General Motors Co. and South Korean company LG Corp. will receive the 2021 Van Fleet Award for their contribution to strengthening ties between South Korea and the United States, a non-profit business organization said Thursday. The Korea Society, a nonprofit organization established to promote Korea-US relations, has annually given the Van Fleet Award since 1992 to individuals and organizations that helped strengthen the bilateral ties. The organization said it will deliver the award to the c

Economy Aug. 12, 2021

South Korea said Thursday it seeks to speed up its free trade negotiation with a group of South American countries, as the country aims to further expand its export portfolio. South Korea launched its negotiations with Mercosur -- Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay -- in 2018. The four countries make up around 70 percent of the population in South America and 68 percent of the region's economy. The seventh round of negotiations is slated to be held later this month. "The trade agree

Economy Aug. 12, 2021

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products hit a record high in July, data showed Wednesday, rising for the 14th consecutive month thanks to global demand for chips and displays. Outbound shipments of ICT products stood at $19.5 billion last month, up 30.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The figure marks a fresh high for July after reaching $18.5 billion in 2018. Imports reached $11.32 billion last mon

Technology Aug. 12, 2021

Shares in Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. -- South Korea's two largest chipmakers -- plunged amid concerns of a slowdown in memory demand, analysts said Thursday. As of 10:30 a.m., Samsung was trading at 77,600 won ($67) after a 1.15 percent decline, while SK hynix slipped 3.79 percent to 101,500 won. On Wednesday, Samsung shed 2.1 percent to close at 78,500 won, moving under the 80,000 mark for the first time since Aug. 2. SK hynix finished at 105,500 won after losing 6.2 percent, i

Market Aug. 12, 2021

North Korea's top envoy in Russia has called for the US troops' withdrawal from South Korea and called the allies' joint military exercise a "war rehearsal," a Russian news agency said Thursday. North Korean Ambassador to Moscow Sin Hong-chol made the demand in an interview with Russia's TASS as Pyongyang recently ramped up criticism of South Korea for going ahead with its summertime combined military exercise with the US. "The US should primarily pull out its aggressive troops

North Korea Aug. 12, 2021

Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, the leading opposition presidential contender, widened his lead over his rival from the ruling bloc, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, in a hypothetical two-way presidential race, the latest poll showed Thursday. According to the poll conducted by Realmeter on 2,031 voters nationwide from Sunday-Monday, 42.1 percent of the respondents said they will vote for Yoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) in a hypothetical two-horse race against Gy

Politics Aug. 12, 2021

Disaster-comedy film "Sinkhole" has attracted over 147,000 moviegoers on the first day of its release, marking this year's highest opening-day attendance for a South Korean movie, data showed Thursday. The film drew 147,304 viewers upon its debut on Wednesday, pushing two-week box office leader "Escape from Mogadishu" to No. 2, according to data compiled by the Korean Film Council. "Sinkhole" logged the third-highest first-day score among all movies released this

Film Aug. 12, 2021

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest carrier by sales, said Thursday it plans to resume flights to Hawaii in November, in line with South Korea's aim to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19. Korean Air plans to operate three flights a week on the route from Incheon to Hawaii starting in November and expand the number of flights to five in December depending on the pandemic conditions, a company spokeswoman said over the phone. The national flag carrier made the decision as it expects

Industry Aug. 12, 2021

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. said Thursday its earnings rose more than 16 percent in the second quarter of the year from a year earlier. Net income came to 312.6 billion won ($270 million) in the April-June period, up 16.1 percent from a year earlier, the leading non-life insurer said in a regulatory filing. Operating income stood at 452.3 billion won in the three-month period, up 16.6 percent from a year earlier. In the first half of the year, the company's net profit soared nearl

Industry Aug. 12, 2021

North Korea did not answer South Korea's phone calls via cross-border communication lines for the third straight day Thursday, officials said, in apparent protest against the summertime military exercise between the South and the United States. The morning calls via the inter-Korean liaison office and military communication channels in the eastern and western border regions went unanswered earlier in the day, according to the officials. North Korea began to shun picking up regular calls late T

North Korea Aug. 12, 2021

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back below 2,000 on Thursday, but the peak of the current wave of the pandemic has not yet come amid calls for tougher measures to bring virus infections under control and slow vaccinations. The country added 1,987 COVID-19 cases, including 1,947 local infections, raising the total caseload to 218,192, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily caseload was down 236 from 2,223 the previous day, the largest since

Social Affairs Aug. 12, 2021

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Thursday amid concerns about an early tapering in the United States and the resurgence of new coronavirus cases. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 1.34 points, or 0.04 percent, to 3,221.96 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a choppy start as investors took a wait-and-see mode against uncertainties about whether the estimate-beating consumer prices in July would hasten the timeline for the US Federal Res

Market Aug. 12, 2021

South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. said Thursday its sales hit a new high in the second quarter of the year, but it posted big losses due largely to a one-off cost. Sales stood at $4.48 billion in the April-June period, up 71 percent from a year earlier, the New York-listed e-commerce behemoth said in a regulatory filing. It marks the first time that Coupang's quarterly top line has exceeded the 5 trillion-won ($4.33 billion) mark. Coupang's sales have been jumping 50 percent on-year f

Industry Aug. 12, 2021

South Korea's online food market jumped more than 45 percent in the first half of the year from a year earlier due to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday. The value of online food transactions in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 27.8 trillion won ($24 billion) in the January-June period, up 45.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea and industry sources. It was the largest half-year tally that breached the previous record of

Economy Aug. 12, 2021

South Korean stocks fell for the fifth consecutive session Wednesday as a record-high number of COVID-19 cases dented investor sentiment. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 22.57 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 3,220.62 points. Trading volume was high at 608.3 million shares worth some 18.95 trillion won ($16.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 563 to 299. Foreigners offloaded a net 1.6 trillion won worth o

Market Aug. 11, 2021