Prosecutors on Thursday reaffirmed their demand for a fine of 3 million won ($2,174) against the wife of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on charges of providing free meals to several people ahead of the 2021 party election to pick a presidential candidate. The Suwon District Prosecutors Office demanded the fine against Kim Hye-kyung during the closing hearing on charges of election law violations. She was indicted for providing meals worth 104,000 won to the wives of three former and current p

A group representing the families of those abducted by North Korea vowed Thursday to fly leaflets into North Korea next week, aiming to raise awareness about the abductee issue. About 100,000 leaflets bearing the names and photos of abductees in North Korea will be sent across the border from the western border city of Paju sometime next week, the group said in a press conference in Suwon, south of Seoul. A copy of the leaflet shown by the group included images and descriptions of those abduct

KB Financial Group reported record third-quarter profits driven by increased interest revenues from expanded loans while announcing a plan to enhance shareholder returns linked to its financial stability. The group posted a net profit of 1.61 trillion won ($1.17 billion), a 17.5 percent on-year increase, marking its best performance for the third quarter to date. Cumulatively, the year-to-date net profit reached 4.4 trillion won, up 0.4 percent from the previous year. However, compared to the

South Korea’s gross domestic product per capita is projected to continue its lead over Japan and Taiwan in 2024, according to International Monetary Fund data. In its “World Economic Outlook,” released on Monday, the IMF forecasted Korea's GDP per capita to rise this year to $36,132, which would be an increase of 1.6 percent from last year’s $35,563. The figure for Japan is expected to decline from last year by 3.1 percent to $32,859, while Taiwan is forecast to reco

Belift Lab CEO Kim Tae-ho, who also serves as Hybe’s chief operating officer, has refuted allegations that his company's rookie girl group Illit plagiarized NewJeans' concept. "It is not true that Belift Lab plagiarized NewJeans. As the CEO of Belift Lab, I would like to state that we have filed a civil lawsuit and pressed charges against former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin regarding this issue,” Kim said during a National Assembly audit on Thursday. “We are awaiting the

This year's National Assembly audit was slammed by critics on Thursday as the worst to date, with civic groups denouncing both sides of the political sphere for failing to carry out a proper audit. A monitoring group consisting of 270 different local civic groups here graded this year’s National Assembly audit a near-failing score of D-minus. The National Assembly Audit NGO Monitoring Group called this year’s parliamentary audit, which kicked off Oct. 7 and is set to wrap up Fri

China likely sidelined in NK’s decision to dispatch troops to Russia, says S. Korean FM

For South Koreans seeking information online, all signs point to Namuwiki. The home-grown open-source encyclopedia has emerged as the country’s go-to knowledge hub, offering a more casual and community-driven alternative to Wikipedia. Boasting over 6.5 million entries that span everything from academic discourse to pop culture, it ranked as the nation's fifth most visited domain as of September, according to web analytics firm SimilarWeb. Operating through servers in Paraguay, Namuwik

Rose of Blackpink garnered 100 million views on YouTube with the music video for her Bruno Mars collaboration “Apt.,” her agency The Black Label said Thursday. The artist expressed gratitude via the agency, saying the song came out naturally while hanging out at a studio playing the game -- originally a drinking game in Korea -- and is “really touched and grateful that so many are listening to and enjoying it.” "Apt." achieved the feat in five days, the shortest

By Lee Seong-woo, Vice president of Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Living up to its reputation as a “small but mighty” country, Singapore has been an economic hub of Asia and is home to the Asian headquarters of many global companies. Its business-friendly investment environment, talented workforce and strategic location have made it a center of the Asian economy. The government of Singapore offers nondiscriminatory investment incentives to both local and foreign companies,

South Korean holidaymakers will be interested in traveling to less-visited destinations in Asia next year, according to Skyscanner, a UK-based online flight, hotels, car hire options search engine. The trend forecast was based on the company's tourism data, analysis by industry experts and a survey of 1,000 South Korean holidaymakers, said Brendan Walsh, Skyscanner's head of commercial, at Travel Trend 2025 held at Music Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, Oct. 15. “We exp

Hoping to promote the neighborhood near the Blue House -- the former presidential office known as Cheong Wa Dae -- to tourists, the Culture Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization are jointly running a travel campaign entitled “2024 Around Cheongwa” until Dec. 30. Featuring Cheongwadae Sarangchae, “2024 Around Cheongwa” will offer various programs ranging from history lessons and a stamp tour to trekking. Cheongwadae Sarangchae is the former meeting spot for Blue Hous

German luxury carmaker outpaces rivals to establish its own battery recycling plant

Seoul shares closed lower Thursday on tech losses amid concerns over weak economic growth and diminishing expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts. The Korean won, however, snapped its 8-day losing streak against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 18.59 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 2,581.03. Trade volume was moderate, with 336.43 million shares worth 9.47 trillion won ($6.9 billion) changing hands, and losers outnumbering gainers 613 to 256. Institutio