South Korea said Monday it plans to provide $100 million in financing for a joint project with multilateral lenders to help Bangladesh recover from the fallout of the pandemic. South Korea's Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) will offer its low-interest rate loans for the $700 million joint project to support Bangladesh's economy, the finance ministry said. The project will also be supported by the Asian Development Bank with $250 million, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AI

South Korea has lowered Indonesia's planned payment for its share of the cost for a joint fighter development project, as the warplane has been designated as "defense goods" eligible for a tax exemption, the state arms procurement agency said Monday. Accordingly, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Indonesia is to pay 1.6 trillion won ($1.35 billion) in total, down 100 billion won, for the 8.1 trillion-won project, called KF-X. DAPA announced the change after i

There will be “good results” in the Seoul-Washington discussions on declaring the end of the Korean War, First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun said Sunday in the US, ruling out a potential rift between the allies in regards to the matter. 　 Speaking in Washington, Choi said he expects to see a “good result soon,” in regards to the ongoing discussions with the US on Seoul’s proposal for an end-of-war declaration. 　 Choi is in Washington to hold series of talks

INCHEON -- The customs office at Incheon International Airport will launch a special crackdown on drug smuggling ahead of Black Friday and other seasonal sales in the United States, officials said Monday. The seven-week crackdown will last for seven weeks through the end of the year, officials said. Smuggling of marijuana could jump during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which fall after Thanksgiving in the fourth week of November, as discounts are offered during the holiday shopping period in

Shinhan Investment said Monday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with PharmaVentures, a UK-based leading advisory firm providing whose main clients are health care life science companies, to diverse its investment banking services.  Under the partnership agreement, the two companies will boost cooperation in supporting South Korean biotech and pharmaceutical companies to advance to the global stage, while arranging international firms’ investments in the domestic health car

Regional discrimination found in rift between Jeolla and Gyeongsang provinces, rupture between Seoul and rest of the country

The Seoul city government will temporarily lift operating day restrictions on privately-owned taxis in an effort to increase nighttime taxi services, as eased anti-virus restrictions are jacking up demand for nocturnal transportation, officials said Monday. The city will temporarily remove the restrictions under which privately-owned cabs were required to take every third day off, allowing them to run services in the nighttime period from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. on the otherwise off day, the city gove

South Korea's rice output rose for the first time in six years due mainly to favorable weather conditions and an increase in the cultivation area, data showed Monday. The country's rice production reached 3.88 million tons in 2021, up 10.7 percent from a record low of 3.51 million tons the previous year, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the first rebound since 2015 when rice output rose 2 percent on-year to 4.33 million tons. The figure declined for the fifth strai

About 10,000 police officers will be deployed for security and safety activities related to this week's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), the National Police Agency (NPA) said Monday. On Thursday, about 509,800 high school seniors and graduates are set to take this year's CSAT, seen as one of the nation's most important annual academic events. The NPA said 10,506 officers will be mobilized to safeguard the delivery of exam papers and answer sheets from Monday to Thursday and guard the te

President Moon Jae-in on Monday attended a christening ceremony for a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility set to head to Mozambique, saying the platform will expand energy cooperation between the two nations. The christening ceremony of the Coral-Sul floating facility came about four years after Samsung Heavy Industries Co., a major Korean shipyard, won a $2.5 billion deal to build the offshore facility. Moon said the floating LNG facility will become a symbol of friendly cooperati

The South Korean customs agency said Monday it has confiscated some 4 tons of smuggled urea solution and is planning to distribute them to the market. The Korea Customs Service (KCS) said it had caught a group of local importers Friday for attempting to bring in 416 10-kilogram containers of urea solution hidden in lawfully imported goods from China through the western port of Incheon. The service said it was investigating those smugglers of urea solution, a key fluid used in diesel vehicles t

Singer and entertainer Kim Jong-kook has enjoyed over two decades of success in TV and music. But the 45-year-old recently made headlines for something other than his voice: his workout routine. Controversy broke out one faithful Halloween to spook fans of the beloved TV personality, when a fitness YouTuber named Greg Doucette called him out for likely not being “natural” when working out to build his body. “Is he natural? Of course not!” Doucette said in his video. He

Fresh off a wildly entertaining performance, South Korea will seek to give their fans even more to cheer about in their next World Cup qualifying match against Iraq. The second meeting between the two teams in Group A of the final Asian qualifying round will kick off at Thani bin Jassim Stadium in Doha at 6 p.m. Tuesday local time, or midnight in Seoul. Iraq are playing their home matches at neutral venues for security reasons. Following a 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last Thur