South Korean stocks opened lower Friday as giant chipmakers suffered an extended slump amid concerns of a price fall of DRAM. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 11.9 points, or 0.37 percent, to 3,196.48 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks declined below the 3,200-point mark, largely on chip heavyweights' weeklong losses Foreigners continued to sell shares of large chip companies, following brokerage reports tat said demand for chips may decrease after t

Both volume and face value of damaged banknotes found in South Korea dipped in the first half of this year as people used cash less amid a non-contact consumption trend due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the central bank said Friday. In the January-June period, the face value of damaged banknotes discarded by the Bank of Korea came to 1.03 trillion won ($890 million), compared with 2.69 trillion won for the same period last year, according to the BOK. The volume of damaged banknotes also plunged 36

South Korea on Thursday raised the travel alert for two areas in Ethiopia's northern Amhara region amid escalating armed clashes in the country, recommending citizens cancel or delay plans to travel there. The foreign ministry issued the Level 3 travel alert for South Wollo and East Gojjam -- the second highest in the four-tier system, which asks citizens to cancel their travel plans and those already in the areas to move to safe places. The ministry said that it would continue to review whet

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and Eun Sung-soo, head of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), went into self-quarantine Thursday after having come into contact with government employees infected with COVID-19, officials said. Hong, who has come into contact with a ministry employee infected with the delta variant, will self-isolate until Thursday next week in line with health authorities' antivirus guidelines, although he has been fully vaccinated and tested negative recently. Due to his s

  South Korean volleyball star Kim Yeon-koung finalized her retirement from international play on Thursday, following a meeting with the head of the sport's national governing body. The Korea Volleyball Association (KVA) announced that Kim reaffirmed her decision to leave the national team in a meeting with KVA President Oh Han-nam earlier Thursday. Kim had first revealed her plans to retire from international play on Sunday, moments after South Korea's loss to Serbia in the bronze meda

South Korea's trade ministry said Thursday it plans to add more chartered shipping services for exporters as the global freight costs hit yet another record high level amid strong demand. Under the plan, the country will begin operating at least six new shipping services monthly in September, rising sharply from around two to three ships operated prior to June, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. A record high number of 18 ships will be added in August as well. "It i

Unionized Korean workers for US Forces Korea (USFK) protested Thursday that the American military has been reducing the size of the regular Korean workforce and hiring more irregular workers instead. The union held a press conference outside the National Assembly to demand a series of improvements to the workers' employment conditions, including job security and the direct hiring of subcontracted workers. "USFK's reduction of regular Korean workers and hiring of irregular subcontracted wo

South Korea and Turkey have signed their first currency swap agreement, in a move to boost trade between the two nations, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday. The three-year agreement, signed by the BOK and the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, allows for the exchange of local currencies between the two countries of 2.3 trillion won ($2 billion), the BOK said in a statement. "This agreement is designed to promote bilateral trade through a swap-financed trade settlement facility an

BUSAN/SEOUL -- A British nuclear-powered submarine accompanying the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier has arrived in the southern port city of Busan, the South Korean Navy said Thursday. The HMS Artful submarine docked at the port of the Naval Operations Command in Busan early Wednesday ahead of the aircraft carrier's port call later this month, naval officials said. The submarine plans to examine its equipment and load munitions. Its crew members are taking COVID-19 tests, they said. &quo

General Motors Co. and South Korean company LG Corp. will receive the 2021 Van Fleet Award for their contribution to strengthening ties between South Korea and the United States, a non-profit business organization said Thursday. The Korea Society, a nonprofit organization established to promote Korea-US relations, has annually given the Van Fleet Award since 1992 to individuals and organizations that helped strengthen the bilateral ties. The organization said it will deliver the award to the c

South Korea said Thursday it seeks to speed up its free trade negotiation with a group of South American countries, as the country aims to further expand its export portfolio. South Korea launched its negotiations with Mercosur -- Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay -- in 2018. The four countries make up around 70 percent of the population in South America and 68 percent of the region's economy. The seventh round of negotiations is slated to be held later this month. "The trade agree

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products hit a record high in July, data showed Wednesday, rising for the 14th consecutive month thanks to global demand for chips and displays. Outbound shipments of ICT products stood at $19.5 billion last month, up 30.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The figure marks a fresh high for July after reaching $18.5 billion in 2018. Imports reached $11.32 billion last mon

Shares in Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. -- South Korea's two largest chipmakers -- plunged amid concerns of a slowdown in memory demand, analysts said Thursday. As of 10:30 a.m., Samsung was trading at 77,600 won ($67) after a 1.15 percent decline, while SK hynix slipped 3.79 percent to 101,500 won. On Wednesday, Samsung shed 2.1 percent to close at 78,500 won, moving under the 80,000 mark for the first time since Aug. 2. SK hynix finished at 105,500 won after losing 6.2 percent, i

North Korea's top envoy in Russia has called for the US troops' withdrawal from South Korea and called the allies' joint military exercise a "war rehearsal," a Russian news agency said Thursday. North Korean Ambassador to Moscow Sin Hong-chol made the demand in an interview with Russia's TASS as Pyongyang recently ramped up criticism of South Korea for going ahead with its summertime combined military exercise with the US. "The US should primarily pull out its aggressive troops

Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, the leading opposition presidential contender, widened his lead over his rival from the ruling bloc, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, in a hypothetical two-way presidential race, the latest poll showed Thursday. According to the poll conducted by Realmeter on 2,031 voters nationwide from Sunday-Monday, 42.1 percent of the respondents said they will vote for Yoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) in a hypothetical two-horse race against Gy