South Korea's military reported six additional COVID-19 cases Wednesday, bringing the total caseload among its personnel to 2,050, the defense ministry said. Among the new cases is a Navy officer who tested positive while in quarantine following a vacation. A civilian employee of the Army also contracted the virus after a family member tested positive. The other cases are an officer of a military unit attached to the defense ministry, a Navy officer and two Army soldiers. Of the cumulative c

Defense Nov. 3, 2021

An appellate court has upheld a 700,000 won ($595) fine for a man charged with illegally filmed a woman in leggings in a retrial of the case after the Supreme Court overturned a not-guilty verdict for him. The case drew media attention as a district court and an appeals court were divided over whether secretly filming women in leggings constitutes a sexual crime, and the Supreme Court ruled it does because footage could be maliciously edited and shared online. The man, whose identity was withh

Social Affairs Nov. 3, 2021

A Seoul court questioned the owner of an asset management firm at the center of an urban development corruption scandal Wednesday to determine whether to issue an arrest warrant for him on bribery and other charges. Kim Man-bae, owner of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, is facing charges of breach of trust and bribery in connection with a 2015 project to develop the Daejang-dong district in Seongnam, south of Seoul, into apartment complexes. Prosecutors have been looking into suspicions over h

Politics Nov. 3, 2021

The Seoul city government said Wednesday it will offer a new concept public service through online virtual worlds by building its own metaverse platform for the first time among local governments nationwide. The city's own high-performance platform, tentatively named Metaverse Seoul, will be established by the end of next year, according to its five-year "Metaverse Seoul Basic Plan." The city government will then begin implementing the metaverse ecosystem for administrative services

Politics Nov. 3, 2021

UIJEONGBU -- Gyeonggi Province is considering building a new bridge connecting Goyang and Gimpo, two western satellite cities of Seoul separated by the Han River, officials said Wednesday. The city of Gimpo on Friday proposed the construction of a 1.4-kilometer bridge, named Yangchon Bridge, to meet growing transport demand between the two cities and disperse traffic concentrated on existing Ilsan Bridge, they said. If constructed, it will be the 30th bridge over the Han River. Gimpo and Go

Social Affairs Nov. 3, 2021

"My Universe," a collaborative song between K-pop superstars BTS and British rock band Coldplay, ranked No. 20 on the Billboard main albums chart for this week. According to the latest chart that became available Tuesday (US time), the song was down seven notches from the previous week's No. 13 on the Hot 100 chart, which ranks the most popular songs of the week in the United States by blending streaming, airplay and sales data. The tune debuted atop the chart in the first week of it

K-pop Nov. 3, 2021

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday offered incentives to attract foreign investors as South Korea kicked off its largest foreign investment forum meant to create new opportunities amid economic recovery during the pandemic. Invest Korea Week 2021, which runs through Friday, is expected to bring together 3,000 officials from major domestic and international companies, governments and related organizations for investor relations sessions and other events, according to the Ministry of Trade, Indus

Economy Nov. 3, 2021

The number of South Korean companies affiliated with large business groups under tight supervision rose by 52 in the August-October period as conglomerates expanded new businesses, the antitrust regulator said Wednesday. The total number of affiliates on the Korea Fair Trade Commission's (KFTC) watch list reached 2,704, as of end-October, compared with 2,652 three months earlier, according to the commission. Major business groups newly launched or acquired 106 units, while offloading 54 others

Industry Nov. 3, 2021

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Wednesday the government cannot afford another round of universal COVID-19 relief grants as proposed by Lee Jae-myung, the presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Party (DP). Kim made the remark during a radio interview, stressing that the most urgent task for now is to compensate the self-employed and small business owners suffering from the pandemic. "Our finance does not have enough capacity to do that," Kim said of Lee's proposal during the

Politics Nov. 3, 2021

South Korea's new coronavirus cases spiked to over 2,600 on Wednesday, two days after the country began its "living with COVID-19" scheme as part of a broader plan to gradually lift the virus restrictions. The country reported 2,667 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total caseload to 370,640, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Wednesday's tally marked a sharp hike from 1,589 reported a day earlier. It marks the first time since Sept. 30 that the daily new case

Social Affairs Nov. 3, 2021

South Korean mobile payment service Kakao Pay came off to a solid start on its debut Wednesday, trading higher than its initial public offering (IPO) price. The payment arm of Kakao Corp., South Korea's top messenger app, exchanged hands at 185,000 won as of 9:20 a.m., up 2.78 percent from its opening price of 180,000 won. Kakao Pay has set the IPO price at 90,000 won per share, seeking to raise 1.53 trillion won through the IPO. The firm's market capitalization stood at 24.1 won, the 14th la

Market Nov. 3, 2021

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting as investors seek a clue from the timeline for the interest rate hike. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 11.17 points, or 0.37 percent, to 3,002.32 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Fed is set to reveal its meeting results Wednesday (New York time). Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.28 percent to 71,300 won, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 0.47 percent to

Market Nov. 3, 2021

Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the minor opposition People's Party, has said he has no interest in unifying candidacies with the main opposition party, calling it an "impossible" deal. Ahn said, however, that if the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) yields to him, he will achieve a change of government in the upcoming presidential election in March as the single unified candidate. "I have no other thoughts at the moment," Ahn said in an interview with Y

Politics Nov. 3, 2021

South Korea's finance minister has said the country's economy is expected to extend its recovery momentum on the back of the accelerating COVID-19 vaccine rollout and efforts to gradually return to normal life. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the remarks during his meeting with Marie Diron, managing director of Sovereign Risk Group at global credit appraiser Moody's Investors Service, in London on Tuesday (local time), according to the finance ministry. The meeting was held to discuss South

Economy Nov. 3, 2021

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Wednesday their combined sales in the United States fell 4.1 percent last month from a year earlier due to a lack of semiconductor parts. Hyundai and Kia sold 108,828 vehicles in the world's most important automobile market in October from 113,489 units a year ago, according to the companies' sales data. Hyundai's US sales fell 1 percent to 56,761 units from 57,395 over the cited period, while Kia's declined 7.2 percent to 52,067 from 56,094.

Industry Nov. 3, 2021