South Korean banks' social contributions exceeded 1 trillion won ($871 million) for the second straight year in 2020 amid a coronavirus-caused economic downturn, a trade association said Monday. The Korea Federation of Banks said its 22 members, including lenders and other financial institutions, spent about 1.1 trillion won on social contribution activities last year. Their social contributions topped the 1 trillion-won mark for the second consecutive year, but the amount was a tad lower than

The head of the main opposition People Power Party on Monday reiterated his call for the abolishment of the gender equality and unification ministries, claiming they have outlived their lifespans as special missions ministries or had no roles from the outset. "The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Unification are given special missions, and it is time to evaluate the missions as more than 20 years have passed since their establishments," Lee Jun-seok, chairman

The number of employment insurance subscribers posted the largest year-on-year increase in 19 months in June in a sign of recovery of the pandemic-hit job market, government data showed Monday. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, there were 14.33 million subscribers to the state insurance plan last month, up 462,000 from June 2020. The increase was the biggest since November 2019, when the number jumped by 477,000 on-year. The ministry said the increase is attributable to stron

South Korean banks are likely to tighten their grip on fresh loans in the third quarter of the year amid tougher lending rules and rising household credit risks due to the coronavirus pandemic, a central bank poll showed Monday. The Bank of Korea said its index measuring the banks' attitude toward fresh lending stood at minus 3 for the July-September period, compared with 7 for the previous quarter. The lower the reading, the more likely banks will tighten their restrictions on lending. A read

Registration for preliminary presidential candidates opened Monday, kicking off what appears to be one of the most crowded presidential races in the nation's history. The National Election Commission (NEC) began the seven-month early registration period for candidates hoping to run in the March 9 election to pick a successor to President Moon Jae-in, whose term ends on May 9. Registrants are allowed to conduct limited campaign activities ahead of an official registration set for mid-February.

Eight members of the South Korean football club Seongnam FC have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, putting the resumption of their season next week in jeopardy. Seongnam and the Korea Professional Football League (K League) said Monday that two players and five staff members received positive results earlier in the day, hours after one of their coaches tested positive late Sunday. Seongnam said 31 players and 15 staffers were tested, and two are expected to get their results Tuesday.

SsangYong Motor Co. said Monday its employees began to take unpaid leave in rotation as part of self-help measures. Last month, SsangYong workers agreed to the company's offer of two-year rotational unpaid leave for 4,700 employees, an extension of a cut in wages and suspended welfare benefits until June 2023. In the first year through June 2022, 50 percent of assembly line workers in the Pyeongtaek plant, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, and 30 percent of office workers will take turns going on

Four more newly enlisted soldiers have tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total of recent infections at an Army boot camp to 88, the defense ministry said Monday. The enlistees at the Korea Army Training Center have been in isolation since last week after the center reported a cluster infection amid a new wave of COVID-19 infections across the country. The authorities have conducted virus tests on all camp members and carried out contact tracing, according to the ministry.

With the first half of the 2021 Major League Baseball (MLB) in the books, two South Korean pitchers have built some momentum for the remainder of the season, while two position players from the country will look to stay in the postseason hunt. MLB will enter the All-Star break following the conclusion of games Sunday in the US (local time). Two South Korean starters, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Toronto Blue Jays and Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals, both won their final starts of the first hal

Marvel Studios' latest movie "Black Widow" smashed the weekend box office in South Korea, surpassing a cumulative 1 million admissions in its first week of release, despite a new wave of coronavirus infections, data showed Monday. The superhero blockbuster attracted 984,000 people over the Friday-Sunday period, bringing its combined total to 1.36 million, according to the data from the Korean Film Council. It became the sixth title released in 2021 to top the 1 million threshold, fol

SK hynix Inc., the world's second-largest memory chip producer, said Monday it has started the mass production of DRAM with the latest 10-nanometer (nm) process technology. SK hynix said its 8 Gigabit Lower Power Double Date Rate 4 (LPDDR4) mobile DRAM is built on the 1anm node, using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. The 1a is the fourth generation of the 10nm DRAM process solution following the 1x, 1y and 1z. The South Korean chipmaker said it plans to supply the latest mobi

President Moon Jae-in's job approval rating climbed back to above 40 percent for the first time in 18 weeks, thanks to increased support from 30-something voters and independents, a poll showed Monday. In the survey conducted by Realmeter on 2,519 people over the age of 18 from July 5-9, Moon's job approval rating was recorded at 41.1 percent, up 3.1 percentage points from the previous week. The result marked Moon's highest performance in public polls since the 40.1 percent figure in the first

South Korea's exports rose 14.1 percent on-year in the first 10 days of July on the back of robust demand for chips, autos and petroleum products, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $15.1 billion in the July 1-10 period, compared with $13.2 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The country's exports are set to extend their gains to the ninth straight month in July if the current pace continues. Overseas shipments, which

Daegu FC have qualified for the round of 16 at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League for the first time, joining three other South Korean clubs in the knockouts at the continent's top club competition. Daegu blanked United City 4-0 in their final Group I match at Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent on Sunday (local time) and locked down the second seed in the group. Four players chipped in a goal apiece, with Tsubasa Nishi opening the scoring in the 37th minute. This will be Daegu'

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday as investors sought to buy oversold stocks after the benchmark index took a breather the previous session. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 22.86 points, or 0.71 percent, to 3,240.81 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came to a strong start after the Kospi retreated 2.64 percent in the past three sessions amid rising concerns over the fourth wave of the pandemic in the country. Market kingpin Samsung Electroni