South Korea's new coronavirus cases were below 6,000 for the second day in a row Tuesday, but the number of new critically ill patients exceeded 1,000 again. The country added 5,202 more COVID-19 cases, including 5,144 local infections, bringing the cumulative total to 575,615, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The number of critically ill patients came to 1,022, after 1,016 on Saturday, an all-time high of 1,025 on Sunday and 997 on Monday, the authorities said. Th

Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2021

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is the third most searched politician by internet users worldwide this year, data showed Tuesday. Online searches for Kim totaled a monthly average of 1.9 million, behind US President Joe Biden, who topped the list with 7 million searches, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson with 2 million, according to German data analytics firm Statista. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel ranked fourth with 1.4 million searches. The most searched keyword related to t

North Korea Dec. 21, 2021

South Korea plans to spend 2.4 trillion won ($2 billion) next year to help double the accumulated sale of hydrogen and electric cars, the finance minister said Tuesday, in the latest move to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government plans to provide more subsidies and other incentives to increase the supply of zero-emission vehicles. Hong said the government aims to double the accumulated supply of eco-friendly vehicles to 500,000 units next year from an

Economy Dec. 21, 2021

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, as investors sought to buy oversold stocks after the key index's recent plunge. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 15.16 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,978.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks started strong after the stock index dipped nearly 2 percent the previous session over the global spreading of the omicron variant of the new coronavirus. Most large caps rebounded in Seoul. Top cap Samsung Electronics adde

Market Dec. 21, 2021

South Korea's exports grew 20 percent on-year in the first 20 days of December on the back of solid demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Tuesday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $36.9 billion in the Dec. 1-20 period, compared with $30.7 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. (Yonhap)

Economy Dec. 21, 2021

South Korea's producer prices increased for the 13th straight month in November as a rise in oil and energy prices drove up the costs of manufacturing products, central bank data showed Tuesday. The producer price index, a major barometer of consumer inflation, stood at 112.99 in November, up 0.5 percent from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the 13th consecutive month of a rise. Compared with a year earlier, it jumped 9.6 per

Economy Dec. 21, 2021

    South Korea has confirmed an additional case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the southeastern part of the country, the agriculture ministry said Monday.    The latest case was reported at a farm where around 12,000 ducks are being raised in Yeongam, 384 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.    Health authorities have cordoned off the site and are culling ducks there to prevent the spread of t

Social Affairs Dec. 20, 2021

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party, on Monday called for the provision of full compensation to pandemic-hit small businesses as he unveiled a set of measures to support their recovery. "I want to pay back people's sacrifice in a way that is completely different from now," Lee said in his meeting with small business owners and self-employed people. "I will change the paradigm with a preemptive system that provides damage compensation to peopl

Politics Dec. 20, 2021

Krafton Inc., the South Korean gaming giant behind the global smash hit "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" (PUBG), said Monday that it has invested $5 million in the Indian dating app FRND. The investment into FRND is part of a Series A round of funding worth $6.5 million that includes other investors, such as India Quotient and Elevation Capital, the company said. A Series A round of financing is the first round of financing that a startup receives from a venture capital firm. FRND is

Industry Dec. 20, 2021

South Korea's finance ministry on Monday revised up its 2022 growth outlook for the country's economy to 3.1 percent, saying that exports and private spending will likely gain ground despite heightened economic uncertainty. The government's latest projection is higher than the 3 percent growth forecast made in June, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The ministry's outlook is more upbeat than the 3 percent growth estimates by the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Organization for Econ

Economy Dec. 20, 2021

South Korean stocks plunged nearly 2 percent Monday morning amid spreading virus concern. The Korean won steeply fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 54.73 points, or 1.81 percent, to close at 2,963 points, the lowest closing since Dec. 2. Trading volume was low at about 371 million shares worth some 8.5 trillion won ($7.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 785 to 117. Foreigners offloaded a net 552 billion won, and institutions

Market Dec. 20, 2021

President Moon Jae-in instructed national university hospitals on Monday to focus their medical resources on caring for critically ill COVID-19 patients. Moon's order came as the country has seen a surge in serious cases, with the number hitting an all-time high of 1,025 on Sunday amid a shortage of hospital beds across the country. "I ask national university hospitals to focus their medical capacities on treating critically ill COVID-19 patients," Moon said during a meeting with his

Politics Dec. 20, 2021

South Korea's state intelligence agency on Monday warned of possible terrorist attacks during the upcoming year-end holiday season, stressing that terrorism is increasingly becoming an "actually existing threat" in the country. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said anti-vaccine protests in Europe and other countries could turn violent or become a target for a terrorist attack, and South Korea is no longer free from such threats. A total of 489 materials instigating or propagan

Social Affairs Dec. 20, 2021

Slightly over 70 percent of South Koreans approve of toughened social distancing measures to stem the resurgence of COVID-19, a poll showed Monday. In the poll of 1,000 adults nationwide organized by multiple civic groups, 71.3 percent supported the government's decision to halt the "living with COVID-19" scheme this past Saturday for two weeks and restore stricter social distancing measures. Under the new policy, the maximum number of people at private gatherings was reduced to four

Social Affairs Dec. 20, 2021

Former President Park Geun-hye, currently serving a 22-year prison term for corruption, will stay in hospital until February for multiple illnesses, the justice ministry said Monday. When admitted to a hospital in southern Seoul on Nov. 22, Park had planned to stay there for about a month, but doctors now say that she needs at least six more weeks for treatment of back, shoulder and other ailments, according to the ministry. This year, the 69-year-old Park was hospitalized three times due to

Social Affairs Dec. 20, 2021