Rose, a member of K-pop girl group BLACKPINK, has sold more than 500,000 units of her first solo album "R," becoming the first South Korean female soloist to breach the half-million sales mark in about 19 years, her management agency said Thursday. As of Tuesday, "R" had sold a total of 502,447 copies since its release on March 12, YG Entertainment said, citing data from the Hanteo music chart that provides real-time album sales statistics. The singer's first EP features t

K-pop April 22, 2021

South Korea will push for the development of a state-of-the-art unmanned surveillance vehicle in earnest after years of preliminary research into the project, the arms procurement agency said Thursday. According to the Defense Acquisition Administration (DAPA), it successfully wrapped up the exploratory development of the robotic vehicle for surveillance purposes, which began in 2018 in cooperation with the Agency for Defense Development and local defense firms. The novel platform will be equi

Defense April 22, 2021

South Korea will invest 114.7 trillion won ($102.7 billion) over the next decade to expand the railway network for major cities across the nation, the transport ministry said Thursday. The fourth nationwide railway plan aims to extend the railway from the current 4,274 kilometers to 5,137 km by 2030 to allow people to travel across the nation in less than three hours, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation said. The project would raise the railway transportation capacity to ab

Industry April 22, 2021

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's seventh-largest tiremaker by sales, said Thursday it began to supply tires for the Porsche 718 Boxter this year. Hankook Tire has provided the high-performance Ventus S1 evo 3 tires for the sports car since early this year, the company said in a statement. The company did not provide the exact time frame for the supply deal or the value of the deal. It has provided its original equipment (OE) tires for Porsche's Macan SUV, Cayenne SUV, and elect

Industry April 22, 2021

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent his third congratulatory message to Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel this week alone, expressing hope that relations between the two countries will "grow stronger," according to state media Thursday. The latest message, delivered Tuesday to mark the Cuban leader's birthday, came after Kim already sent two congratulatory messages earlier this week on his recent election as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba. North Korea conside

North Korea April 22, 2021

South Korea reported more than 700 new virus cases for the second straight day on Thursday amid lingering woes over another wave of the pandemic as the country's vaccination campaign gathers pace, with vaccinations set to top 2 million. The country identified 735 more COVID-19 cases, including 715 local infections, raising the total caseload to 116,661, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The figure was the highest since Jan. 7 when the country reported 869 cases. It

Social Affairs April 22, 2021

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as investors sought to buy oversold stocks after the benchmark index took a breather the previous session. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 20.69 points, or 0.65 percent, to 3,192.35 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came to a strong start after the Kospi slumped 1.52 percent the previous session under increased valuation pressure. Investor sentiment remained strong, backed by rosy speculations about soli

Market April 22, 2021

Jeju Air Co., South Korea's biggest budget carrier by sales, said Thursday it will resume flights to Saipan late next month in a preemptive measure to absorb post-coronavirus travel demand. Jeju Air plans to reopen the Incheon-Saipan route on May 28 upon permission from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a company spokesman said over the phone. "The transport ministry is in consultations with the health authorities to decide whether to approve one flight a week on the r

Mobility April 22, 2021

Tottenham Hotspur's striker Son Heung-min has scored his career-high 15th goal in a Premier League season In a Premier League match against Southampton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Wednesday (local time), the South Korean star netted a goal from the penalty spot in added time to give his team a 2-1 victory. It is Son's 15th goal of the 2020-2021 Premier League season, breaking his previous personal best total of 14 set in the 2016-2017 season. Son placed fourth in the league's to

Soccer April 22, 2021

Samsung SDS Co., an IT service unit of Samsung Group, on Thursday said it swung to the black in the first quarter of 2021 on the back of robust cloud business and logistics platform projects. The company reported net profit of 158.5 billion won ($141.7 million) in the January-March period, shifting from a loss of 30.3 billion won a year earlier. Its operating profit jumped 26.8 percent on-year to 217.1 billion won, while sales rose 25.7 percent on-year to 3.06 trillion won in the first three m

Industry April 22, 2021

The United States is currently focused on vaccinating its own people for the COVID-19 pandemic but may be able to help other countries in the future, a State Department spokesman said Wednesday. Ned Price made the remark after South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said his country was in "earnest discussion" with the United States to borrow COVID-19 vaccines in what he called a "vaccine swap" arrangement. The department spokesman said he will not get into the details

Foreign Affairs April 22, 2021

North Korea appears to be working to develop capabilities that can degrade or even defeat US missile defense systems deployed in its region, a congressional report suggested. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) report also noted the North's efforts to develop weapons may be more than just a political statement. "The recent advances in North Korea's ballistic missile test program appear to be directed at developing capabilities to defeat or degrade the effectiveness of missile defense

North Korea April 22, 2021

The National Assembly on Wednesday passed a motion that allows prosecutors to arrest Rep. Lee Sang-jik, the founder of the cash-strapped budget carrier Eastar Jet under investigation on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust. The motion to allow the arrest of Lee was passed in a 206-38 vote at a plenary session of the National Assembly. Eleven people abstained from voting. Lee is currently under criminal investigation for allegedly colluding with a senior company official, who was indicte

Politics April 21, 2021

"Map of the Soul: 7," an album by global superstar BTS, has remained on the Billboard 200 chart for the 60th consecutive week this week, extending its longest-streak record by a K-pop group or singer on the chart. According to the latest Billboard chart results updated Tuesday (US time), the album released in February 2020 came in at 113th on the US music publisher's main albums chart. This marks the album's 60th consecutive week on the highly competitive chart since it debuted atop

K-pop April 21, 2021

South Korea voiced "deep disappointment and regrets" on Wednesday over Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's ritual offering to a war shrine seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. Suga sent a "masasaki" tree to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on the occasion of an annual spring festival. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid his respects in person. "The government expresses deep disappointment and regrets that the Japanese government and its parliam

Foreign Affairs April 21, 2021