President Yoon Suk Yeol made a late night visit to a hospital emergency room Wednesday to encourage medical staff and promise the government's unwavering support amid growing strains on health care services. Yoon visited a regional emergency medical center in Gyeonggi Province surrounding Seoul as the government began deploying military doctors and public physicians to hospital emergency rooms across the country the same day. His visit came amid mounting concerns hospital ERs in particular

Politics Sept. 4, 2024

North Korea again launched balloons likely carrying trash toward South Korea on Wednesday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, marking a resumption of its trash-balloon campaign after a near monthlong halt. The JCS said an unspecified number of balloons could travel to northern Gyeonggi Province, just north of Seoul, and advised the public not to touch fallen balloons and report them to the military or police. Since late May, the North has launched thousands of balloons carrying trash in a tit-for-t

North Korea Sept. 4, 2024

Park Byung-ho of the Samsung Lions became the third player in South Korean baseball to hit 400 home runs Wednesday. Park belted his 400th homer to lead off the bottom of the second inning against the Doosan Bears in their Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 230 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Park drove a forkball from Bears starter Choi Seung-yong over the right-center field fence for the milestone. He has now homered in four consecutive games.

Baseball Sept. 4, 2024

With the new head coach and a few new faces aboard for South Korea, captain Son Heung-min has a lot to juggle as the Taegeuk Warriors prepare to host Palestine in a World Cup qualifier. He will have to be the bridge between Hong Myung-bo, about to begin his second stint as the senior men's bench boss, and the rest of the team, while also making sure a handful of youngsters can find their footing. Son also has a crucial on-pitch role as the team's offensive engine. The 32-year-old said

Soccer Sept. 4, 2024

South Korean shares dipped to a month low Wednesday as concerns of an economic slowdown weighed down investor sentiment. The local currency fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) lost 83.83 points, or 3.15 percent, to close at 2,580,80. Trade volume was heavy at 448.8 million shares worth 11.2 trillion won ($8.35 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 859 to 51. Foreign investors offloaded 986 billion won worth of local shares, becoming net seller

Market Sept. 4, 2024

South Korean shares opened sharply lower Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 60.72 points, or 2.28 percent, to 2,603.91 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.51 percent to close at 40,936.93, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 3.26 percent. Tech giants, including Nvidia and Intel, led the decline as the lower-than-expected US manufacturing purchasing managers index (

Market Sept. 4, 2024

The main opposition Democratic Party has proposed a bill mandating a special counsel recommended by the Supreme Court chief justice investigate the military's response to a Marine's death last year. The bill, proposed Tuesday, mandates that the chief justice recommend four candidates to the special counsel. They will be narrowed down by the opposition parties to two, from which the president will make the final appointment. The special counsel will be tasked with looking into allegatio

Politics Sept. 4, 2024

A powerful union of bus drivers in Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, called off a strike planned for Wednesday after reaching a last-minute wage hike agreement with their employers before dawn. The union, which has about 90 percent of city and intercity bus drivers in the nation's most populous province under its wing, and representatives of the province's bus company owners agreed to a 7 percent wage increase around 3 a.m. Wednesday after marathon negotiations that began at 3

Social Affairs Sept. 4, 2024

Shooter Park Jin-ho has become South Korea's first double gold medalist of the Paris Paralympics. Park won the men's 50-meter rifle 3 positions (SH1 classification) title with the Paralympic record score of 454.6 points at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, south of Paris, on Tuesday. Dong Chao of China finished with 451.8 points for silver. Park had earlier won the 10m air rifle standing gold medal. In the 50m 3 positions event, shooters competed in kneeling, prone and st

More Sports Sept. 4, 2024

South Korea's foreign reserves increased for the second straight month in August on the back of the increased value of non-US dollar assets and investment gains, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's foreign reserves had come to $415.92 billion as of end-August, up $2.41 billion from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The central bank attributed the increase to a rise in the converted value of non-dollar assets amid the weak greenback an

Economy Sept. 4, 2024

The United States may need to reevaluate its strategy on the expanding military ties between North Korea and Russia if Vice President Kamala Harris becomes president as Pyongyang's alleged arms support for Moscow's war in Ukraine is deeply troubling, a US senator said Tuesday. In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del) said the Biden administration's North Korea policy has focused on its denuclearization and recently has been pressing the North to stop s

Foreign Affairs Sept. 3, 2024

Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong said Tuesday the time has come to "sufficiently consider" a rate cut as the nation's consumer inflation cooled. "In terms of stability of consumer prices, it is time to sufficiently consider lowering a benchmark interest rate," Rhee told reporters at a forum in Seoul. Rhee said the central bank would review an "appropriate timing" for a rate cut, in his strongest signal yet about a policy pivot. In a meeting of the parliamen

Economy Sept. 3, 2024

South Korean shares fell as investors took to the sidelines ahead of key US data. The local currency lost ground against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 16.37 points, or 0.61 percent, to close at 2,664.63. Trade volume was moderate at 291 million shares worth 8.8 trillion won ($6.56 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 458 to 416. Foreign investors turned net sellers, offloading a net 287.5 billion won worth of shares, one day after they ended a six-day

Market Sept. 3, 2024

Around 30 South Korean nationals who stayed in Israel after attending a religious event have now left the country, officials said Tuesday. That means all South Korean travelers who were there for the same event have exited the region, where tensions have heightened following a series of missile and air strikes exchanged between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The 30 people were among some 180 South Koreans who entered Israel last month to attend the event. Of them, 150 first de

Foreign Affairs Sept. 3, 2024

Former US President Donald Trump said in a soon-to-be-published book that his summitry with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his time in office showed "real change" was "indeed" possible, portraying it as "honest, direct and productive." The Republican presidential candidate made the remarks in the photo book, titled "Save America," reinforcing speculation that should he win the Nov. 5 general election, he could revive his personal diplomacy with the

Foreign Affairs Sept. 3, 2024