The Chinese Embassy here issued a rare public statement in response to fury among South Koreans over the "appropriation" of "hanbok," the traditional Korean attire, and deepening anti-China sentiment. A woman, dressed in hanbok, appeared during last week's opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, representing an ethnic minority of China, called "joseonjok." She was part of those representing 56 ethnic groups of China carrying the Chinese national flag into t

SK Telecom Co. on Wednesday reported its fourth-quarter net profit of 314.8 billion won ($263.4 million), down 14 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 226.7 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 292.7 billion won a year ago. Sales rose 3.9 percent to 4.29 trillion won. The operating profit was 3.4 percent lower than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency

South Korea's military on Wednesday reported 416 additional COVID-19 cases, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 7,158. The new cases included 216 from the Army, 129 from the Air Force, 27 from the Marine Corps, 26 from units under the direct control of the defense ministry, 15 from the Navy and three from the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command. Currently, 2,613 military personnel are under treatment. Meanwhile, the military reported no additional virus cases from the N

Kakao, the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, has promised to create 20,000 new jobs over the next five years as part of the government's youth job and education support project, the Prime Minister's Office said Wednesday. Kakao will directly hire 10,000 people over the next five years, and foster some 6,000 professional IT technicians through its AI Campus. It will also run support programs for partners and startups to recruit 4,000 people. The plan was declared during a

South Korea's military recruitment agency on Wednesday advised incoming draftees to cast their ballots during an early voting period for the March 9 presidential election. The Military Manpower Administration (MMA) said that some 20,000 men are set to begin mandatory service before the Election Day, and they can go to polling stations when early voting takes place on March 4-5. By law, citizens can only cast their votes at their legal residential districts on the Election Day. When outside their

South Korea's daily COVID-19 infections rose sharply to hit another high of nearly 50,000 on Wednesday amid the fast spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant across the nation. The country reported 49,567 new COVID-19 infections, including 49,402 local cases, raising the total to 1,131,248, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It marked the first time that the daily tally exceeded the 40,000 level. The previous daily record high was 38,689 recorded Sun

Police will officially operate a smartwatch system that can find almost the exact location of the wearer in emergencies starting later this month to better respond to potential crimes, officials said Wednesday. The location tracking system using smartwatches will first be put into operation by police in the southeastern city of Ulsan and the central North Chungcheong Province on Thursday and expanded to other regions across the country starting Feb. 22 unless problems occur. The smartwatch, whic

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Wednesday that they will recall 485,000 vehicles in the United States due to possible fire involving an anti-lock braking control module. The subjected models are 357,830 units of Hyundai's Santa Fe and Tucson SUVs and 126,747 units of Kia's K900 sedans and Sportage SUVs. Hyundai and Kia reported their recall plans to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after 11 cases of fires involving the component were reported with no casualti

A senior North Korean diplomat met with the Russian ambassador to Pyongyang earlier this week to discuss bilateral ties and regional and global issues, according to the North's foreign ministry, amid speculation that the two countries may be seeking to restart cross-border exchange. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Im Chon-il held talks with Ambassador Alexander Matsegora on Monday, the North's foreign ministry said in a post Tuesday on its website. "Both sides exchanged views on the issue

WASHINGTON -- Recent satellite photos have shown "somewhat unusual" activity at a North Korean submarine shipyard, including the repositioning of a missile test barge, though its purpose remains unclear, a US think tank said Tuesday. Citing the recent satellite imagery, Beyond Parallel, a project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, published an analysis on its recent observation of the shipyard in the eastern coastal city of Sinpo where an experimental ballistic miss

　The local performing arts scene saw its revenue soar nearly 80 percent in 2021 from a year earlier, thanks to eased social distancing rules and a rising vaccination rate, data showed. 　The combined revenue of 12,000 theatrical plays, musicals, classical concerts and other performances reached 307.1 billion won ($258.1 million) last year, according to the data by the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System. 　The 2021 amount marked a 78.4 percent on-year surge from 172.1 billion wo

지난 주에 이어 우리 일상의 대화를 좀 더 세련되게 만들 수 있는 표현들을 보겠습니다. 저희 책 『나는 더 영어답게 말하고 싶다 일상회화 편 2』에서 뽑은 표현들입니다.   <실수, 부적절한 행동에 대해 말할 때> 1 A The presidential candidate feared that the skeletons in his closet would get revealed. B That’s why he distracted the media with other events. A 그 대선 후보는 자신의 과거 잘못이 탄로날까 두려워했어. B 그래서 다른 이벤트로 언론의 관심을 분산시키려 했던 거야. SITUATION ‘감춰둔 비밀’을 말할 때 평범하게 Everyone has some secrets to hide. 영어답게 Everyone has skeletons in their closet. 다른 사람에게 숨

Korean Air Lines Co. said Wednesday it has received "unconditional" regulatory approval from Singapore for its integration with Asiana Airlines Inc. in a move that could speed up its process to acquire the smaller domestic rival. In January last year, Korean Air submitted documents to antitrust regulators of 14 countries for the review of its business combination with Asiana.  As of Wednesday, the company received approvals from seven countries -- Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand,