A South Korean watchdog on personal information protection on Wednesday fined major foreign platform service providers nearly 6.7 billion won ($5.7 million) over privacy violations. The Personal Information Protection Commission meted out the penalty against Facebook, Netflix and Google and ordered them to fix the problems following its probe. Facebook was slapped with the heaviest penalty of 6.46 billion won. The commission said the US-based social network service provider created and stored

South Korean stocks advanced for a third consecutive day Wednesday amid increased investor caution over US tapering uncertainties. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 8.51 points, or 0.27 percent, to close at 3,146.81 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 558 million shares worth some 12.7 trillion won ($10.9 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 571 to 281. Foreigners bought a net 30 billion won, and institutions

Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. suspended assembly lines in its mainstay factory Wednesday due to a parts shortage following infections among employees of one of its suppliers, company officials said. Hyundai Motor halted three out of five plants in Ulsan, 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul, earlier in the day due to lack of some modules from its contractor, a company spokesman said over the phone. The three production lines make Palisade, Kona, Avante as well as Ioniq 5 electric vehicles an

South Korean energy company Hanwha Solutions Corp. said Wednesday its newly acquired tank subsidiary signed a $260 million deal with US energy firm Sunbridge Energy Services to provide storage tanks for compressed natural gas (CNG). Hanwha Cimarron signed the 10-year deal with the Texas-based Sunbridge Energy to deliver tube trailers containing dozens of vessels that can store CNG and other pressurized gases, such as hydrogen. It is the first time Hanwha Cimarron has won a supply deal for high

The National Assembly postponed a plenary meeting set for Wednesday, hours after the ruling party railroaded a controversial media bill through a parliamentary committee despite protests from opposition parties. National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug expressed his decision to put off the plenary meeting set for the afternoon, according to Rep. Han Byung-do, spokesman of the ruling Democratic Party (DP). The DP, controlling an absolute majority at the National Assembly, planned to push the

The justice ministry said Wednesday it will grant special stay permits to Afghans living in South Korea out of humanitarian concerns. The ministry said a total of 434 Afghans, who have been staying in the country on either short- or long-term visa, will benefit from the measure. The measure will remain in place until "the situation in Afghanistan becomes stabilized," the ministry said. Afghanistan remains in a state of chaos following the Taliban's seizure of power earlier this month

Samsung Electronics Co. was the third-largest tablet vendor in Western Europe in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Wednesday, as the South Korean tech giant tries to catch up to industry leader Apple Inc. Samsung logged a market share of 18 percent in the Western European tablet market in the April-June period after its Galaxy Tab shipments dropped 18 percent from a year ago, according to market researcher Canalys. Apple was the leading supplier with a market share of 36 percent

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Park In-ho will visit the United States this week for multilateral talks with leaders in charge of space and air operations, his office said Wednesday. Park will depart South Korea later in the day for a 10-day trip to Colorado and Hawaii at the invitation of US chief of space operations, Gen. John Raymond, and US Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, according to the Air Force. During his planned visit to the US Space Command, Park is scheduled to

North Korea said Wednesday that Cuba has captured an American attempting to smuggle people from Havana to the United States, calling it a "legitimate measure." The North's foreign ministry made the claim in an article on its website, saying the American approached the eastern coast of the Cuban capital on a speedboat on Aug. 7 in an attempt to take several Cubans to the US. "The Cuban Coast Guard seized the speedboat and captured the American who had violated the territorial wat

Four service members have tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising the total infections reported among the military population to 1,592, the defense ministry said Wednesday. A newly enlisted soldier at the Korea Army Training Center in Nonsan, some 200 kilometers south of Seoul, was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 while in isolation after a series of infections were reported there, according to the ministry. In the central city of Chungju, two airmen were found to have been infe

South Korean left-hander Yang Hyeon-jong has been recalled to the big leagues for the first time in nearly 70 days. The Texas Rangers said Tuesday (US time) they have called up three minor league players, including Yang, to fill open roster spots due to a COVID-19 outbreak on the team. Yang joined the 26-man major league roster for the first time in 69 days since he was sent to the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate, Round Rock Express, on June 17. In his first major league stint in April, Yang went

LG Electronics Inc. on Wednesday introduced a cloud-powered remote healthcare solution for hospitals as the tech giant eyes to expand its presence in the telehealth market. LG said its remote healthcare solution with medical-use displays is based on virtual conference platforms and can be used for online diagnoses of patients. Its solution, which the company developed together with local digital healthcare firm eZ Caretech Co., is compatible with hospitals' electronic medical records or hospit

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government will focus on supplying homes as planned in the second half in a bid to curb high-flying home prices. The minister said a tight supply for homes has somewhat eased since August as more people have begun to move into newly built apartments. "Increasing housing supply sufficiently is a key to stabilizing the property market," Hong said at a government meeting on the housing market. "The government will do its best to prov

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases spiked to over 2,000 again Wednesday, as the Seoul metropolitan area reported a record high daily caseload since the pandemic began amid growing concerns over untraceable and variant cases. The country added 2,155 more COVID-19 cases, including 2,114 local infections, from the previous day, raising the total caseload to 241,439, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The latest tally marked a sharp rise from 1,418 cases Monday

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street that were largely generated by easing concerns about the US Federal Reserve's tapering timeline. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 11.68 points, or 0.37 percent, to trade at 3,149.98 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Kospi got off to a solid start after rallying for the past two sessions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite advanced 0.52 percent as investors are op