A National Assembly committee passed the unification ministry's 2022 budget proposal on Friday despite a boycott by the main opposition party. The ministry had requested 1.27 trillion won ($1.07 billion) for the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to finance various humanitarian, economic and social projects between the South and the North. The ruling Democratic Party added an extra 10.7 billion won on top and passed the proposal during a meeting of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unificat

South Korea could stop its return to normal, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday as the country continued to see a sharp rise in the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients, placing a strain on the supply of medical resources. Kim said in a meeting Friday that hospital beds across the country must be efficiently managed as they are quickly being filled, impeding a swift medical response for COVID-19 patients. Setting aside more hospital beds and medical resources is a priority for the go

South Korea saw the first successful birth of quintuplets in 34 years, with help from dozens of doctors and nurses on the night of the delivery. Seoul National University Hospital said Friday that the four girls and one boy were born there at around 10 p.m. Thursday. Twenty doctors and 10 nurses assisted in the cesarean section delivery. The surgery was done under the lead of Dr. Jun Jong-kwan, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the hospital and an expert in multiple births. The child

South Korea's media and entertainment giant CJ ENM said Friday it has acquired a managerial stake in Hollywood studio Endeavor Content in a record 920 billion won ($775 million) deal to strengthen its overseas business. CJ ENM purchased an 80 percent stake in the content production-distribution unit of US sports and entertainment group Endeavor Group Holdings. Endeavor Group will retain the remaining 20 percent stake in Endeavor Content, whose management, including co-CEOs Chris Rice and Graha

South Korea has expanded a newly minted task force on economic security to better cope with supply chain disruptions and detect emerging risks at an early stage, the foreign ministry said Friday. Lee Seong-ho, deputy minister on economic diplomacy, will lead the task force composed of three subdivisions -- supply chain, digital and new technologies, and environmental, social and governance (ESG) -- the ministry said. The team was launched under the ministry's bilateral economic diplomacy dep

Philips Foundation and Philips Korea have provided four special compact cars equipped with wheelchair lifts in collaboration with the Korea Association of Welfare Institutions for Persons with Disabilities, the multinational group said Friday. Philips Korea held a donation ceremony at Kyonam House of Hope, a welfare facility for the disabled located in Gangseo district, Seoul, on Nov. 12. Kim Dong-hee, country leader of Philips Korea and Jung Seok-wang, chairman of the Korea Association of W

South Korea's top trade official called on the United States on Friday to launch negotiations swiftly to revise the Section 232 tariff rules on Seoul's steel exports. South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo made the request to US Trade Representative Katherine Tai during in a joint committee meeting of the bilateral free trade agreement. It is the first time in 10 years that a US top trade official has visited South Korea. She arrived in Seoul on Thursday for a four-day visit that includes a m

South Korea decided to lift the flight ban on Boeing 737 Max later this month, the land ministry said Friday, more than two years after its grounding following the crashes involving the same model in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said its flight will be cleared for passage through the territorial sky, landing and takeoff, from Nov. 22. South Korea put a ban on the B737 Max on March 2019, after the one operated by Ethiopian Airlines plunged to the g

Prosecutors on Friday raided an office of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) over allegations government officials were illegally involved in the party's policy development process for the upcoming presidential election. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office dispatched a team of investigators to search the party's policy research office at a building inside the National Assembly compound in Yeouido, western Seoul, earlier in the day, according to judicial sources. The search came after

South Korean budget carrier Air Premia Co. said Friday it has partnered with French air cargo services agent ESG Group to focus on the cargo business to ride out the COVID-19 pandemic. Air Premia opened the Gimpo-Jeju Route in August, one month after it obtained government approval for offering commercial flight services. But it has temporarily halted the Jeju route this month.  "The deal with ESG Group is part of the company's two-track strategy in which the cargo business divisio

In-person school classes will fully resume next week following the end of this year's national college entrance exam, the education ministry said Friday. In line with the government's "living with COVID-19" scheme, all kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools across the country will return to full-fledged in-person classes Monday for the first time in nearly two years since the pandemic broke out. Early this month, the government eased social distancing rules under the firs

Korean craftsmanship, both traditional and contemporary, is on full display at the Craft Trend Fair 2021 at Coex in southern Seoul. The main exhibition “Every Shape, Every Color,” the highlight of the fair, presents a variety of craftworks by 71 Korean and overseas artists. Jung Ku-ho, a well-known fashion designer and artistic director, organized the fair that features 320 artists, galleries and institutes. Jung was the artistic director for the “Monochrome Monologue&rdquo