The top trade officials of South Korea and Costa Rica met in Seoul on Wednesday and discussed ways to further boost bilateral trade and investment, Seoul's industry ministry said. During the meeting, Seoul's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and Costa Rica's foreign trade minister, Andres Valenciano Yamuni, checked the implementation of the South Korea-Central America Free Trade Agreement and agreed to work more closely to further facilitate bilateral trade and investment, according to the Ministry of

Economy Nov. 24, 2021

South Korea's new coronavirus cases and critical cases soared to all-time highs Wednesday, prompting the government to consider imposing an emergency COVID-19 response plan just weeks after easing social distancing rules under the "living with COVID-19" scheme. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum urged health authorities to beef up containment measures, saying the country is facing the first hurdle in its move back toward normalcy and the Seoul metropolitan area, home to half of the country's

Social Affairs Nov. 24, 2021

South Korea's imports of golf equipment rose to a record high in the first 10 months of this year on the back of strong demand amid the pandemic, customs data showed Wednesday. The imports of golf clubs and other related equipment reached $601 million in the January-October period, up 29.3 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The reading hit an all-time high for any first 10 month period of the year. It was also higher than the yearly imports of

Industry Nov. 24, 2021

Part of the remains of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, the first native Korean Catholic priest, will be enshrined in an African country, the Catholic church here said Wednesday. Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, the archbishop of Seoul, handed over the relic to Monsignor Julien Kabore, charge d'affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila, in a meeting held in Seoul the previous day, according to the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul. The remains will be enshrined in the Cathedral of St. Joseph of the Arch

Social Affairs Nov. 24, 2021

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday on advances in tech and financial shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 16.47 points, or 0.55 percent, to 3,013.8 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Bank and insurance shares went up amid expectations the Bank of Korea might raise the key interest rate Thursday. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 0.53 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix increased 0.84 percent. Internet portal operator Naver slippe

Market Nov. 24, 2021

Large South Korean companies' social contributions plunged nearly 37 percent in the first nine months of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. CEO Score, which tracks corporate management, said 255 out of the country's top 500 firms by sales donated a combined 1.01 trillion won ($850 million) to charities during the January-September period, down 37.1 percent from a year ago. CEO Score said the tumble came amid the new coronavirus pandemic, though those co

Economy Nov. 24, 2021

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Wednesday the country's virus situation is worse than expected, especially in the capital area, urging health authorities to beef up containment measures. Kim pointed out that the Seoul metropolitan area, home to half of the country's population, is in an urgent situation and needs to consider imposing an emergency COVID-19 response plan based on health authorities' virus risk assessment. As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, health authorities and local governments had repo

Politics Nov. 24, 2021

South Korean megastar BTS was nominated Tuesday (US time) for the best pop duo or group performance at the Grammy Awards for the second year in a row. The septet was nominated for the pop genre prize for their megahit "Butter," in a virtual ceremony streamed live. The group, however, did not score any nomination for the awards show's top four "general field" categories. 2021 marks the second consecutive year BTS was nominated for the best pop duo or group performance af

K-pop Nov. 24, 2021

South Korea's defense chief vowed Tuesday to never forget the "noble" sacrifices of two Marines killed in a 2010 North Korean artillery attack on a western border island, stressing they laid the groundwork for peace. Defense Minister Suh Wook made the remarks during an annual ceremony marking the 11th anniversary of the attack on Yeonpyeong Island near the western inter-Korean sea border, which killed two Marines and two civilians. "I think that based on their noble sacrifices,

Defense Nov. 23, 2021

GWANGJU -- A libel trial against former President Chun Doo-hwan is expected to come to an end with his death Tuesday. Chun has been on trial for allegedly defaming a late priest, Cho Pius, who claimed he witnessed Chun's troops shooting from helicopters at pro-democracy demonstrators in the southwestern city of Gwangju in 1980. Chun called the priest a "shameless liar" in his controversial memoir published in 2017. In November last year, the Gwangju District Court sentenced Chun to e

Politics Nov. 23, 2021

Victims of the bloody crackdown on a 1980 democracy uprising voiced frustrations Tuesday, as their efforts to bring former President Chun Doo-hwan to justice came to a sudden halt with his death earlier in the day. Chun, an Army general-turned strongman, died at his home in western Seoul at age 90 after suffering from chronic illnesses, leaving behind a dark legacy of seizing power in a 1979 military coup and ruthlessly cracking down on the civil uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju the

Social Affairs Nov. 23, 2021

BMW said Tuesday it will strengthen its electric vehicle lineup in South Korea to meet growing demand for environment friendly vehicles. This week, BMW added the all-electric iX flagship SUV and the iX3 midsized SUV to its existing EV lineup composed of the pure electric i3 subcompact car and the plug-in hybrid i8 sedan. "The company will continue to beef up its EV lineup by adding electrified models to each segment to satisfy customers' demands," BMW Korea said in a statement. BM

Industry Nov. 23, 2021

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to sell smaller-than-planned state bonds for next month in a bid to help stabilize the bond market and improve fiscal soundness. To that end, the finance ministry plans to use excess tax revenue of 2.5 trillion won ($2.1 billion) for the shortfall of the planned sale of Treasurys. This means the ministry will issue state bonds that are around 2.5 trillion won less than its planned sale for next month. The government sold Treasurys worth 164 trillion won in th

Economy Nov. 23, 2021

An absolute majority of bond mavens in South Korea predict the country's central bank to raise its key interest for November in an effort to curb rising inflation and household debt, a poll showed Tuesday. According to the survey of 100 bond experts by the Korea Financial Investment Association, 90 of the respondents forecast the Bank of Korea (BOK) to jack up its policy rate at a rate-setting meeting slated for Thursday. The number of experts expecting a rate increase was up from 13 percent r

Economy Nov. 23, 2021

A first shipment of urea is set to arrive in South Korea from China later Tuesday, which is expected to help address a supply crunch of urea solution, a key fluid needed in diesel cars to cut emissions. A ship carrying 300 tons of urea will arrive in the southeastern city of Ulsan around 9 p.m. Tuesday after leaving from the Chinese eastern city of Tianjin on Saturday, officials said. The government said it plans to accelerate necessary procedures to enable the urea to be used to produce urea

Economy Nov. 23, 2021