Nearly 7 in 10 South Korean senior citizens want to keep working until the age of 73 amid a rise in life expectancy, a survey showed Tuesday. The survey by Statistics Korea showed 10 million, or 68.1 percent, of the 14.76 million South Koreans aged between 55 and 79, said in May they want to continue to work in the future, up 0.7 percentage point from a year earlier. The elderly said they want to keep working until an average of 73, unchanged from the previous year. As for the main reasons fo

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki plans to issue a public message about the housing market Wednesday, the finance ministry said Tuesday, as the government seeks to stabilize high-flying home prices. Hong plans to hold a press briefing Wednesday to explain the government's assessment of the current housing market and state its housing policy goal, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Hong has repeatedly warned that housing prices could fall at any time as prices of apartments in the gre

Retails sales in South Korea rose 12 percent in the first half of 2021 from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday, as consumers were fatigued by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and became less reluctant to visit supermarkets and department stores. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers reached 75 trillion won (US$64.9 billion) over the January-June period, up from 67 trillion won posted in 2020, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The rebound mainly came

South Korea's top tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. will open another batch of royalty-free technologies in line with the government's efforts to promote shared growth among conglomerates and small and medium-sized firms, the industry ministry said Tuesday. Under the move, the world's top memory chip maker will allow 99 businesses to use its 172 cases of patents without paying royalties. The latest step will raise the number of patents shared by Samsung since 2015 to a whopping 784. Since 201

The two Koreas reopened direct cross-border communications Tuesday, Cheong Wa Dae announced, 13 months after Pyongyang unilaterally severed them in protest of anti-Pyongyang propaganda activities in the South. Park Soo-hyun, senior Cheong Wa Dae secretary for public communication, announced that Seoul and Pyongyang decided to resume communications via their direct hotline starting at 10 a.m. In June last year, North Korea cut off all communication lines with South Korea in protest over Seoul's

South Korea's trade ministry said Tuesday it has launched talks with ASEAN to update their free trade agreement (FTA) and further lower trade barriers, as the country seeks to diversify its trade portfolio and expand its presence in Southeast Asia. Officials from the two held a virtual meeting to discuss ways to expand their bilateral economic ties, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Asia's No. 4 economy and ASEAN implemented their FTA in 2007. ASEAN currently stands as

Twelve people affiliated with US Forces Korea (USFK), including five service members, have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US military said Tuesday. Two service members at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, 40 kilometers north of Seoul, and three service members at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of the capital, were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after developing symptoms, according to USFK. Four family members of a Department of Defense (DoD) employee and another DoD civ

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Tuesday it has approved a deal by an affiliate of Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH) to buy Doosan Infracore Co., the country's largest construction equipment maker. In February, HHIH inked a deal to acquire a 35 percent stake in Doosan Infracore for 850 billion won ($735 million) from its cash-strapped parent, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. In April, Hyundai Genuine Co., a wholly owned unit of HHIH, took over the parent's stake

TOKYO -- South Korean pistol shooter Jin Jong-oh fell short in his second bid for a record-setting medal in Tokyo on Tuesday, coming up empty-handed in his fifth and possibly final Olympics. Jin and his teammate Choo Ga-eun failed to make it out of the qualification round in the mixed team 10m air pistol event at Asaka Shooting Range in Tokyo. They finished the first qualification phase in ninth place with 575 points, with only the top eight moving on to the next qualification stage. The South

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday as investor sentiment improved over optimism for strong corporate earnings. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 23.62 points, or 0.73 percent, to 3,248.57 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks rebounded after the KOSPI closed down nearly 1 percent the previous session on market jitters about China's clampdown on education tech firms and its property market. Local large caps of various sectors continued to report

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed in the 1,300s for the second straight day Tuesday as health authorities strive to stem infections outside the greater Seoul area and the spread of the delta variant with toughened distancing measures. The country added 1,365 COVID-19 cases, including 1,276 local infections, raising the total caseload to 191,531, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily caseload was up 47 from the previous day. The country

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. said Tuesday its fleet of 30 Xcient fuel cell trucks will hit roads in California by early 2023, which will be the largest deployment of zero-emission commercial vehicles in the United States. Hyundai Motor said it will team up with public and private partners to deploy 30 Xcient heavy-duty trucks for regional freight distribution in Northern California by the second quarter of 2023. A consortium jointly led by the Center for Transportation and the En

BORYEONG -- The annual Boryeong Mud Festival has been selected as one of Asia's three major festivals by an international festival association, a local government said Tuesday. According to the city government of Boryeong, about 190 kilometers south of Seoul, its popular mud festival was designated as one of the Three Major Festivals of Asia by the International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) Asia. The two other festivals that received recognition were the annual Harbin Internationa

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a cemetery to pay respects to the soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War to commemorate the armistice that ended the fighting in the war, a state broadcaster reported Tuesday. The Korean War ended in the armistice signed July 27, 1953, leaving South and North Korea technically in a state of war. The North called the war the Fatherland Liberation War and designated the armistice signing date as Victory Day. Kim visited the Fatherland Liberation War

TOKYO -- Oh Sang-uk, world No. 1 in men's sabre fencing, never came close to a medal in the individual event of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. After falling in the quarterfinals over the weekend, Oh will have a chance at redemption Wednesday when he and three teammates compete in the men's team event at Makuhari Messe Hall B in Chiba, east of Tokyo. Oh, Gu Bon-gil, Kim Jung-hwan and Kim Jun-ho will try to bring South Korea its second gold medal in the men's team sabre in three Olympics. Gu an