Samsung Group, the country's largest conglomerate, is likely to ramp up its investment and merger and acquisition with the parole of its leader despite controversy over the legitimacy, industry insiders said Monday. The parole board under the justice ministry approved Lee Jae-yong's release from jail after hours of review, making him free from Friday.  Samsung declined to comment on Lee's parole, but an official said the group breathed a sigh of relief following the justice ministry'

Countries have welcomed the restoration of inter-Korean communication lines in their joint statements adopted after a series of multilateral meetings led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last week, South Korea's foreign ministry said Monday.  Such phrases were included in all four chairman's statements from the ministerial meetings of South Korea-ASEAN, the East Asia Summit, ASEAN plus its three Northeast Asian dialogue partners -- South Korea, China and Japan -- and the

Renault Samsung Motors Corp., the South Korean unit of Renault S.A., said Monday it will partner with Lynk & Co. to develop an environment friendly vehicle in the Korean market. Renault Group has announced it will form a joint venture with Geely, the Chinese owner of Volvo Cars, to develop a Renault-brand hybrid passenger car for sale in China and a Lynk & Co-brand eco-friendly model for Korea, a company spokesman said over the phone. Lynk & Co. is the automotive brand formed as a

South Korean stocks retreated for the third straight session Monday after choppy trading, as an estimate-beating improvement in US jobs data increased concerns about an early tapering. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 9.94 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 3,260.42 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 685 million shares worth some 15.5 trillion won ($13.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 647 to 208. For

Hanwha Solutions Corp., the energy arm of chemical-to-financial conglomerate Hanwha Group, said Monday it will acquire a French renewable energy developer in line with its expansion strategy. Hanwha Solutions will purchase an entire stake of French wind and solar power plant firm RES Mediterranee for 984.3 billion won ($860 million) on Oct. 20, the company said in a regulatory filing. "The planned stake purchase is aimed at making a presence in the European renewable energy development ma

South Korea is expected to maintain a stable supply of pork products despite the latest outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) at a local farm, officials said Monday, although the country still needs to stay vigilant over the spread of the fatal animal disease. The combined number of domestic pigs at local farms was estimated at 11.1 million units as of the end of June, up 0.6 percent on-year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. South Korea rep

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken showed a willingness to consider different "options" and "possibilities" with North Korea in a renewed call for its return to dialogue during a regional forum last week, a Washington official said Monday. Kin W. Moy, a senior official for the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, made the remarks during a telephone press conference on Blinken's attendance at a series of forums led by the Association of Southeast Asi

South Korea and the United States will conduct a preliminary training this week in the run-up to next week's main summertime military exercise that North Korea has warned against staging, sources said Monday. The four-day crisis management staff training will begin Tuesday, followed by the computer-simulated Combined Command Post Training scheduled for Aug. 16-26, according to the sources. "The training is aimed at checking the response to unexpected crisis situations to return to peaceti

Hyundai Motor Co. said Monday it has resumed production at one of its seven domestic plants after a four-week suspension to prepare for the production of an electric vehicle. Hyundai halted the Asan plant from July 13 to Aug. 6 to upgrade the facilities before it begins production of the IONIQ 6 midsize sedan later this year. The 300,000-unit-a-year Asan plant produces the Sonata sedan and the Santa Fe SUV. In February, the maker of the Sonata sedan and the Palisade SUV unveiled the IONIQ5 al

Combined service output rose in all 16 provinces and major cities for the first time in six quarters in the April-June period with the South Korean economy on a recovery track, data showed Monday. Service output grew 5.7 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the fastest on-year gain since the first quarter of 2008, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Service production increased in all 16 provinces and cities for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2019, the data s

South Korea will try to help North Korea with recovery efforts in a flood-hit eastern province while leaving all possibilities open as to how to provide assistance, the unification ministry said Monday. The remark came a day after North Korean state media reported that leader Kim Jong-un ordered full state support for recovery efforts in South Hamgyong Province, hit hard by recent heavy downpours, and that the country held an emergency meeting of the provincial military commission to discuss re

Ex-Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, the front-running opposition presidential contender, saw his approval rating lose ground to become on par with that of Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung, a poll on prospective presidential hopefuls showed Monday. According to the survey conducted on 1,004 voters nationwide by the Korea Society Opinion Institute on Friday and Saturday, Yoon from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) garnered 28.3 percent of support, down 4 percentage points from a

Samsung Electronics Co.'s upcoming wireless earbuds are likely to be cheaper than its previous model, a report showed Monday, as the South Korean tech giant eyes to expand its presence in the premium segment of wearables. Samsung is expected to unveil its new wireless earbuds, the Galaxy Buds 2, at its online Unpacked event Wednesday, along with new foldable smartphones. Market researcher Counterpoint Research said the new hearables product is predicted to come out with a cheaper price tag comp

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Monday it has reached an agreement with Australia to maintain its exports of pears despite the outbreak of fire blight in the country. The country has been shipping pears produced in four designated regions under the condition that the country verifies that farms in the area are free of fire blight infections. The country reported a series of fire blight cases nationwide this year, including regions neighboring the designated farms. Fire blight is a co

Slightly more than half of all South Koreans do not support the idea of postponing the regular joint summertime military drills between Seoul and Washington, a poll showed Monday. In the poll of 500 people aged 18 and older nationwide conducted by Realmeter last Friday, 50.4 percent of the respondents said they do not agree with calls for delaying the allied military drills. Meanwhile, 45.3 percent said they do. Talk of delaying or scaling down the annual joint military exercise set to take pl