countries maintain their entry restrictions and the majority of international flights

Social Affairs May 14, 2021

Samsung Biologics, a biopharmaceutical unit of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group, said Friday that it has not been decided yet whether it will manufacture Moderna Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccines here. A slew of local newspapers reported that Samsung Biologics is close to signing a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) contract to manufacture the US drug firm's mRNA vaccine against the novel coronavirus at plants in Songdo, west of Incheon. "Nothing has been decided yet," Sams

Industry May 14, 2021

Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung has overtaken Yoon Seok-youl, the former prosecutor general, for the first time in a hypothetical two-way presidential hopeful poll released Friday. In a survey conducted by Gallup Korea on 1,007 adults nationwide from Tuesday to Wednesday, 42 percent picked Gov. Lee, affiliated with the ruling Democratic Party (DP), as their favored candidate for the next presidential election slated for March 2022. Yoon, who has led the presidential hopefuls' race in various pol

Politics May 14, 2021

South Korea's domestic demand is gradually improving as a slump in the service sector caused by the pandemic has eased, the finance ministry said Friday. In its monthly economic assessment report, the ministry presented a more positive assessment about private consumption than the previous month, when it said a slump in domestic demand has gradually eased. "The manufacturing sector and investment have continued to improve on the back of robust exports, and domestic demand is on a mild imp

Economy May 14, 2021

The military is expected to complete the administration of the first doses of COVID-19 vaccinations to service members aged 30 and older this week, officials said Friday. As of Thursday, 97.5 percent of around 114,000 troops, who are eligible for the inoculation program and agreed to take it, have received their first jabs of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, according to the defense ministry. "We are working to wrap up this round of the vaccination program this week, though there could b

Defense May 14, 2021

South Korea's capacity share in the advanced logic chip market is likely to decline further down the road, a report showed Friday, as the United States pushes to beef up its presence by attracting more global semiconductor firms to build factories on its turf. South Korea was expected to represent 20 percent of global wafer capacity of 10-nanometer (nm) and below nodes this year to rank second in the sector, but its share was projected to decline to 19 percent in 2025 and 17 percent in 2027 to

Technology May 14, 2021

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed above 700 for the second day in a row on Friday as the country's vaccination campaign is again set to gather pace with more shipments of vaccines amid a tight supply. The country reported 747 more COVID-19 cases, including 729 local infections, raising the total caseload to 130,380, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Daily infections continued to rise this week, jumping to 715 cases Thursday from 635 Wednesday, 511 Tues

Social Affairs May 14, 2021

China exported around 587 tons of refined oil to North Korea in March, according to data that the country provided to a UN sanctions committee for the first time in six months. According to the latest update on the UN Security Council webpage on its sanctions committee on North Korea, Beijing supplied Pyongyang with 4,893 barrels, equivalent to 587.4 tons, in March. Since its last report in September last year, China had skipped disclosing its monthly oil exports. The March figure represents

North Korea May 14, 2021

President Moon Jae-in appointed Kim Boo-kyum as new prime minister and two others to lead the science and land ministries Friday. They were picked in last month's Cabinet shake-up coming on the heels of the ruling party's rout in major by-elections. The president conferred the certificates of appointment on Prime Minister Kim, Science Minister Lim Hye-sook and Land Minister Noh Hyeong-ouk as well as two other minister nominees -- Commerce Minister Moon Sung-wook and Labor Minister An Kyung-duk

Politics May 14, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday it has expanded support for blockchain users trading virtual assets on its Galaxy smartphones amid rising interest in cryptocurrencies. The South Korean tech said its latest update will allow users to easily manage their transactions by importing their virtual assets stored on select cold hardware wallets to the Samsung Blockchain Wallet available on most Galaxy smartphones. "Support for hardware wallets provides Galaxy blockchain with a consistent user

Technology May 14, 2021