Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 22 percent in January from a year earlier as chip shortages continued to disrupt vehicle production, an industry association said Monday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 17,361 units last month from 22,321 units a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. "Sales declined last month as chip supply issues continued to weigh on vehicle production and there was low

As disappointed as he was that his team crashed out early in the mixed team relay in short track speed skating in Beijing over the weekend, South Korean short tracker Kwak Yoon-gy seemed even more upset that China won gold thanks to what he claimed was biased judging. In a scrum with South Korean reporters Sunday, a day after China won the inaugural Olympic gold in the mixed relay on home ice, Kwak said it was difficult to describe the mixed bag of feelings he had about China's path to the titl

Praising ‘Squid Game’ actor Oh Young-soo, chief of organization running Golden Globes vows diversity efforts to support foreign media contents’ global presence

Government to outlaw bear bile farming amid growing public outcry over animal cruelty

　Lottery sales in South Korea rose 10.3 percent on-year to reach an all-time high last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed. 　Sales of lottery tickets stood at 5.98 trillion won ($5.02 billion) in 2021, compared to 5.42 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from the Finance Ministry. 　The figure has been rising in recent years from 4.15 trillion won in 2017 to 4.38 trillion won in 2018 and further to 4.79 trillion won in 2019, the data showed. 　By type, sales of onlin

South Korea's new COVID-19 infections stayed at more than 35,000 cases for three days in a row Monday despite fewer tests over the weekend, as the highly infectious omicron variant rages across the country following a major holiday. The country reported 35,286 new COVID-19 infections, including 35,131 local cases, raising the total to 1,044,963, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The accumulated virus caseload surpassed a grim milestone of 1 million the previo

South Korea's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo will visit London and Geneva this week to explore ways to enhance trade cooperation with Britain and various international organizations, his office said Monday. During his two-day visit to London beginning Monday, Yeo is scheduled to hold an initial meeting of the South Korea-Britain free trade agreement (FTA) committee with his British counterpart to check the implementation of the bilateral trade pact and plans for negotiations for its possible revisi

Lotte Chemical Corp., the petrochemical unit of South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group, said Monday it is spending 602 billion won ($502 million) to boost its advanced materials business, including building a new factory for electric vehicle battery materials. The company said it will spend about 233 billion won to build a new factory in its main domestic production complex in the southwestern city of Seosan to produce high-purity ethylene carbonate (EC) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) used in ele

North Korea on Monday celebrated the sixth anniversary of what it claims to be a major satellite launch, its state media said, highlighting Pyongyang's resolve for the "conquest of space." The commemoration of the 2016 Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite launch came amid concerns that the North could conduct provocative acts, such as a long-range rocket test disguised as a satellite launch, following its veiled threat last month to lift a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests. &q

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday as investors attempted to take profits from recent stock rallies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 24 points, or 0.87 percent, to 2,726.26 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Most large caps traded lower, led by institutional sell-offs. Top cap Samsung Electronics retreated 1.62 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix lost 2.81 percent. Leading chemical firm LG Chem decreased 3.24 percent, and pharmaceutical giant Sa

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung with 43.4 percent public support to 38.1 percent, a survey showed Monday. Yoon of the People Power Party gained 3.2 percentage points from a week ago, while Lee of the Democratic Party lost 0.4 point, according to the Realmeter survey conducted on 1,509 adults from last Wednesday to Friday. Yoon led Lee by 5.3 percentage points, which was outside the margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percent

South Korea's online food market jumped more than 35 percent to touch an all-time high in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. The value of online food transactions in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 58.5 trillion won ($48.8 billion) last year, up 35.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea and industry sources. The tally covers online transactions of food, groceries, farm produce, meat and fisheries goods, as well as food delivery se