Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to report strong third-quarter earnings on the back of its semiconductor business and a weak won, analysts said Monday. The South Korean tech giant was projected to log 16.3 trillion-won ($13.8 billion) in operating profit for the July-September period, up 31.9 percent from a year earlier, while its sales were forecast to increase 12.2 percent on-year to 75.1 trillion won over the period, according to the data from nine local brokerage houses compiled by Yonh

South Korea will begin administering COVID-19 vaccines to pregnant women and younger children starting Oct. 18 as part of its efforts to inoculate more people amid little signs of letup in the fourth wave of the pandemic, health authorities said Monday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced the list of fourth-quarter vaccine recipients to achieve its goal of inoculating more than 80 percent of the country's adults by end of October and achieve herd immunity by November

President Moon Jae-in instructed his government Monday to make all-out efforts to tackle the rapid spread of COVID-19 infections across South Korea, Cheong Wa Dae said, as the country is preparing to implement measures in stages to ease social distancing rules and recover the normal life of the public. He delivered the message to Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum during their weekly meeting, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. "In order to achieve the phased recovery of daily

First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun will visit Pakistan this week for policy talks with senior officials there on bilateral cooperation and regional security, the foreign ministry said Monday. Choi is set to attend the 11th South Korea-Pakistan policy consultative meeting with ranking Islamabad officials Wednesday. The two countries last held the policy session in Seoul in November 2018. Choi plans to use the meeting to express appreciation to the Pakistani government for its support for S

More than 42 percent of 30-somethings in South Korea remained unmarried last year, census data showed Monday, underscoring the trend in which many young people delay or give up on marriage amid a prolonged economic slowdown. Out of 13.7 million singles aged 15 and older, 2.82 million people in their 30s were single last year, up from 2.68 million five years earlier, according to the 2020 census by Statistics Korea. The percentage of unmarried people in their 30s reached 42.5 percent last year, u

The office of President Moon Jae-in said Monday North Korea needs to put its hotlines with South Korea back in operation first for consultations on ways to improve bilateral ties, including the possibility of another summit between their leaders. Park Soo-hyun, senior Cheong Wa Dae secretary for public communication, described it as a method to confirm Pyongyang's "will" to hold dialogue. He was referring to a statement by Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korea leader Kim Jong-un, that her

North Korea remained unresponsive to South Korea's calls via liaison and military hotlines Monday despite cautious optimism created after the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the two Koreas could discuss improvements in long-strained relations. "North Korea did not answer our opening call through the South-North joint liaison office at 9 a.m.," a unification ministry official said. A military official also said a call via the military hotline went unanswered. Kim Yo-jong,

South Korea said Monday it will start a cash-back reward program for card spending next month in an effort to boost private spending amid the fourth wave of the pandemic. The two-month scheme will allow people to receive up to 100,000 won ($85) per month if their card spending exceeds 3 percent of their monthly average use in the second quarter, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The government earmarked 700 billion won in its budget to fund the scheme, with an aim of boosting p

North Korea's recent missile launches show the "seriousness of threat" posed to the United States and South Korea, a Pentagon official said Monday, amid a conciliatory gesture from Pyongyang after a series of weapons tests. Siddharth Mohandas, US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, made the remark at the start of the biannual 20th Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) in Seoul to discuss regional security situations and pending alliance issues. "North Korea'

South Korea plans to unveil additional measures next month to curb household debts, the head of the financial regulator said Monday. Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Koh Seung-beom said such measures will focus on improving ways of calculating a household's ability to repay debts. Koh said the government will continue to take stricter measures to rein in household debts, calling such debts the "biggest potential risk" on the nation's economy. Since July, the FSC has a

North Korea is set to convene a session of its rubber-stamp legislature this week, drawing attention to whether any message to South Korea would come out of the meeting after the sister of leader Kim Jong-un expressed a willingness to improve inter-Korean relations. State media earlier reported a session of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) will be held Tuesday to discuss adopting laws on youth education and modifications to the national economic plan, as well as adopting the law on developing

Men have taken up more than 20 percent of admissions for nursing universities in South Korea for the first time this year, data showed Monday. According to Jongro Academy, one of the country's leading educational institutions for college admissions, 2,249 male students entered nursing universities in 2021, accounting for 20.5 percent of the total 10,993. The tally was up by 161, or 7.7 percent, compared to 2,088 enrollments last year. This marked the first time the proportion of male admissions

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases remained in the 2000s for a second day Monday amid concerns the daily caseload may sharply increase as more people get tested after the extended holiday. The country reported 2,383 new COVID-19 cases, including 2,356 local infections, bringing the total caseload to 303,553, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily caseload touched a fresh high of 3,272 on Saturday before slightly falling to 2,771 on Sunday. But health au

Hyundai Motor Co. said Monday it has restarted production at a local plant on the resumed supply of electronic components. Hyundai Motor halted the Asan plant from Sept. 15-17 due to a lack of chip parts, resulting in production losses of 3,000 vehicles, the company said in a regulatory filing. The 300,000-unit-a-year Asan plant produces the Sonata sedan and the Santa Fe SUV. Previously, the Asan plant suspended operations on Sept. 9 and 10 due to the parts problems and from July 13 to Aug.

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Monday as investors took a wait-and-see mode amid the country's spiking new coronavirus cases and concerns over China Evergrande Group's debt crisis. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slipped 0.23 points, or 0.01 percent, to 3,125.01 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a muted start amid spikes in South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases. On Monday, South Korea reported 2,383 new COVID-19 cases. Daily cases have