A 2.4 magnitude earthquake struck South Korea's central region Friday morning, the state weather agency said. The earthquake occurred about 26 kilometers south of Jecheon, 168 km southeast of Seoul, at 6:51 a.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). The epicenter is estimated to be at a depth of 14 km. The earthquake was recorded at a maximum of Level 3 on the seismic intensity scale in North Chungcheong Province, where the epicenter was located. Gangwon Province in th

Social Affairs Oct. 22, 2021

North Korea's nuclear activities has expanded over the years and continue to move ahead, creating a big challenge for verification and safeguard efforts, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said Thursday. Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also highlighted the need for a diplomatic process to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. "What is relevant is to see that compared with 2009, this program has spawned in activity wise, geographically into t

North Korea Oct. 22, 2021

Allowing humanitarian assistance to a country under US sanctions does not weaken the sanctions against the regime but rather serves American interests in the long-term, US officials said Thursday. Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of treasury, also said providing humanitarian assistance to the people would better serve American interests and policy goals. "We ultimately want to and need to and will ensure that our sanction regimes have an economic impact on their targets. But as (former) Se

Foreign Affairs Oct. 22, 2021

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong will visit Russia next week for discussions on bilateral ties and issues surrounding the Korean peninsula, the foreign ministry said Thursday. Chung will arrive in Russia on Tuesday for a three-day trip and will hold talks with his counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Wednesday. The two will meet for the first time since the Russian foreign minister visited Seoul in March this year. The talks are expected to touch on recent developments on the peninsula as Seoul st

Foreign Affairs Oct. 21, 2021

Hyundai Construction Equipment Co. said Thursday it has signed a deal with its holding company Hyundai Genuine Co. to sell its industrial vehicle division for 136 billion won ($115.8 million).  The deal set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, is intended to focus on the construction equipment sector by purchasing stakes in construction equipment affiliates in China and Brazil, Hyundai Construction Equipment said in a regulatory filing.  The industrial vehicles refer to forklifts and

Industry Oct. 21, 2021

  South Korean and Paraguayan trade ministers agreed Thursday to make joint efforts to boost cooperation in trade and industry fields in the post-pandemic era, officials said. During the meeting held in Seoul, Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and his Paraguayan counterpart, Luis Alberto Castiglioni Soria, discussed ways to promote bilateral investment and exchanges in a wide range of sectors, such as vaccine and climate change, according to the officials of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and En

Foreign Affairs Oct. 21, 2021

KB Financial Group Inc. on Thursday reported its third-quarter net profit of 1.3 trillion won ($1.1 billion), up 9.3 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 1.78 trillion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 1.41 trillion won a year ago. Sales rose 56.4 percent to 16.47 trillion won. The operating profit was 7.1 percent higher than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap New

Economy Oct. 21, 2021

South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI Co. said Thursday it has began its test run of a cathode-producing factory, jointly set up with a local cathode manufacturer. The EcoPro EM factory, located in Pohang, 374 kilometers southeast of Seoul, will conduct the test run until the end of this year before starting the mass-production of cathode from the first half of next year. Cathode is a key component that determines the capacity and average voltage of a lithium-ion battery. Samsung SDI and E

Industry Oct. 21, 2021

South Korean stocks closed lower Thursday after a choppy session, as the hopes for economic recovery is balanced against concerns about fast inflation. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 5.8 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 3,007.33 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 871 million shares worth some 10.3 trillion won ($8.7 billion), with loser outnumbering gainers 563 to 297. Foreigners bought a net 42 billion won

Market Oct. 21, 2021

The Seoul city government said Thursday it will file complaints with police against all participants in a labor rally called by a militant umbrella union a day earlier on charges of violating the infectious disease prevention act. On Wednesday afternoon, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) staged a massive rally in central Seoul for about two hours as part of a one-day general strike to bring labor issues to the fore in the runup to the 2022 presidential election. About 27,000 union

Politics Oct. 21, 2021

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday that the government will come up with measures to prevent and redeem what are deemed to be "unusually excessive" gains from land development projects in the wake of the escalating scandal over a corruption-laden urban development project near Seoul. A prosecution probe is under way into how a little-known asset management firm, Hwacheon Daeyu, and its seven affiliates reaped profits worth 1,000 times its investment in an apartment development

Politics Oct. 21, 2021

North Korea's recently tested submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) appears to be in an early stage of development and can be intercepted, South Korea's defense minister said Thursday. Suh Wook made the remarks during a parliamentary audit session, as his ministry vowed to deploy more missile detection assets and reinforce cooperation with the United States to deal with the North's continued missile research activities. Tensions flared up anew Tuesday, when Pyongyang launched a new type

Defense Oct. 21, 2021

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Thursday it has won an approval in principle (AIP) for the conceptual design of a storage tank and carrier to transport liquefied hydrogen, from Lloyd's Register, a British ship quality assurance and risk management company. AIP for the conceptual design means a certification agency has reviewed it and confirmed it meets the agency's technical requirements and standards for safety. The conceptual design of a membrane-type storage tank and 160,000-cubic meter

Industry Oct. 21, 2021

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) said Thursday that it has bagged a 232.2 billion won ($197.6 million) deal to build a LNG carrier. The deal, signed with an Oceanian company, calls for DSME to deliver the vessel by September 2024, the shipbuilder said in a regulatory filing. Not including the latest deal, DSME has won $8.58 billion worth of orders so far this year for 46 ships, one wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV), one submarine and two offshore facilities, alrea

Industry Oct. 21, 2021

SEJONG -- The number of layer chickens raised in South Korea dropped 4.2 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier due to the impact of the bird flu outbreak, data showed Thursday. The number of layer chickens came to 70.7 million as of end-September, compared with 73.8 million a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Yet it was up from 65.9 million three months earlier and 62.1 million as of end-March, which was the lowest in more than three years. The on-year decr

Economy Oct. 21, 2021