Senior diplomats of South Korea and the United States held phone talks Wednesday to discuss the bilateral alliance and other issues on the Korean Peninsula, according to officials. Yeo Seung-bae, deputy foreign minister for political affairs, and his US counterpart Daniel Kritenbrink had comprehensive discussions on regional and global issues, a foreign ministry official said without elaborating. "I had a great conversation with Deputy Foreign Minister Yeo on the US-ROK relationship and o

The United States has authorized the South Korean government to send overdue compensation to Iran's Dayyani Group under a 2018 investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), Seoul's foreign ministry said Wednesday. The US Treasury Department's Office Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a "specific license" on Jan. 6 to allow the Seoul government to pay compensation to the Iranian investor over a failed takeover of Daewoo Electronics dating back to 2010, according to the ministry. Earlie

Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, located about 40 kilometers south of Seoul, has grown into a city of more than 1 million known for a clean environment with citizen-friendly policies.  With Mayor Baek Kun-ki heralding the city’s remarkable change, Yongin transformed into a greener and more balanced city with improved standards of living for its citizens -- when it comes to the economy, job opportunities, transportation and education, among others.  On Thursday, Yongin will start a ne

Korea’s top health and beauty retailer CJ Olive Young said Wednesday it aims to land a million customers overseas with the US and Canada being the target markets.  The firm said its online platform Olive Young Global, launched in 2019, now ships Korean beauty products to some 150 countries around the world. Over the past six months alone, sales from the platform posted an almost 20-fold surge, the firm said without offering specific figures. Membership also soared to some 300,000 use

Korea ranks 26th of 33 OECD members in Q3 employment

South Korea’s top steel maker Posco said Wednesday that it has succeeded in producing neon, a rare gas mainly used for making chips, at its Gwangyang steel mill, becoming the first Korean firm to do so. “It is very meaningful to achieve the complete localization of neon, which was a long-cherished task in the industrial gas market, in cooperation with TEMC, a small but strong Korean company,” Vice President Yoo Byung-ok said during the ceremony. “Through ESG business

Isolation. Anxiety. Uncertainty. The stresses of the coronavirus pandemic have taken a toll on Americans of all ages, but a new poll finds that teens and young adults have faced some of the heaviest struggles as they come of age during a time of extreme turmoil. Overall, more than a third of Americans ages 13 to 56 cite the pandemic as a major source of stress, and many say it has made certain parts of their lives harder. But when it comes to education, friendships and dating, the disruption ha

Paul Rudd, 52, the affable actor best known for playing “Ant-Man,” was named People magazine’s sexiest man alive, joining the likes of Idris Elba, George Clooney and Bradley Cooper. Rudd played the kind boyfriend of Lisa Kudrow’s wacky Phoebe on TV comedy “Friends” and later took larger roles in comedies like “Knocked Up” before playing Ant-Man in the Marvel superhero movie, followed by a sequel and appearances as the character in “Captain A

The latest Big Tech stock dip becomes wake-up call for South Koreans in their 20s and 30s who thought they were investing in something relatively safe

Yongin, which received ‘special city’ status on Thursday, will use all possible resources to speed up development of its semiconductor cluster while making improvements in living environments and welfare programs

Hybe, the agency behind the global K-pop sensation BTS, will premiere its original webtoon and web-novel series starring the seven-member band and other artists of the firm’s labels this week. The agency on Wednesday said “7Fates: Chakho,” a web-comic and web-novel series based an on original story featuring BTS, will be unveiled on Saturday via Naver’s web comic platform, Naver Webtoon. Two other episodes, “Dark Moon” and “The Star Seekers,” ea

South Korean stocks closed sharply higher Wednesday, as the US Fed chief's comments about inflation were largely within market expectations. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) gained 4.51 points, or 1.54 percent, to close at 2,972.48 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 506 million shares worth some 10.8 trillion won ($9.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 730 to 140. Institutions bought a net 607 billion won and

People’s Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo is taking a firmer stance against the two main parties and their candidates, as well as on a potential merger of his campaign as his support ratings rise. Recent polls show that Ahn has passed the 10 percent bar, absorbing voters peeling away from the major two candidates, the Democratic Party of Korea’s Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party’s Yoon Suk-yeol. Ahn had been at 3 percent support only a few weeks ago. Backed with

The white peaks of Mount Hallasan on Jeju Island has gained notable popularity this winter, promoting hikers to pay extra cash to get access to the snowy landscape. Dozens of postings seeking to sell, buy or exchange QR tickets to Hallasan National Park have been posted at secondhand online stores. Offered by the national park, tickets are available online for free on a first come first serve basis. One post uploaded on Joonggonara, the country‘s largest online used goods marketplace, sh