A local court on Thursday dismissed an injunction request by the ruling Democratic Party (DP) to stop the sales of a book criticizing its presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. The Seoul Northern District Court rejected the DP's application to ban Seoul-based publisher JW Books from selling and distributing the controversial book titled "Goodbye, Lee Jae-myung," citing the people's right to know and freedom of expression. The 240-page book, authored by lawyer Jang Young-ha, details a

Jobs provided by the government and state-run companies grew by the largest-ever amount in 2020, as the number of public servants rose and state-arranged jobs for vulnerable people increased amid the pandemic, data showed Thursday. A total of 2.77 million people were employed in 2020 by the public sector, up 164,000, or 6.3 percent, from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Jobs offered by the public sector are positions in central and provincial governments, social

The number of layer chickens raised in South Korea rebounded in the fourth quarter from a year earlier as it gradually recovered from the impact of the bird flu outbreak, data showed Thursday. The number of layer chickens came to 72.61 million in the October-December period, up 33,000 from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The tally compared with an on-year fall of 3.13 million in the third quarter. It was also up 1.89 million from three months earlier as chicken

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Thursday it has named Nam Koong-whon as its new CEO following the resignations of two former nominees. Kakao said its board of directors accepted the resignation of incumbent co-CEO Yeo Min-soo, who was earlier named to lead the tech giant for another four years. Nam, who has served as the chief of Kakao's new organization aimed at finding new growth engines, will be officially named as the CEO during a board of di

With South Korea fixated on COVID response, Seoul sees 82% drop in HIV testing in 2020

South Korean investors' holdings of foreign securities touched a new all-time high in 2021 on an overseas investment boom, data showed Thursday. Local investors had held overseas stocks and bonds worth $100.59 billion as of end-2021, up 39.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). Of the total, South Koreans' ownership of overseas stocks came to $77.91 billion, 65.5 percent more than a year earlier. The value of US stocks held by South Ko

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol vowed Thursday to deregulate the virtual asset industry to further promote its growth. Yoon of the conservative People Power Party said the industry should be allowed to operate without regulations unless they have been explicitly prohibited. "To realize the unlimited potential of the virtual asset market, we must overhaul regulations that are far from reality and unreasonable," he said at a virtual asset forum at a Seoul hotel. &

Honda has become the third global automaker after General Motors and Hyundai Motor to jointly develop next-generation electric vehicle batteries with SES, a Boston-based startup set to go public in the US this year. According to SES Thursday, the Japanese automaker agreed to acquire a 2 percent stake in the startup and jointly develop lithium-metal batteries, which are 30 percent more powerful than the strongest lithium-ion batteries in the market. “Honda has joined General Motors and

The South Korean government emphasized Thursday that dialogue and diplomacy are the only key to building peace on the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea's thinly veiled threat to scrap a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests. The North held a high-profile politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party the previous day and decided to consider restarting "all temporally-suspended" activities to brace for a "long-term confrontation" with the U

‘Virus of incompetency’ more harmful than COVID-19 for regional governments, says Seo Cheol-mo

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung pledged Thursday to offer an annual basic income of 1 million won ($840) to cultural sector workers. Lee of the liberal Democratic Party announced the pledge as part of his top six campaign promises for the cultural industry. "I will expand hallyu's global presence and open the horizon for the Republic of Korea and the United States to become the world's two leading powers for cultural content," Lee said at a campaign event in central

The Seoul city government will renovate worn-out buildings into low-carbon ones and increase the proportion of electric cars in the city by 2026 as part of efforts to respond to climate change, officials said Thursday. The measures were announced as part of a five-year project from 2022 to 2026 to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Last year, South Korea finalized its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, as the nation started tackling the challenge of simultaneously responding to climat

An elite South Korean Navy unit began annual wintertime training Thursday to strengthen its readiness posture for underwater rescue operations, the Navy said. Around 90 members of the Sea Salvage and Rescue Unit (SSU) kicked off the three-day training session in waters off Jinhae, 410 kilometers south of Seoul, focusing on underwater search and related operations. The training session included rubber boat pedaling, open-water swimming, and scuba diving. The members will also participate in a

South Korea's military on Thursday reported 35 additional COVID-19 cases, with all of them being breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,762. Of the new cases, 27 are from the Army, five from the Air Force, two from the Navy and one from a unit under the direct control of the defense ministry. Currently, 299 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,937 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

North Korea has decided to grant convicted people amnesty, effective later this month, on the occasion of major birthday celebrations of its late leaders, according to its state media Thursday. The pardons will be granted to those who were convicted of "crimes against the country and people" to commemorate the 110th birthday of Kim Il-sung and the 80th birthday of Kim Jong-il in a decision made by the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, the Korean Central News Agency