Ford Sales & Service Korea, Hyundai Motor Co. and three other companies will voluntarily recall more than 19,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Thursday. This is the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers in South Korea and vehicle importers due to problems with vehicle components. The three other companies are Porsche, Honda Motor Korea and Tera Motors which sells electric two-wheelers, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a state

Industry Oct. 21, 2021

South Korea's producer prices gained 0.2 percent on-month in September due to a rise in prices of energy-related products, extending their monthly gains for the 11th straight month, central bank data showed Thursday. The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, stood at 111.13 in September, compared with 110.86 a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The September reading was up 7.5 percent from the same month a year earlier, the BOK data showed. The rise

Business Oct. 21, 2021

The United States remains open to dialogue with North Korea, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. Her remarks come after North Korea announced a successful test launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) that some believe may be a "game changer." "(It has) consistently been our view. So we've stated our openness to having those discussions with North Korea for months now," Psaki said in a press briefing onboard the Air Force One en route to Pen

Foreign Affairs Oct. 21, 2021

The United States' alliances with South Korea and others are key to dealing with many challenges facing the US, including Chinese aggression and North Korean threats, nominees for US ambassadors to Japan and China said Wednesday. Richard Nicholas Burns, nominee for US ambassador to China, said US alliances provided a "comparative advantage" over China. "The comparative advantage that we have versus China is that we have treaty allies. We have partners who deeply believe in us an

Foreign Affairs Oct. 21, 2021

Prosecutors on Wednesday continued their questionings into a corruption-laden urban development scandal engulfing South Korean politics, summoning the four key suspects of the high profile case again all on the same day for possible cross-examinations. Prosecutors are looking into suspicions over how a previously unheard-of asset management firm, Hwacheon Daeyu, and its seven affiliates reaped astronomical profits from a 2015 project to develop the Daejang-dong district in Seongnam, south of Se

Politics Oct. 20, 2021

The military will seek to appeal a recent court ruling in favor of a deceased transgender soldier who had filed a suit over its decision to discharge her against her will, a defense ministry official said Wednesday. In a landmark ruling earlier this month, the Daejeon District Court judged it was unfair for the military to discharge Byun Hee-soo, formerly a staff sergeant in her 20s, over her gender reassignment surgery in 2019. Byun underwent the surgery in Thailand in 2019, two years after v

Social Affairs Oct. 20, 2021

DONGHAE -- A ship carring nine crewmen capsized in waters off the country's easternmost islets of Dokdo Wednesday, the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard has been informed by Japanese authorities that the 72-ton vessel capsized at 2:24 p.m. in waters 168 kilometers northeast of Dokdo. The Donghae regional office of the Coast Guard dispatched a pair of patrol ships and a helicopter to conduct a search, according to officials. The exact damage from the sinking was not immediately known. (Yonhap

Social Affairs Oct. 20, 2021

South Korean stocks retreated Wednesday, led by strong institutional sell-offs. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 15.91 points, or 0.53 percent, to close at 3,013.13 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 668 million shares worth some 11 trillion won ($9.4 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 521 to 337. Institutions sold a net 208 billion won, while retail investors bought 284 billion won. Foreigners offloaded

Market Oct. 20, 2021

Midsized shipyard K Shipbuilding Co., formerly known as STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co., said Wednesday it has signed a preliminary deal with Kongsberg Digital AS to cooperate on digital technologies for smart ships. Under the deal with the Norwegian company that has technologies for autonomous ships, K Shipbuilding will narrow the technology gap with large shipbuilders in the area of smart ships, the company said. K Shipbuilding also showed its autonomous navigation system called K-ADIS o

Industry Oct. 20, 2021

TOKYO -- A new memorial stone will be dedicated in Nagasaki, Japan, next month to thousands of Korean victims of a US atomic bombing of the city in 1945, its promoters said Wednesday. The monument will be unveiled on Nov. 6 in a ceremony in Nagasaki Peace Park, which commemorates the Aug. 9, 1945, nuclear explosion, according to the South Korean Consulate-General in Fukuoka and a group of ethnic Koreans steering the project. The plutonium bomb detonation is believed to have killed about 74,000

Foreign Affairs Oct. 20, 2021

A history foundation released a new song about South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo on Wednesday in an effort to enhance the world's understanding of the islets as part of Korean territory. The Northeast Asian History Foundation unveiled the song titled "Island" via its social media accounts and major domestic music services at noon along with the song's music video. The R&B pop number was written and composed by three artists -- DINT, T-lack and Hertz -- and sung by Lee So-

K-pop Oct. 20, 2021

South Korea has confirmed 3,245 more cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant over the past week, health authorities said Wednesday. New delta variant cases accounted for all of new variant cases detected last week, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). There are four different kinds of variants. The tally indicates the Delta variant is the dominant strain of the coronavirus in South Korea, making it more difficult for health authorities to curb the sprea

Social Affairs Oct. 20, 2021

North Korea's recent missile test underscores the need for engaging the reclusive state and sanctions relief can be considered as part of incentives to bring it back to the negotiating table, Seoul's top diplomat said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong was speaking at a parliamentary audit session, hours after the North said it has successfully test-fired a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on Tuesday. "We should take some actions to prevent North Korea from

Foreign Affairs Oct. 20, 2021

South Korean shipper HMM Co. said Wednesday that it will start its new regular container shipping service linking the country's port city of Busan and the eastern coastal cities of South America in December. A 5,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container carrier will be deployed for the service to be launched on Dec. 7, HMM said. It will take 84 days for the container carrier to make a round trip on the Busan-Montevideo route, the shipper said. HMM said the launch of new South Korea-Sout

Business Oct. 20, 2021

As the 2021 LPGA season winds down, Korean American player Danielle Kang finds herself in one city where she wants to win a tournament more than anywhere else. Kang is one of 84 players set to compete at the BMW Ladies Championship in Busan, a coastal city 453 kilometers southeast of Seoul, starting Thursday. The 72-hole event is the only LPGA tournament taking place in South Korea this season. Busan is also the hometown of Kang's late father. She was born in San Francisco but spent her early

More Sports Oct. 20, 2021