Korean director Kwak Jae-yong, a master of the romance genre, is releasing “Happy New Year,” a romantic film with an ensemble cast of 14 actors. Kwak, 62, has created many hit romance films, including “My Sassy Girl” and “The Classic.” The film’s format is similar to UK film “Love Actually,” which presents a large cast and tells intertwined love stories between characters. Kwak’s film includes young big-name actors like Han Ji-min

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker, said Wednesday its sales fell 17 percent last month from a year earlier amid global chip shortages. Hyundai Motor sold 312,602 vehicles in November, down from 377,193 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales declined 11 percent to 62,071 units from 70,035, as the lack of semiconductor parts continued to affect vehicle production and sales, it said. Overseas sales dropped 18 percent to 250,531 from 307,158 amid the

South Korea has decided to host a major UN peacekeeping conference via video link next week, instead of an originally planned face-to-face session, due to concerns over the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant, according to Seoul officials Wednesday. The 2021 Seoul UN Peacekeeping Ministerial will be held in the form of a "full-fledged online conference" on Dec. 7-8 as scheduled, a foreign ministry official told reporters. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and Defense Minister S

South Korean stocks rebounded more than 2 percent Wednesday, after plunging to the year's lowest point in the previous session. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) advanced 60.71 points, or 2.14 percent, to close at 2,899.72 points, ending its six-day slide. Trading volume was moderate at about 553 million shares worth some 12.1 trillion won ($10.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 773 to 122. Foreigners bought a net 907

Two tech giants plan to launch mapping project for Japanese cities next year

Chip shortage will only worsen profit outlook

Renault Samsung Motors Corp., the South Korean unit of Renault S.A., said Wednesday its vehicle sales more than doubled last month from a year earlier on robust exports. Renault Samsung sold 11,743 vehicles in November, sharply up from 867 units a year earlier despite the extended COVID-19 pandemic, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales fell 15 percent on-year to 6,129 units from 7,207, but exports soared to 11,743 units from 867 on strong demand for its SUV models, it said. From Ja

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), on Wednesday called for Japan to swiftly carry out a South Korean Supreme Court order to compensate wartime forced labor victims. "Turning away does not make history disappear," Lee wrote on his Facebook page. "It should respond to the victim's pain with a sincere apology and find realistic ways to carry out the compensation quickly." In 2018, the South Korean Supreme Court ordered Japanese firm

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has decided to impose a combined 2.37 billion-won ($2 million) fine on SYS Holdings and its affiliate for the parent company's illegal support. SYS Holdings, a leasing company, provided real estate collateral for free to its affiliate SYS Retail, an operator of an electronics goods discount outlet, between December 2009 and November 2021, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). The move helped SYS Retail easily take 195 rounds of low-in

The second batch of urea under export inspection in China was to arrive in South Korea on Wednesday, the oceans ministry said, which is expected to help address supply crunch of urea solution, a key fluid needed in diesel cars to cut emissions. The ship carrying 3,000 tons of urea will arrive in the southeastern city of Ulsan around 9 p.m. after leaving from the Longkou port in China's northeastern province of Shandong on Monday, according to the ministry. It is part of the 18,700 tons of urea

SsangYong Motor Co. said Wednesday its sales fell 26 percent last month from a year earlier amid a prolonged chip shortage. SsangYong Motor sold 8,748 vehicles in November, down from 11,859 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales declined 32 percent to 6,277 units last month from 9,270 a year ago, while exports were down 3.4 percent to 2,501 units from 2,589 during the same period, it said. From January to November, its sales fell 3.4 percent to 75,351 autos from

For actor Park Jeong-min, the global popularity of “Hellbound” was unexpected. “Because I was simply a huge fan of the original webtoon, I was excited to play the television producer Bae Young-jae. Though I never took the role lightly, I did not have the pressure of turning the project into a smash hit series. I enjoyed working with amazing colleagues and director Yeon Sang-ho,” Park said in an online interview with a group of reporters on Tuesday. “Hearing the n

Lee Jun-seok switches off cellphone after being ‘passed’, reports say he is in Busan