South Korea and China discussed joint efforts to stamp out illegal fishing by Chinese boats in the South's waters in their regular fisheries meeting on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said. At the meeting, Seoul called on Beijing to draw up "effective measures" to stem the illegal fishing, as it is a matter that "directly concerns the livelihoods of South Korean fishermen," the ministry said. The South proposed China step up its patrol of fishing boats at major ports, block t

Foreign Affairs Sept. 28, 2021

South Korean stocks fell more than 1 percent Tuesday as investors offloaded tech shares amid concerns of surging virus cases. The Korean won sharply fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) lost 35.72 points, or 1.14 percent, to close at 3,097.92 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 881.95 million shares worth 14.38 trillion won ($12.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 711 to 193. Institutions offloaded a net 555.2 billion won, while re

Market Sept. 28, 2021

South Korea seeks to gradually return to normal daily life, while managing the spread of the novel coronavirus, between late October and early November, the health minister said Tuesday. The government earlier envisioned the "With Corona" scheme, under which COVID-19 is treated as an infectious respiratory disease like the seasonal influenza, with eased distancing being implemented. "The transition is likely to be around late October when 80 percent of adults are fully vaccinate

Social Affairs Sept. 28, 2021

SsangYong Motor Co. and its lead manager said Tuesday they will select a preferred bidder and a secondary preferred bidder for the financially troubled carmaker by mid-October. SsangYong Motor, the South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., and the bankruptcy court-appointed lead manager EY Hanyoung accounting firm were originally planning to pick the preferred and secondary bidders by the end of this month. "We are planning to announce the selection of a preferred b

Industry Sept. 28, 2021

WASHINGTON -- The United States has condemned North Korea's missile launch as a threat to its neighbors and the international community, a State Department spokesperson said, urging Pyongyang to engage in dialogue. "The United States condemns the DPRK's missile launch. This launch is in violation of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions and poses a threat to the DPRK's neighbors and the international community," the spokesperson said in a statement Monday (local time), just hours a

Foreign Affairs Sept. 28, 2021

"Squid Game," Netflix's new Korean survival drama, may become the global streaming entertainment giant's most successful original content ever, its chief has said. "Squid Game will definitely be our biggest non-English language show in the world, for sure," Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said Monday (US time) during Code 2021, an annual technology conference hosted in Beverly Hills, California, by American media company Vox Media. "It's only been out for nine days,

Television Sept. 28, 2021

The number of South Koreans in the agrofisheries sector is continuing to fall because of a rapid aging and urbanization trend in the country, government data showed Tuesday. Households engaging in the farming business totaled 1.03 million last year, down 4.9 percent from 1.08 million tallied in 2015, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The number of farmers also fell to 2.34 million in 2020, compared with 2.56 million tallied in 2015. In the fishing sector, the number of families

Industry Sept. 28, 2021

South Korean supergroup BTS has released a heartwarming documentary about its collaboration with British rock band Coldplay for their recent single "My Universe." The 13-minute video was posted on BTS' YouTube channel Sunday, two days after the song dropped amid high anticipation from fans worldwide. The documentary opens with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin relaying a story about how the high-profile collaboration began."About 18 months ago, I got a message from somebody. They s

K-pop Sept. 28, 2021

Cancer remained the top cause of death in South Korea, with the number of deaths hitting a record high last year, a government report showed Tuesday. In 2020, 304,948 deaths were reported in South Korea, up 3.3 percent from a year earlier. It marked the highest annual number since Statistics Korea began compiling such data in 1983. The statistics agency said 593.9 deaths were reported per 100,000 South Koreans last year. It also said 160.1 per 100,000 people died of cancer last year. Cance

Social Affairs Sept. 28, 2021

The Cabinet approved a revision to the civil law Tuesday that would grant animals legal status as individuals with lives that deserve to be protected. The revision was proposed by the Ministry of Justice in July to add the new clause, "animals are not objects," to Article 82 of the Civil Code. Currently, animals are identified as "an object that takes up space" and are not separated from inanimate things, so animal abusers have been punished only for damaging property if th

Politics Sept. 28, 2021

North Korea appears to have convened a session of its rubber-stamp legislature Tuesday after firing a short-range missile earlier in the day, drawing attention to whether any message to South Korea would come out of the meeting. The meeting also comes just days after Kim Yo-jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong-un, expressed a willingness to improve inter-Korean relations and even discuss the possibility of a summit with South Korea on the condition that Seoul drops hostility. State media earlie

North Korea Sept. 28, 2021

South Korea will continue efforts to stabilize situations on the Korean Peninsula and advance stalled inter-Korean relations through dialogue and cooperation despite North Korea's latest missile test, the unification ministry said Tuesday. Earlier in the day, North Korea fired what appears to be one short-range missile into the East Sea. The firing came days after North Korea expressed a willingness to discuss the improvement of inter-Korean relations and even a summit between their leaders.

Politics Sept. 28, 2021

Three service members and a civilian worker for the Army tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Tuesday, the latest in a series of infections at barracks. One officer affiliated with the South Korea-United States Combined Forces Command in Seoul tested positive while in isolation after one of his family members was confirmed to have been infected, according to the ministry. Two Army officers, stationed in Seoul and the city of Goyang, respectively, also tested posi

Defense Sept. 28, 2021

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday there will be no let-up in his administration's efforts till its last day to lay the groundwork for South Korea's "great transition" toward a better future. He cited the urgency of addressing the COVID-19 crisis, climate change and the fourth industrial revolution. "(We) are faced with an era of a great transition into digital civilization and green civilization. This is not the philosophy or choice of our government but a global trend," h

Politics Sept. 28, 2021

South Korea's trade ministry said Tuesday it is currently under negotiations with Guatemala to invite the Central American country to a multilateral trade pact that fully went into effect this year. Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo met his Guatemalan counterpart, Antonio Malouf, in Seoul to discuss Guatemala's entry into the free trade agreement (FTA) between Asia's No. 4 economy and a group of Central American nations. South Korea and five Central American nations -- Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama,

Industry Sept. 28, 2021