South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight advances on Wall Street, with tech shares leading the market gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 27.4 points, or 0.92 percent, to 3,016.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 1.73 percent to 14,823 points amid hopes of strong corporate earnings in the third quarter, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.56 percent to 34,913 points. In Seoul, market bell

President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook on Friday both received a COVID-19 booster shot, in line with a guidance from health authorities, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) began administering booster shots earlier this week for people aged 60 and older as well as medical workers, as part of the nation's strategy to ensure maximum protection for the public. Moon and Kim qualified for a third shot of COVID-19 vaccine u

WASHINGTON -- The United States continues to be prepared to meet with North Korea without preconditions as it awaits the North's response to its "specific proposals," a State Department spokesperson said Thursday. Ned Price also stressed that the US remains actively engaged in diplomacy with its allies to discuss ways to enhance their collective security. "We do stand prepared to meet with the DPRK without preconditions. We have made, in fact, specific proposals to the DPRK and

WASHINGTON -- The United States must reassure its allies of American commitment to help defend them against possible North Korean attacks to prevent key strategic alliances from falling apart, a former US ambassador to NATO said Thursday. Ivo Daalder, currently serving as president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, an independent global affairs think tank, also argued US failure to do so may encourage its allies to consider having nuclear capabilities themselves. "So one of the th

The government decided Friday to raise the private gathering size limit to eight people for the capital area and 10 for elsewhere before the country shifts to a "living with COVID-19" scheme next month, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said. Under the renewed plan that will go into effect Monday, the greater Seoul area will remain under the toughest social distancing of Level 4, while the rest of the country will be under Level 3, Kim said during an interagency meeting on the government's

Have a Nice Day Festival The Have a Nice Day Festival will take place Oct. 23-24 at Samsung Hall at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. Every year since 2015, this event has offered a chance for music lovers who are unfamiliar with music festivals to enjoy music in an accessible way. This year’s festival consists of two sections, which start at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. The lineup includes popular artists such as singer/songwriter Stellar Jang, rock band Soran, indie band Standing Egg, duo MeloMa

Stillwater (US) Opened Oct. 6 Thriller Directed by Tom McCarthy Bill (Matt Damon) visits France to meet his daughter Allison (Abigail Breslin), who is five years into serving a nine-year prison sentence. She is in prison for killing her roommate and unfaithful lover Lina while attending university in France. When Bill meets his daughter he discovers that she could be innocent and tries to find a way to prove it with a French woman named Virginie (Camille Cottin). No Time To Die (US) Opened Sept

JW Marriott Hotel Seoul opens ‘Tea Kaiseki’ promotion JW Marriott Hotel Seoul’s Japanese restaurant Tamayura, is presenting the Tea Kaiseki promotion, combining fine Japanese tea tasting with authentic kaiseki cuisine in a private setting. The Tea Bar at Tamayura features a refined ambience and sophisticated music curation, enhanced by natural aromas of brewing and roasting tea leaves to create a serene atmosphere to guests. The nine-course menu begins with premium green tea

On a recent Sunday morning, I went for a leisurely stroll at Seooreung, a Joseon royal tomb in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, just outside Seoul. Entering the compound of five royal tombs, my husband mused about his elementary school field trips to Seooreung. Pointing to the huge mound on which the twin tombs of King Sukjong and his second wife sit side by side, he said the kids would run up the mound and then roll down. Korea in the ’70s did not have many grass fields and there were signs o

By going officially and formally rogue, Poland may unwittingly have done the European Union a favor. In blatantly challenging the bloc’s legal authority, Warsaw is forcing the EU to decide whether it wants to become the “ever closer union” it claims to be, or to remain the malleable club of nations it actually is. Union or club -- either way the EU will have to make fundamental changes if it intends to survive in the long run. Last week’s judgment in Warsaw was the judic