South Korea's consul general in Seattle has been under a probe by the foreign ministry for making "inappropriate" remarks to at least one staffer at the diplomatic mission, sources said Tuesday. Kwon Won-jik, who took the post in December last year, has been working from home since June as part of the ministry's measure to separate him from the victim while the investigation is under way, according to the sources familiar with the matter. It was not immediately clear what those "

South Korea's tax revenue rose 5.2 trillion won ($4.5 billion) in June compared with a year earlier amid an economic recovery and a boom in property and stock markets, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The country collected 20 trillion won in taxes in June, higher than the 14.7 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The government said corporate tax income increased due to the economic recovery, while a boom in asset markets bolstered capital gains t

Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday unveiled its new wearable processor built on 5-nanometer (nm) process as the South Korean tech giant tries to beef up its presence in the wearable device market. The Exynos W920 is the industry's first wearable processor made with advanced 5nm extreme ultraviolet lithography technology, boasting enhanced performance and power efficiency, according to Samsung. It is expected to be used in Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Watch 4 smartwatch that will come with a new u

LG Electronics Inc. on Tuesday said it will expand its streaming service on smart TVs as the tech giant tries to increase its presence amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend. The South Korean company said LG Channels will be launched in an additional 11 European countries, including Switzerland and the Netherlands, within this year. LG Channels, LG's free content streaming service set up in 2015, is currently available in 14 countries providing some 1,600 channels, but that will be expand

LG Uplus Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Tuesday it will offer Spotify to its mobile users for up to six months in a move expected to expand the music streaming service's presence in the country. The telecom operator said subscribers to its 4G LTE and 5G network plans will have free access to Spotify Premium, which costs 10,900 won ($9.5) a month here, for three to six months, depending on the price of their plans. The move virtually applies to all of LG Uplus' around 15 mil

South Korean cinema chain operators remained in a slump in the second quarter of 2021 but found a glimmer of hope for a rebound amid the protracted novel coronavirus pandemic, financial data showed Tuesday. CJ CGV, the No. 1 multiplex operator under the wing of entertainment giant CJ Group, said its operating loss reached 57.3 billion won ($49.9 million) over the April-June period, narrowing from an operating deficit of 130.5 billion won a year ago. Its sales shot up 288 percent to 161.7 billi

A top financial regulator called Tuesday for banks to set up tighter supervision of household debts as policymakers voiced warnings against growing financial imbalances amid a surge in home prices. Eun Sung-soo, the outgoing chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), made the remarks at a meeting with chief executives of financial holding firms earlier in the day. Eun also urged banks to preemptively act to keep household debts in check, the FSC said. Eun's remarks came as the Bank

Will she stay or will she go? It was on Sunday that the South Korean volleyball icon Kim Yeon-koung announced her retirement from international play, following the team's loss to Serbia in the bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics. But a little over 24 hours later, Kim didn't seem so sure anymore. Kim and the rest of her team arrived back home Monday night from Tokyo, greeted by dozens of fans at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, after making a surprising run to the semifinals

Samsung Electronics Co. was the world's fourth-largest vendor of Android 5G smartphones in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Tuesday, as Chinese makers aggressively expanded their presence. Samsung had a market share of 16.5 percent in the April-June period after shipping 15.6 million units of 5G smartphones powered by the Android operating system, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. China's Xiaomi led the market with a share of 25.7 percent after its shipments soa

South Korea and the United States on Tuesday began a preliminary training in the runup to next week's annual summertime military exercise amid the North's warning it will take a toll on inter-Korean relations, sources said. The four-day crisis management staff training is aimed at checking the military's response to unexpected situations before a war breaks out. It will be followed by the main computer-simulated Combined Command Post Training scheduled for Aug. 16-26, according to the sources.

Sales of department stores in South Korea grew at the fastest-ever clip in the second quarter of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. Local department stores saw their sales in terms of constant prices soar 20.3 percent on-year in the April-June period, according to the data from the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS). It was the largest-ever on-year increase for the second quarter since data tracking began in 1995. Industry watchers attributed the second-q

St. Louis Cardinals' South Korean pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun has landed on the injured list (IL) for the third time this season. The Cardinals announced Monday (US local time) that Kim is back on the 10-day IL with left elbow inflammation and the move is retroactive to Sunday. The left-hander had previously made two trips to the IL, first in April and then in June, with lower back issues. After giving up two runs in four innings against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday, Kim admitted he had been

WASHINGTON -- Nothing has changed for the need to maintain the joint defense readiness of South Korea and the United States, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday, emphasizing the importance of the allies' joint military exercises. John Kirby also reiterated any decision on the countries' joint military drills will be made jointly by the allies. "Nothing's changed about our need for readiness on the Korean Peninsula and our desire to work in lockstep with our ROK allies on a training regimen t

South Korean superband BTS' Billboard-topping hit "Butter" came in at No. 4 on this week's Billboard main singles chart, slipping from last week's top spot. "BTS' "Butter" drops to No. 4 after nine weeks atop the Hot 100," Billboard said on its website on Monday (US time). "It posts a 10th week at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales (79,200, down 30%) and returns to its No. 20 high on Radio Songs (31.6 million, up 4%)," it added. The summery song had sat atop t

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street over the resurgence of the new coronavirus and its delta variant. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 4.68 points, or 0.14 percent, to 3,255.74 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks retreated amid concerns that the highly contagious delta variant may hamper the ailing global economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3 percent, with the S&P 500 slipping 0.09 pe