South Korea's consumer prices grew more than 2 percent for the fourth straight month in July on higher prices of farm and oil products, data showed Tuesday, raising expectations that the central bank will hike its key rate within this year. The consumer prices rose 2.6 percent on-year in July, accelerating from a 2.4 percent on-year gain the previous month, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The pickup in inflation was due largely to last year's low base and the tight supply o

South Korean superband BTS sat atop Billboard's main singles chart for the 10th consecutive week, with "Butter" leading the latest Hot 100. "'Butter' is officially No. 1 on this week's #Hot100 chart for a ninth week," Billboard said on its Twitter account on Monday (US time). The song had sat atop the main singles chart for seven consecutive weeks before giving way to a new BTS song, "Permission to Dance," and returning to the throne last week. After spending nin

TOKYO -- South Korean gymnast Shin Jea-hwan did something on Monday that only one other gymnast from the country had done: winning an Olympic gold medal.    And after grabbing the men's vault title at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, Shin paid tribute to the man that came before him, the 2012 Olympic vault champion Yang Hak-seon.    Shin and Yang both competed in the vault event here. Shin won the qualification stage, but Yang finished ninth, just missing out on the final, w

      South Korean game developer Netmarble Corp. said Monday it plans to acquire Hong-Kong based social casino game company SpinX Games in a deal estimated at $2.1 billion.    Under the plan, the South Korean company will purchase a 100 percent stake in Cayman Island-based Leonardo Interactive Holdings Ltd., which fully owns the social casino game developer.    SpinX Games, established in 2014, operates various types of mobile casino content, including

  TOKYO -- South Korean gymnast Shin Jea-hwan vaulted into the record books at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, winning the men's vault gold medal to become only the second Olympic gymnastics champion from the country.    Shin scored 14.783 points on average after two vaults in the final held at Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo, beating Denis Abliazin of the Russian Olympic Committee for the gold medal. Shin had 14.733 points with his first vault and 14.833 with the next one. &n

   The head of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Monday urged South Korea and the United States to proceed with their annual summertime military exercise as planned, despite North Korea's latest warning that the drills will complicate future inter-Korean ties.    On Sunday, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the North's leader Kim Jong-un, issued a statement saying that the combined Seoul-Washington exercise could undermine efforts to improve inter-Korean relations at &q

TOKYO -- By reaching the semifinals of the men's table tennis team event at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, Korea has set up a likely showdown against China, the singular force in international ping pong.    Korea defeated Brazil 3-0 in the quarterfinals earlier in the day at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Though China still had to beat France later in the evening to reach the semifinals, no South Korean player expected to see anyone else but China.    Lee Sang-su sa

The office of President Moon Jae-in stressed the need Monday for the two Koreas to maintain their direct communication channels. It was responding to the warning Sunday by Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister who is in charge of inter-Korean affairs as a senior Workers' Party official. She pressed South Korea to cancel its annual joint military exercises with the United States scheduled to kick of next week. Kim stated that the plan for the drills could undermine efforts to re

SAITAMA -- What a difference five years can make. Before making her Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, South Korean LPGA star Park In-bee was dealing with a left thumb injury. The condition was such that she'd barely played on the tour for a few weeks before the Olympics. She even heard whispers that she should cede her spot to another, healthier golfer. Park stuck to it and captured one of the most memorable gold medals for South Korea that year. The LPGA Hall of Famer is back, still g

Virus or not, a growing number of people have been caught attending parties in violation of COVID-19 rules, with some business owners opting to open and pay a fine than not open at all. South Korea has experienced a surge in COVID-19 infections in recent weeks, with more than 1,000 new cases daily since July 7. To contain the outbreak, which has been blamed on increased travel during the summer vacation season and the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, authorities have placed the ca

YOKOHAMA -- Lost amid South Korea's offensive outburst in an 11-1 win over Israel in the Tokyo Olympic baseball tournament on Monday was yet another outstanding relief appearance by Cho Sang-woo. The closer for the Kiwoom Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has been one of the most valuable middle relievers for the national team. He has pieced together 4 1/3 scoreless innings in three appearances so far, as South Korea heads into the semifinals scheduled for Wednesday. Cho's bigges

TOKYO -- It was a match that nobody won but then everybody won. Two South Korean tandems met for bronze medal in the women's doubles badminton event at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday. Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong defeated Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan 2-0 (21-10, 21-17) for the country's first and only medal out of badminton here. All four players shed tears, though reasons for their emotional displays were vastly different. Kim and Kong were obviously overjoyed, but at the same time, they f

North Korea has sent detailed information to South Korea on fishing boats operating illegally in the Yellow Sea via inter-Korean military hotlines restored last week, government sources said Monday. Last week, the two sides reopened all cross-border communication lines, including military hotlines, 13 months after Pyongyang cut them off in protest over anti-regime propaganda leaflets flying in from the South. "The North has sent a fax message at 9 a.m. every day, which carries details abo

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Noh Kyu-duk, held phone talks with his Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, on Monday to discuss cooperation to foster lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, the foreign ministry said. The talks came after last week's restoration of inter-Korean communication lines raised hopes for the resumption of nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang, though Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned Sunday the planned summertime military drills betw

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the number of people in South Korea who are either fully or partly vaccinated would soon top 20 million. He was emphasizing that the nation's vaccination campaign is on track despite the unrelenting spread of COVID-19. "By tomorrow, a total of more than 20 million people will have received at least one dose of vaccine," he said during a weekly meeting with senior Cheong Wa Dae secretaries. There is no problem in the government's scheme to give