South Korea's major shipbuilders have outpaced their annual order targets backed by brisk global new orders, company officials said Tuesday. According to data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service, global new orders for ships came to 37.54 million compensated gross tons (CGTs) in the January-September period, up nearly threefold from 13.22 million CGTs a year ago. Compared with 10.53 million CGTs in the same period of 2016, when the shipbuilding industry was in a fier

Business Oct. 19, 2021

North Korea fired what appears to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) toward the East Sea on Tuesday, South Korea's military said. The missile was launched eastward from a site in the vicinity of Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). It said the launch was detected at 10:17 a.m. but gave no other details. "The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are currently conducting a thorough analysis regarding additional

North Korea Oct. 19, 2021

Police said Tuesday they have referred rapper NO:EL to the prosecution after arresting him on charges of driving without a license, refusing a breathalyzer test and headbutting a police officer. The incident took place on the night of Sept. 18 when the 21-year-old rapper, whose real name is Chang Yong-jun, caused a fender bender while driving his Mercedes in southern Seoul. His driver's license was revoked at the time. Police sent to the scene asked Chang to take a breathalyzer test, but he re

Social Affairs Oct. 19, 2021

Students infected with COVID-19 or in self-quarantine for possible coronavirus exposure will be assigned to separate testing sites for next month's state-administered college entrance exam to ensure a safe test environment, the education ministry said Tuesday. About 509,800 high school seniors and graduates are set to take this year's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) slated for Nov. 18. It marks the second year the college entrance exam will be held against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pa

Social Affairs Oct. 19, 2021

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed below 2,000 for the 11th straight day Tuesday, as vaccine effects are taking hold with rising inoculations amid preparations for a gradual return to normalcy. The country reported 1,073 new cases, including 1,048 local infections, raising the total caseload to 344,518, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Tuesday's tally is up from the 1,050 counted the previous day, which marked the lowest daily number since July 7, but down

Social Affairs Oct. 19, 2021

The next South Korean LPGA victory will be the 200th win by a player from this country. And the milestone title could very well come this week on a South Korean course. The BMW Ladies Championship will tee off Thursday at the LPGA International Busan in Busan, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul. It will be the only LPGA tournament to take place in South Korea this year, and also the lone Asian stop during what would normally have been the LPGA's annual swing through the continent. The tourname

More Sports Oct. 19, 2021

Globally popular K-pop group BTS will perform on the Los Angeles stop of this year's iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour, the largest year-end radio show in the United States, organizers said Tuesday. The septet was included in a star-studded lineup for the LA show scheduled for Dec. 3, the iHeartRadio, the country's largest online radio platform, announced on its website and social media. The South Korean band will open the show performing its mega-hit songs "Dynamite" and "Butter,&qu

K-pop Oct. 19, 2021

South Korea has launched a 16.2 billion-won ($13.9 million) project to develop a space weather forecast system by 2024 to ensure the stable operations of military assets, such as high-altitude drones, the state arms procurement agency said Tuesday. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said it signed a contract with the local company, Satrec Initiative Co., last week to develop the system to predict space weather conditions and issue related alerts. Once developed, the envision

Social Affairs Oct. 19, 2021

The intelligence chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan were to hold a closed-door trilateral meeting in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss North Korea and other pending issues, a government source said. Park Jie-won, the head of South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS), was set to sit down with Avril Haines, the US director of national intelligence, and Hiroaki Takizawa, Japan's Cabinet intelligence director, according to the source. During the talks, the top intel officials are

Foreign Affairs Oct. 19, 2021

A biennial defense exhibition kicked off in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on Tuesday, offering an in-depth look at state-of-the-art military hardware like stealth jets, advanced missile interceptors and hydrogen-powered drones. The five-day Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) at Seoul Air Base comes amid lingering regional tensions from North Korea's evolving threats and an intensifying Sino-US rivalry. This year's edition is expected to provide a rare chance for defense

Defense Oct. 19, 2021

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight advances on Wall Street and eased concerns over the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 25.48 points, or 0.85 percent, to 3,032.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a strong start on overnight gains on Wall Street and easing virus woes. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.84 percent to 15,022 points as investors monitor the inflation factors, while the Dow Jones

Market Oct. 19, 2021

Prosecutors were expected to seek an arrest warrant Tuesday for a key suspect in a corruption-laden urban development project rocking South Korean politics, a day after detaining him for questioning upon his return from the United States. Nam Wook was put under emergency arrest upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport early Monday morning and underwent questioning. As the emergency arrest is set to expire Wednesday morning, prosecutors are expected to seek a formal arrest warrant for h

Politics Oct. 19, 2021

Twenty-nine foreign nationals got caught cheating on a recent Korean language proficiency test, the organizer of the test said Tuesday. According to the National Institute for International Education, the foreigners either disobeyed supervisors' order to turn in their phones and other mobile gadgets or were caught possessing forbidden electronic devices while taking the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) at a school in Seoul's Gangdong district Sunday. Of them, 13 were Chinese and nine othe

Social Affairs Oct. 19, 2021

US Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim will visit Seoul this week for talks on ways to restart dialogue with the reclusive North, including an end-of-war declaration, the US diplomat said Monday. Kim's trip to Seoul will follow his meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Noh Kyu-duk and Takehiro Funakoshi, respectively, here in Washington this week. "Special Representative Noh and I also discussed the end of war proposal, and I look forward to continuin

Foreign Affairs Oct. 19, 2021

South Korea is set to gradually phase out coronavirus restrictions starting next month as the vaccination rate rises, joining a list of countries embracing a new scheme of returning to normal life with the coronavirus. The scheme, dubbed "Living with COVID-19," is set to take effect in early November. It means that COVID-19 will be treated as an infectious respiratory disease, like seasonal influenza, with eased social distancing being implemented. From the early stages of the pandem

Social Affairs Oct. 19, 2021