South Korea and the United States have agreed to maintain close ties in the goal supply chain and continue to make joint efforts to speed up the delivery of vaccines around the globe, the trade ministry said Tuesday. South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo met his US counterpart, Katherine Tai, in Washington on Monday (US time) and shared ideas on ways to cope with the changing business environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. During the

Hyundai Motor Co. said it began accepting preorders on Tuesday for the upcoming mini SUV Casper ahead of its launch in South Korea later this month. Hyundai said it is accepting early orders only through its official online channel, the first such attempt by a Korean automaker, to reflect growing demand for contactless car purchases amid the pandemic. In time for its official launch on Sept. 29, Hyundai said it will host a digital showcase event and reach out to customers through various digi

Rev. Cho Yong-gi, the founder of Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, died Tuesday. He was 85. The pastor emeritus of the world's largest congregation passed away at 7:13 a.m. at a Seoul hospital. He had been under medical treatment suffering a cerebral hemorrhage since last year. In 1936 in the southeastern rural county of Ulju, he was born to a family with Buddhist belief. His family moved to the southern port city of Busan after the 1950-53 Korean War broke out. He is known to have come to beli

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed under 1,500 for the second straight day Tuesday as health authorities worry about a potential virus flare-up during a major holiday that starts later this week. The country added 1,497 COVID-19 cases, including 1,463 local infections, raising the total caseload to 275,910, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest caseload was up 64 from 1,433 cases the previous day. Virus cases usually begin spiking Wednesday whe

South Korea and Australia have urged North Korea to return to talks "without preconditions," stressing that diplomacy and dialogue are essential to bringing peace on the Korean Peninsula. The two countries made the call in a joint statement adopted following the biennial "two plus two" talks of foreign and defense ministers that took place in Seoul on Monday. The talks came amid renewed concerns after the North test-fired a new type of long-range cruise missiles over the week

The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan were set to hold trilateral talks in Tokyo on Tuesday about efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea, amid renewed tensions over the recalcitrant regime's recent missile launches. The talks between Seoul's nuclear negotiator, Noh Kyu-duk and his US and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi, respectively, come after the North test-fired a new type of long-range cruise missile over the weekend amid signs of its

The unionized workers of Seoul Metro, operator of the Seoul subway system, called off a planned walkout that was set to take place Tuesday as they reached a last-minute deal with the management. The deal was reached shortly before midnight following a marathon negotiation that began at 3 p.m. Under the agreement, Seoul Metro withdrew its earlier plan to lay off 1,539 workers, or 10 percent of its workforce. The parties also agreed to establish a consultation body between the management and the u

South Korean stocks opened steeply higher Tuesday as investors await the release of US consumer price data, seeking more clues about the Federal Reserve's timeline for tapering its stimulus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 15.92 points, or 0.51 percent, to trade at 3,143.78 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.76 percent, largely on expectations that the Fed would not hurry to roll back its accommodativ

A 2.2 magnitude earthquake struck South Korea's southeastern region early Tuesday, the state weather agency said. The quake occurred 11 kilometers southeast of Miryang, a city about 390 km southeast of Seoul, at 3:36 a.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). The epicenter was at 35.41 degrees north latitude and 128.78 degrees east longitude at a depth of 16 km. The KMA asked people to be mindful of their safety, as the tremor could be felt in regions close to the epicente

The United States remains open to diplomacy and dialogue with North Korea, a White House spokesperson said Monday, despite North Korea's missile launch that it said poses threat to US allies in the region. Karine Jean-Pierre, principal deputy spokeswoman for the White House, said the US offer to meet anywhere, anytime also remains unchanged. "So you know our position has not changed when it comes to North Korea," she said when asked aboard the Air Force One en route to Boise, Idaho whe

South Korea's export prices rose in August, marking the ninth straight monthly gain amid a strong recovery in exports, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, rose 1 percent in August from the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the ninth consecutive month of an on-month rise. In July, the index rose 3.5 percent on-month. From a year earlier, the index jumped 18.6 perce

South Korea's top court has confirmed a lower court's order to seize Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.'s assets here to compensate wartime forced labor victims, judicial officials said Monday. The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the Japanese company's appeal of a court order to seize its six patent rights and two trademark rights registered in South Korea. In 2018, the top court ordered Mitsubishi to compensate South Korean workers who were mobilized into forced labor in the company's plants

South Korea and Australia reaffirmed their shared commitment to promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific region during their foreign and defense ministers' talks Monday, casting themselves as "like-minded" democracies amid China's growing assertiveness and North Korea's renewed threats. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, Defense Minister Suh Wook, and their Australian counterparts, Marise Payne and Peter Dutton, respectively, held their countries' fifth biennial "two-plus-two"

South Korean stocks edged up after choppy trading Monday as investors remained cautious after a fall on Wall Street last week amid concerns about rising inflation. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 2.1 points, or 0.07 percent, to close at 3,127.86 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 718 million shares worth some 13.3 trillion won ($11.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 579 to 286. Foreigners bought a net 139

Chung Sye-kyun, former prime minister and presidential hopeful, on Monday decided to drop out of the ruling party's presidential primary race, according to his campaign team representatives. The former business executive-turned-politician decided to end his primary race after holding a meeting with his campaign team and plans to hold a press conference to announce his decision at the National Assembly later in the day. Chung, a former six-term lawmaker, stepped down as prime minister in April