South Korea’s antitrust regulator on Friday approved a plan by E-mart, Shinsegae Group’s hypermarket chain, to acquire the Korean unit of eBay, judging that the acquisition will not restrain market competition. The Fair Trade Commission said the agency evaluated whether or not the acquisition would violate the country’s monopoly regulations, and to see if the companies would hamper competition in five sectors of the retail industry, including the e-commerce market, physical re

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday asked Pope Francis to visit North Korea to bring peace on the Korean Peninsula, and the pope positively reacted to the offer, saying he is willing to do so if he receives an invitation from the North, an official said.   Moon made the offer during a meeting with the pope at the Vatican earlier in the day, saying a papal visit to North Korea will serve as momentum for bringing peace on the Korean Peninsula.  "If the pontiff visits

South Korea's military plans to ease its social distancing restrictions, including curbs on off-base trips, in phases and administer booster shots for all service members by early next year, the defense ministry said Friday. Defense Minister Suh Wook finalized the plan at a video-linked meeting with top military commanders, as the government plans to enforce eased anti-COVID-19 rules starting next month for a gradual return to normal life. Set to take effect Monday, the military's plan includ

Ahead of return to normal, experts warn of potential perils of having more freedoms

Twice announced the list of songs that will consist its third studio album Friday. 　 In keeping with the album title, “Formula of Love: O+T=<3,” the main track is called “Scientist,” putting a study of love into frank and upbeat lyrics. 　 The bandmates took a bigger role in making the songs: Dahyun, Nayeon and Jihyo wrote the words for “Cruel,” “Fall In Love Again,” and “Real You,” respectively while Jihyo got the credit for the me

  Amorepacific Corp. said Friday its third-quarter net profit rose more than fivefold from a year earlier. Net income was 38.5 billion won ($32.9 million) in the third quarter, compared with 7 billion won in the same period a year ago, Amorepacific said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit for the July-September period fell 10.2 percent on-year to 50.3 billion won. Sales increased 1.9 percent to 1.1 trillion won. The operating profit was 29 percent lower than the average estimate

After two years of being limited to online concerts by the lingering pandemic, the World DJ Festival will return to the stage next year at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium in southern Seoul. This year’s World DJ Festival will be held for three consecutive days starting June 4, and is expected to accommodate tens of thousands of audiences which can occupy the size of the whole stadium, BEPCTangent Creative, the festival organizer announced on Thursday. But the number of acceptable audiences is s

South Korea’s business sentiment edged down in November due to increased prices of raw materials and energy, a local think tank said Friday. The business survey index of the country’s top 600 companies by sales stood at 100.6, down by 2.8 percentage points from 103.4 in October, the Korea Economic Research Institute data showed. According to KERI, while the figure managed to stay above the 100-threshold that shows optimists outnumbered pessimists, the 2.8-point decrease reflects c

Ministry to review introducing measures for telecom operators' network safety

Step-by-step, in line with the government’s plan to gradually return to normalcy with its “living with COVID-19” scheme, the airline industry has begun preparations for more overseas flights. According to full service carriers Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, some overseas flight routes will resume operations next month. Korean Air has decided to resume scheduled flights to Hawaii, Sydney, and Oakland. There will be three flights a week scheduled for Hawaii starting from Nov

SK Innovation enjoyed an operating profit of 618.5 billion won ($529.2 million) in the third quarter, bouncing back from an operating loss of 53.7 billion won on-year, a regulatory filing showed Friday. The South Korean battery-to-petrochemical giant logged revenue of 12.3 trillion won in the July-September period, a 48.1 percent surge from 8.3 trillion won, buoyed by record quarterly sales in both lubricant and battery businesses. According to SK Innovation, two new battery factories in C

President Moon Jae-in invited Pope Francis to North Korea again as he made another effort to reopen nuclear talks, at a meeting at the Vatican on Friday. The meeting was the first official stop on his trip to attend a Group of 20 summit over the weekend and a UN climate meeting that ends Tuesday. “Your visit to North Korea would be the new momentum for peace on the Korean Peninsula. South Koreans are looking forward to it,” Moon said, repeating an invitation from North Korean leade