The novel coronavirus pandemic has caused a combined 8.82 trillion won ($7.4 billion) worth of damage to South Korea's culture, sports and tourism sectors since it broke out early last year, a government report showed Friday. The amount of consumer spending in the tourism and leisure sector decreased by an estimated 39.3 trillion won from January 2020-June 2021 when Korea's first COVID-19 case was reported, according to the report by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism submitted to parli

Unification Minister Lee In-young on Friday asked Europe to support South Korea's efforts in advancing the peace process on the peninsula, his office said Friday. Lee met with Jutta Urpilainen and Janez Lenarcic of the European Commission in Belgium on Thursday and requested Europe play a "more active role" in providing humanitarian assistance to the North and in building trust among the two Koreas and the United States. The two sides discussed "creative ways" to cooperate an

The chairman of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Friday congratulated Fumio Kishida on his recent victory in the Japanese ruling party's leadership race and urged the incoming prime minister to avoid making a diplomatic faux pas, such as visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. "In order to resolve the strained South Korea-Japan relationship, (Kishida) should abstain from conduct that hampers the national sentiment of neighboring countries like South Korea and China, such as a visit t

Over half of young people living in Seoul say they couldn’t buy a home without the help of their parents, data showed Friday. According to a survey conducted by the Seoul Institute, a think tank under the Seoul Metropolitan Government, 53 percent out of 676 Seoul citizens ranging in age from 18 to 34 said that it would be impossible to purchase a house without financial support from their parents. The nationwide average is 46 percent. While 44 percent of respondents said that they would

The Universal Ballet Company is to stage “Giselle” at the Seoul Arts Center from Oct. 29-31. The classic ballet is one of the most well-known and widely performed works of the Romantic era. Adolphe Adam wrote the music. Most performances of “Giselle” use the choreography staged by ballet legend Marius Petipa. It tells the story of a young peasant girl named Giselle. She falls in love with Albrecht, a nobleman in disguise. After learning that Albrecht has betrayed he

South Korea commands almost half of the world’s secondary battery market, but the country‘s reliance on imported materials is growing to an alarming level, data showed Friday. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy data obtained by Rep. Kim Kyung-man, the nation’s share of the global secondary battery market spiked from 34.7 percent in 2018 to 44.1 percent in 2020. The country is home to three of the world‘s major battery producers, LG Energy Solution

The Air Force on Friday set up a unit of investigators at its headquarters following accusations that cover-ups led to the suicide of a master sergeant who claimed to have been sexually assaulted. The unit will take away military police power to investigate crimes, as they have been accused of looking the other way when the master sergeant filed a complaint. The sergeant’s death sparked a public outcry that led the military to form an independent investigation arm. Military police will n

SK Innovation said Friday it has officially carved out its battery division into a wholly owned subsidiary, SK On. According to SK Innovation, the firm’s board of directors approved the split-off and appointed Jee Dong-seob as the chief of SK On. Some 1,400 staff and executives who belonged to SK Innovation’s battery business will be relocated to SK On to continue electric vehicle battery, battery-as-a-service and energy storage system businesses. Jee, a former executive of SK

SK Inc. said Friday it has injected an additional $55 million into a San Francisco-based alternative protein firm Perfect Day to wade further into the global alternative food market. According to the holding firm of South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK Group, the investment was made together with STIC Investments, a leading private equity fund here. This is SK Inc.’s second investment in Perfect Day, after a 54 billion-won ($45.4 million) investment last year. The invest

Siemens Korea announced Wednesday the promotion of Chung Ha-joong to president and chief executive officer. Chung, who served as vice president prior to the appointment, will oversee all businesses of the German technology giant’s Korean unit, effective Friday, while also serving in his current role as head of smart infrastructure and CEO of Siemens Mobility Ltd., Seoul, the firm said. Since joining Siemens Korea in 2000, the new chief has taken up various key roles in energy, mobili

A key figure in the snowballing land development scandal in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, was arrested Friday for questioning over allegations that Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung, the ruling Democratic Party's leading presidential contender, gave business favors to certain developers. Yoo Dong-gyu, former acting president of Seongnam Development Corp., was apprehended by prosecutors at a hospital Friday morning and was taken to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office. He was asked to appear

President Moon Jae-in voiced strong confidence in South Korea's defense posture Friday, saying he proposed an end-of-war declaration with North Korea based on such readiness and vowing to deal sternly with any threats to the country. His Armed Forces Day speech came hours after North Korea test-fired an anti-aircraft missile in the third missile launch in about two weeks. Earlier this week, the North tested what it claimed was a "hypersonic" missile. "I have pride in our solid sec

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Noh Kyu-duk, returned home from Indonesia Friday after holding talks with his US counterpart, Sung Kim, on efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea. "We've discussed various ways for humanitarian cooperation projects with North Korea, and we did again this time, on (the provision) either jointly by the South and the US, or through international organizations," Noh told reporters at the airport upon arrival. "We also explained our position on t