President Moon Jae-in on Friday appointed two deputy directors of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the presidential office said. Moon appointed Park Sun-won, head of the NIS's planning and coordination office, as the first deputy director, while choosing Chun Se-young, senior official at the NIS's counter-espionage team, as the second deputy director. The first deputy director is tasked with gleaning intelligence on North Korea and overseas affairs, while the second deputy director is

Banks' average interest rate on mortgage loans rose to the highest level in about three years, central bank data showed Friday, as the government has tightened lending rules to rein in soaring household debt. According to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK), banks' mortgage loan rate averaged 3.26 percent in October, up 0.25 percentage point from a month earlier. This marked the highest since November 2018, when the corresponding rate was 3.28 percent. Banks' unsecured loan rate also rose 0.4

The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Friday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea National Oil to offer the state-run oil company financial support worth about 1.1 trillion won ($1 billion). KNOC, established in 1979 after the energy crisis in the 1970s to oversee oil storage businesses for the country, will use the fund to invest in overseas oil exploration and production, while working to find new energy sources like wind power, the company said. “We expect to cre

Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party, is neck and neck with ruling Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung with 42 percent support against 39.8 percent, a survey showed Friday. The difference between the two was 2.2 percentage points, which was within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level, according to the survey of 1,005 adults conducted Tuesday and Wednesday by the Korea Society Opinion Instit

South Korea on Friday unveiled a pangovernmental hydrogen blueprint that laid out detailed plans to realize the nation’s hydrogen economy, from authorizing self-service hydrogen fueling stations to replacing coal with ammonia at power plants. The blueprint aims to address the key weaknesses of Korea’s hydrogen ambition -- heavy reliance on foreign-made hydrogen, concerns over safety, lack of demand and price competitiveness in the hydrogen mobility sector and infrastructure, the g

South Korean e-commerce company Coupang said Friday that it will hold a special event to celebrate the Black Friday shopping extravaganza.  This year’s event, which continues through Sunday, includes offering global products at a discount for those using its “Rocket Jikgu” overseas delivery service and the Rocket Delivery category that includes directly imported goods. A limited-time sale will also take place daily. Brands that are participating includes consumer electr

Burger King issued an apology Friday, after a plastic wrapper was found inside a burger sold at one of its stores in Sejong. “Burger King would like to sincerely apologize to the customer for the inconvenience,“ the US burger chain said in a statement. ”We are currenly investigating how the substance got into the food. Burger King will increase efforts to improve the quality of our products and services.“ On Thursday, a male customer told local media he found a she

Some 900 victims of the brutal crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju launched a damage suit against the government Friday, a law firm said, days after the death of former President Chun Doo-hwan, accused of ordering the crackdown. LKB & Partners said it has filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs who were subject to brutal violence by soldiers during the democracy protests in May 1980 in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, to demand the govern

South Korea on Friday launched an early warning system to monitor some 4,000 key industry materials and items to prevent the recurrence of a crisis similar to the ongoing supply crunch of urea solution used to reduce emissions in diesel vehicles. The shortage of urea solution has exposed vulnerabilities in the country's supply chain and prompted the government to set up a task force on economic security meant to ensure stable supply chains. Items listed on the early warning system include magn

Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), on Friday slammed the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy, calling it "disaster caused from ignorance." The nuclear phase-out scheme set by Moon's government centers on slowly breaking away from nuclear energy by refraining from building additional plants while retiring old ones. Under the roadmap, South Korea plans to decrease the number of nuclear plants in operation to 17 b

Ruling Democratic Party presidential nominee Lee Jae-myung pledged Friday to expand government subsidies for the electric vehicle industry and increase the production of the cars. In a Facebook post, Lee said government subsidies have fallen far short of the amount needed to produce enough EVs to meet consumer demand. He noted the biggest obstacles to getting more EVs on roads are their high price and lack of charging facilities. "I will drastically expand the scope of subsidies in order

South Korea is monitoring North Korea's nuclear and missile activities in close cooperation with the United States, the unification ministry said Friday, following reports the North appears to be continuing the operation of a nuclear reactor at its mainstay Yongbyon complex. 38 North, a US monitoring website, said Wednesday steam was detected emanating from the 5-megawatt reactor in an indication at least one generator is in operation, citing recent satellite imagery. Asked to comment on the r

The remains of a soldier killed in the 1950-53 Korean War have been identified through DNA analysis more than a decade after they were recovered from a former battle site, the defense ministry said Friday. The identification of the remains of Pfc. Lim Ho-dae came as his daughter registered her DNA sample with the government. She was less than a month old when her father joined the war. Lim's remains were excavated from Hwacheon, 118 kilometers east of Seoul, in 2010. He was found along with ot

Construction machinery maker Hyundai Construction Equipment said Friday it has obtained orders for 534 units of construction equipment from Russia this month. The deals with unidentified Russian miners and builders include orders for 510 excavators, 15 wheel loaders and nine skid-steer loaders, Hyundai Construction Equipment said in an emailed statement. The construction equipment will be delivered by the first quarter of next year and used at the construction sites and coal mines in Russia, t