Veterans Affairs Minister Hwang Ki-chul held talks with Colombian President Ivan Duque during a visit to the Latin American country aimed at expressing thanks to the country's Korean War veterans, his office said Wednesday. During the talks on Tuesday, Hwang expressed thanks for Colombia's participation in the 1950-53 conflict and explained South Korea's efforts to support Colombian veterans and their descendants, according to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. The meeting was also

Although the local box office shows some signs of recovery before the summer peak season, the pandemic-hit Korean film industry still remains wary of releasing big-budget films in the near future. The South Korean box office recently made a long-waited turnaround thanks to a bullish run by "F9," the latest chapter in the "Fast and Furious" series. Released on May 19, the Hollywood blockbuster posted 400,000 viewers on opening day to set the biggest first-day score since the

Coronavirus vaccines left over after people do not show up for inoculations will be available for anyone who wants to get vaccinated via online reservations starting later this week, health authorities said Wednesday. Starting on Thursday, people will be able to sign up to get the leftover doses through the country's major internet portal Naver and top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. People can search for the number of available COVID-19

Five Army members and an Air Force officer tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday. Two Army officers from the same unit in the county of Gapyeong were confirmed to have been infected following their recent vacation, the ministry said, adding 150 base members who came into contact with them tested negative. The other Army officer and two enlisted soldiers also tested positive following their vacation, and the airman contracted the virus after one of his co

K-pop supergroup BTS' new single "Butter" has stormed major music charts in the United States and Japan following its release last week, the band's agency said Wednesday. The English-language single debuted at No. 26 on the Billboard's pop airplay chart, which measures airplay of pop songs at some 160 key US radio stations from every Monday to Sunday. The song's debut ranking is higher than the band's 2020 smash hit "Dynamite," which debuted at No. 30 on the same chart. &q

After more than four years away, South Korean international midfielder Kwon Chang-hoon is rejoining his old club. Suwon Samsung Bluewings of the K League 1 announced Wednesday they've reacquired the 26-year-old midfielder. Financial terms were not disclosed. Kwon made his professional debut for Suwon in 2013 and spent four seasons there, notching 22 goals and nine assists in 109 matches at all competitions. He embarked on a European career in January 2017, first signing with the French club D

South Korean luxury car brand Genesis' G80 sedan has earned the highest safety rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the US auto safety organization said Wednesday. The G80 earned TOP SAFETY PICK+ by qualifying for a wide range of IIHS collision tests, including front crash prevention in vehicle-to-vehicle crashes and pedestrian front crash prevention, the US institute said on its website. To qualify for the IIHS' highest safety rating, a vehicle has to earn a high sc

LG CNS Co., South Korea's major IT service firm, on Wednesday introduced upgraded security services under a new brand in a move to expand its presence in the cybersecurity sector. LG CNS said all of its security-related services, covering from cloud to smart factories, will be named under the brand of SecuXper, which combines the words "security" and "expert." With the new brand, LG CNS said it reinforced its security workforce, which includes some 200 cybersecurity exper

South Korea's top construction equipment maker Doosan Infracore Co. said Wednesday that it has signed a deal to provide 75 excavators to Saudi Arabian builders. The deal consists of 70 22-ton excavators and five 50-ton excavators, the company said in an emailed statement. But it did not reveal the value of the deal. The excavators will be used for the construction of Neom City being built in the western part of the Middle Eastern country and to maintain and repair the country's power generat

The number of tourist hotels in Seoul decreased for the first time last year due to the outbreaks of COVID-19, government data showed Wednesday. As of the end of 2020, there were 331 tourist hotels in Seoul, down two from a year ago, according to the data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It was the first such decline in the capital since records began in 2008. The figure had steadily increased in the previous years, rising from 125 in 2008 to 151 in 2012, 211 in 2014, 308 in 2

KT Corp., a major telecom firm in South Korea, said Wednesday it has joined hands with a local insurer to develop insurance coverage programs for service robots. KT signed a partnership with DB Insurance Co. to offer insurance programs dedicated solely to artificial intelligence (AI)-powered services. Starting next month, the telecom giant will collect data on possible robotics errors and accidents for a year under the liability coverage program offered by DB Insurance. Based on that data, th

LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday it will run some of its shops in South Korea clerkless during nighttime as the home appliance maker tries to attract more consumers amid the pandemic-induced contactless trend. LG said its nine stores, including six shops in Seoul, will operate without clerks from 8:30 p.m. to midnight daily, becoming the first electronics firm in the country to adopt such a system. Users can enter unmanned shops after scanning a QR code. Inside the store, they can use kios

North Korea's official newspaper called Wednesday for competition among cities and counties to promote a balanced economic growth across the country. "In order to achieve a balanced and simultaneous growth in accordance with the party's initiatives and intentions, we need socialism competition in a fiercer way among cities and counties," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the ruling Workers' Party, said. "For the development of cities and counties, competition among them is a ver

SK nexilis Co., a chemical unit of South Korean conglomerate SK Group, said Wednesday it will build a new copper foil factory in Europe to meet growing demand for the essential material for rechargeable batteries. SK nexilis, the copper making unit under SKC Inc. said it will expand its manufacturing capacity to over 200,000 tons a year by 2025, up from the current capacity of 43,000 tons.  Copper foil is as thin as one-fifteenth of human hair and is used as the anode current collector

Samsung Electronics Co. was the world's second-largest semiconductor vendor in the first quarter of the year, a report showed Wednesday, after posting double-digit year-on-year sales growth. The South Korean tech juggernaut logged $17.07 billion in chip sales in the January-March period, up 15 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest McClean Report released by market researcher IC Insights. Samsung, the world's largest memory chip supplier, racked up $16.15 billion in integrated