A Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) officer and five Army soldiers have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The JCS officer, based in Seoul, was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after developing symptoms, according to the ministry. No additional cases were reported from subsequent tests conducted on other members based on contact tracing, officials said. Separately, three Army officers and two enlistees were found to have contracted the virus during a

China supplied about 12,000 barrels of refined oil to North Korea in August, the largest monthly shipments in 13 months, a UN report showed Tuesday. According to the report posted on the website of the UN sanctions committee on North Korea, China's monthly supplies of refined oil to its communist ally came to 11,745 barrels, or 1,410 tons, in August. The amount represented the largest since July last year when the corresponding figure stood at 12,479 barrels. During the January-August period,

A lawmaker, who formerly headed a major civic group supporting women forced into wartime sexual slavery by Japan, has been accused of embezzling the organization's funds 217 times, mostly for personal purposes, such as paying at "galbi" or rib restaurants, an opposition lawmaker said Tuesday. Rep. Youn Mee-hyang, who led the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan until her election in 2020, spent over 100 million won ($84,300) of

K-pop supergroup BTS made another No. 1 debut on Billboard's main singles chart with a collaboration single with British rock band Coldplay, Billboard said. "Coldplay and BTS rocket onto the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart at No. 1 with their collaborative new single 'My Universe'," Billboard said on its website Monday (US time). It marks BTS' sixth No. 1 debut and Coldplay's second on the Hot 100, one of the pop music industry's most influential music charts. Billboard said "My

South and North Korea held daily phone calls via their liaison and military hotlines Tuesday, officials said, a day after Pyongyang restored the inter-Korean communication channels. On Monday, the two Koreas reopened the cross-border communication lines following a near two-month suspension. The move came hours after the North's state media announced that the lines would be back in normal operation as of 9 a.m. on the day. "South and North Korea's daily call at 9 a.m. took place normall

Samsung Display Co., a major display panel maker in South Korea, dominated the global smartphone panel market in the first half of the year, a report showed Tuesday, though its market share declined slightly from a year earlier. Samsung Display, an affiliate of top smartphone maker Samsung Electronics Co., grabbed a 48 percent revenue share in the global smartphone display panel market in the first six months of 2021, down from a 50 percent share a year earlier, according to a report from market

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Tuesday it plans to complete its review within this year of a deal by Korean Air Lines Co., the country's biggest carrier, to buy the debt-ridden Asiana Airlines Inc. In a report to the National Assembly, the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said it plans to speed up the review in consideration of the value that the deal has for the country's economy. In November 2020, Korean Air said it will acquire its smaller rival Asiana Airlines in a deal valued at

　Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has reclaimed the top spot in the list of the world’s highest-paid soccer players from Lionel Messi, according to Forbes. 　Forbes said Ronaldo, among the world’s most popular athletes with over 500 million followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, is set to make $125 million before taxes in the 2021-22 season, with $70 million coming from salary and bonuses at United. 　The rest will come from endorsements and partnerships wit

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,600 on Tuesday on fewer tests during an extended weekend, but new infections may rise down the road due to increased tests. The country added 1,575 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,557 local infections, raising the total caseload to 321,352, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Daily infections slightly fell from 1,673 cases on Monday after the nation reported more than 2,000 cases on a daily basis since Sep

Samsung Electronics Co. and its union will have their first wage talks Tuesday as the tech giant is moving to create a healthy labor-management culture following its leader's commitment to scrap the conglomerate's "no labor union" policy. Representatives from Samsung's management and the union will hold the first round of wage talks at its plant in Yongin, 49 kilometers south of Seoul. It will be the first wage negotiations since Lee Jae-yong, the leader of Samsung Group, in May 2020 v

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, as investor sentiment was hurt by overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) slumped 29.05 points, or 0.96 percent, to 2,990.13 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Seoul stocks got off to a weak start, falling below the 3,000-point level for the first time in about six months. The Korean stock market closed Monday due to an extended holiday tied to the Oct. 3 National Foundation Day. An impasse over th

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug will travel to Italy and Egypt to attend a Group of 20 (G-20) meeting of parliamentary speakers in Rome and hold other bilateral meetings, his office said Tuesday. Park will depart for Italy later Tuesday to attend the seventh G-20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit to be held from Thursday-Friday in Rome and the Pre-meeting of the General Assembly of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (Pre-COP26) on Friday. This year's G-20 par