South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday on US stock gains, following a US drugmaker's announcement that its vaccine turned out effective against the spreading virus variant. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 11.25 points, or 0.34 percent, to trade at 3,297.93 points as of 9:15 a.m. The Kospi got off to a bullish start, taking a cue from Moderna's announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine produced protective antibodies against the highly contagious delta variant. Ov

WASHINGTON -- The United States fully respects South Korea's decision to skip a multinational naval exercise, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday, also adding Seoul's decision does not affect the South Korea-US alliance in any way. "It's a sovereign decision by a nation state. And they're certainly entitled to make that decision and to speak to that decision and we absolutely respect it," the spokesman, John Kirby, said in a press briefing. South Korea earlier said it had been invited

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Wednesday excessive demand for home buying could ease amid the central bank's move toward monetary tightening and stricter regulations on household lending. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki warned that housing prices could fall if a severe external economic shock occurs at a time when households have maintained high levels of leverage. "An inflow of liquidity into the housing market could slow down as the country is set to implement measures to slow

Global tech titan Samsung Electronics Co. has ranked first in the number of patents filed in South Korea over the past five years, data showed Wednesday. Samsung registered 19,588 patents with local authorities between 2016 and June 10 this year, the most among local companies, according to the data from corporate tracker CEO Score. The number accounts for 13.8 percent of a combined 141,752 patents filed by 345 companies out of the country's top 500 firms by sales over the cited period. Samsu

South Korea's industrial output bounced back in May, but retail sales fell by the most in 10 months in the latest sign that the recovery of private spending still remains weak amid the pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The industrial output inched up 0.1 percent in May from the previous month, rebounding from a 1.2 percent on-month contraction in April, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. From a year earlier, it rose 7.3 percent. The rebound came as production in the public adm

It took him two days, but South Korea's Kwon Soon-woo finally has his first victory in the men's singles at Wimbledon. The 71st-ranked Kwon defeated Daniel Masur of Germany 3-1 (6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4) in the opening round match of the Grand Slam tournament in London on Tuesday (local time). Their match began Monday after more than three hours of rain delay and was suspended due to darkness after Masur took the first set in 51 minutes. When the match resumed the following day, Kwon quickly

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong will face a formal court trial on charges of illegally taking propofol injections, according to sources Tuesday. The Seoul Central District Court has decided to hold a trial on the issue, at the request of the state prosecution service, they added. Early this month, prosecutors indicted the de facto leader of Samsung Group, now in jail for bribery and corruption, on a "summary offense" in connection with his alleged use of propofol, whi

Outgoing US Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Robert Abrams on Tuesday vowed to continue supporting the "ironclad" alliance between South Korea and the United States, describing his time here as a "personal honor and privilege." Abrams made the remarks during an honor guard ceremony hosted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul ahead of USFK's change of command slated for Friday, according to the military. Expressing gratitude to "28,500 men and wome

South Korean stocks retreated for the second straight session Tuesday as concerns of new coronavirus variants weakened investors' appetite for risky assets. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 15.21 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 3,286.68 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.2 billion shares worth some 14.2 trillion won (US$12.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 549 to 303. Foreigners sold a net 550 b

Members of two South Korean baseball clubs have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, industry sources said Tuesday, though the season will proceed as usual after the rest of their teams all tested negative. According to the sources, one scout from a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) team in the greater Seoul region tested positive for COVID-19 early Monday. Later Monday, a coach for another team in greater Seoul also got infected with COVID-19, forcing the rest of his team to be tested.

Businesses with five or more permanent employees plan to hire 24 percent more workers in the six-month period ending in September than they did in the same period last year, the labor ministry said Tuesday. The companies planned to hire 296,000 people in the second and third quarters, up 58,000, or 24.2 percent, from the corresponding period last year, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said, citing a survey of around 32,000 businesses with five or more permanent employees. The increase is l

South Korean banks' lending rates edged down in May amid a slight decline in deposit rates, central bank data showed Tuesday. The average interest rate charged on new bank loans came to 2.72 percent in May, down 0.02 percentage point from the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The BOK cut the key interest rate to a record low of 0.5 percent in May last year after delivering an emergency rate cut of half a percentage point in March to cushion the impact

The self-employed's debts grew 3.1 percent in 2019 from a year earlier as their income declined amid an economic slowdown, data showed Tuesday. Financial institutions' loans extended to the self-employed averaged 172 million won (US$151,800) as of end-2019, compared with 167 million won the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Self-employed people took out more loans to cover rising costs as they tackled a fall in sales amid an extended economic slowdown. Since last yea

South Korea's health authorities said Tuesday arrivals from India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and 17 other countries will not be allowed to skip a mandatory 14-day quarantine even if they are fully vaccinated amid the growing concerns over the global spread of the Delta variant. The country earlier announced its plan to allow arrivals who have been vaccinated abroad to enter South Korea without going through self-isolation starting next month. They are still required to visit South Ko

A South Korean parliamentary committee on Tuesday approved a resolution condemning Japan's plan to dump contaminated water from its destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea. The National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee unanimously passed the resolution, which also calls on Tokyo to take sufficient measures to ensure the safety of radioactive water at the Fukushima plant. The resolution was prepared by ruling and opposition parties after the Japanese government announce