South Korea's money supply grew in April as rising interest rates led to an increase in deposits, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's M2, a key gauge of the money supply, stood at 3,667.1 trillion won ($2.84 trillion) on average in April, up 8.5 trillion won, or 0.2 percent from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The rise followed a 0....

Police have investigated over 5,000 cases for suspected violations of the anti-stalking law in the first five months since it went into effect, the Korean National Police Agency announced in its yearly white paper earlier this week. The 237-page report analyzed 5,248 investigations among 5,707 reported stalking incidents as of March this year, five months since the law took effect in October 202...

Stagnant ‘K-musicals’ Perhaps aiming for a global stage back in 2007 was going too fast at the time. It was less than 10 years after the first licensed musical was introduced, and South Korea’s musical industry was still growing. Now, Park believes Korea’s musical industry, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the revenue generated in the performing arts sector in the country, has great p...

Shares of Hybe, the agency behind K-pop sensation BTS, fell almost 25 percent on Wednesday, rattled by the boy band’s announcement that it will take time off from group activities to pursue solo projects. Hybe shares closed 24.87 percent lower from the previous session at 145,000 won ($112.5). It had opened at 168,000 won after closing at 193,000 won in the previous session. Within the first ho...

“I did not like the part where I talk to myself. … Oh, and also I look fat in the movie.” Jung recently came to public light by appearing in the popular tvN drama “Our Blues.” Jung performed Young-hee, a character with Down syndrome who has a talent for drawing. The drama showed difficulties that people with disabilities and their families go through but also Young-hee hanging out with other cha...

BTS, which debuted as a hip-hop group in 2013, is a K-pop boy band that has expanded the horizons of Korean pop music to the world stage. Thanks to its eye-catching dance performances and friendly communication strategy through social media, the seven-member act gradually gained popularity among fans outside Korea and made its presence felt in the global music industry. With several mega-hit so...

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Wednesday that the government will use every possible policy measure to stabilize prices and people's livelihoods amid rising concerns of economic slowdown and higher inflation. Choo made the remark at a ruling party-government consultative meeting on economic policy, asking for parliamentary support for efforts to overcome the economic crisis. "We are in a d...

Global investment bank JP Morgan on Wednesday forecast that South Korea's central bank could take a "big step" of raising its interest rate by 50 basis points as part of efforts to keep a lid on growing inflation pressure. JP Morgan also expected the Bank of Korea (BOK) to continue the sequence of its rate hikes in the months to come and raise the rate to as high as 3 percent by the end of the y...

Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. Answer: 아니 아직 Ani, I have not. “Ani,” which usually means “no” in Korean, may be one of the most versatile expressions in the Korean language. The most common usage of “ani” is as an exclamation you say in order to disagree. You can say “ani” as the response to a question or to correct a ...

South Korea's car exports rose 19.1 percent in May from the previous year on the back of global popularity of eco-friendly cars, data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments of automobiles stood at 182,869 units last month, compared with 150,894 units a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, auto exports grew 18.9 percent on-year to ...

President Yoon Suk-yeol defended his wife Wednesday after she drew criticism for taking a friend along on a visit to pay respects at a former president's grave earlier this week. First lady Kim Keon-hee traveled to Bongha village, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Monday to visit the grave of former President Roh Moo-hyun and meet with his widow, Kwon Yang-sook, at her home. Photos lat...

The bandmates spoke about the frustration and confusion they faced in working endlessly as a K-pop group, which was not limited to just music. The seven men, whose ages range between 26 to 29, have not taken an official hiatus since debuting as a band in 2013. “Right now when we are at our best, I feel like we should be contributing in some way to the world, but I don’t know what that is and I s...

A Seoul court on Wednesday began a hearing to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for former Industry Minister Paik Un-gyu over allegations that while in office he forced the heads of energy-related state firms to step down. Paik, the former Moon Jae-in administration's first minister of trade, industry and energy, is under suspicion of having forced the resignation of heads of 13 state-ru...