South Korea will take steps toward a gradual return to normal life from the COVID-19 pandemic next month, as the nation's vaccination rate surpassed the key milestone of 70 percent, President Moon Jae-in said Monday. Despite the measures, however, some anti-virus restrictions, including a mask-wearing rule, will remain in place after November to continue to slow the spread of the virus, Moon said in a budget speech at the National Assembly. Some 35.9 million of the nation's 51.3 million popula

South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion Inc. said Monday that its self-diagnostic kit for the novel coronavirus has won emergency approval from US drug authorities. Celltrion DiaTrust COVID-19 Ag Home Test, co-developed by local healthcare business Humasis, received the US Food and Drug Administration's Emergency Use Authorization approval. The product uses an antibody that specifically binds to the COVID-19 virus and detects infection within 15 minutes, Celltrion said. It is most sui

Donald Gregg, a former US ambassador to South Korea, stressed that the United States should take a more proactive approach to resume talks with North Korea and break the impasse in the Korean peace process. Gregg, who served in the South Korean embassy from 1989 to 1993 and is known for expertise on regional security issues, said the Joe Biden administration is in a more advantageous position than the Kim Jong-un regime and that's why Washington should first reach out to Pyongyang. "I hop

South Korea reported 1,190 new cases Monday, continuing a sustained decline in the number of coronavirus cases as its vaccination rate reached the milestone of 70 percent over the weekend. Monday's tally, including 1,167 local infections, raised the total caseload to 353,089, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It is down from the 1,423 counted the previous day. New virus cases stayed below 2,000 for the 17th day in a row. The death toll came to 2,773, up seven from a

Citibank Korea Inc., the Korean unit of US banking giant Citigroup, said Monday that it will close its retail banking services "in phases" in line with a global business reorganization drive. Citibank Korea held a board meeting on Friday and made the decision to pull out from consumer banking in South Korea. In April, Citigroup said that it will exit consumer banking operations in 13 markets, including South Korea, as part of its global business reorganization. Citibank Korea's board

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Monday it has signed a 971.3 billion-won ($825.2 million) deal to construct four LNG carriers. Under the deal with a shipper in Bermuda, Samsung Heavy will deliver the vessels by December 2024, the company said in a regulatory filing. The price per LNG carrier in the latest deal came to $206 million, the highest since 2015, Samsung Heavy Industries said. With the latest deal, the shipbuilder has won orders worth $11.2 billion so far this year, already surpa

Car accidents involving unlicensed teenagers soared by 34 percent between 2018 and 2020, road traffic data showed. According to a Korea Road Traffic Authority report submitted to Rep. Kang Deuk-gu of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, teenagers were in 833 accidents last year while driving without a license, a sharp jump from 618 and 689 accidents in 2018 and 2019, respectively. More than 3,100 people suffered injuries and 63 died in the total 2,140 accidents involving unlicensed teenagers

North Korea and China will continue their "invincible" friendly relations for a "common cause," the North's official newspaper said Monday, marking the 71st anniversary of China's participation in the Korean War. Rodong Sinmun, an official newspaper of the North's Workers' Party of Korea, vowed for the continuation of the ties between the two socialist countries forged during the three-year war. "The invincible friendship (between the North and China) established by bl

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday amid concerns about the rising inflation pressure and oil prices. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) retreated 20.1 points, or 0.67 percent, to 2,986.06 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks fell amid foreign and institutional sell-offs, largely in the wake of the Fed's signal that the present high-price pressure may not subside soon. Investor wariness grew as oil prices remained at a record-high level. Most stocks traded l

The military has identified the remains of four South Korean troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, about a decade after their excavation from former battle sites, the defense ministry said Monday. The identification and recovery of the remains came as the military has been carrying out a government project since 2000 to return remains of fallen troops to their families and remember their sacrifices. The remains of the four soldiers were excavated in Gangwon and North Gyeongsang Province

More than 80,000 cases of dating violence were reported in the past five years nationwide, with more than 200 cases resulting in murder, police data showed Monday. According to the data of the National Police Agency, obtained by Rep. Yang Ki-dae of the ruling Democratic Party, 81,056 cases of dating abuse were reported to police between 2016 and last year. The annual total rose steadily from 9,364 in 2016 to 18,945 last year, the data showed. Of the total, 61,133 cases involved serious types

South Korea will unveil measures to curb household debt in a way that "strikes a balance" between toughening lending rules based on borrowers' repayment capability and protecting those in actual need of loans for home rentals, the head of the country's financial regulator said Monday. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is expected to announce a set of measures to tame soaring household debt this week, likely to focus on speeding up implementation of stricter rules on lending base

South Korea ranks fourth in relative poverty among major economies in the world, data showed Monday, in a sign of its high income inequality. The country's relative poverty rate, referring to the percentage of people with an income below 50 percent of the median income, came to 16.7 percent in 2018-19, according to the data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is the fourth-highest rate among 37 member countries of the Paris-based club of rich nations. Sout

Kakao Pay, the mobile payment service arm of Kakao Corp., South Korea's top messenger app, on Monday kicked off a two-day public subscription for its initial public offering (IPO), seen as this year's last high-profile share sale. Kakao Pay has allowed retail investors to subscribe to 4.25 million new common shares to be sold under the IPO slated for Nov. 3, or 25 percent of the total share sale. Kakao Pay has set the IPO price at 90,000 won ($76.5) per share, which will enable the company to