South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday, tracking US stock losses from increasing price pressure that fueled concerns of faster-than-expected inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 16.5 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,254.88 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a weak start as an estimate-beating 0.9 percent on-year increase in US consumer prices in June fanned market worries that the world's largest economy may hasten the timeframe for

WASHINGTON -- Getting COVID-19 vaccine still remains voluntary for US forces, including those stationed in South Korea, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday, despite an ongoing surge in infection cases in South Korea. John Kirby also said there currently are no plans to require mandatory vaccination for any US troops. The spokesman said there was "no change to our policy on voluntary vaccinations" when asked if the Defense Department may enforce mandatory vaccination in light of a recen

No South Korean casualties have been reported so far in riots that erupted in South Africa, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, following reports of damage to an LG Electronics Inc. factory. At least 10 people have been killed and around 500 arrested since recent protests triggered by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma turned into violent rioting as mobs and others began to ransack shops and buildings. An LG TV factory located in Durban has been destroyed after multiple looting and

The South Korean baseball club Kiwoom Heroes announced Tuesday they've signed former major leaguer Will Craig. Craig will make $371,000 for the rest of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season as a replacement for David Freitas, who was released on June 23, in the Heroes' lineup. Craig, 26, was a first round draft choice by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2016 out of Wake Forest University. He appeared in just 20 major league games over the past two years, including 18 this year. He batted .203/

Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, who was a distant third in recent polls on presidential hopefuls, surprisingly topped conservative front-runner Yoon Seok-youl in a hypothetical two-way matchup, a survey showed Tuesday. Lee, who also served as the chief of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), scored 43.7 percent compared to former Prosecutor General Yoon's 41.2 percent in the poll conducted by WinGKorea Consulting. The result came as Yoon, a leading conservative candidate, is facing growing att

The leadership of the country's youngest-ever main opposition chief is being brought into question over a string of controversial political steps, one month after he rose to the party's top seat with a big media splash. Lee Jun-seok, chairman of the People Power Party (PPP), drew a major backlash not only from the ruling bloc but also inside his own party over a misguided agreement with his ruling party counterpart a day earlier to provide COVID-19 relief funds to all citizens. Lee and Rep. So

SEJONG -- South Korean archbishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik said Tuesday he will make "cultivating Catholic priests the era calls for" his top priority as the new prefect of Congregation for the Clergy of the Holy See. Last month, You was named to the post responsible for overseeing education and other matters regarding about 500,000 priests and deacons across the globe. The 69-year-old Catholic priest is the first South Korean appointed to a secretary position at the Vatican. "I w

South Korean stocks advanced for a second consecutive session Tuesday, backed by strong foreign and institutional buying that stemmed from optimism for strong corporate earnings and economic indicators for the second quarter. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 24.91 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 3,217.38 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth around 13.2 trillion won ($11.5 billion), wit

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker by sales, said Tuesday it will resume operations of its plant in Brazil this week following a 10-day suspension amid a global chip shortage. Early this month, Hyundai said it will halt the Piracicaba, Sao Paulo plant from July 5-14 due to lack of semiconductor parts.     "The plant will partially resume production on July 15 with one shift despite the parts shortage (after reducing output by one-third late last month).

Cryptocurrency exchanges that are based outside South Korea must register with the nation's anti-money laundering body if they use the Korean currency, a top financial regulator said Tuesday. Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo made the remarks when asked by a lawmaker whether Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, should comply with a revised law from September. If a cryptocurrency exchange serves local customers with the won-currency settlement, it must regis

South Korea has confirmed a total of 252 breakthrough COVID-19 infections involving people who tested positive for COVID-19 even after being administered with the full-dose vaccine regimen here, health authorities said Tuesday. Of the total, 143 were administered with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen COVID-19 vaccine followed by 59 with Pfizer's and 50 with AstraZeneca's, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The KDCA said similar cases may increase as the country's vacci

South Korea has confirmed 536 more cases of four major contagious variants of the new coronavirus over the past week, including 374 cases of the highly transmissible delta variant, health authorities said Tuesday. The caseload of such infections reached 3,353 here, with the number of delta cases first reported in India tallied at 790, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Of the newly confirmed variant cases over the cited period, there were 395 local infections

South Korea's ICT ministry said Tuesday it has opened a testing facility for products that run on 5G networks in a move to support small and mid-sized companies. The country has earmarked a total of 19.8 billion won ($13.8 million) from 2019 to 2023 to develop the testing center in Gumi, about 260 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. The facility aims to support local companies in checking whether their connected devices work properly on local and global

Through no fault of their own, the LG Twins have only played four games so far in July in the South Korean baseball league. And after the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) decided to suspend play Monday in light of multiple coronavirus cases from two clubs, it will stay that way for the rest of the month. KBO games scheduled from Tuesday to Sunday will be moved to later in the season, as the NC Dinos and the Doosan Bears have reported five combined cases of COVID-19. The league will then go on

The Minimum Wage Commission's decision on Monday to raise next year's minimum hourly wage 5.1 percent to 9,160 won ($7.98) drew heavy criticism from employers' and hard-line labor groups. Officials at the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), the more moderate of South Korea's two major umbrella labor unions, said Tuesday they will accept the state commission's minimum wage decision. But the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), an umbrella union known for its militant labor movemen