From the topsy-turvy regular season to the bitter, early ending to the postseason, things have been all too familiar for the Kiwoom Heroes this year. The Heroes lost to the Doosan Bears 16-8 in the second wild card game Tuesday night to take an exit from the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason. They also fell in the wild card stage last year. As the lower seed at No. 5, the Heroes had to win two straight games to advance. They took care of the first part of business Monday, when they

Baseball Nov. 3, 2021

President Moon Jae-in paid tribute on Tuesday to the Korean and Hungarian people killed in a 2019 boat sinking, as he began a state visit to Hungary for a series of summit talks with Eastern European leaders. The accident happened on the Danube River on May 29, 2019, when the sightseeing boat Hableany (Mermaid) carrying 33 Koreans and two Hungarian crew members collided with a cruise ship. The sinking left 25 Koreans and the two Hungarians dead. One of the 33 Koreans remains missing. Shortly

Politics Nov. 3, 2021

Members of the central bank's rate-setting board voiced concerns over heightened uncertainties over economic recovery and called for more time to analyze the effect of an interest rate hike in August before seeking additional measures to tame inflation and household debt, minutes from the latest policy meeting showed Tuesday. On Oct. 12, the seven-member board of the Bank of Korea (BOK) held its key policy rate unchanged at 0.75 percent, but the central bank hinted at an additional rate hike in

Economy Nov. 2, 2021

South Korean stocks closed higher for the second straight day Tuesday, as investor sentiment was buoyed by positive outlooks on global supply bottlenecks and other key economic issues. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 34.55 points, or 1.16 percent, to close at 3,013.49 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 513 million shares worth some 9.5 trillion won ($8.08 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 657 to 187. F

Market Nov. 2, 2021

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has vowed to spend about $26 billion on electric vehicle (EV) batteries, hydrogen and other eco-friendly businesses in the United States in a move to join US efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The figure is part of $52 billion set aside by South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate to invest in the US by 2030. Chey said SK is aiming to cut carbon emissions of 200 million tons, which account for 1 percent of the global target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions of

Industry Nov. 2, 2021

When Super Junior D&E was formed in 2011 as a subunit of the popular boy band Super Junior, its members Donghae and Eunhyuk never expected it would remain active even after 10 years. The two, both born in 1986 and having been with the group since they were trainees, looked back on their past years during an online press conference held Tuesday to promote their first full-length album. The new release will drop at 6 p.m., ahead of the unit's 10th anniversary next month. "Super Junior D

K-pop Nov. 2, 2021

The top nuclear negotiators of South Korea and Japan held phone talks Tuesday to explore measures for progress in stalled denuclearization efforts, Seoul's foreign ministry said. Noh Kyu-duk, the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and his Japanese counterpart Takehiro Funakoshi shared their assessments of the regional security situations and discussed ways to achieve lasting peace, according to the ministry. The two sides agreed to closely work together for

Foreign Affairs Nov. 2, 2021

Pope Francis is unlikely to visit North Korea in the winter, although it is difficult to predict when the trip will happen, the Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson said Tuesday. President Moon Jae-in asked the pope during their meeting at the Vatican last week to visit North Korea to help foster peace on the Korean Peninsula. The pope responded that he would do so if he received an invitation from the North. "Various efforts are under way, but it's difficult to predict the timing," Cheong Wa

North Korea Nov. 2, 2021

South Korea plans to buy back 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) worth of government bonds in a bid to tackle a sharp hike in bond yields, a senior government official said Tuesday. Second Vice Finance Minister Ahn Do-geol said the government will actively seek policy coordination with the Bank of Korea (BOK), when needed, to stabilize the bond market. "The stable management of the government bond market has become more important than at any time to support the fiscal policy's role and the smo

Economy Nov. 2, 2021

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) launched its presidential election committee on Tuesday to help steer its presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung to victory in the upcoming election in March. The committee is the liberal party's largest ever and includes all 169 of its National Assembly lawmakers with party chairman Song Young-gil as its standing chief and 12 others as co-chiefs. The party held a massive launching ceremony that was expected to be attended by up to 499 people under the government

Politics Nov. 2, 2021

Nearly half of all recent COVID-19 cases in Seoul were breakthrough infections, a Seoul city official said Tuesday. "Of the 646 new cases confirmed in Seoul on Sunday, 49.4 percent, or 319 cases, were breakthrough cases," Park Yoo-mi, a disease control official at the Seoul metropolitan government, said in a briefing. "The rate of breakthrough infections in Seoul is higher than the nationwide average," she noted. According to the city government, Seoul has recorded 12,663

Social Affairs Nov. 2, 2021

National health authorities on Tuesday called on baseball fans to refrain from chanting at stadiums, pointing to risks of spreading COVID-19 even among masked individuals. In a press briefing, Son Young-rae, a senior health ministry official, reminded fans that vocal cheering is still prohibited at Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) games, despite stadiums being fully open again. Starting this month, the KBO decided to operate all stadiums at 100 percent capacity for the postseason, provided th

Baseball Nov. 2, 2021

Lisa, a member of K-pop girl group BLACKPINK, scored her second-ever appearance on the Hot 100, Billboard's main singles chart, with "Money." According to Billboard on Monday (US time), "Money," a track from Lisa's first individual single album released in September, opened at 90th on the chart for the week ending Nov. 6. The singer and rapper first entered the chart with "Lalisa," the title track of the album, ranking No. 84 in the first week of its release. The

K-pop Nov. 2, 2021

The offseason for non-playoff teams in South Korean baseball is barely under way, and one of those five teams caught outside looking in has let go of its manager. Will other clubs follow suit? Given the contract situations for the remaining skippers, it doesn't seem likely at the moment. The Kia Tigers, which finished ninth among 10 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) clubs at 58-76-10 (wins-losses-ties), mutually agreed to part ways with Matt Williams on Monday. The American skipper had one yea

Baseball Nov. 2, 2021

The unification ministry on Tuesday vowed efforts to push for inter-Korean cooperation in the forestry sector as agreed to in an earlier deal, after President Moon Jae-in again stated on the global stage that Seoul will seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the peninsula in cooperation with Pyongyang. Moon was addressing an annual UN climate conference in Glasgow on Monday (local time) that brought together more than 100 world leaders, including US President Joe Biden. Chinese President Xi

Politics Nov. 2, 2021