South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday as a surge in new coronavirus cases weighed down investor sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 14.92 points, or 0.45 percent, to trade at 3,290.29 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. South Korean stocks got off to a weak start after health authorities said the daily virus caseload topped 1,200 to reach a record high for this year. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics, which earlier estimated better-than-expecte

Market July 7, 2021

Defense Minister Suh Wook said Wednesday he feels "terribly ashamed and regret" over recent sexual harassment allegations raised against a one-star general despite the military's ongoing efforts to root out sex crimes following the suicide of an Air Force abuse victim. The defense chief made the remark during a biannual meeting with top commanders to discuss the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and other defense issues, vowing to hand down a stern punishment to the accused b

Defense July 7, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday expected market estimate-beating second-quarter earnings as its semiconductor business apparently offset a tepid performance from its mobile business. In its earnings guidance, the South Korean tech giant estimated its operating profit at 12.5 trillion won ($11 billion) for the April-June period, up 53.4 percent from a year ago. Its second-quarter operating income estimate beat the market consensus of 11.2 trillion won in a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the fi

Industry July 7, 2021

Supergroup BTS rewrote its chart record on Wednesday as its upbeat summer number "Butter" retained the top spot on Billboard's main singles chart for the sixth consecutive week. ""Butter" is officially No. 1 on this week's #Hot100 chart for a sixth consecutive week," Billboard said Tuesday (US time) on its Twitter account. "'Butter' drew 11 million US streams and sold 153,600 downloads, cassette and vinyl combined (up 20 percent) in the week ending July 1. It

Performance July 7, 2021

South Korea's current account surplus sharply widened in May as exports maintained strong growth and companies received dividends from overseas affiliates, central bank data showed Wednesday. The current account surplus reached $10.97 billion in May, widening from a surplus of $1.91 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade. Since the country logged a deficit of $3.33 billion in April last year, the large

Economy July 7, 2021

WASHINGTON -- Sung Kim, Special US representative for North Korea, held phone talks with his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday, the State Department said. The call between Kim and China's Liu Xiaoming apparently marks the first of its kind since Kim was named the special envoy in May. "I can confirm that a call took place," a department spokesperson told Yonhap News Agency without elaborating. Department spokesman Ned Price later highlighted an important role China can play in addressi

Foreign Affairs July 7, 2021

PAJU -- When it comes to competing at international tournaments, South Korean midfielder Lee Kang-in doesn't speak in general terms -- about doing his best and letting the result take care of itself, or things of that nature. When the 20-year-old puts on the national team jersey, he only wants to win the biggest prize available. For the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, that means bringing home the gold medal. "It's not just me; I believe everyone who enters a tournament as big as the Olympics wil

Sports July 6, 2021

The Seoul metropolitan government said Tuesday it will ban drinking at Han River parks every night between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. starting the next day. The ban was announced Sunday as part of the central government's toughened social distancing guidelines for the capital area, which has recently seen a spike in COVID-19 cases. The city government said it will begin enforcing an administrative order on the ban at midnight Tuesday, with no predetermined end date. Violations will be punishable with

Social Affairs July 6, 2021

South Korea confirmed over 1,000 new coronavirus cases Tuesday for the first time in six months amid a resurgence in the Seoul metropolitan area, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The country reported 1,006 more COVID-19 cases from 12 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the number is expected to further rise when the daily total is announced Wednesday morning. The figure shot up to over 1,000 for the first time since Jan. 3 when the nation was undergoing a third wave of the pandemic,

Social Affairs July 6, 2021

SEJONG -- South Korea and the European Union on Tuesday agreed to work together against climate change in line with their shared target to achieve zero net emissions of carbon by 2050. Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook met Frans Timmermans, who serves as the executive vice president for the European Green Deal, in Seoul to share ideas on ways to cooperate in coping with climate change, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It was the first time for a high-ranking European cli

Industry July 6, 2021

South Korea's main opposition party leader on Tuesday thanked the acting US ambassador to South Korea for his country's COVID-19 vaccine provision. Lee Jun-seok, head of the People Power Party (PPP), noted that he was one of the beneficiaries, during his meeting with Robert Rapson, the acting US ambassador to Seoul, at the National Assembly. "I was among those who benefited from the US' recent provision of 1 million doses of the Janssen vaccine," Lee said. "It is something that

Politics July 6, 2021

The leaders of South Korea and Fiji have exchanged letters on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the two sides establishing diplomatic ties, Cheong Wa Dae said. In a letter to his Fijian counterpart, Jioji Konousi Konrote, President Moon Jae-in pointed out that bilateral relations have constantly developed since 1971, according to Moon's spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. Moon expressed hope that the two countries will expand cooperation in various fields, including politics, business and cultu

Politics July 6, 2021

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to consider normalizing eased rules on banks' foreign exchange (FX) derivative positions as FX liquidity conditions have improved amid the global economic recovery. In March 2020, the country relaxed rules on banks' FX forward positions after the country's FX and swap markets suffered a severe dollar crunch caused by market routs over the pandemic. Last year, the country raised the cap on the holding of local banks' FX forward positions to 50 percent of their

Economy July 6, 2021

South Korean stocks advanced for the second consecutive day to close at a fresh record high Tuesday as hopes for strong second-quarter corporate earnings drove up tech stocks. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) increased 12 points, or 0.36 percent, to close at 3,305.21 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1 billion shares worth some 14.5 trillion won ($12.8 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 476 to 344. Foreigners

Market July 6, 2021

The Seoul metropolitan government said Tuesday it will ban drinking at Han River parks every night between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. starting the next day. The ban was announced Sunday as part of the central government's toughened social distancing guidelines for the capital area, which has recently seen a spike in COVID-19 cases. The city government said it will begin enforcing an administrative order on the ban at midnight Tuesday, with no predetermined end date. Violations will be punishable with

Social Affairs July 6, 2021