South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed below 4,000 for the second straight day Monday as the country has extended the enforcement of its tighter social distancing measures for two more weeks to stem a surge in infections and the spread of the omicron variant. The country added 3,129 new COVID-19 infections, including 2,993 local infections, raising the total caseload to 642,207, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). This marked the second straight day that

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Monday it is targeting $17.4 billion in orders this year on improving demand for ships amid the prolonged pandemic. KSOE is the world's biggest shipbuilder by order backlog and has three affiliates -- Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. -- under its wing. The order target is up 19 percent from the KSOE's target of $14.9 billion last year, the company said in a regulatory fil

The outstanding value of derivatives-tied securities issued in South Korea touched a near eight-year low in the third quarter amid a fall in Hong Kong share prices, data showed Monday. The amount of outstanding equity-linked securities (ELS) and derivatives-linked securities (DLS) came to 79.9 trillion won ($67.1 billion) as of end-September, down 300 billion won from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The September tally was the lowest value si

"Spider-Man: No Way Home" has surpassed a cumulative 6 million admissions for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began in South Korea, box office data said Monday. The latest Marvel superhero film attracted 705,000 people from Friday-Sunday, bringing its combined total to 6.07 million, according to the data by the Korean Film Council. It is the first time a film has reached the 6 million line since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country in January in 2020. &

Americans are tired of war. We just got out of a 20-year fiasco in Afghanistan with little to show for it except the Taliban reinstated, burqa sales up and the country plunged into turmoil. Before that, the seven-year-long war in Iraq didn’t make Americans safer, nor did it make that country a thriving democracy or uncover weapons of mass destruction. Trillions of dollars later and thousands of lives gone, many Americans are feeling skeptical about foreign entanglements and urging a retr

Most leading immunologists predict COVID-19 will someday become an endemic, a persistent but manageable threat on par with seasonal flu, conceivably by the end of 2022. That would constitute quite the turnaround from today. All things considered, the possibility of COVID-19 becoming endemic (just another American annoyance) should be cause for great celebration. So, why doesn’t the pending transition from pandemic to endemic feel like great news? Part of the answer involves the news m

The newly-built upscale department store Galleria in Gwanggyo, Gyeonggi Province, was recognized by UNESCO’s annual Prix Versailles Awards, winning the top Prix Versailles 2021 prize in the shopping mall category. The sixth branch of Galleria -- South Korea’s first and major upscale department store franchise founded in the 1970s -- opened in March 2020 in Gwanggyo, a new town just 25 kilometers south of Seoul. The building was designed by OMA, an architectural firm headquartered

Hybe’s year-end gig pays tribute to K-pop icon Seo Tai-ji, celebrates a ‘New Era’ of music

The next president, to be elected in March and take office in May, will have a host of urgent issues. Korea’s economy has been hit hard by the prolonged pandemic. Millions of small business owners and self-employed people are burdened with mounting debts. Housing prices have soared. The deepening US-China rivalry is posing a tricky policy challenge. Relations with the North and with Japan have turned sour. Whoever becomes a new president, their top priority will, above all, be respondin

As the third year of the pandemic dawns, the rise of a new variant once again upends previously established calculations about the virus. Forecasts out there are a mix of bleak and upbeat, with the most optimistic saying omicron could be “the beginning of the end.” Although it’s still too early to predict omicron’s impact, most experts agree on one point: This winter will be a challenge with an omicron-fueled surge riding on top of the existing damages from delta.

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, will accept cryptocurrency for campaign donations, his party said on Sunday, amid growing interest in virtual assets among young voters. According to Lee’s election committee, it will issue nonfungible tokens as receipts to those who donate virtual currencies to support the presidential nominee, starting from mid-January. Bitcoin, Ethereum and up to three other cryptocurrencies are under review. The committ

Over 1,000 people have jointly filed a lawsuit against the government's requirement of presenting proof of vaccination in multiuse facilities on concerns over discrimination against unvaccinated people, sources said Sunday. A total of 1,023 plaintiffs filed the suit Friday with the Seoul Administrative Court against Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong, and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon to challenge the so-called vaccine pass. Und

An online post purportedly written by a street cleaner saying he is “100 percent satisfied” with his salary and working conditions has gone viral Sunday.  The writer of the job review, posted on online community bobaedream.co.kr., introduces himself as a 42-year-old sanitation worker who started work on Jan. 1 last year. “I’m 100 percent satisfied with my job largely due to the salary I receive,” he wrote, adding that his annual wages easily exceed 50 million