SsangYong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said Tuesday its first-half net losses narrowed from a year earlier on self-rescue measures. From January to June, SsangYong Motor's net losses fell to 180.53 billion won ($154 million) from a net loss of 202.38 billion won during the same period last year, the company said in a regulatory filing. SsangYong's first-half operating losses also narrowed to 177.91 billion won from 215.78 billion won over th

All of four last-remaining South Koreans in Afghanistan, including the country's ambassador, have left the country, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. A plane carrying the four -- three diplomats and one civilian -- departed from the Kabul airport at around 9 a.m. (Seoul time) and is expected to land in a third country in the Middle East, the ministry said. The three embassy officials, including Ambassador Choi Tae-ho, had stayed behind in Afghanistan even after all other embassy staff evacua

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Tuesday the government plans to provide more than 70 percent of emergency relief funds to small merchants hard hit by the pandemic over the next two weeks. The move is aimed at accelerating the provision of cash handouts to pandemic-stricken merchants as the country is grappling with the fourth wave of the pandemic. The country plans to provide a total of 4.22 trillion won ($3.6 billion) in relief aid to micro business owners by the end of September as it crea

There are many ways in which the coronavirus pandemic has changed sports, not the least of which is unexpected disruption to playing schedules. Four clubs in the K League 1 are staring at a long week, as they play rescheduled matches on Wednesday following bouts with COVID-19, and then have to return to the pitch on the weekend for regularly-scheduled contests. Incheon United will host Seongnam FC at 7 p.m. Wednesday, while FC Seoul will bring home Jeju United at 7:30 p.m. on the same day. Th

With summer vacations ending, children started to return to their classrooms under relaxed distancing rules for schools Monday, despite an uncontrolled outbreak of the coronavirus. Last week, the Ministry of Education eased social distancing guidelines in schools for the fall semester. The measure was aimed at running in-person classes even under Level 4 distancing measures, the most stringent set of rules, as long as there are attendance caps to keep a safe distance among students in order to

Major Korean refiners posted strong earnings in the first half of the year thanks to solid petrochemical businesses, swinging from the pandemic-driven losses a year earlier, industry data showed Tuesday. Four refiners -- SK Innovation Co., GS Caltex Corp., S-Oil Corp. and Hyundai Oil Bank Corp. -- logged a combined 4 trillion won (US$3.4 billion) of operating profits in the January-June period, shifting from 5.1 trillion won of deficits from a year earlier, their earnings reports showed. Their

South Korean disaster comedy film "Sinkhole" has surpassed a cumulative 1 million admissions on the sixth day of its release, the fastest pace among homegrown flicks released this year, data showed Tuesday. The film, released last Wednesday, attracted 741,000 people over the Saturday-Monday Liberation Day holiday, bringing its combined total to 1.14 million, according to the data by the Korean Film Council. It topped the 1 million threshold on Sunday, becoming the eighth 2021 film to

Citibank Korea Inc., the South Korean unit of Citigroup Inc., will decide on its exit plan for its retail banking unit next week, an industry source said Tuesday. Citibank Korea will hold a board meeting Aug. 26 during which the lender will confirm how to sell the retail banking division. In April, Citigroup said it will exit consumer banking operations in 13 markets, including South Korea, as part of its global business reorganization. Four financial firms have conducted a due diligence of C

LG Display Co., a major display panel maker in South Korea, said Tuesday it will invest 3.3 trillion won ($2.8 billion) to expand its medium-and-small sized OLED display production capacity. The company said the investment, which will be made through March 2024, will be used in OLED facilities in South Korea that manufacture sixth-generation (1,500mm x 1,850mm) substrates. LG Display is the world's sole supplier of large-size OLED panels for TVs, but its competitiveness in the medium-and-

Fresh off an impressive goal against the champions Manchester City in his club's season opener, Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur has been selected to the Premier League's Team of the Week. Alan Shearer, the league's all-time leading scorer, named Son as one of his three forwards on his weekly All-Star squad Monday (England local time), flanked by Mohamed Salah of Liverpool and Richarlison of Everton. Son scored Spur's lone goal in the 55th minute of their 1-0 victory over Man City at Tottenh

Some foreign cryptocurrency exchanges have distanced themselves from South Korea as Korean authorities are set to enforce tighter regulations against virtual coins. By Sept. 24, cryptocurrency exchanges targeting Korean investors must register with the nation's anti-money laundering body and disclose their details on risk management. Under the tougher regulations, banks will issue real-name accounts in line with stricter guidelines to prevent money laundering. Beginning Sept. 25, cryptocurrenc

Preorders for Samsung Electronics Co.'s new foldable smartphones started Tuesday as the tech giant expects a sales boost with cheaper price tags. Preorders for the Galaxy Z Fold3 and the Galaxy Z Flip3, both unveiled last week at Samsung's Unpacked online event, will run through Monday in South Korea. Those who preordered Samsung's third-generation foldable smartphones will receive the products next Tuesday, three days before their official launch. Samsung has sharply lowered prices for its la

South Korea's exports and imports of camping goods reached a fresh high in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, a report showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy exported and imported $399 million worth of camping equipment last year, an all-time high and up 40 percent from the previous year, according to the report from the Korea Trade Statistics Promotion Institute. In the first half of this year alone, the country's trade in camping gear stood at $293 million, above the $285 million reg

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back to the 1,300s on Tuesday due to fewer tests over the extended weekend amid concerns over a potential upsurge down the road. The country added 1,373 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,323 local infections, raising the total caseload to 226,854, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Daily infections fell from 1,556 on Monday, 1,817 on Sunday and 1,930 on Saturday, but the decline was attributable to fewer tests over

Samsung Electronics Co. was the world's largest curved monitor vendor in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Tuesday, although its shipments decreased sharply from a quarter earlier. Samsung had a market share of 32 percent in the April-June period after shipping 1.09 million curved monitors, according to market researcher TrendForce. AOC/Philips, owned by TPV Technology Ltd., was the runner-up with a 12 percent market share with 410,000 units. Micro-Star International Co. and Dell