K-pop sensation BTS flew to New York on Saturday to attend a United Nations event as a special presidential envoy. The chart-topping group is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony for the Sustainable Development Goals Moment of the Decade of Action event in New York on Monday (US local time), along with President Moon Jae-in. The president appointed the seven-member group as a "special presidential envoy for future generations and culture" Tuesday. BTS will give a speech in New Yo

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases fell below 2,000 on Sunday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but concerns linger over a spike in transmissions after the Chuseok holiday, when millions of people usually travel across the country to meet relatives. The country reported an additional 1,910 COVID-19 cases, including 1,871 local infections, raising the total caseload to 285,931, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The country added 10 more deaths from COVID-19, r

South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived in New York on Sunday to attend an annual session of the United Nations General Assembly. He plans to deliver a keynote speech on Korean peace and Seoul's role in resolving global challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and climate crisis, according to his office. His five-day visit to the US, which will also take him to Hawaii for an alliance event, comes as Korean people celebrate Chuseok, one of their biggest and most important traditional hol

Many sections of major highways in South Korea remained congested with heavy traffic Saturday morning as millions of people headed to their hometowns to celebrate the Chuseok holiday with their families. According to the Korea Expressway Corp (KEC), cars moved at a slow pace in some sections of the major highway linking Seoul to the country's second-largest southern port city of Busan as of 8:10 a.m. Traffic congestion was also spotted on the western highway along the country's western coast

  South Korea's daily coronavirus cases exceeded 2,000 for two consecutive days Saturday amid worries about a possible upsurge after a major holiday when people are expected to travel across the country in droves. The country reported an additional 2,087 COVID-19 cases, including 2,047 local infections, raising the total caseload to 284,022, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The country added five more deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 2,3

Eastar Jet Co., a debt-ridden South Korean budget carrier, said Friday it has submitted restructuring plans to a bankruptcy court to finalize an acquisition deal with a local property developer, aiming to resume flights next year. Eastar Jet submitted its debt repayment and other rehabilitation plans to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court, three months after Sung Jung Co. signed a deal to buy an 80 percent stake in the low-cost carrier for 108.7 billion won ($97 million). Eastar is required to first

South Korean stocks closed higher Friday ahead of a three-day holiday as investors weighed the pace of the economic recovery from the pandemic. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 10.42 points, or 0.33 percent, to close at 3,140.51 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 575 million shares worth some 14.6 trillion won ($12.4 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 491 to 380. Foreigners bought a net 46 billion won, while

The annual exodus for Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, began Friday as South Koreans head to their hometowns for family reunions and take trips during the extended holiday. This year's three-day Chuseok holiday runs from Monday to Wednesday and it is extended by an extra two days due to the preceding weekend. Traditionally, Koreans head back to their hometowns to be with their family members and visit their ancestors' graves to commemorate them. The nationwide exodus is expected t

South Korea has larger class sizes and lower employment rates among the highly educated than Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) averages, the education ministry said Friday. According to the latest edition of the OECD's "Education at a Glance," released by the Ministry of Education, elementary and middle school classes had an average of 23 and 26.1 students, respectively, in 2019. The figures were lower than 23.1 and 26.7 from 2018 but still higher than the OE

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday it has injected a smaller amount of bank notes into circulation this year than a year earlier ahead of the Chuseok fall harvest holiday as private consumption has slumped amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The BOK provided a net 4.8 trillion won ($4.08 billion) worth of bills to financial institutions during the 10 working days before the holiday, down 4.8 percent compared with the same period last year. This year's Chuseok holiday, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiv

Four Army soldiers and four airmen have tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising the total caseload reported among the military population to 1,681, the defense ministry said Friday. Three airmen in the eastern coastal city of Gangneung were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after a virus case was reported at their base, while an Air Force officer in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, was found to have been infected after a business trip, according to the ministry. In the west

South Korea plans to start to compensate pandemic-hit small merchants from late October for their losses incurred by anti-virus restrictions, a senior government official said Friday. The government set aside 1.03 trillion won ($873 million) to operate a state scheme to compensate small merchants for losses that have been generated since July due to state orders to shut down or suspend business over the pandemic. "The government is making seamless preparation to provide compensation to the

Stock transactions in South Korea spiked more than 70 percent in 2020 amid an investment craze among retail investors, data showed Friday. The value of stock trading in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 35,397.3 trillion won ($30.2 trillion) last year, up 70.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The on-year growth rate is much higher than the 6 percent increase recorded the previous year. In the first six months of the year alone, stock

More than 110 trade secrets from South Korean businesses and institutions have been leaked to overseas rivals over the past five years, data showed Friday, with the semiconductor and display industries being the primary targets. The number of trade secrets stolen from South Korean firms from January 2016 to August this year came to 112, according to the data released by Rep. Kim Kyung-man of the ruling Democratic Party, compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. By sector, those lin

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Group said Friday it has launched a pilot project to deploy a robot to inspect safety at its factory, the first collaboration with US-based startup Boston Dynamics. The automotive group said the factory safety service robot based on Boston Dynamic's four-legged robot Spot went into pilot operation at its subsidiary Kia Corp.'s plant in Gwangmyeong, southwest of Seoul. It is the first project launched between the two companies after the automotive group in Jun