South Korean budget carrier Air Premia Co. said Friday it has partnered with French air cargo services agent ESG Group to focus on the cargo business to ride out the COVID-19 pandemic. Air Premia opened the Gimpo-Jeju Route in August, one month after it obtained government approval for offering commercial flight services. But it has temporarily halted the Jeju route this month.  "The deal with ESG Group is part of the company's two-track strategy in which the cargo business divisio

Industry Nov. 19, 2021

In-person school classes will fully resume next week following the end of this year's national college entrance exam, the education ministry said Friday. In line with the government's "living with COVID-19" scheme, all kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools across the country will return to full-fledged in-person classes Monday for the first time in nearly two years since the pandemic broke out. Early this month, the government eased social distancing rules under the firs

Social Affairs Nov. 19, 2021

South Korea held an annual ceremony Friday to commemorate a successful 1954 operation by the country's volunteer fighters to defend the easternmost islets of Dokdo against intruding Japanese ships, the veterans affairs ministry said. A civilian foundation honoring the group of 33 fighters hosted the event at a national cemetery in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, amid a renewed spat between Seoul and Tokyo over the East Sea outcroppings. Territorial tensions flared anew as a senior Jap

Defense Nov. 19, 2021

Labor minister An Kyung-duk met with US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai on Friday and discussed cooperation in enhancing rights of workers and international labor standards, An's office said. Tai was on a four-day trip to South Korea for talks on pending trade issues, such as supply chains for key components and steel tariffs. During the meeting held at a regional labor office in Seoul, An pointed to the "growing significance in ties between trade and labor on a global scale&quo

Foreign Affairs Nov. 19, 2021

Long-awaited Korean movies are gearing up to hit local screens in the coming months to lure film buffs and holiday shoppers in the year-end winter vacation season. The political drama "Kingmaker," starring Lee Sun-kyun of "Parasite" and Seol Kyung-gu, will forefront the move, as distributor Megabox Plus M has earlier confirmed its public release in December. The film, which revolves around an opposition party politician who dreams of becoming the president and his excellent

Film Nov. 19, 2021

The head of South Korea's financial regulator has called for more vigilance on growing global debt, warning excessive accumulation of debt could spark a global financial crisis, his office said Friday. Koh Seung-beom, chief of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), made the remark on Thursday as he joined a virtual plenary meeting of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), an organization made up of regulators from the Group of 20 countries to discuss cooperation. "There has always been ex

Economy Nov. 19, 2021

Jeju Air Co., South Korea's biggest budget carrier, said Friday it is resuming flights to Bangkok starting later next month on the back of eased entry curbs in the Southeast Asian country. Jeju Air will operate four flights per week for the Incheon-Bangkok route from Dec. 22, about 18 months after it suspended the route on the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the flight suspension, it has only been running chartered planes to fly South Korean citizens traveling for essential reasons su

Industry Nov. 19, 2021

South Korea's military reported 10 additional COVID-19 cases Friday, bringing the total caseload among its personnel to 2,175, the defense ministry said. Of the new cases, a marine stationed in Pohang, 374 kilometers southeast of Seoul, tested positive following a case at the base. An Army draftee at a boot camp in Nonsan, 213 km south of Seoul, tested positive through a regular COVID-19 examination. A civilian employee of an Army unit in Cheorwon, 88 km north of Seoul, was infected after an

Defense Nov. 19, 2021

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 3,000 for the third consecutive day Friday amid deepening concerns over the continued growth in critical cases and strained medical resources. The country reported 3,034 new COVID-19 cases, including 3,011 local infections, raising the total caseload to 409,099, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Friday's figure marked a fall from an all-time high of 3,292 the previous day, but it is still the fourth-largest d

Social Affairs Nov. 19, 2021

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum called Friday for efficient hospital bed management as the country continued to see a rising number of critically ill COVID-19 patients amid no signs of letup in daily infections. Kim said the government's priority will be swiftly adding hospital beds and supporting medical resources needed at hospitals as quickly as possible. "There are concerns that our journey to return to normalcy may stop for a while if we cannot overcome this crisis," Kim said duri

Politics Nov. 19, 2021

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, as investors sought to buy oversold stocks after the key index's three straight days of losses. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 12.44 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,959.82 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Tech, auto and bio stocks led the market advance. Top cap Samsung Electronics added 0.28 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix increased 1.36 percent, and pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics climbed 2.26 percent. Leadi

Economy Nov. 19, 2021

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for strengthening the country's self-reliance despite "immediate challenges," including economic difficulties, during a conference on a mass movement aimed at developing its ideology, technology and culture, Pyongyang's state media reported Friday. Kim delivered the message in a letter to the participants at the 5th Conference of the Frontrunners of the Three Revolutions that kicked off in Pyongyang on Thursday, according to the Korean Centra

North Korea Nov. 19, 2021

South Korea's producer prices grew for the 12th straight month in October as a rise in oil and energy prices drove up the costs of factory products, central bank data showed Friday. The producer price index, a major barometer of consumer inflation, stood at 112.21 in October, up 0.8 percent from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the 12th consecutive month of a rise. Compared with a year earlier, it also jumped 8.9 percent, the

Economy Nov. 19, 2021

WASHINGTON -- Senior diplomats of the United States and Japan reaffirmed the importance of cooperation with South Korea on Thursday, one day after Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori boycotted a joint press conference over what his US counterpart called an unrelated bilateral issue. Mori and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman also reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, state department spokesman Ned Price said. "The two also dis

Foreign Affairs Nov. 19, 2021

South Korea's financial regulator said Thursday that it will convene an emergency meeting this week with officials of major banks to look into how they determine interest rates on lending amid worries over recent steep hikes in borrowing costs. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will hold the meeting on Friday with officials handling credit affairs at eight banks, including Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori and Hana, according to the regulator. A top FSS official will preside over the meeting. The

Economy Nov. 18, 2021