South Korean stocks fell nearly 2 percent Wednesday, while the Korean won fell to a 14-month low against the US dollar amid ongoing investor concerns over the debt crises of Chinese property developers and the impasse in the US Congress on raising the debt limit. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 53.86 points, or 1.82 percent, to close at 2,908.31 points, the lowest finish since Dec. 30 last year. Trading volume was moderate at about 887.63 million shares worth some

Market Oct. 6, 2021

South Korea has confirmed 3,213 more cases of four major contagious variants of the new coronavirus over the past week, including 3,209 of the highly transmissible delta variant, health authorities said Wednesday. The number of new delta variant cases accounted for 99.9 percent of new variant cases reported last week, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally indicates the delta variant is the dominant strain of coronavirus in South Korea, making it more diff

Social Affairs Oct. 6, 2021

SK E&S Co., the energy unit of South Korean conglomerate SK Group, said Wednesday it will team up with US fuel cell maker Plug Power Inc. to make a foray into the Asian hydrogen market. The two companies struck a deal to establish a 51:49 joint venture company, nine months after SK E&S and SK Inc., the group's holding firm, invested 1.6 trillion won ($1.5 billion) to acquire a 9.9 percent stake in Plug Power.   The joint venture will build a factory to produce key component

Industry Oct. 6, 2021

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government is expected to log a larger-than-expected surplus in tax revenue this year as the economic recovery gathers pace. In July, the government forecast the country is expected to collect 314.3 trillion won ($264 billion) in tax revenue for this year, up 31.5 trillion won from its earlier forecast of 282.7 trillion won. But the National Assembly Budget Office forecast a larger surplus, saying that the country may record excess tax revenue of

Economy Oct. 6, 2021

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun called Wednesday for the two Koreas to work together to build a "future order of peace" on the Korean Peninsula, starting with the proposed declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War. President Moon Jae-in again proposed the declaration during the U.N. General Assembly last month, in an effort to bring North Korea back to dialogue and revive his stalled drive for peace. "The share of the task to build step by step a future order

Politics Oct. 6, 2021

After becoming the oldest player in South Korean baseball history to put up 20 home runs and 20 steals in the same season Tuesday night, SSG Landers' outfielder Choo Shin-soo wasn't really in the mood to celebrate. For one, Choo has done this before -- not once, but three times in Major League Baseball (MLB). The 2018 American League All-Star for the Texas Rangers enjoyed 20-20 campaigns in 2009 and 2010 with the Cleveland Indians, and 2013 with the Cincinnati Reds. Also, the Landers are in the

Baseball Oct. 6, 2021

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, the front-runner in the presidential primary of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), is expected to resign from his governorship late this month to focus on campaigning for next year's presidential election if nominated as the party candidate. According to sources, Lee's team has determined that it would be best for Lee to step down as soon as the parliamentary audit wraps up later this month or no later than Nov. 5, when the main opposition People Power Party

Politics Oct. 6, 2021

South Korea's internet banking services continued to grow in the first half, with the number of users and daily transactions rising to new highs, central bank data showed Wednesday. The number of internet banking users, including mobile banking, came to 186.5 million as of end-June, up 5.6 percent from six months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The figure is the simple sum of all registered users at 18 internet and mobile banking service providers in the country,

Economy Oct. 6, 2021

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has decided to impose a combined fine of 25.1 billion won ($21.2 million) on seven poultry-processing companies for colluding to fix prices of chickens. Harim Co. and six other companies colluded to fix prices and supplies of chickens to be used for "samgyetang," or Korean ginseng chicken soup, between July 2011 and July 2017, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KTFC). Their price fixing led to a hike of chicken prices dur

Industry Oct. 6, 2021

South Korea's trade ministry on Wednesday called for the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to hold discussions to prevent global environmental regulations, including Europe's new carbon policy, from hindering global free trade. The European Union announced earlier that it will adopt the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which is expected to be fully implemented in 2026 following a transition period of three years. "We need to hold multilateral discussions to avoid env

Economy Oct. 6, 2021

The state anti-corruption investigation office on Wednesday began a probe into National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won over allegations of political meddling ahead of the March presidential race. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) announced that it booked Park on Tuesday on charges of allegedly violating the National Intelligence Service Act and the Public Official Election Act. Park has been accused by Yoon Seok-youl, former prosecutor general and a

Politics Oct. 6, 2021

South Korea's exports of agricultural products rose 12.3 percent on-year in the first nine months of 2021 on the back of the strong popularity of "hallyu," the Korean wave of pop culture, around the globe. Outbound shipments of foodstuffs came to $6.1 billion in the January-September period, compared with $5.5 billion posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.   Experts said the Korean Wave generated by K-p

Economy Oct. 6, 2021

Eight service members and a civilian worker for the military have tested positive for COVID-19, the defense ministry said Wednesday. Six Army members and two airmen, and the civilian employee for a unit affiliated with the ministry were confirmed to have been infected either after their recent vacation or developing symptoms consistent with the coronavirus. All of them were confirmed to be "breakthrough infections," as they were fully vaccinated, the ministry added. The latest cases ra

Defense Oct. 6, 2021

Police were found to have concluded an internal investigation into a case linked to a controversial development project near Seoul three months after receiving a probe request from the state anti-corruption commission without pressing any charges, a document showed Wednesday, with the project now being at the center of a massive political scandal. In a document submitted to main opposition lawmaker Rep. Kim Do-eup, the National Police Agency (NPA) said it assigned the case involving a land owne

Politics Oct. 6, 2021

Hanwha Techwin Co., a leading surveillance tech firm in South Korea, said Wednesday it will join forces with Azena, an Internet of Things company, and the country's telecommunications giant KT Corp. for artificial intelligence (AI)-powered video solutions. Under the partnership, Hanwha Techwin said its CCTV users will be able to easily add AI-powered video analytics tools to their products. Since CCTVs are built for different purpose for various locations, it is impossible to deliver all vid

Industry Oct. 6, 2021