Bond issuance in South Korea fell 1.8 percent in 2021 from a year earlier due to decreased debt sales by the government, data showed Tuesday. The value of bonds sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 829 trillion won ($693 billion) last year, down 15.3 trillion won from 2020, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. State-bond issuance shrank 4 percent on-year to 228.4 trillion won, while sales of financial bonds surged 23 percent to 252.2 trillion won. Cor

At the tender of 19, Gwangju FC midfielder Eom Ji-sung earned his first callup to the men's senior national football team for January's training camp in Turkey. The talented teenager stands out for his skills and maturity, but on the other hand, he is no different than most South Korean football players his age in one aspect. Eom is a great admirer of Son Heung-min, the longtime South Korean captain and Tottenham Hotspur star. "He has been my role model, and he is the one player that I'd

After winning their first Korean Series title in 2020, the NC Dinos missed out on the postseason altogether in 2021. They became the first Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club in 11 years to miss the playoffs in their title-defending season. Then came a massive overhaul in the offseason. The Dinos let their franchise icon Na Sung-bum walk via free agency and either traded or released several others who had been with the club since Day 1 in 2013. And they signed a pair of big-name free agents

Despite losing three starting pitchers to injuries midseason, the SSG Landers came within a game of making the postseason in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) last year. But their manager Kim Won-hyong isn't settling for any moral victories. Dropping the regular season finale to the eventual champions KT Wiz cost the Landers a postseason spot, and the loss still gnaws at Kim, who is now entering his second year as the bench boss. "We missed out on the playoffs after losing the last ga

S.Korea's devaluation of last week‘s launch could provoke consecutive test-firings

A growing number of crosswalk traffic signals are finding their way onto the ground in Seoul as a way to enhance the safety of pedestrians glued to their smartphones, according to the city's ward offices Tuesday. Nearly 1,200 in-ground crosswalk traffic signal systems were in operation across the city's total 25 boroughs as of Tuesday, led by the southern ward of Gangnam, which was operating 138 of them. Installed on the ground at the foot of a crosswalk, the supplementary LED traffic lights a

A cold wave hit South Korea on Tuesday, with temperatures in Seoul dropping to minus 9.3 C as of 8 a.m. and expected to remain below zero in the afternoon too, the state weather agency said. The apparent temperature for Seoul was minus 15.6 C, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. Cold wave alerts were issued in the northern part of Gyeonggi Province and some parts of the eastern Gangwon Province, as the morning lows dropped below minus 10 C. Mercury dived to minus 17.9 C at Moun

South Korea's military on Tuesday reported 17 additional COVID-19 cases, including 15 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,461. Of the new cases, 12 are from the Army, three from the Air Force and two from a unit under the direct control of the defense ministry. Currently, 182 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,646 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

SEOUL/PAJU -- Police have booked three family members of a dental implant maker employee arrested for allegedly embezzling 221 billion won ($185 million) in company funds on suspicions of possible collusion. Police were looking into whether the father, the wife and the sister-in-law of the 45-year-old Osstem employee, identified only by his surname Lee, played a part in the suspected embezzlement, believed to be South Korea's single largest embezzlement case. Lee, who was arrested Saturday, al

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed below 4,000 for the fifth consecutive day Tuesday amid tightened antivirus restrictions, but concerns linger over a possible resurgence due to the continued spread of the omicron variant. The country added 3,097 new COVID-19 infections, including 2,813 local infections, raising the total caseload to 670,483, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The country reported 43 more COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 6,

　South Korea’s imports via e-commerce reached a new all-time high in 2021 as more people purchased foreign goods online, government data showed. 　The country’s e-commerce imports stood at $4.15 billion in the first 11 months of last year, up 25.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. 　The amount for the 11-month period surpasses the full-year figure for 2020. 　The number of e-commerce transactions came to 79 million during the period,

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday as investors sought to buy oversold stocks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 12.44 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,939.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks started solid after the KOSPI's recent slump, which stemmed from worries that the US Federal Reserve may push harsher-than-expected tapering and rate hikes. Most large caps rebounded in Seoul, led by foreign buying. Top cap Samsung Electronics added 0.64 perce

WASHINGTON -- The United States and five other countries called on North Korea to cease its missile tests and engage in denuclearization negotiations on Monday. The joint call came shortly before the UN Security Council was set to hold a meeting behind closed doors on North Korea's missile test that Pyongyang claims to have involved a newly developed hypersonic missile. "We stand today unified in our condemnation of the DPRK's most recent missile launch, which the Security Council will di

South Korea logged a current account surplus for the 19th straight month in November, but the surplus was much smaller than a year earlier due to increased imports driven by high energy and raw material prices, central bank data showed Tuesday. The current account surplus amounted to $7.16 billion in November, down from a surplus of $9.18 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the preliminary data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the 19th straight month that the current ac