WASHINGTON -- US and South Korean officials met this week to coordinate efforts to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the State Department said Thursday. The first director-general or deputy-level consultation (DLC) meeting was held in Seoul on Wednesday (Seoul time) between the US deputy special representative for North Korea, Jung Pak, and officials from South Korea's foreign and unification ministries, the presidential office and the National Security Council, according to

Foreign Affairs Aug. 6, 2021

TOKYO -- Bronze may not be the medal that the South Korean baseball team wanted to win at the Tokyo Olympics, but it will have a chance to salvage at least that third-place prize Saturday. South Korea, the 2008 Olympic baseball champion, will face the Dominican Republic in the bronze medal game at noon Saturday at Yokohama Stadium in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. South Korea has lost its last two games to drop to the consolation game. In the semifinals Wednesday, Japan knocked off the defending ch

Olympic Games Aug. 6, 2021

Six Army soldiers and one Navy officer tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Friday, the latest in a series of COVID-19 infections among the military population across the country. Three enlistees at an Army boot camp in Paju, north of Seoul, were confirmed to have been infected while in quarantine following positive cases earlier, according to the ministry. A soldier affiliated with a separate unit in Paju and an Army officer in the northwestern border town of Yeo

Defense Aug. 6, 2021

The US government appears to envision offering partial sanctions relief in exchange for North Korea taking denuclearization steps but such "incremental" sanctions relief would be difficult to move forward without congressional support, a congressional report showed Friday. That is because the sanctions on the North are targeting not just the country's weapons development but also a host of other issues, such as human rights abuses, money laundering, international terrorism and cyber o

Foreign Affairs Aug. 6, 2021

A nursing assistant who suffered paralysis following vaccination for the coronavirus was recognized as a victim of industrial disaster Friday in the first such case in South Korea. The state-run Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service, under the Ministry of Employment and Labor, concluded that the nursing assistant should be eligible for various state benefits and financial compensation under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, saying her health conditions were closely

Social Affairs Aug. 6, 2021

South Korea strongly condemns a recent deadly attack on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman, the foreign ministry said Friday, calling the attack a "clear violation of international law." On July 29, the Mercer Street tanker came under a drone attack, which killed two of its crewmembers. The vessel, reportedly linked to an Israeli billionaire, was transiting through the Arabian Sea in international waters. "Such an attack is a clear violation of international law, and all vessel

Foreign Affairs Aug. 6, 2021

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., the world's biggest shipbuilder by order backlog, said Friday it has received a 660 billion-won ($578 million) offshore facility order in the United States. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., main affiliate of the shipbuilder, will build a semi-submersible floating production system (FPS) for a US-based oil-developing company by Sept. 28, 2024, Korea Shipbuilding said in a statement. The offshore oil production facility will be installed in Shenand

Economy Aug. 6, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. saw its market share decline in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) smartphone market in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Friday, as Chinese brands expanded their presence. The South Korean tech giant was the leading smartphone vendor with a 16 percent share in the April-June period, but its market share was down from 20 percent a year earlier, according to the latest report from industry tracker Counterpoint Research. "The company boosted market spendi

Industry Aug. 6, 2021

Former US President Barack Obama will make his first appearance as a guest of a South Korean television program on Friday to share his personal life story, a local cable channel said. According to tvN, a cable channel specialized in entertainment, Obama will connect to the channel's late night "Monthly Connect" show as a guest later in the day. The monthly show invites world-class leaders of various fields to impart their knowledge and experiences. Previously, Michael Sandel, a Harva

Television Aug. 6, 2021

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong was set to attend a regional security forum via video link Friday, as South Korea seeks to secure global support for its renewed push to resume dialogue with North Korea following last week's restoration of inter-Korean communication lines. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum (ARF) -- a rare multilateral forum involving North Korea -- will bring together top diplomats of 27 countries, including the United States, China, Japan and the

Foreign Affairs Aug. 6, 2021

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases remained in the 1,700s for the third straight day Friday amid few signs of a slowdown, triggering the extension of the toughest level of virus restrictions for two additional weeks. The country added 1,704 COVID-19 cases, including 1,640 local infections, raising the total caseload to 207,406, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest caseload is slightly down from 1,725 cases reported Wednesday and 1,776 cases Thu

Social Affairs Aug. 6, 2021

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight rallies on Wall Street that stemmed from optimism over jobless data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 6.6 points, or 0.2 percent, to trade at 3,282.73 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Kospi got off to a solid start on bio and financial gains. Overnight, the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent to close at a record high, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite both

Market Aug. 6, 2021

TOKYO-- Fans of Kim Yeon-koung, captain of the South Korean women's Olympic volleyball team, have launched a drive to donate tree saplings to Turkey, which is currently battling severe wildfires, following the team's hard-fought victory over the transcontinental nation. Devoted followers of the star captain have started a movement on Twitter and other social media in South Korea, sharing images of certificates and screenshots showing their tree sapling donations to Turkey in the name of either

Olympic Games Aug. 6, 2021

TOKYO -- South Korea has failed to defend its baseball gold medal from 13 years ago, but it will still have a chance to salvage bronze at the Tokyo Olympics Saturday, the penultimate day of competition. South Korea will play the Dominican Republic in the bronze medal game starting at noon Saturday at Yokohama Stadium in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. The South Korean players made the whole medal quest tough on themselves. South Korea lost to Japan 5-2 in the semifinals Wednesday, when a win would h

Olympic Games Aug. 6, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to dominate the foldable smartphone market this year with an 88 percent share, a report showed Friday, as the tech giant prepares to unveil its new foldable devices next week. The global foldable market is estimated to triple from a year earlier to reach around 9 million units in 2021, and Samsung, the world's largest smartphone vendor, is projected to represent 88 percent of them, according to market tracker Counterpoint Research. "Although the market

Industry Aug. 6, 2021