Disease prevention agency’s data suggests number could soar to 5,000 in November

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong stressed the need to declare an official end to the Korean War in his talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, amid recent signs of potential discrepancies between Seoul and Washington in their approaches to Pyongyang. 　 The two envoys held a pull-aside meeting Tuesday on the margins of a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. 　 Chung told Blinken that President Moon Jae-in’s recent proposal to

Seeking to explain “King” character on hand, opposition presidential candidate associates Korean women with fortunetellers

FTC says review to be complete by end of year

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun called Wednesday for the two Koreas to work together to build a "future order of peace" on the Korean Peninsula, starting with the proposed declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War. President Moon Jae-in again proposed the declaration during the U.N. General Assembly last month, in an effort to bring North Korea back to dialogue and revive his stalled drive for peace. "The share of the task to build step by step a future order

The nation’s top financial regulator said Wednesday it is preparing to announce new measures to curb snowballing household debts.  “South Korea‘s growth pace of household debt has been much more rapid than other countries. The Financial Services Commission has been stepping-up efforts to prevent households’ high indebtedness from posing a major threat to the Korean economy,” said FSC Chairman Koh Seung-beom at a parliamentary audit session for the financial re

After becoming the oldest player in South Korean baseball history to put up 20 home runs and 20 steals in the same season Tuesday night, SSG Landers' outfielder Choo Shin-soo wasn't really in the mood to celebrate. For one, Choo has done this before -- not once, but three times in Major League Baseball (MLB). The 2018 American League All-Star for the Texas Rangers enjoyed 20-20 campaigns in 2009 and 2010 with the Cleveland Indians, and 2013 with the Cincinnati Reds. Also, the Landers are in the

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, the front-runner in the presidential primary of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), is expected to resign from his governorship late this month to focus on campaigning for next year's presidential election if nominated as the party candidate. According to sources, Lee's team has determined that it would be best for Lee to step down as soon as the parliamentary audit wraps up later this month or no later than Nov. 5, when the main opposition People Power Party

South Korea-domiciled investors went on to sell Tesla stocks during the third quarter of this year, and instead turned to health care stocks in the United States, data showed Wednesday. This indicates that Korean investors’ enthusiasm over the growth potential of the Palo Alto, California-based electric vehicle giant since early 2020 has started to wane. Instead, they were seen betting on normalization hopes amid a fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. From July to September, Korean inv

South Korea's internet banking services continued to grow in the first half, with the number of users and daily transactions rising to new highs, central bank data showed Wednesday. The number of internet banking users, including mobile banking, came to 186.5 million as of end-June, up 5.6 percent from six months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The figure is the simple sum of all registered users at 18 internet and mobile banking service providers in the country,

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has decided to impose a combined fine of 25.1 billion won ($21.2 million) on seven poultry-processing companies for colluding to fix prices of chickens. Harim Co. and six other companies colluded to fix prices and supplies of chickens to be used for "samgyetang," or Korean ginseng chicken soup, between July 2011 and July 2017, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KTFC). Their price fixing led to a hike of chicken prices dur

South Korea's trade ministry on Wednesday called for the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to hold discussions to prevent global environmental regulations, including Europe's new carbon policy, from hindering global free trade. The European Union announced earlier that it will adopt the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which is expected to be fully implemented in 2026 following a transition period of three years. "We need to hold multilateral discussions to avoid env

The state anti-corruption investigation office on Wednesday began a probe into National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won over allegations of political meddling ahead of the March presidential race. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) announced that it booked Park on Tuesday on charges of allegedly violating the National Intelligence Service Act and the Public Official Election Act. Park has been accused by Yoon Seok-youl, former prosecutor general and a

South Korea's exports of agricultural products rose 12.3 percent on-year in the first nine months of 2021 on the back of the strong popularity of "hallyu," the Korean wave of pop culture, around the globe. Outbound shipments of foodstuffs came to $6.1 billion in the January-September period, compared with $5.5 billion posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.   Experts said the Korean Wave generated by K-p

Eight service members and a civilian worker for the military have tested positive for COVID-19, the defense ministry said Wednesday. Six Army members and two airmen, and the civilian employee for a unit affiliated with the ministry were confirmed to have been infected either after their recent vacation or developing symptoms consistent with the coronavirus. All of them were confirmed to be "breakthrough infections," as they were fully vaccinated, the ministry added. The latest cases ra