SK ecoplant, a construction unit of SK Group, unveiled a blueprint of what they call Zet Zero City, a circular economy system in line with the company’s focus on eco-friendly energy solutions, at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show on Wednesday. Debuting at CES, SK ecoplant said the purpose of Net Zero City is to solve environmental and energy problems by turning waste and air pollutant into resources and energy through high-technology. SK ecoplant, which has been transforming itself fr

President Moon Jae-in on Friday extended his sympathy over the deaths of three firefighters killed in a warehouse blaze in Pyeongtaek this week. Presidential Chief of Staff You Young-min visited the funeral altar earlier in the day and conveyed Moon's message of condolences to the bereaved families. Moon said he "prays for the repose of the three firefighters who died while facing the flames with thorough responsibility and courage," according to You. You said the government will

South Korea‘s daily coronavirus cases continued to drop, falling below 4,000 for the first time in three days for Thursday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency‘s data, the country added 3,717 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Thursday. South Korea has recently seen a modest downward trend in daily COVID-19 cases lately. The numbers of COVID-19 cases for Tuesday and Wednesday were 4,443 and 4,125, respectively. The number of critically ill patients also

A Seoul court on Friday ruled against a same sex couple demanding the same spousal health insurance coverage as heterosexual couples, saying matrimony in South Korea is still considered a union between a man and a woman. In February of last year, So Seong-wook filed the administrative lawsuit against the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) after the agency canceled So's coverage under the insurance program of his male partner's employer. "The union of a man and a woman is still under

Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin on Friday continued to express his discontent over Instagram’s removal of his post expressing his hostility toward communism. Chung criticized Instagram for its engagement in political activities by deliberately taking down posts that don’t match the preference of the platform, according to a story by local media outlet Maeil Business Newspaper, which cited an anonymous close acquaintance of Chung. “The value of free expression

Despite being founded 50 years ago to promote Korea’s national brand, Korean Culture and Information Service is far from a household name within Korea, though it intends to change that this year. The organization plans to push for greater cultural exchange with Korea‘s partner nations, according to Park Jung-youl, the director of the KOCIS, who took the helm in September 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of Hallyu. A veteran government official, Park told the Korea He

JEONJU -- South Korea's southwestern city of Jeonju will host next year's annual conference of the Tourism Promotion Organization for Asia Pacific Cities (TPO), officials said Friday. TPO, the largest international organization related to tourism in the Asia-Pacific region, was established in 2002 with the goal of developing the tourism industry through the formation of a network among regional cities. It has 136 cities in 16 countries, including South Korea, China and Japan, and 54 private org

South Korea-based SK Group is in talks with US chip maker Qualcomm to develop a new hyper speed memory chip tailored to data centers, its communication technology arm SK Square said Friday. The new chips would run applications or computers for data center operation in order to meet soaring corporate demand amid the global chip shortages that could cause server delays, according to SK Square, the parent of memory chip maker SK hynix. The world‘s data center chip market could potentially gr

President Moon Jae-in on Friday ordered aides to closely cooperate with US troops stationed in South Korea to curb the spread of COVID-19 at US military bases here. Moon also instructed aides to come up with enhanced antivirus measures for citizens and business facilities near US military bases, presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee said in a statement. According to a recent report by the Stars and Stripes, the US military's news organization, US Forces Korea counted 467 new COVID-19 cases

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit said Friday that nonfungible tokens featuring images of main lead characters from TV drama series “Jirisan” had sold at record-low prices. NFTs are digital tokens of physical or digital assets, mostly of music or art, that guarantee ownership through blockchain technology. According to the digital asset trading platform, the pixel art NFTs of the characters played by top Korean actors Gianna Jun and Ju Ji-hoon sold for 18,653 won ($15.50)

SPC Group said Friday that it has acquired the operation rights of US burger chain Shake Shack in Malaysia and will open the first store there in 2023. The Korean confectionery conglomerate owns the operating right of Shake Shack in Korea and Singapore. It has opened 20 stores in Korea and eight in Singapore since 2016 and 2019, respectively.  Michael Kark, chief global licensing officer of Shake Shack, said that the US burger chain and SPC will have more than 45 Shake Shacks across Korea

Pyongyang conveyed letter to Beijing on day of missile test

Korea’s real estate tax burden grew at fastest pace in 2020

LAS VEGAS -- Hyundai Motor has partnered up with Unity, the world’s leading platform for real-time 3D content, to connect an actual factory with its digital twin operating on metaverse space, the companies said Thursday. The Meta-Factory project will enhance plant management and innovate manufacturing, Hyundai Motor said, adding that it plans to first apply the concept to the Hyundai Motor Global Innovation Center in Singapore. The facility is due to be completed this year. ”Hyunda

K-pop superstar BTS has grabbed the honor of having the most sold digital song of the year in the United States for the second time. "Butter" was the most sold digital song of the year in the country with 1.89 million downloads sold, according to an annual year-end report released jointly by MRC Data and Billboard on Thursday (US time). In 2020, the group's "Dynamite" was the top seller with 1.26 million sold. The summery disco-pop song was released in May as the group's se