Samsung Electronics Co. began a two-day companywide global strategy meeting, industry sources said Tuesday, the first since it appointed new CEOs in its first major reshuffle in three years and streamlined its structure after 10 years earlier this month. The biannual meeting used to take place in-person with attendance of hundreds of senior executives from at-home and abroad to discuss the company's global strategy and other core business issues. But it has moved online since last year amid the

Industry Dec. 21, 2021

More than half of South Koreans aged between 40 and 64 held debt last year as more people took out loans to buy homes amid skyrocketing housing prices, data showed Tuesday. The data by Statistics Korea showed that 56.5 percent of people in the age group borrowed money from banks or other financial institutes last year, up 0.2 percentage point from the previous year. The amount of their median debt reached 52 million won ($43,600) last year, up 7.1 percent from a year earlier. Median debt is a

Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2021

Protracted global supply disruptions could send expected inflation higher and add larger-than-expected upward pressure on inflation in South Korea, a central bank report said Tuesday. The report by the Bank of Korea also said that the global "carbon neutral" initiative could rather exert pressure on inflation by causing imbalances in the supply of and demand for materials needed to produce clean energy. "The global supply bottlenecks have been impacting upward inflationary pres

Economy Dec. 21, 2021

The number of South Korean workers who took time off to take care of their children rose 3.7 percent in 2020 from a year earlier amid more government support for parental leave, government data showed Tuesday. A total of 169,345 workers took parental leave to take care of their children last year, up 6,089 from the previous year, according to the preliminary data from Statistics Korea. Last year's figure was approximately 2.3 times the number 10 years earlier. Women accounted for 77.3 percent

Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2021

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Tuesday said it is seeking to establish a secondary presidential office in the central administrative city of Sejong following a pledge from its presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. The DP said its plan to set up a secondary presidential office in Sejong, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul, will be introduced as a party policy at its general meeting Wednesday. Lee promised in a Facebook post in September that he will establish a secondary presidential offic

Politics Dec. 21, 2021

The NC Dinos filled their foreign player quota for the 2022 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season Tuesday, signing a new outfielder while retaining two starting pitchers. The Dinos announced they have acquired former major league outfielder Nick Martini on a one-year deal worth up to $800,000. Martini, who will replace Aaron Altherr in the lineup, will make $440,000 in salary, $110,000 in signing bonus and up to $250,000 in incentives. Martini, 31, has 112 big league games to his credit, mo

Baseball Dec. 21, 2021

The romance series "Snowdrop" has sparked criticism that it distorted the history of South Korea's pro-democracy movement of the late 1980s, prompting calls for the show's cancellation and withdrawals of corporate sponsorship. The weekend primetime drama on JTBC is about a romantic relationship between Young-ro, a female South Korean university student, and Su-ho, a North Korean spy, before the 1987 presidential election. Fierce criticism arose after the first two episodes this weeke

Television Dec. 21, 2021

North Korea's military is conducting a wintertime exercise, as South Korea and the United States are closely monitoring related moves, Seoul's defense authorities said Tuesday. "We believe that wintertime drills by North Korea's military are under way," Col. Kim Jun-rak, the spokesperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), told reporters. The North usually kicks off a regular military training in December, which continues through early spring often involving artillery firing drills.

North Korea Dec. 21, 2021

Ivan Nova, a former 16-game winner for the New York Yankees, is coming to South Korea. The SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced on Tuesday they signed Nova to a one-year deal at up to US$1 million, the maximum amount of money allowed for new foreign players. The 34-year-old right-hander will make $750,000 in guaranteed salary and $150,000 in signing bonus, and he can pick up an additional $100,000 in incentives. The Dominican Republic-native was signed by the Yankees

Baseball Dec. 21, 2021

South Korea on Tuesday suspended quarantine inspections of Canadian beef following the discovery of a mad cow case in the North American country. The agriculture ministry said the move effectively banning imports went into effect four days after Canada confirmed a cow in Alberta was infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease. The ministry said the latest BSE case was the "atypical" type and less risky than "typical" cases as it doesn

Economy Dec. 21, 2021

South Korea's military on Tuesday reported 17 additional COVID-19 cases, with all of them being breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 2,980. Of the new cases, 10 are from the Army, four from the Marine Corps, two from the Air Force, and one from a unit under the direct control of the defense ministry, the ministry said. Currently, 307 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,201 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

Defense Dec. 21, 2021

A total of 2,109 students in Seoul have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week, before the partial reintroduction of remote school classes against the fast spread of infections, officials said Monday. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, elementary school virus cases in the capital from Dec. 13 to Sunday stood at 1,248, followed by those in middle schools and kindergartens at 406 and 169, respectively. The rate of in-class infections was recorded at 24.6 percent, up

Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2021

A major South Korean umbrella labor organization has notified the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Trade Union Confederation that it does not support former South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha's candidacy for the position of ILO chief, sources said Tuesday. The statement from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), which was sent Monday, is expected to deal a blow to Kang's bid to become ILO director-general about three months before the election se

Politics Dec. 21, 2021

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has allocated 1.1 million Swiss francs ($1.2 million) to help North Korea combat the COVID-19 pandemic from January last year to June next year, its interim financial report showed. According to the COVID-19 Outbreak 20-Month Update, the organization had spent around 699,000 Swiss francs as of September, with the largest portion of 296,000 Swiss francs spent on health-related operations. Another 157,000 Swiss francs wa

Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. took over the top spot in the global semiconductor market by revenue in the third quarter, a report showed Tuesday, on the back of strong memory chip sales. Industry tracker Omdia said Intel, which had been the top chipmaker for 11 straight quarters, slipped to number two behind Samsung "as the memory segment, where Samsung is the number one DRAM and NAND supplier, was the largest growth area for semiconductor" in the three months ending in September. DRAM, o

Technology Dec. 21, 2021