South Korean stocks are likely to fluctuate in a broad range as investors digest the high-flying inflation rates in the United States, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,747.71 points Friday, little changed from 2,750.26 points a week ago. The key stock index on Friday snapped its three-day winning streak from corporate earnings hope due largely to the highest US inflation growth in four decades, released the previous night. Analysts said the h

South Korea's new COVID-19 infections reached a fresh daily high Saturday, as the highly transmissible omicron variant continued to spread fast across the nation. The country reported 54,941 new COVID-19 infections, including 53,797 local cases, raising the total to 1,294,205, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. It marks the third day in a row that the daily tally exceeded the 50,000 level. A total of 53,926 cases were reported Friday. The health authorities have war

Maintaining the status quo is not an option when it comes to North Korea, South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Friday, urging the North to quickly return to dialogue. The top South Korean diplomat also insisted maintaining the status quo would actually lead to greater instability not only on the Korean Peninsula but throughout Northeast Asia while having global implications. "As I have repeatedly said publicly, maintaining status quo in the Korean Peninsula issues is not an o

US President Joe Biden has nominated a senior member of the US foreign service, Philip Goldberg, as new US ambassador to South Korea, the White House said Friday. "Philip Goldberg is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Career Ambassador, and currently is the US Ambassador to the Republic of Colombia," the White House said in a press release. Ambassador Goldberg, if appointed, will replace Harry Harris who stepped down when Biden took office on Jan. 20, 2021. Sout

BEIJING -- South Korea's third medal of Beijing 2022 came from short track speed skating Friday, with Choi Min-jeong grabbing silver in the women's 1,000m. She finished just 0.052 second behind the champion, Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands, in the nail-biting final at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. Choi moved from the back of the pack into second place in late stages of the nine-lap race. She barely avoided colliding with two skaters who got tangled up behind her, Arianna Fontana of I

BEIJING -- After clinching the silver medal in the women's 1,000m short track speed skating race at Beijing 2022 on Friday, South Korean star Choi Min-jeong looked virtually inconsolable. It wasn't immediately clear if she was crying tears of joy for her first medal in Beijing, or if she was mad at herself for finishing 0.052 second behind the champion, Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands. It turned out it was a bit of both. "Honestly, I didn't think I'd cry that much," Choi said i

South Korea on Friday has decided to ban its nationals from traveling to all regions of Ukraine and urged those staying there to evacuate immediately amid brewing tensions in the region. The Level 4 travel alert, the highest in the four-tier system, is set to take effect Sunday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. South Korea had issued the Level 3 advisory in southern, eastern and northern areas of Ukraine in late January. The ban came amid growing tensions that Russia could l

The Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said South and North Korea had effectively ended the war but the situation was only an armistice in legal terms. “(The two Koreas) have practically ended the war, but legally, we are in an armistice,” Lee, said at the second presidential candidate TV debate held Friday by the Journalist Association of Korea, when asked by Yoon Suk-yeol of People Power Party on his views about declaring the end of Korean War. Moon

Presidential nominee Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s foreign and security policies are rooted in "pro-North, pro-China, anti-US" ideas, claimed his main rival Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party. During a presidential debate program aired Friday, Yoon claimed the set of views Lee has in approaching North Korea is essentially in favor of maintaining close ties with China while shunning South Korea's relationship with the United States.

BEIJING -- What had been a subpar Olympics in Beijing for South Korean short tracker Choi Min-jeong changed for the better in a hurry Friday, as she captured the silver medal in the women's 1,000m. Choi finished just behind the winner, Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands, in the exciting final at Capital Indoor Stadium. The Dutch star crossed the line in 1:28.391, with Choi right on her heels at 1:28.443. Choi had been shut out of medals in Beijing until Friday. Her first crack came on the fi

BEIJING -- South Korean short track speed skater Choi Min-jeong grabbed silver in the women's 1,000m at Beijing 2022 on Friday, washing away disappointments from quick exits in earlier races with a strong bounce back performance. Choi finished just behind Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing for South Korea's second short track medal in the Chinese capital. For the Olympics, South Korea has one gold, one silver and one bronze so far. After barely avoiding c

BEIJING -- South Korean short track speed skating gold medalist Hwang Dae-heon will have a chance to add two more titles in Beijing. Hwang, who won the 1,500m gold medal Wednesday at Beijing 2022, qualified for the quarterfinals in the 500m on Friday at Capital Indoor Stadium. He finished second in his quarterfinal heat, behind Abzal Azhgaliyev of Kazakhstan. There were eight heats, and the two fastest skaters from each heat, plus the four fastest among third-place skaters, advanced to the qua

The four major candidates in the ongoing presidential race for South Korea were united in the need to assure freedom of the press, but had differing views on whether additional agencies or laws were needed to achieve it and to protect people from false reports. The responses were made following a general question during a debate program Friday on what measures candidates have in mind to protect freedom of the press, respond to victims of "fake news" and prevent undue influence from th

Lee Jae-myung, presidential candidate of ruling Democratic Party, said he agreed with the idea of passing an anti-discrimination law, but remained cautious about it being billed. Sim Sang-jung, candidate from the minor progressive Justice Party, brought up the anti-discrimnation law at the second presidential candidate TV debate held Friday by the Journalist Association of Korea. “Though there may be some controversies, it is right to enact the anti-discrimination law. I have shared my

Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol spent much of his allotted time during a debate program Friday on questioning his main rival Lee Jae-myung on allegations of corruption. Yoon asked Lee during his turn to ask the two other candidates in the debate if Lee would call his past behavior, in which he allegedly favored certain entities in real estate contracts, as truly fair. The candidate representing the main opposition People Power Party was referring to an allegation that&