Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government is speeding up a plan to supply homes in Seoul and other regions, as it seeks to curb high-flying home prices. In February, the government unveiled the plan that eased building regulations and supported redevelopment projects in urban areas to increase the number of new homes by up to 836,000 nationwide in the next four years. Some residents in the designated areas in Seoul have already voted in favor of the redevelopment projects, makin

South Korea's exports contributed the most in three years to the country's economic growth in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, a report showed Wednesday. Overseas shipments contributed 0.6 percentage point to the country's economic growth last year, according to the report from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). The contribution rate of exports was higher than 0.5 percentage point in 2019 and 0.1 percentage point in 2018. Last year, South Korea's nominal exports fell 5.5 percen

North Korea said Wednesday it conducted the first test-launch of a newly developed hypersonic missile a day earlier that has "strategic significance" in bolstering its self-defense capabilities. The North's Academy of Defence Science test-fired the Hwasong-8 missile from Toyang-ri, Ryongrim County of Jagang Province, and "ascertained the stability of the engine as well as of missile fuel ampoule that has been introduced for the first time," the official Korean Central News Ag

North Korea opened a session of its rubber-stamp legislature without leader Kim Jong-un in attendance and dealt with economic and other domestic issues without issuing any message to South Korea or the United States, according to state media Wednesday. The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) meeting held Tuesday drew attention as it came just days after the sister of leader Kim Jong-un issued a conciliatory message to South Korea, including the prospect of an inter-Korean summit, if Seoul drops its

South Korea has started the process for countering Britain's extension of safeguard measures against its steel exports, the trade ministry said Wednesday. In July, Britain extended its safeguard measures against steel imports from South Korea for another three years together with the European Union. South Korea and Britain have been in talks to resolve the dispute, but they have failed to iron out differences, prompting Seoul to move to seek a countermeasure. The ministry said Seoul has recently

South Korean teenagers committed fewer physical assault crimes but more sex offenses and fraud last year, a judicial report showed Wednesday. According to the 2021 juridical yearbook published by the National Court Administration, the total number of juvenile protection cases was 38,590 in 2020, up 2,014, or 5.5 percent, from a year ago. Of them, theft accounted for the biggest share at 13,845 cases, followed by fraud at 4,160, assault at 1,710 and infliction of bodily harm at 1,077. The figures

South Korea's business sentiment improved for October on expectations of a possible rebound in domestic consumption amid an accelerating nationwide vaccination drive, a local think tank said Wednesday. The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales rose to 103.4 for next month, up from 100.6 for September, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement. The business outlook stayed above 100 for a second straight month. The actual BSI stood at 98.9 i

The United States wants to meet with North Korea to discuss any concerns they have, a senior US diplomat said Tuesday. Kin Moy, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made the remark amid a North Korean boycott of dialogue, citing what it claims to be US hostility toward the North. "We have reached out directly to Pyongyang to initiate dialogue and stand ready to meet without preconditions," Moy said in a virtual seminar jointly hosted by the

South Korea and China discussed joint efforts to stamp out illegal fishing by Chinese boats in the South's waters in their regular fisheries meeting on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said. At the meeting, Seoul called on Beijing to draw up "effective measures" to stem the illegal fishing, as it is a matter that "directly concerns the livelihoods of South Korean fishermen," the ministry said. The South proposed China step up its patrol of fishing boats at major ports, block t

South Korean stocks fell more than 1 percent Tuesday as investors offloaded tech shares amid concerns of surging virus cases. The Korean won sharply fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) lost 35.72 points, or 1.14 percent, to close at 3,097.92 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 881.95 million shares worth 14.38 trillion won ($12.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 711 to 193. Institutions offloaded a net 555.2 billion won, while re

South Korea seeks to gradually return to normal daily life, while managing the spread of the novel coronavirus, between late October and early November, the health minister said Tuesday. The government earlier envisioned the "With Corona" scheme, under which COVID-19 is treated as an infectious respiratory disease like the seasonal influenza, with eased distancing being implemented. "The transition is likely to be around late October when 80 percent of adults are fully vaccinate

SsangYong Motor Co. and its lead manager said Tuesday they will select a preferred bidder and a secondary preferred bidder for the financially troubled carmaker by mid-October. SsangYong Motor, the South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., and the bankruptcy court-appointed lead manager EY Hanyoung accounting firm were originally planning to pick the preferred and secondary bidders by the end of this month. "We are planning to announce the selection of a preferred b

WASHINGTON -- The United States has condemned North Korea's missile launch as a threat to its neighbors and the international community, a State Department spokesperson said, urging Pyongyang to engage in dialogue. "The United States condemns the DPRK's missile launch. This launch is in violation of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions and poses a threat to the DPRK's neighbors and the international community," the spokesperson said in a statement Monday (local time), just hours a

"Squid Game," Netflix's new Korean survival drama, may become the global streaming entertainment giant's most successful original content ever, its chief has said. "Squid Game will definitely be our biggest non-English language show in the world, for sure," Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said Monday (US time) during Code 2021, an annual technology conference hosted in Beverly Hills, California, by American media company Vox Media. "It's only been out for nine days,

The number of South Koreans in the agrofisheries sector is continuing to fall because of a rapid aging and urbanization trend in the country, government data showed Tuesday. Households engaging in the farming business totaled 1.03 million last year, down 4.9 percent from 1.08 million tallied in 2015, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The number of farmers also fell to 2.34 million in 2020, compared with 2.56 million tallied in 2015. In the fishing sector, the number of families