South Korea will shorten the wait for COVID-19 booster shots as the daily count of new cases rose above 3,000 and breakthrough infections continued to send people to hospitals. 　Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told a government meeting on Wednesday that the six-month wait for a booster will now be cut to four months for people who are older than 60 and residents of long-term care facilities. People aged 50 and up will be eligible for booster doses five months after their primary vaccine series.

Samyang Foods said Wednesday it had inked a partnership deal with United Arab Emirates retailer Sarya General Trading to accelerate Spicy Buldak Ramen sales in the Middle East. Under the 2.5 billion-won ($2.1 million) deal signed on Tuesday, Sarya will be Samyang’s exclusive distribution partner in the country. The two plan to increase export volume to 50 billion won by 2023, it said. UAE is the region’s biggest market for Samyang. Currently, some 71 percent of Korean instant no

Senior diplomats of South Korea and the US discussed how to restart stalled nuclear talks with North Korea, including Seoul’s proposal to formally end the Korean War, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, amid concerns that the allies may be at odds over President Moon Jae-in’s proposal.  First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun is in Washington through Friday for talks on security issues including North Korea, economic cooperation and other matters. Choi met his American coun

Daily coronavirus cases in Seoul topped 1,400 for the first time Wednesday, two weeks after the nation drastically eased social distancing rules. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said 1,436 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the capital over the past 24 hours, the highest since the start of the pandemic early last year. Of them, 1,432 were local infections, and four were imported cases. The total caseload reached 134,949 in the city with a population of more than 9.58 mil

The South Korean sensation "Squid Game" has posted a total of 1.65 billion hours of streaming in the first four weeks of release, becoming the most-watched Netflix content of all time. Netflix on Tuesday (US time) released the global top 10 lists of films and TV shows based on hours viewed in their respective first 28 days on its platform. "Squid Game" topped the non-English popular TV show list with an aggregate 1.65 billion hours of viewing over the first four weeks follo

Voice phishing scammers are getting increasingly bold lately as many of them prefer to directly meet fraud victims to extort money, the National Police Agency (NPA) said Wednesday, releasing the results of its recent crackdowns. The NPA said its wholesale crackdowns on voice phishing criminals, conducted for eight months this year between February and June, and between August and October, netted 19,634 roundups, of which 1,845 suspects were put under arrest. By type of phishing crimes busted b

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has decided to impose a combined fine of 16.9 billion won ($14.3 million) on four mobile payment platform operators for colluding to impose excessive fees on delinquent consumers. KG Mobilians Co., SK Planet Co., and two other firms jointly introduced fees for consumers who failed to pay prices of goods via their settlement services between 2010 and 2019, and colluded to sharply hike delay charges and maintain them, according to the Fair Trade

More than half of South Koreans think an increase in online classes by schools is the biggest setback among changes in lifestyle caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey showed Wednesday. The poll released by Statistics Korea showed 50.5 percent of those surveyed said they negatively assessed a rise in online education, and 14.8 percent said online classes will likely accelerate down the road. South Korea has ordered schools to conduct online classes full-time or run them along with in-person

The government of the southeastern city of Gimhae on Wednesday withdrew a mandatory virus test program of foreign children registered at the city's daycare centers amid a backlash over xenophobia and rights violations concerns. A government memo obtained by Yonhap News Agency showed the municipality, located 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, ordered 93 daycare centers to cooperate with preemptive tests of foreign children under their care on Monday and Tuesday. The city government explained