South Korea's exports rose 30.7 percent on-year in the first 10 days of September on the back of robust demand for petroleum products and autos, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $19.5 billion in the Sept. 1-10 period, compared with $14.9 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports soared 60.6 percent on-year to $21 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $1.46 billion during the cited period, the data showed. By sect

LG Innotek Co., a major electronics parts maker in South Korea, said Monday it has developed an environmental friendly magnet that boasts enhanced magnetic strength. LG Innotek said the latest magnet, which it developed together with Sunglim Group Industry Co., reduces the use of heavy rare-earth (HRE) metals, a key ingredient of magnets, by 60 percent compared with previous ones. Such a magnet is installed in products that need power with its magnetic pushing and pulling force. The company said

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Monday as investors braced for a fall on Wall Street last week amid concerns over rising inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 1.17 points, or 0.04 percent, to 3,124.59 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a slow start, following North Korean state media saying Monday the communist state had successfully test-fired a new type of long-range cruise missile over the weekend. Local stocks also came under

North Korea's foreign ministry on Monday accused the United Kingdom of severe maltreatment of children and warned against meddling in the human rights of other countries. The ministry said on its website a recent report by the Netherlands-based "Kid's Rights Foundation" has ranked the UK in 169th among 182 countries, calling it a "fair and objective judgment" by the international society about the miserable situation of children's rights in the UK. "One Western media d

Sales of high-end imported cars spiked nearly 66 percent in the first eight months of the year amid the popularity of big-ticket eco-friendly models among local motorists and a post-lockdown shopping spree, industry data showed Monday. A total of 45,042 imported vehicles with price tags of 100 million won ($85,700) or higher were sold in South Korea in the January-August period, up 65.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Associ

Foreign investors remained net sellers of South Korean stocks last month, extending their selling spree for a fourth consecutive month, data showed Monday. Foreigners sold a net 7.81 trillion won ($6.68 billion) worth of local stocks in August, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). British investors sold a net 1.3 trillion won of stocks last month, while investors from Switzerland net purchased 400 billion won worth of stocks, according to the FSS. As of end-August,

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases dropped under 1,500 on Monday due to fewer tests as health authorities focus on their virus response during the Chuseok holiday that starts this week. The country added 1,433 COVID-19 cases, including 1,409 local infections, raising the total caseload to 274,415, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest caseload was down 322 from 1,755 cases the previous day. Virus cases usually begin spiking Wednesday when more peop

Ulsan Hyundai FC, currently leading the top South Korean football league, will open their bid for a second straight continental title this week. Ulsan will be among four K League 1 clubs to play a round of 16 matches at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday. Ulsan, the 2020 champions, will host Kawasaki Frontale at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan, 415 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Before that, Daegu FC will play Nagoya Grampus at T

S econd Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon will visit Qatar and Oman this week for talks on bilateral cooperation, and regional and international issues, the foreign ministry said Monday. During his trip to the region from Monday to Thursday, Choi plans to meet senior officials in Qatar to express Seoul's gratitude to the country's cooperation over the withdrawal of its embassy staff from a war-torn Afghanistan and discuss related cooperation, the ministry said. After the Taliban's return to

North Korea has successfully test-fired a new type of long-range cruise missile over the weekend, state media reported Monday, a low-level provocation amid stalled talks with the United States. The test-firings, which took place Saturday and Sunday without leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, came right after the North held a scaled-down military parade, and appeared to be intent on demonstrating its military power in a low-level provocation without violating UN sanctions. The North is banned fro

SEOUL/WONJU -- Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung clinched two consecutive electoral victories Sunday in the ruling Democratic Party (DP)’s primary votes to pick its presidential candidate, solidifying his landslide lead. Lee finished first in one of the party‘s three rounds of electoral college votes, released in a regional primary event in Oak Valley Resort in Wonju, Gangwon Province, earlier in the day. The governor garnered 51 percent of the 496,672 ballots cast by in the

Typhoon Chanthu, the season's 14th tropical storm, is forecast to affect South Korea this week, with heavy downpours expected for Jeju Island and southern coastal regions, the state weather agency said Sunday. The typhoon was located 170 kilometers southeast of Taipei as of 9 a.m., heading northeastward at a speed of 21 kilometers per hour, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Its maximum wind speed was clocked at 50 meters per second. The KMA said the storm is expected to

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to defend its top spot in global semiconductor sales in the third quarter of the year, a report showed Sunday, on the back of strong memory demand. Samsung, the world's largest memory supplier, was projected to log $22.32 billion in semiconductor sales in the July-September period, up 10 percent from a quarter earlier, and maintain its lead against Intel Corp., according to the latest McClean Report from market researcher IC Insights. Intel was estimated to co

North Korea on Sunday denounced the US-led war in Afghanistan as a "human rights crime," accusing Washington of committing "atrocities of mass destruction" against innocent people of the country. In a statement posted on its website, titled "US Be Brought to Justice at All Costs for its Human Rights Crimes," the North's foreign ministry said the "hasty flight" of the US troops has brought an abrupt end to Washington's two-decade-long "counter-terroris

  South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo will visit the United States this week to discuss cooperation on various economic topics, including chip supply chains and vaccines, his ministry said Sunday. Yeo will visit Washington from Monday to Friday to meet his US counterpart Katherine Tai and American lawmakers to bolster economic ties between the two countries, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Yeo spoke with Tai last month, but it was through a virtual meeting. In