A man in his 30s was arrested early Sunday on suspicion of abusing his 2-year-old adopted daughter to the point she fell unconscious with bleeding in her brain, police said. According to the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency, the girl was already unconscious when her adoptive father brought her to a hospital near Hwaseong, about 40 kilometers south of Seoul, on Saturday evening. After determining she was in a serious state, hospital workers sent her to a larger hospital in Incheon, 40 km west of Se

The proportion of stock short selling in South Korea accounted for 3.4 percent of total transactions in the first week of the practice's conditional resumption last week, down from 5.5 percent when the trading technique was banned last year, the bourse operator said Sunday. The combined amount of short selling transactions stood at 3.3 trillion won ($2.9 billion), an average of 841.3 billion won per day during the four-session week and 3.4 percent of the total daily transactions, according to t

Park Yong-jin, a two-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party, announced Sunday he will run for president in next year's election, becoming the first person to officially declare his candidacy. "I will achieve a change of era in the Republic of Korea through a generational change in politics," the 50-year-old said during a press conference held on the National Assembly compounds. "I will create a happy nation and become a courageous and young president who stands up against

Nearly 70 percent of South Koreans believe that the use of a vaccination passport, which proves that a person has been fully vaccinated against the virus, will help the economy, a poll showed Sunday. The poll from the Federation of Korean Industries, a major business lobbying group here, showed 67.4 percent expect the adoption of the passport will vitalize the economy. With the passport, 36.4 percent said they would like to take trips overseas, with 41.2 percent of them pointing to Europe as t

Debris from a Chinese space rocket fell into the Indian Ocean on Sunday, the science ministry said. Remnants of the Long March 5B rocket landed in waters southeast of India around 11:30 a.m., the ministry said, citing data from the US-based Combined Space Operations Center. The rocket was launched last week carrying a module of China's first permanent space station into orbit. But a large piece of debris plunged back in an uncontrolled reentry. (Yonhap)

Samsung Electronics Co. is mulling multiple new smartphone launches in August, industry sources said Sunday, as the South Korean tech giant eyes to expand its leadership in the mobile market. Samsung, the world's largest smartphone vendor, is in talks with local mobile carriers over releasing its new smartphone models, including the Galaxy S21 FE, the Galaxy Z Fold3 and the Galaxy Z Flip2, in late August, according to the sources. If confirmed, the new smartphones will be launched earlier th

From K-pop dynamo BTS to boy band brand NCT's subunit NCT Dream, some of the scene's biggest acts as well as rookie groups are getting ready to come back with new music this month. At the forefront is BTS. The seven-piece group, which released Japanese single "Film Out" in April, is set to drop new song "Butter" on May 21. The English single, which the group's agency Big Hit Music described as a "fun and upbeat summer song," will first be released globally in a d

A third plane carrying South Koreans arrived from India on Sunday, transporting 164 business officials out of the virus-ravaged country. The special flight operated by Asiana Airlines arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, from New Delhi, mostly carrying officials who had been sent to oversee the construction of a new Samsung Display plant. South Korea has flown two special flights out of India in recent days -- one from Chennai carrying 172 Korean residents and another from

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back below 600 on Sunday mainly due to fewer tests as health authorities try to boost the nationwide vaccination drive to contain the spread. The country reported 564 more COVID-19 cases, including 522 local infections, raising the total caseload to 127,309, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Sunday's figure was sharply down from 701 from the previous day. The daily caseload usually spikes after weekends as more people g

South Korea said Sunday it will strengthen its monitoring system against cryptocurrency-related phishing websites by working with the National Police Agency amid recent surges in prices of virtual money. The ICT ministry said there have recently been increasing reports of phishing attempts via text messages that lead cryptocurrency users to enter their exchange IDs and passwords on fake websites to steal them and access their accounts. The ministry said it found and blocked 32 such phishing we

Presidential hopefuls of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) are competing to woo support from young voters in the run-up to next year's election, as the party tries to recover lost confidence from 20- and 30-something voters as seen in its crushing defeat in last month's by-elections. Rep. Lee Nak-yon, former prime minister and the DP's previous chairman, on Thursday proposed funneling state tax money procured from owners of high-priced homes, commonly referred to as the comprehensive real estate

Former Prime Minister Lee Han-dong died of a chronic disease Saturday at the age of 87, his close aide said. "The former prime minister died at his home at around noon," the aide told Yonhap News Agency. Lee served six terms as a lawmaker from 1981-2000 and as the prime minister from 2000-2002 under then President Kim Dae-jung. In 2002, he made an unsuccessful presidential bid with a pledge to eradicate regionalism and corruption. In 2004, he was indicted without detention on charg

Youn Yuh-jung made a triumphant return to South Korea on Saturday, nearly two weeks after winning an Oscar for her role in the immigrant film "Minari." The South Korean actress, wearing a green bomber jacket, jeans and a white mask, waved to reporters as she arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, from the United States earlier in the day. She did not hold a news conference at the airport -- something that celebrities usually do as part of a hero's welcome -- due to

Two prominent biological scientists in South Korea have been named as foreign members of the Royal Society of Britain, the scientific academy said. Professors Kim V. Narry of Seoul National University and Lee Sang-yup of KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) became first South Koreans to join the Royal Society, according to its announcement Thursday (local time). Founded in 1660, the society is one of the most prestigious and oldest institutes in the field of science. It h

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases rose back to the 700s for the first time in 10 days Saturday as the country remains on alert for a potential upsurge in variant cases. The country reported 701 more COVID-19 cases, including 672 local infections, raising the total caseload to 126,745, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said in a statement. The daily caseload reached 488 on Monday on fewer tests over the weekend and stayed under 700 from Tuesday to Friday. There wer