The governor of an island province in the central Philippines said Sunday at least 72 people died in the devastation wrought by Typhoon Rai in more than half of the towns that managed to contact him, bringing the death toll in the strongest typhoon to batter the country this year to at least 146. Gov. Arthur Yap of Bohol province said 10 others were missing and 13 injured, and suggested the fatalities may still considerably increase with only 33 out of 48 mayors able to report back to him due

Germany is tightening travel restrictions for people coming from Britain in response to the rapid spread of the omicron variant there. The country's national disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, added Britain to its list of “virus variant areas” late Saturday. This means anyone traveling from the U.K. to Germany must enter a mandatory quarantine for 14 days, regardless of vaccination status. The new restrictions, which will go into effect at midnight Sunday, come as

Story of iconic filmmaker Park Nam-ok brought back to life in National Theater’s ‘Apres Girl’

Local investment house IMM Investment has acquired a 41 percent stake in GS Power, a subsidiary owned by GS Energy, an energy arm of GS Group, for 1.1 trillion won ($926 million), officials said Friday. GS Energy will maintain a 51 percent majority, after selling 3,136 shares totaling 1.1 trillion won. Last year, GS Energy bought back the 50 percent stake it sold to a local consortium of banks in 2012. A GS Energy official said the sell-off is part of broader efforts to fund ESG projects, whic

In 2021, South Korea’s two biggest financial technology firms, Naver and Kakao, saw their market capitalization expand on-year, while drugmakers faced a dip in market value. As of last week, Naver, the country’s largest internet portal, had seen a 36 percent jump in its market cap at 63 trillion won ($53 billion), while the market value for Kakao, which runs the country’s largest messenger app for smartphones, almost tripled at 115 trillion won. The hike mainly came from Kaka

The bad news and the good

South Korea's military on Sunday reported 27 additional COVID-19 cases, with all of them being breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 2,933. Of the new cases, 22 are from the Army, two from units under the direct control of the defense ministry, one from the Navy, one from the Marine Corps and one from the Air Force, officials said. Currently, 343 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,158 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

The government on Sunday released the personal details of two non-custodial parents who have failed to pay child support for the first time since a related law revision came into effect in July. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said it has disclosed the personal information of two separate obligors of child support who failed to provide the expenses ordered by the court, on its website. According to the ministry, one obligor did not provide 65.2 million won ($55,543) of accumulated

President Moon Jae-in will receive the government's annual policy briefings for the final time this week, Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday. The 2022 briefings will begin Monday under the slogan, "Changes made with the people, a government fulfilling its responsibilities until the end," the presidential office said in a press release. "Through the policy briefings, we plan to go through the achievements made during the five years of the Moon Jae-in administration and check the governmen

At the entrance of Korean content company SAMG Entertainment’s office in Gangnam, characters from the animation “Miniforce” greet visitors. In a company meeting room, a group of toys from various animations catches the eye. But SAMG Entertainment Vice President Choi Jae-won explains that it is not just a toymaker. The Korean animation company started producing toys along with the animations after realizing the value of IP content back in 2016. Since then it has been proving

The number of critically ill patients with COVID-19 in South Korea hit an all-time high Saturday, the government announced the same day. The increasing number of critical COVID-19 cases continues to overwhelm the country’s medical capacity. The number of critical COVID-19 cases reached 1,025 as of midnight Saturday, surpassing the previous high of 1,000 reported just the previous day, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The number of hospital beds for COVID-19

Meat replacement projected to take up 60% of global protein market by 2040

Customer demand for wine and Korean beef has shown rapid increase this year, as an alternative to dining outside, said the local discount chain E-mart on Sunday. The discount retailer tracked the changes in the type of products sold from 2019 to November this year. According to the store’s data, wine leaped from 10th place in 2019 to sixth in 2021, with sales jumping by 32 percent from 2019.  More Korean consumers have started venturing into higher-priced wines compared to the sta

Samsung Electronics has reportedly launched a new China team under the direct supervision of vice chairman and Chief Executive Officer Han Jong-hee, signaling a change in its strategy to reenter Asia’s largest market that is already dominated by homegrown manufacturers. According to media reports, Samsung Electronics has kicked off a new operation, loosely translated as the China Business Innovation Team. The unit is dedicated to businesses ranging from mobile handsets to semico

With limited metal sources being hurdle for expansion, Korean manufacturers rush to recycle used batteries