POSCO, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker by output, said Thursday it has signed a deal to buy a 30 percent stake in the Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation in Australia for $240 million in the latest move to boost its electric vehicle battery business. Under the deal with Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals Ltd., POSCO will be provided with a long-term offtake agreement for 7,500 tons of nickel in mixed nickel-cobalt hydroxide precipitate (MHP) per year produced at Ravensthorpe, beginning in 202

South Korea's household income edged up in the first quarter from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, but the gain was mostly attributable to the government's emergency handouts aimed at tackling economic fallout of the new coronavirus pandemic. The average household earned 4.38 million won (US$3,860) per month in the first quarter, up 0.4 percent from the previous year, according to the data by Statistics Korea. Household income earned through wages, on the other hand, slipped 1.3 percent

President Moon Jae-in's calls for aggressive engagement with North Korea could create tension with the United States, a recent congressional report said. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) report comes as Moon is in Washington this week for his first in-person summit talks with US President Joe Biden to discuss North Korea and alliance issues, as well as COVID-19 vaccine cooperation. "Although Moon has welcomed the mention of diplomacy, his preference for more aggressive engagement

South Korea's financial regulator said Thursday it has placed 32 highly indebted conglomerates under closer watch for debt reductions in order to prevent defaults. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the conglomerates that owe more than 1.91 trillion won ($1.68 billion) to local banks have been designated heavy corporate debtors this year. This compares with 28 such business groups last year. Shipping firm HMM and builder HDC were among the firms that were newly included on t

The defense ministry said Thursday it will communicate more actively with residents around the US THAAD missile defense base as clashes continue to happen every time supplies are brought onto the base. Residents in the central county of Seongju have long opposed the US Forces Korea (USFK) base in their town where the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is deployed, and they have clashed with police when the ministry brought construction equipment and other items for troops onto t

Defense Minister Suh Wook convened a meeting of top military commanders Thursday to discuss troops' living conditions, his office said, amid continued complaints over poor meal quality, especially for those under coronavirus quarantine. Earlier this month, the defense ministry unveiled a set of measures to improve service members' living conditions, including a plan to raise the average daily meal cost, following a series of complaints over the quality of meals. Yet questions were raised over

South Korea's trade dispute agency on Thursday held a public hearing on anti-dumping cases of flat-rolled stainless steel imported from three countries, prior to its final ruling slated in July. The move came after South Korea decided to launch an investigation against Chinese, Taiwanese and Indonesian flat-rolled stainless steel products in September last year, according to the Korea Trade Commission. South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO filed the complaint with the commission over anti-dumping

South Korea's oceans ministry said Thursday it has won a deal worth 58.7 billion won ($51.8 million) to export dried laver products to Japan. Dried laver, called "gim" in Korean, is usually roasted with sesame oil and fine salt and served as a side dish with Korean meals. Exports of dried laver products reached $600 million in 2020, up 3.6 percent on-year, amid growing popularity of Korean food in the Asian market. Of the volume, Japan accounted for the largest share of 22.2 percent.

JEJU -- A ban on unlicensed harvesting of marine life at night has invited strong protest from a group of hobbyists who called the move "unconstitutional." Dozens of hobbyists and leisure industry workers held a press conference on the island earlier this week to demand the provincial government of Jeju scrap the ban immediately. The measure "seriously constrains the constitutional rights to pursuit of happiness of non-fishermen," they said. Last month, the island banned u

Thirteen North Korean ships underwent safety inspections while docked at ports in the Asia-Pacific region last year and all of them were found to have defects, an intergovernmental port control agency said Thursday. A total of 64 safety deficiencies were discovered with the vessels, and two ships with serious defects were banned from sailing until the problems are fixed, according to the annual report on Port State Control (PSC) by Tokyo MOU. It also placed North Korea on its blacklist, along

Nine Army soldiers and a military civilian employee have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. Of them, eight soldiers were from a unit in Hongcheon, about 100 kilometers east of Seoul, where a COVID-19 case was reported earlier. Around 390 members of the unit received virus tests after the initial case was reported, and around 70 of them are still waiting for their test results, according to the ministry. Separately, another soldier in the southwestern

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rose above 600 for the second day Thursday amid continued cluster inflections and spreading variant cases. The country reported 646 more COVID-19 cases, including 619 local infections, raising the total caseload to 134,117, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Thursday's daily caseload compares with 654 on Wednesday, 528 on Tuesday and 619 on Monday. There were four additional virus deaths, raising the total to 1,916. South Ko

North Korea has opened a large hospital in an eastern province to provide better medical service to the people outside its capital, state media said Thursday as the country continues its fight against the global coronavirus pandemic. An opening ceremony took place Wednesday for the hospital renovated from the People's Hospital of South Hamgyong Province, with provincial party leaders in attendance, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The hospital "has been turned into a comprehen

South Korean battery maker SK Innovation Co. and American automaker Ford Motor Co. are set to announce a battery joint venture in the United States to ensure a stable supply of batteries for electric vehicles, industry sources said Thursday. The two companies plan to announce a memorandum of understanding on the joint venture later in the day, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in meets with US President Joe Biden in Washington this week to discuss bilateral issues, including EV industry coope

Monthly active users of the US video streaming service Netflix Inc. in South Korea recorded a decline in the past three months, data showed Thursday, as the platform faces a slowdown in global subscriber growth and increasing competition from local players. Netflix's monthly active users in the country last month stood at 8.08 million, down 1.9 percent from 8.24 million in March, according to the data from market researcher Nielsen Koreanclick. The latest figure marks a dip since the platform