The commander and two other officers of South Korea's peacekeeping unit in Lebanon have been relieved of duty and ordered to return home amid a probe over suspected embezzlement and other irregularities, military sources said Thursday.    The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) made the decision after holding a deliberation session earlier in the day on corruption allegations against the Army colonel heading the Dongmyeong Unit and three other officers.    The 300-strong Dongmye

Foreign Affairs Aug. 19, 2021

President Moon Jae-in pledged Thursday to expand South Korea's free cervical cancer vaccination program to benefit all girls under age 18. "(The government) will enlarge the scope of beneficiaries of the free vaccination program to include girls up to the age of 17 from the current cap at age 12," Moon said in response to a civic petition submitted on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of Cheong Wa Dae's online public petition service. "I will work to entitle all female ado

Social Affairs Aug. 19, 2021

LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading chemical firm, said Thursday it will invest 2.6 trillion won ($2.2 billion) by 2028 to step up its domestic manufacturing capacity for eco-friendly materials. LG Chem said it will build 10 new chemical factories in Seosan, about 140 kilometers southwest of Seoul, to produce biodegradable materials and other materials used in renewable energy. Among them are poly butylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT), a biodegradable plastic used in decomposable packaging,

Industry Aug. 19, 2021

An Army boot camp reported two more cases of the coronavirus Thursday, bringing the total caseload in the latest cluster infection there to 13, the defense ministry said Thursday. The two recruits at the Korea Army Training Center in the central city of Nonsan, 213 kilometers south of Seoul, were confirmed to have been infected, after the military conducted virus tests on all of the around 900 soldiers there following a cluster infection reported the previous day. Twelve of them are awaiting t

Defense Aug. 19, 2021

After an errant pitch brushed his jersey, SSG Landers' slugger Choi Jeong didn't just walk to first base. He also trotted into the record books. On Wednesday night in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), Choi got hit by a pitch for the 288th time in his career. The Landers billed it as "the world record," as Choi surpassed the major league mark of 287 held by Hall of Famer Hughie Jennings. His career spanned from 1891 to 1918 but his last hit-by-pitch came in 1903. It's difficult t

Baseball Aug. 19, 2021

Major South Korean credit card issuer Samsung Card Co. said Thursday it has decided to sell its entire 19.9 percent stake in Renault Samsung Motors Corp. Samsung Card said it recently made the decision and selected Samsung Securities Co. as the lead manager of the stake sale. The card issuer purchased the stake for 87.6 billion won ($74.8 million) in April 2000 in line with an agreement between Samsung Group and French automaker Renault S.A. on the sale of Samsung's car unit. In a semiannual

Industry Aug. 19, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. was the top smartphone vendor in Latin America in the second quarter, a report showed Thursday, although its market share dropped from a year earlier. Samsung represented 37.3 percent of smartphone shipments in Latin America in the April-June period, defending its leading status, according to market tracker Counterpoint Research. However, its second-quarter market share was down from 42.5 percent a year ago. "Samsung was the most affected due to the constraints rel

Industry Aug. 19, 2021

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Thursday that it has won approval in principle (AIP) for its basic design for LNG or diesel-powered oil tankers that can be revamped into ammonia-fueled ones from DNV, a Norwegian ship quality assurance and risk management company. The shipbuilder's basic design will be helpful for shippers that want to transform their LNG or diesel-powered oil tankers into ammonia-fueled ones, Samsung Heavy said. AIP for the VLCCs means a certification agency has reviewed its

Industry Aug. 19, 2021

LG Electronics Inc. on Thursday said it has successfully demonstrated 6G data transmission using the terahertz spectrum as the South Korean tech giant tries to move ahead in the next-generation communication technology. LG succeeded in sending 6G terahertz wireless communication signals 100 meters in an outdoor environment in collaboration with Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Europe's leading application-oriented research organization, in Berlin last week. LG said it developed a new power amplifier w

Technology Aug. 19, 2021

South Korean football fans should adjust their alarm clocks for Friday morning. Tottenham Hotspur and their South Korean star Son Heung-min are visiting Portugal this week to play FC Pacos de Ferreira in the first of two playoff matches for the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League. The kickoff at Estadio Capital do Movel is 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the club's namesake Portuguese town, or 3:30 a.m. Friday in South Korea. Tottenham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo tipped his hand during his premat

Soccer Aug. 19, 2021

Genesis, the independent luxury brand of Hyundai Motor Co., on Thursday unveiled the design of its first all-electric GV60 ahead of its launch later this year. The GV60 is Genesis' first-ever EV based on the same electric-global modular platform (E-GMP) as the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6, and the luxury brand's third SUV following GV80 and GV70. It employs the brand's "Athletic Elegance" design language throughout, which includes signature quad light fixtures up front, matching taill

Technology Aug. 19, 2021

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday as investor sentiment weakened over the US Federal Reserve minutes that hinted at the possibility of an earlier-than-expected tapering timeline. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 11.18 points, or 0.35 percent, to 3,147.75 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a lackluster start, tracking the overnight Wall Street stock plunge. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.08 percent as Federal Reserve minute

Market Aug. 19, 2021

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases topped 2,100, the second-largest number recorded here during the COVID-19 outbreak, following an extended weekend, as the country will likely again extend the toughest virus restrictions in the greater Seoul area and the enhanced restrictions across the country. The country added 2,152 more COVID-19 cases, including 2,114 local infections, raising the total caseload to 230,808, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Daily

Social Affairs Aug. 19, 2021

The number of consumer complaints against financial firms fell 7 percent on year in the first-half of this year, official data showed Thursday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it received a total of 42,725 consumer complaints in the January-June period, compared with 45,922 complaints for the same period in 2020. The decline was mainly due to the base effect of last year, when financial complaints grew over the COVID-19 pandemic, the FSS said. Deceptive sales of investment produc

Economy Aug. 19, 2021

North Korea had declared a no-sail zone for ships off the east coast earlier this week, sources said Thursday, indicating that it had plans to launch missiles amid an ongoing combined exercise between South Korea and the United States.    The navigational warning was issued for Sunday through Monday for northeastern regions in the East Sea, according to the military sources. Such an advisory is usually issued ahead of missile launches or other weapons tests to warn vessels to stay cl

North Korea Aug. 19, 2021