South Korea's exports grew 22 percent on-year in the first 20 days of January on the back of solid demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Friday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $34.4 billion in the Jan. 1-20 period, compared with $28.22 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. (Yonhap)

South Korea's military is set to ship COVID-19 treatment pills to three overseas units Friday following virus outbreaks there, officials here said. Pfizer's Paxlovid antiviral pills will be sent by air to the contingents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Sudan and Lebanon under Thursday's distribution approval by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the officials said. The military also plans to send the pills to the Navy's anti-piracy Cheonghae unit operating in wate

South Korea plans to raise the ceiling of its low-interest rate loans to Egypt to $1 billion in an effort to strengthen bilateral cooperation, the finance ministry said Friday. South Korea and Egypt have inked a memorandum of understanding to raise the limit of the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) in 2022-26 from the previous $700 million for 2016-21, according to the ministry. The preliminary deal was clinched Thursday in Cairo on the sidelines of the summit between South Korean P

The government will lower the age of eligibility for COVID-19 treatment pills from 65 to 60 to better contain the spread of the omicron variant, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday. Kim announced the measure during a COVID-19 response meeting held a day after President Moon Jae-in said omicron has become the dominant strain in the country. The first batch of Pfizer Inc.'s COVID-19 treatment pills arrived in the country last week to be administered first to those with compromised immune sys

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday, tracking an overnight fall on Wall Street amid surging global inflation woes and rising interest rates. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 21.6 points, or 0.75 percent, to 2,841.08 points in the first 15 minutes of trading.  On Thursday (local time), the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.9 percent, the broad-based S&P 500 went down 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, decre

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula Thursday, urging North Korea to quickly return to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The countries also urged all UN member countries to fully implement UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea. "We are strongly committed to the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of all of North Korea's nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction and

Audi, BMW and five other companies will voluntarily recall more than 29,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Friday. This is the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers operating in South Korea due to problems with vehicle components. The seven companies, including Stellantis Korea, Honda Motor Co., Tesla Korea, MAN Truck & Bus Korea and Hyundai Motor Co., are recalling a combined 29,092 units of 26 different models, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure a

WASHINGTON -- The United States is willing and prepared to talk with North Korea at anytime, US ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday, while also stressing that the option has always been on the table for Pyongyang. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, however, also stressed the need to respond to North Korea's recent missile tests that she said jeopardized peace and security in the East Asian region. "We have been clear from day one that we are willing to go to the negotiating table with th

WASHINGTON -- Sen. James Risch (R-ID) has called on the US government to enhance and improve its nuclear capabilities to provide added deterrence in support of US allies against threats posed by North Korea. The ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also highlighted the need for joint military readiness to deter any North Korean aggression. "Our priority needs to be on US and allied cooperation and military readiness through a strong tempo of training and exercises -- n

Special Delivery (Korea) Opened Jan. 12 Action Directed by Park Dae-min Special delivery driver Eun-ha (Park So-dam) mainly works for a criminal group. She delivers anything that cannot be delivered legally. One day, Eun-ha receives a mission to deliver Seo-won (Jung Hyeon-jun), a young boy that a criminal group is chasing after. When she decides to save him, she becomes a target of not only the crime group, but also associated corrupt police officers. Sing 2 (US) Opened Jan. 5 Animation Direc

Paju Ice Fishing The annual Paju Trout Festival kicked off Jan. 8 and runs through Feb. 13 at Gangtan Leisure Town in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, though the event has reduced its size to focus only on the ice fishing event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While various programs, including trout catching with bare hands, smelt fishing for children and more, are canceled, visitors can catch a maximum of three salmon and trout through ice fishing. The ice sledge park is also available for visitors to

Climb at a multiplex, go out for a maskless movie, immerse yourself in history

JW Marriott Hotel Seoul launches ‘Yut-Nori With Black Tiger’ promotion JW Marriott Hotel Seoul marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year with a package promotion curated for families celebrating the new year together. The stay package features yut sticks, a yut board and yut tokens handcrafted by the hotel’s pastry team for a joyful family game experience. Two glasses of Black Tiger Guinness will be provided by master mixologists at the seventh-floor MOBO Bar. The packag