South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed below 2,000 for the 11th straight day Tuesday, as vaccine effects are taking hold with rising inoculations amid preparations for a gradual return to normalcy. The country reported 1,073 new cases, including 1,048 local infections, raising the total caseload to 344,518, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Tuesday's tally is up from the 1,050 counted the previous day, which marked the lowest daily number since July 7, but down

The next South Korean LPGA victory will be the 200th win by a player from this country. And the milestone title could very well come this week on a South Korean course. The BMW Ladies Championship will tee off Thursday at the LPGA International Busan in Busan, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul. It will be the only LPGA tournament to take place in South Korea this year, and also the lone Asian stop during what would normally have been the LPGA's annual swing through the continent. The tourname

Globally popular K-pop group BTS will perform on the Los Angeles stop of this year's iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour, the largest year-end radio show in the United States, organizers said Tuesday. The septet was included in a star-studded lineup for the LA show scheduled for Dec. 3, the iHeartRadio, the country's largest online radio platform, announced on its website and social media. The South Korean band will open the show performing its mega-hit songs "Dynamite" and "Butter,&qu

International climate scientists agree that to keep global warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius, and avoid climate impacts with disastrous consequences, the world needs to reach net zero carbon by 2050. In addition, they have indicated that a credible milestone to be on track for 2050 would require that global emissions need to be reduced by 45-50 percent by 2030. Despite having reached the most far-reaching climate accord in Paris in 2015, the international community has not made much progres

South Korea has launched a 16.2 billion-won ($13.9 million) project to develop a space weather forecast system by 2024 to ensure the stable operations of military assets, such as high-altitude drones, the state arms procurement agency said Tuesday. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said it signed a contract with the local company, Satrec Initiative Co., last week to develop the system to predict space weather conditions and issue related alerts. Once developed, the envision

The intelligence chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan were to hold a closed-door trilateral meeting in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss North Korea and other pending issues, a government source said. Park Jie-won, the head of South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS), was set to sit down with Avril Haines, the US director of national intelligence, and Hiroaki Takizawa, Japan's Cabinet intelligence director, according to the source. During the talks, the top intel officials are

Estonia and Korea are celebrating 30 years of diplomatic relations.　 Korea recognized the independence of Estonia on Sept. 6, 1991, and diplomatic relations were formed on Oct. 17 of the same year. To mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties, the presidents of Estonia and Korea exchanged congratulatory letters underlining the mutually beneficial relationship, sharing common values such as democracy, a market economy and human rights. The two leaders also stressed strengthening cooperati

People aged 65 and older made up 16.5 percent of South Korea’s population this year, a report showed, highlighting concerns that the fast-aging demographic transition could pose a drag on the country’s economy. According to the report by Statistics Korea, the number of people aged 65 and older stood at 8.53 million this year. The South Korean population is projected to peak in 2028 before going on a downward curve, the report showed. However, the graying of South Korea will acce

A biennial defense exhibition kicked off in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on Tuesday, offering an in-depth look at state-of-the-art military hardware like stealth jets, advanced missile interceptors and hydrogen-powered drones. The five-day Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) at Seoul Air Base comes amid lingering regional tensions from North Korea's evolving threats and an intensifying Sino-US rivalry. This year's edition is expected to provide a rare chance for defense

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight advances on Wall Street and eased concerns over the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 25.48 points, or 0.85 percent, to 3,032.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a strong start on overnight gains on Wall Street and easing virus woes. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.84 percent to 15,022 points as investors monitor the inflation factors, while the Dow Jones

Prosecutors were expected to seek an arrest warrant Tuesday for a key suspect in a corruption-laden urban development project rocking South Korean politics, a day after detaining him for questioning upon his return from the United States. Nam Wook was put under emergency arrest upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport early Monday morning and underwent questioning. As the emergency arrest is set to expire Wednesday morning, prosecutors are expected to seek a formal arrest warrant for h

Twenty-nine foreign nationals got caught cheating on a recent Korean language proficiency test, the organizer of the test said Tuesday. According to the National Institute for International Education, the foreigners either disobeyed supervisors' order to turn in their phones and other mobile gadgets or were caught possessing forbidden electronic devices while taking the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) at a school in Seoul's Gangdong district Sunday. Of them, 13 were Chinese and nine othe

US Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim will visit Seoul this week for talks on ways to restart dialogue with the reclusive North, including an end-of-war declaration, the US diplomat said Monday. Kim's trip to Seoul will follow his meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Noh Kyu-duk and Takehiro Funakoshi, respectively, here in Washington this week. "Special Representative Noh and I also discussed the end of war proposal, and I look forward to continuin