South Korean banks' household loans grew at a faster pace in September from a month earlier despite the government's toughened controls on lending, central bank data showed Wednesday. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), outstanding bank loans to households came to 1,052.7 trillion won ($877.9 billion) as of the end of September, up 6.5 trillion won from the previous month. The figure is higher than a 6.1 trillion-won increase registered in August, the data showed. The reading also marked the

South Korean shipbuilders lagged sharply behind their Chinese rivals in terms of new orders in September, losing the top position that they had maintained for the last four months. Local shipbuilders led by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. grabbed a combined 910,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs) in new orders last month, accounting for 28 percent of 3.28 million CGTs of global orders, according to data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service. Chinese shipbuilders far outpace

LG Electronics Inc. and LG Energy Solution said Wednesday that they will repay General Motors Co. about 1.4 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in costs for the recalls of Bolt electric vehicles due to battery defects. The two flagship units of South Korea's LG Group have reached an agreement with GM on how to cover the expenses for the recalls on some 143,000 Bolt vehicles over battery fire risks. The two LG units said they will set aside 480 billion won and 620 billion won in costs in the third qu

Events to introduce and promote South Korean literature will be held on a global scale throughout the months of October and November, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Tuesday. Events jointly organized by the Culture Ministry and the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea are being held in 14 countries, including Britain, Japan, Spain and Belgium, with the aim of making Korean books more widely available. The Korean Cultural Center in London is holding an exhibitio

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy said Wednesday that Russia has an "important" role to play to restart denuclearization talks with North Korea, as he departed the country to meet with his Russian counterpart. Noh Kyu-duk, the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, made the remarks at Incheon International Airport before leaving for Moscow to meet with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov on Thursday. "The peace process on the Korean Pen

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Wednesday visited an estuary of the Han River near the border with North Korea and urged Pyongyang to respond to Seoul's call for dialogue to jointly use the waterway as agreed earlier. Under a military agreement signed at a 2018 summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the two sides agreed on the joint use of the estuary along their western border and conducted joint waterway research in November that year. The project, how

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products reached an all-time high in September on the back of solid global demand for chips and displays, data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $21.34 billion last month, up 21.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The September figure marked an all-time high since the government began compiling the data in 1996, and the largest for

The industry ministry launched an exhibition on carbon neutrality Wednesday to promote various zero-emission products and technologies, and to explore future policy directions for the goal, officials said. The inaugural Carbon Neutrality Expo began its three-day run at KINTEX convention center in Ilsan, northwest of Seoul, bringing together some 300 local companies, provincial governments and state-run institutions, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The firms presented

The ruling Democratic Party (DP)'s top decision-making body was set to meet Wednesday to discuss an appeal against the party's choice of Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung as its presidential nominee amid widespread indications that the decision is unlikely to change. The DP party affairs committee was scheduled to meet later in the day after former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, the runner-up in the primary, demanded the panel convene to discuss whether the votes in the primary were counted according to

South Korea has extended its special advisory against overseas travel for another month due to the continued spread of COVID-19, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. Citizens are recommended to cancel or postpone non-essential trips abroad until Nov. 13, as the rise of variant cases in many countries poses risks to their health, the ministry said. The travel advisory was first imposed in March and has been extended every month as many countries struggle with the outbreaks of various COVID-19

South Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases stayed in the 1,000s for the fifth straight day Wednesday as more people took virus tests after an extended weekend. The country added 1,584 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,571 local infections, raising the total caseload to 335,742, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Health authorities had predicted that newly confirmed cases would rise after the extended weekend that ended Monday, a substitute holiday for Hangeul Day

The smash-hit Korean-language drama series "Squid Game" has been watched by 111 million households around the world on Netflix, becoming its most successful original content, the US streaming giant said Wednesday. Since its first release on Sept. 17, the nine-part survival drama has topped the popular Netflix TV show charts in 94 countries, including the United States, Britain and France, according to Netflix. In the US, in particular, "Squid Game" has become the first non-

More than 42 percent of 30-somethings in South Korea remained unmarried last year, census data showed, underscoring the trend in which many young people delay or give up on marriage, amid a prolonged economic slowdown. Out of 13.7 million single people aged 15 and older, 2.82 million people were in their 30s last year, up from 2.68 million five years prior, according to the 2020 census by Statistics Korea. The percentage of unmarried people in their 30s reached 42.5 percent last year, up 6.2 p