In the latest fallout from a COVID-19-related misconduct scandal, South Korean pitcher Han Hyun-hee withdrew from the Olympic baseball team Saturday. The right-hander was promptly replaced by former major league closer Oh Seung-hwan. Han, who pitches for the Kiwoom Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), admitted to and apologized for leaving the team hotel on a road trip last week for drinks with a teammate and three other guests. Contact tracing and epidemiological studies are und

One more service member of South Korea's Cheonghae anti-piracy unit off the coast of Africa has tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total caseload there to seven, the defense ministry said Saturday. Earlier this week, six service members of the 300-strong unit aboard the 4,400-ton Munmu the Great destroyer were confirmed to have been infected, and the authorities conducted virus tests on all other crewmembers. Fears of a mass infection have grown as around 80 others have shown s

South Korea's daily new coronavirus retreated to the 1,400s on Saturday, but authorities are considering slapping tighter social distancing rules outside the capital area amid the spiraling number of infections nationwide coupled with the concerns over the delta variant. The country added 1,455 COVID-19 cases, including 1,404 local infections, raising the total caseload to 176,500, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). On the previous day, South Korea added 1,5

South Korea's foreign ministry made an implicit call Saturday for Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming to be "cautious" after his comments on a presidential front-runner raised questions over whether they could amount to political interference. In a contribution to the local daily Joong-Ang Ilbo on Friday, Xing rebutted remarks by Yoon Seok-youl, a conservative presidential hopeful, from a recent interview about missile defense as "hardly understandable." Yoon had

South Korea on Saturday took down banners at its Olympic athletes' village with a nod to history, following a request from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) said the IOC had raised issues with the message written across a few banners, initially hung on balconies at South Korean athletes' rooms at the village in Tokyo. The letters translated as, "I still have support from 50 million Korean people." This was in reference to the

South Korean stocks closed lower Friday amid concerns about faster-than-expected inflation in the United States and the spreading new coronavirus pandemic at home. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 9.31 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 3,276.91 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 14.6 trillion won ($12.8 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 489 to 354. Foreigners sold a net 8

President Moon Jae-in stressed Friday that this weekend will be a watershed for South Korea's battle against the rapidly spreading coronavirus, especially the delta variant. He asked the people to refrain from making trips or having gatherings during the period. "The spread of the delta variant is scary," he wrote on his social media accounts. "But we cannot let our lives be swayed by the virus." In particular, he added, this weekend will be a "crossroads" in the

Only two North Korean defectors arrived in South Korea in the second quarter, the lowest number ever since the government began compiling quarterly defector data in 2003, the unification ministry said Friday. The number of incoming defectors has gradually decreased since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic due to restrictions on cross-border movements, dropping significantly to 12 in last year's second quarter from 135 in the previous quarter. The figure stood at 48 defectors in the third qu

South Korea plans to offer face masks and COVID-19 diagnostic kits to its citizens in Myanmar next week, the foreign ministry said Friday, amid a spike in new virus cases in the Southeast Asian country. The move followed reports that three South Korean citizens in Myanmar died recently after having tested positive for COVID-19. The country reportedly posted 7,083 new virus cases with 145 additional deaths Wednesday. "In consideration of the serious COVID-19 situation in Myanmar, the forei

Eight matches in the top South Korean football league have been canceled due to a rising number of coronavirus infections across the circuit. The Korea Professional Football League (K League) announced Friday that eight matches scheduled for July in the first-tier K League 1 will be contested at a later date to guard against the further spread of COVID-19. Four clubs -- Seongnam FC, Jeju United, Daegu FC and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors -- have reported 18 positive COVID-19 cases so far. The eight

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea fell in June from the previous month as some companies withdrew their FX holdings, central bank data showed Friday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $93.04 billion as of end-June, down $1.69 billion from May, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Residents include local citizens, foreigners staying here for more than six months and foreign companies. The data excludes interbank foreign currency de

The Bank of Korea (BOK) is preparing to begin normalizing its pandemic-era easing of monetary policy as it seeks to ease side effects of low interest rates, BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Friday. The remarks came a day after Lee strongly hinted it may conduct its first post-pandemic rate hike by the end of this year, despite a recent spike in COVID-19 infections. The BOK has "notified markets in advance that it could start normalization to ease side effects of low rates for too long if the eco

Budget carrier Air Premia Co. has obtained government approval for its operations amid the extended COVID-19 pandemic, the transport ministry said Friday. The ministry issued an air operator certificate (AOC) to Air Premia to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. "Air Premia needs to report its routes to the aviation authority before it begins flight services," a ministry official said. Air Premia plans to start services on mid-and long-haul routes initially with a 309

MSG Wannabe, an all-male act that formed on the popular Korean TV show "Hangout With Yoo," is going strong on South Korean music charts. The eight-piece act is far from a typical K-pop band. The group consists of a comedian, singers and actors -- including two in their 50s and three in their 30s -- and their name MSG Wannabe comes from monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is often derided here for being a junk food ingredient but making food flavorful. Nonetheless, the project group t

SK hynix Inc., South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker, is expected to deliver strong second-quarter earnings, analysts here said Friday, due to a rise in memory chip prices. SK hynix was estimated to log 9.92 trillion won ($8.6 billion) in sales in the April-June period, up 15.3 percent from a year earlier, while its operating profit was projected to reach 2.76 trillion won, up 41.8 percent from a year ago, according to the data from 11 local brokerage houses compiled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial n