British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday welcomed South Korea's commitment to playing a role in an upcoming summit of global leaders on COVID-19, climate change and other pending issues, Cheong Wa Dae said.    He delivered the message to President Moon Jae-in during their half-hour phone conversation, according to Moon's spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.    Johnson is scheduled to host the Group of Seven summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, on June 11-13. Taking part will be

The government is looking into the possibility of South Korean firms violating UN sanctions against North Korea amid a report that two oil tankers, previously owned by them, were added to Pyongyang's oil smuggling fleet in recent years, a Seoul official said Thursday. On Tuesday, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), a website on maritime security under the Center for Strategic and International Studies, reported on the transfers of the vessels -- the Sin Phyong 5 and the Kwang Cho

South Korea has confirmed five more cases of so-called breakthrough COVID-19 infections, bringing the total caseload here to nine, health authorities said Thursday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said all the breakthrough infections were in those who had two doses of the vaccine by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. A "breakthrough case" is when a person tests positive for COVID-19 between the first and second doses of a two-dose regimen or a person tests pos

South Korean stocks advanced for a fifth straight session Thursday, backed by the US Federal Reserve's economic diagnosis that partially eased market jitters over early post-pandemic inflation. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 23.2 points, or 0.72 percent, to close at 3,247.43 points, just shy of its all-time high close of 3,249.3 points on May 10. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.6 billion shares worth some 16.7 tri

A North Korean propaganda outlet on Thursday denounced South Korea's decision to participate in an upcoming annual US-led multinational air force drill with Japan. Earlier, the Air Force announced its plans to send F-15K fighter jets, cargo planes and dozens of troops to the Red Flag-Alaska 21-2 exercise set to take place in Alaska beginning next week. "The reality is that the South Korean military is going through fire and water for the US, obsessed with following its scheme to invade Ko

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Thursday it has not approved a proposal by major affiliates of Samsung Group to address their alleged unfair business practice over in-house cafeteria business. Since 2018, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has been investigating Samsung Electronics Co., Samsung Display and two other Samsung units over allegations that they have unfairly supported Samsung Welstory Inc., the group's food service affiliate, by allowing it to run their in-house cafeteria

President Moon Jae-in strongly instructed military investigators Thursday to deal strictly with a recent sexual assault case that led to the death of the victim. Moon was referring to the Air Force noncommissioned female officer who was found dead in late May in an apparent suicide. In March, she allegedly suffered unwanted physical touching by a male colleague with the same rank of master sergeant in a vehicle. She reported the incident to her senior officers the following day, but they are ac

South Korean companies saw their profitability continue their growth in 2020, but their sales declined amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Thursday. The ratio of operating profit to sales of non-financial firms in the country reached 5.1 percent last year, up from 4.8 percent tallied a year ago, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). At the same time, the pretax net profit margin of South Korean companies rose on-year to 4.3 percent from 4.1 percent. But their sale

South Korean brokerage firms saw their combined net profit surge 113.2 percent on quarter in the first quarter, thanks to a stock rally that helped them earn higher commission fees, data showed Thursday. The combined net profit of 57 brokerages stood at 2.98 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in the first quarter, compared with a profit of 1.58 trillion won a quarter ago, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The combined brokerage fees stood at 4.54 trillion won in the first

Online shopping in South Korea increased 25.2 percent in April from a year earlier as more people used e-commerce shopping platforms amid a non-contact consumption trend caused by the pandemic, data showed Thursday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 15.1 trillion won ($13.6 billion) in April, up from 12.1 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The April reading slightly fell from a 15.9 trillion-won on-year gain in March, but the use of on

The military will raise the average daily meal cost for service members by 14 percent to 10,000 won ($9) next month, the defense ministry said Thursday, amid criticism soldiers, especially those under coronavirus quarantine, are poorly fed. The decision was announced as the government launched an interagency task force to come up with measures to improve troops' living conditions following a series of complaints over inconveniences. The quality of military meals, in particular, gained attentio

LG Electronics Inc. on Thursday said its open source software management tool is now available to outside developers as the South Korean tech giant eyes to bolster its presence in the software community. LG said the FOSSLight (Free and Open Source Software Light) system, which it has been using since 2014, can now be downloaded for free at its website. Open source software is distributed with its original source code and allows programmers to freely use or modify work. But at the same time,

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Thursday it has signed a 220.5 billion-won ($198.6 million) order for three oil tankers. The order from a European company calls for Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., a unit of KSOE, to deliver the vessels by February 2024, KSOE said in a regulatory filing. The order has an option to cancel an order for one oil tanker within a given period, the company said.  So far this year, KSOE has bagged orders for 123 ships, as well

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory chip producer, said Thursday that all of its semiconductor facilities have earned triple standard recognition from global environment certification leader Carbon Trust. Samsung said its nine chip facilities worldwide have received the Carbon Trust Triple Standard label for their efforts to reduce carbon, waste and water use. The company runs five semiconductor worksites in South Korea, three in China and one in the United States. The South

South Korea said Thursday it plans to stockpile more natural gas to maintain a stable supply of the resource amid uncertainties in the global price. Under the draft plan, the state-run Korea Gas Corp. will reserve nine days worth of gas to cope with potential disruptions in imports, compared with the previous guideline of seven days, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The ministry said the revision is also aimed at better preparing for unexpected cold waves, which may lea