The "MZ generation," a Korean term referring to millennials and Generation Z, accounted for 35.5 percent of Seoul's population last year, the city government said Wednesday. The cohort of people born between 1980 and 1994 (millennials) and between 1995 and 2004 (Generation Z) numbered 3.43 million, the largest of all age groups, according to a study by the city government. Compared with the general population, the MZ generation appeared to put less priority on getting married and hav

All of the 272 service members of the anti-piracy Cheonghae unit who contracted the coronavirus are presumed to have come down with the highly transmissible delta variant, as the unit was conducting missions in waters off Africa, health authorities said Wednesday. The members of the 301-strong Cheonghae unit were airlifted home last month, cutting short their missions in Africa after 271 of them tested positive for COVID-19. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said 64 of the

The head of the minor opposition People's Party (PP) entered voluntary quarantine Wednesday after a party official tested positive for COVID-19. The PP announced that chairman Ahn Cheol-soo and some other party officials were tested for the coronavirus after another official who worked in the same PP headquarters until Friday was confirmed as infected this morning. Ahn decided to remain in isolation until he receives his results, the party said. According to the party, Ahn did not have close

The Bank of Korea (BOK) is expected to conduct two rate increases this year as its policymakers have turned more hawkish on an economic rebound, global investment bank JP Morgan said Wednesday. In a revised forecast on the BOK's rate policy, JP Morgan forecast the country's central bank could start its rate increase at this month's policy-setting meeting slated for Aug. 26. The BOK is also likely to raise the country's benchmark interest rate once during the fourth quarter of the year with ano

South Korea's ICT ministry said Wednesday it raised the country's cyber threat warning level by one notch higher from the lowest level to respond to growing cyberattacks and threats related to the country's COVID-19 relief funds. The government has a five-tier cybersecurity alert system, which is set at the second-lowest level as of 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. Under the higher alert level, the Korea Internet & Security Agency will expand monitoring o

TOKYO -- For a few moments after his South Korean team upset Turkey in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympic women's volleyball tournament Wednesday, head coach Stefano Lavarini still didn't know what had just happened. His celebration was more muted than his reaction to South Korea's five-set win over Japan last weekend in preliminary action. "I didn't realize we were going to the semifinals," the Italian-born coach explained afterward. "It wasn't because I wasn't happy."

SEJONG -- The number of multi-level marketing (MLM) firms operating in South Korea dropped in 2020 from a year earlier in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the antitrust watchdog said Wednesday. There were 122 MLMs in Asia's fourth-largest economy as of end-December, down eight from a year earlier, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). Last year's drop represents a turnaround from the uptrend in the number of MLMs in the country, which started in 2017. The FTC said the 2020 decrea

GWANGJU -- A five-day funeral process began here on Wednesday for South Korean mountaineer Kim Hong-bin, who went missing in mid-July soon after becoming the world's first person with a disability to ascend all 14 eight-thousanders in the Himalayas. Kim's funeral will be held at Yeomju Gymnasium in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, until Sunday, according to the city government. Kim's memorial altar was set up on the first floor of the gym for mourners, with his mountaineering equipment

South Korea's ruling party chairman suggested Wednesday reopening the long-shuttered inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea's border town of Kaesong will help build trust among the two Koreas and the United States, and ease tension on the Korean Peninsula. "Reopening the Kaesong Industrial Complex is very critical to building trust between the US, South Korea and North Korea," Rep. Song Young-gil, head of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), said during a session of the Aspen Sec

Online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in the second quarter as more people used e-commerce shopping platforms amid a contactless trend caused by the pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 46.9 trillion won ($40.8 billion) in the April-June period, up 25.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Amid an economic recovery and a non-contact consumption trend, online purchases of goods and services gained gro

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong has asked the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to back Seoul's efforts to foster a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula after the recent restoration of inter-Korean communication lines, his office said Wednesday. Chung made the remarks during Tuesday's virtual ASEAN Plus Three foreign ministerial meeting, which also involved China and Japan. Until Friday, the minister is set to join a series of virtual sessions led by the regional bloc, including t

The government will closely monitor the COVID-19 situation to decide whether to adjust social distancing restrictions later this week, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Wednesday. "(The government) will closely monitor the trends for one or two more days and decide the level of social distancing (guidelines) to be effective from next week during a Friday meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters," he said while chairing an interagency meeting on the coronav

TOKYO -- South Korea stunned Turkey in five sets in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympic women's volleyball tournament on Wednesday, with its captain and greatest player keeping alive hopes of winning her first medal. Kim Yeon-koung carried South Korea on her back with 28 points, as the 13th-ranked South Korea beat the fourth-ranked Turkey 3-2 (17-25, 25-17, 28-26, 18-25, 15-13) at Ariake Arena. In Friday's semifinals, South Korea will face the winner of the Brazil-Russian Olympic Committee

South Korean carmakers called on the European Union to be considerate in adopting stricter regulations to curb carbon dioxide emissions due to a possible impact on the automobile industry and consumers' rights, a local industry association said Wednesday. Last month, the European Commission released its "Fit for 55" legislation package aimed at cutting net greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030, higher than the previously set 40-percent target. The EU aims to ban the sale of

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea rose 23 percent in July from a year earlier despite the extended COVID-19 pandemic, an industry association said Wednesday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 24,389 units last month from 19,778 a year ago on strong sales of German vehicles, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. The three bestselling models last month were Mercedes-Benz's E 250 sedan and E220d 4MATIC sedan and