JEONJU -- Police raided the North Jeolla Province government office Wednesday over alleged land speculation by a public servant. The Jeonbuk Police Agency said it searched the office and the home of the employee hired by the provincial government, located in Jeonju, about 240 kilometers south of Seoul. The suspect's computer files, mobile phone and related documents were seized in the process. The police said the public servant is suspected of using insider information to buy a plot of land ne

President Moon Jae-in gave Cheon Dae-yeop, a veteran judge, a certificate of appointment as a new Supreme Court justice on Wednesday. The president took note of Cheon's "firm faith in judicial independence, a guarantee of basic rights and the protection of the socially underprivileged," according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. "As the Supreme Court's ruling has a profound impact on our society and future generations, the burden will be heavy as a Supreme Court jus

Foreign investors turned net buyers of South Korean equities in April, ending their four-month selling spree, the central bank said Wednesday. Foreigners purchased a net $590 million worth of local stocks last month, compared with net selling of $2.58 billion in March, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Offshore investors, however, remained net buyers of Korean bonds worth $2.74 billion last month, the BOK said. Meanwhile, volatility in South Korea's currency slightly fell in April from th

South Korean banks' household loans grew at a faster clip in April, as money chased after initial public offerings, central bank data showed Wednesday. The value of outstanding bank loans to local households came to 1,025.7 trillion won ($912.2 billion) as of end-April, up 16.1 trillion won from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The April reading represents a hike from a 6.5 trillion-won gain in March. The BOK said the rise in lending was mainly attributa

Lee Sung-yoon, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, was indicted Wednesday over allegations that he exercised undue influence in 2019 to stop an inquiry into the allegedly illegal exit ban imposed on a former senior official. The decision by the Suwon District Prosecutors Office came two days after an indictment was recommended by an independent panel created to review the validity of an ongoing investigation into Lee. Lee is accused of abusing his power in June 2019 to bloc

A total of 49 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in connection with an internet cafe in northern Seoul, the metropolitan government said Wednesday. The first case was a customer who tested positive on May 3, after which a total of 44 people tested positive by Monday, followed by four more on Tuesday, according to the local government. All of them live in Seoul except for one. An epidemiological survey found that the business followed COVID-19 protocols, but ventilation was difficult and

South Korea's personal computer (PC) market expanded to the largest in 10 years in the first quarter of 2021, industry data showed Wednesday, due to robust demand for online education and remote working amid the pandemic. Domestic PC shipments stood at 1.89 million units in the January-March period, up 30.7 percent from a year ago, according to the data from market researcher IDC Korea. This was the largest PC shipment volume in South Korea since the first quarter of 2012, when it recorded 1.9

Four Marines and three Army soldiers have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday. The Marines, based in the southeastern city of Pohang, were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 upon returning from vacation while under a cohort isolation, according to the ministry. The other three soldiers, each based in Seoul, the northeastern county of Inje and the southeastern city of Ulsan, were found to be infected after coming into contact with virus patients. The

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rose back above 600 on Wednesday, with health authorities remaining on alert over a potential spike amid spreading variant cases. The country reported 635 more COVID-19 cases, including 613 local infections, raising the total caseload to 128,918, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Wednesday's figure jumped from 511 cases Tuesday, 463 Monday and 564 Sunday though it is lower than the 701 Saturday. The daily caseload usually spi

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday that one of its senior researchers will head the largest working group in a global mobile telecommunication standards organization, boasting of its leadership in the wireless communications sector. Kim Youn-sun, a master at Samsung Research, was elected to the chair of Radio Access Networking Group 1 (RAN WG1) at a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) meeting on Tuesday, according to the tech giant. This is the first time that a South Korean has beco

Hyundai Motor Co. sold more than 500,000 units of vehicles under its independent Genesis brand since its launch five years ago, the company said Wednesday. Hyundai sold 378,999 Genesis vehicles in the domestic market and 121,192 units overseas since November 2015, the company said in a statement. The Genesis brand has advanced to the United States, Canada, the Middle East, Russia, and Australia, with a plan to make inroads into China and Europe this year. The Genesis lineup consists of the G9

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street as concerns of inflation weighed down on investor sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 3.9 points, or 0.12 percent, to 3,205.53 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1.36 percent as rising commodity prices fueled worries of inflation. In Seoul, market behemoth Samsung Electronics shed 0.25 percent, while No. 2 chipm

Samsung Electronics Co.'s share in the global DRAM market declined slightly in the first quarter of the year, a report showed Wednesday, though it maintained the dominant status amid bullish demand for memory. The South Korean tech giant posted a 42 percent share of the global DRAM flash market in terms of revenue in the January-March period, down only 0.1 percentage point from a quarter earlier, according to market tracker TrendForce. Samsung's revenue came to $8.07 billion in the first three

Global tech titan Samsung Electronics Co. retained the No. 1 spot on the list of South Korea's top 500 companies in 2020, with 44 companies newly making the list, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Samsung Electronics, the flagship of South Korea's leading family-controlled conglomerate Samsung Group, remained the biggest company by sales last year, with its top line reaching 236.8 trillion won ($212 billion). Leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co., the marquee unit of automaking behemoth Hyunda

The intelligence chiefs of South Korea and Japan held a meeting in Tokyo and exchanged views on North Korea and other bilateral issues, Japanese media reports showed Wednesday. Park Jie-won, head of South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS), met with Hiroaki Takizawa, Japan's cabinet intelligence director, on Tuesday, according to JNN and Kyodo News. Park is in Tokyo for trilateral talks with Takizawa and US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. Park and Takizawa reportedly e