The South Korean webtoon industry saw its combined sales top 1 trillion won ($843.6 million) for the first time last year, government data showed Friday. The total sales of the local web-based comic market amounted to 1.05 trillion won in 2020, up 64.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the culture ministry and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). It is the first time that the annual industrywide sales surpassed the 1 trillion-won threshold since 2017, when the ministr

Resumption of strategic dialogue comes amid discussion on Xi-Moon summit 　

The NC Dinos inked free agent outfielder Son Ah-seop to a four-year contract Friday, flaunting their wealth in what has been a frenetic offseason in South Korean baseball. The Dinos said Son agreed to a 6.4 billion-won ($5.4 million) contract. The 33-year-old will make 3 billion won in total salary, 2.6 billion won in signing bonus and up to 800 million won in incentives. Son has spent his entire 15-year career in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) with the Lotte Giants, and will now take h

The Samsung Lions announced Friday they have re-signed their own free agent catcher Kang Min-ho to a new four-year contract. Kang, 36, will make up to 3.6 billion won ($3 million) in his second straight four-year deal with the Lions. Kang will make 2 billion won in total salary and 1.2 billion won in signing bonus, with another 400 million won available in incentives. One of the top offensive catchers in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), Kang batted .291 with 18 homers and 67 RBIs in 123

Ex-President Park Geun-hye expressed gratitude for her pardon to President Moon Jae-in shortly after the announcement of Moon's decision to grant a special pardon to her, her lawyer said Friday. President Moon Jae-in said earlier in the day that he granted a special pardon to former President Park, currently serving a 22-year prison term for corruption, to bolster national unity and in consideration of her deteriorating health. In a meeting with reporters in front of Seoul Samsung Hospital whe

The number of single-member households in South Korea soared more than 27 percent in 2020 from five years earlier, government data showed Friday, amid a delay in marriage and a rapidly aging population. One-person families numbered 6.64 million last year, up 27.5 percent from five years earlier and accounting for 31.7 percent of the total 20.93 million, according to the data by Statistics Korea. By age, men took up 49.7 percent of single-person households, with their number soaring 42.7 percen

Prosecutors on Friday indicted Seoul's top education official on charges of alleged abuse of power in the process of hiring teachers who had been fired for engaging in union activities. Cho Hee-yeon, the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, was charged without detention for allegedly influencing the process of reinstating five dismissed teachers, including members of a teachers' labor union, in 2018. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office also pressed charges ag

This season's first cold wave warning will be issued in the greater Seoul area and many other parts of the country on Friday night, with temperatures expected to plummet to as low as minus 15 C the following morning, the weather agency said. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said the cold wave warning will take effect at 9 p.m. in the capital area, most of Gangwon Province and many other central inland regions. The warning is issued when the morning low is expected to fall more tha

K-pop superband BTS has become the first international act to be best-selling artist of the year in Japan. According to the annual rankings released by Japanese music tracker Oricon on Friday, the septet placed No. 1 on the total sales by artist, based on the aggregated sales of albums, DVDs, online streamings and online singles. The company said BTS is the first non-Japanese artist to top the annual comprehensive sales chart. Oricon earlier said BTS' Japanese-language compilation album "

South Korea's financial watchdog has ordered Kyobo Life Insurance Co. to pay a fine of 350 million won ($295,000) for letting its subsidiaries use its brand for free, the company said Friday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) also issued warnings to five officials, including a retired employee of the insurer, in connection with the matter, according to the company. Kyobo Life Insurance, No. 3 life insurer in South Korea, was accused of providing undue support to the subsidiaries by letti

SK Bioscience Co., a vaccine unit of South Korea's SK Group, said Friday it has extended an agreement to manufacture a component of the US-based biotechnology company Novavax Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine by one more year. Under the extended agreement, SK Bioscience will reserve additional manufacturing capacity to produce antigen, a key component of NVX-CoV2373 -- Novavax's recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine -- through 2022. Last year, the two sides initially signed the agreement to reserve

South Korea's military on Friday reported 37 additional COVID-19 cases, including 30 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,064. Of the new cases, 24 are from the Army, six from the Navy, four from the Air Force, two from units under the direct control of the defense ministry and one from the Marine Corps, the ministry said. Currently, 286 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,273 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

Netflix dating show ‘Single’s Inferno’ under fire for male contestants’ comment on skin color

Everland Winter Wishes Everland Winter Wishes started Dec. 3 and will run through March 1 at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The festival is a fantastic winter event, where tourists can enjoy various attractions like T-express, Thunder Falls, Lost Valley and Safari Ride more freely than other seasons. The beautiful lights have a golden concept this year, and create a romantic Christmas ambience. The carol songs are played all day long, with a special Christmas parade once a day at 2 p