Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl is leading the race among prospective presidential hopefuls, while runner-up Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung has managed to narrow the gap in approval with Yoon, according to a new poll released Thursday. According to the survey conducted on 2,004 voters nationwide from Monday-Tuesday by Realmeter, Yoon was the most favored candidate for the upcoming 2022 presidential election, receiving 30.5 percent of support. Lee came second, chalking up 25.3 per

The acting chief of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) resumed his public activities Thursday after testing negative for COVID-19. Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, PPP floor leader who is currently acting as the chairman, had temporarily canceled his schedule for the day, including a meeting of the interim party leadership in the morning, following a coronavirus infection case inside the party. According to the party, Kim attended the same party meetings Monday and Tuesday as a party official wh

Joint military drills are a key measure to ensure the readiness of South Korean and US forces, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday, even as the pandemic has thrown the timetable out the window. The spokesman noted the scope and timing of future exercises will be determined through close consultation between the two allies. "Military readiness is a top priority of the Secretary of Defense. Our combined military training events are a principal method of ensuring our combined Alliance readin

Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday launched a shoe refresher as the South Korean tech giant eyes bolstering its sales with new lifestyle appliances amid the pandemic. Samsung's BESPOKE ShoeDresser is a footwear care appliance that can deodorize, dehumidify and dry shoes. The product, which can manage a maximum three pairs of shoes, comes in four colors -- cotta white, cotta charcoal, glam greenery and glam sun yellow. It will be sold between 999,900 won ($890) and 1.099 million won here. Sam

Retail sales in South Korea shot up 13.7 percent on-year in April on the back of an economic recovery amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Thursday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers reached 12.3 trillion won (US$11 billion) last month, up from 10.8 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Sales from offline stores jumped 11.2 percent over the cited period as consumers, less wary of the pan

South Korea said Thursday it plans to allocate 90 billion won ($80.6 million) by next year to carry out research and development projects for electrofuel, in line with its vision to go carbon neutral by 2050. Electrofuel refers to an environment-friendly energy source that can be used in traditional fossil fuel-powered automobiles. It is produced by synthesizing hydrogen and other gases, including carbon dioxide and nitrogen. South Korea announced last year it will effectively reduce its emiss

Jeju Island, South Korea's most popular holiday destination, appears to be increasingly favored by locals as an alternative to overseas travel amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, a report indicated Thursday. The report released by the state-funded Korea Culture and Tourism Institute (KCTI) showed that domestic tourism to the southern resort island has been almost fully restored to the pre-coronavirus level amid overseas travel restrictions. It said the number of Koreans who went abroad in Ma

South Korea's exports of grapes shot up 35 percent on-year in 2020 to set a new record high, data showed Thursday, on the back of the growing popularity of local agricultural products overseas. Outbound shipments of grapes came to $30.7 million in 2020, compared with $22.8 million posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Over the first four months of 2021, exports of grapes came to $7.2 million, also up nearly 50 percent from

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Thursday it will ease some preventive measures against avian influenza and instead provide more incentives to chicken farms. Under the plan, the ministry will spare birds from poultry farms that have strictly followed preventive measures in case of another outbreak of the highly contagious animal disease in the region, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Currently, birds of the same species within a 1-kilometer radius of in

BTS has set five new Guinness World Records (GWR) titles with its latest release "Butter." Most of the records came from YouTube, where the group outdid its own records achieved with the 2020 megahit "Dynamite." On YouTube, the music video for the septet's new single was certified for achieving the most views in 24 hours with 108.2 million views and as the most-viewed video by a K-pop group in 24 hours, according to the website of GWR. It also garnered the most views for t

Three more Army soldiers have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. Two soldiers, based in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, and the border county of Cheorwon, respectively, were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after virus cases were reported at their units, according to the ministry. An officer in the northeastern county of Inje tested positive upon return from a vacation. The latest cases raised the total number of infections reported among the militar

South Korea's Cannes-winning filmmaker Bong Joon-ho has had his name listed in a renowned French encyclopedia for his cinematic achievements and recognition in the European nation, a report showed Thursday. In the latest edition of "Petit Larousse Illustre," a French-language encyclopedic dictionary launched in 1905, the South Korean director won a page, along with 40 new figures from various sectors like literature, cinema and sports, according to the report by the Korea Creative Con

South Korea's veterans affairs ministry said Thursday it has provided 10,000 additional face masks to Colombia to express gratitude for the country's participation in the 1950-53 Korean War. The masks were delivered Tuesday as Minister Hwang Ki-chul was in the Latin American country to strengthen the bilateral friendship and cooperation, according to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. South Korea earlier delivered 140,000 face masks to Colombia to help the country cope with the new

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Thursday it has approved SK hynix Inc.'s deal to acquire Intel Corp.'s NAND business. Last October, SK hynix, the country's No. 2 chipmaker, signed a deal to buy Intel's non-volatile memory unit for $9 billion, and submitted an application for approval to Seoul's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in January. SK hynix previously received approval from regulators in the United States and Europe. Antitrust reviews from five other countries, including China and Bri

South Korea's central bank on Thursday sharply raised its 2021 growth outlook to 4 percent, while holding its benchmark policy rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent, amid a strong rebound in exports. Buoyed by signs of a robust recovery in exports, the Bank of Korea (BOK) raised its growth outlook to 4 percent for this year, and to 3 percent for next year. The BOK's February forecast was that South Korea's economy would grow 3 percent this year. BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said the pace of e