South Korea’s fiscal deficit reached over 100 trillion won ($83 billion), while national debt logged a deficit of 240 trillion won, as the country was bogged down by COVID-19 woes in the past two years, data from the Finance Ministry showed Sunday. With an additional 70 trillion won in fiscal deficit and 100 trillion won of national debt projected to be added this year, based on the size of the supplementary budget currently being discussed by officials and lawmakers, onlookers are expre

BEIJING -- There was no last-day magic this time, as the South Korean bobsleigh pilot Won Yun-jong failed to take his four-man team to the podium on Sunday in Beijing as he had done four years ago on home soil. Won, Kim Jin-su, Kim Dong-hyun and Jung Hyun-woo finished in 18th place in the four-man bobsleigh competition with a time of 3:58.02 after four runs at Yanqing National Sliding Centre in Yanqing District, northwestern Beijing. The first two runs took place on Saturday and the final two ru

Samsung Electronics has maintained its lead in the global TV market for 16 consecutive years by pursuing a premium strategy with its QLED TVs, the firm said. According to market tracker Omdia Sunday, the South Korean tech giant last year topped the global TV market, commanding 29.5 percent by sales amount and 19.8 percent by market share. “Samsung Electronics propelled the No. 1 position via a premium strategy centered on QLED TVs. Since their launch in 2017, more than 26 million units

SK On co-CEO Jee Dong-seob said Sunday he will make the company the world’s No. 1 electric vehicle battery player with products that excel in safety, performance and price competitiveness. During an interview, the SK On official laid out three core strategies to take on market leaders such as CATL and LG Energy Solution and become No. 1 by 2030. Jee first pledged to offer the safest, the cheapest and the most high-performing EV batteries to clients. “Thanks to its technology and

Minor opposition candidate blames Yoon for failed negotiations

SEOUL/SUWON -- Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said Sunday he will push back the COVID-19 curfew on cafes, restaurants and other multiuse facilities to midnight on the first day after the March 9 election. "On March 10, I will put a stop to unnecessary, excessive quarantine and let businesses operate freely until midnight for those fully vaccinated with booster shots," Lee said during a campaign speech in Suwon, south of Seoul. Lee said COVID-19 has "evolved to b

Naver Webtoon logs 82 million monthly active users

Government to provide additional 21 million self-test kits this week

The military on Sunday reported 628 additional COVID-19 cases, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 12,197. The new cases included 362 from the Army, 167 from the Air Force, 48 from the Navy, 23 from units under the direct control of the defense ministry, 22 from the Marine Corps, and six from the ministry. Currently, 3,532 military personnel are under treatment. (Yonhap)

South Korea is thinking seriously about sharing its liquefied natural gas (LNG) inventories with Europe amid looming supply disruptions sparked by the Ukraine crisis, officials said Sunday. "The government is seriously contemplating supporting Europe should the situation aggravate in Ukraine and create difficulties in the supply of natural gas," a foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity. Observers have been expressing concerns over a possible disruption in the supply o

BEIJING -- South Korea's top Olympic official praised strong efforts by the country's athletes at Beijing 2022 on Sunday, while also recognizing the need to nurture future Winter Olympic stars away from ice. Lee Kee-heung, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC), held a press conference in the Chinese capital to discuss South Korea's performance at the 2022 Winter Games. With the competition drawing to a conclusion Sunday, South Korea finished with two gold, five silver and

In line with the K-pop boom in and out of South Korea, sales of original soundtrack albums of Korean dramas and movies have surged. K-pop merchandise sales, on the other hand, have been sluggish in the wake of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Sunday. Last year, 28,939 copies of soundtrack albums of hit dramas and movies were sold at Ktown4u, an online shopping mall that sells albums of K-pop groups and related goods. This marked huge jump from 8,784 copies in 2020 and 2,624 in 2019,

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung with 42.9 percent public support to 38.7 percent, a survey showed Sunday. Yoon of the People Power Party gained 1.3 percentage points from a week ago, while Lee of the Democratic Party lost 0.4 percentage point, according to the Realmeter survey conducted on 3,043 adults from last Sunday to Friday. The gap between Yoon and Lee widened to 4.2 percentage points from the previous week's 2.5 percenta

BEIJING -- South Korea has decided not to appeal short track speed skating refereeing at Beijing 2022 to the top global sports tribunal, the country's Olympic chief said Sunday. At a press conference in Beijing, Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) President Lee Kee-heung said the decision was reached after consultations with legal experts. The KSOC had earlier sought to take its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after two South Korean short track speed skaters, Hwang Dae

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Sunday it has decided to impose a fine of 286 million won ($239,130) on the country's leading online education service provider Eduwill for misleading advertising. Eduwill ran bus and subway advertisements between November 2018 and August 2021, in which the company claimed to rank first in the number of subscribers who passed exams, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). The company has provided online education services to people preparing for state