South Korea will accept rapid antigen tests for people boarding a flight to Korea and entering the country starting on Monday, the country’s health authorities said Sunday. Under the new entry rule, arrivals with a RAT result will be accepted if the test was taken no more than one day prior to travel. Arrivals with a negative polymerase chain reaction test result will continue to be accepted. T...

Oh Se-hoon, the Seoul mayoral candidate of the ruling People Power Party, says he will strive for more foreign investment and will transform Seoul into a “leading Asian financial center” if elected for the fourth time as Seoul mayor. “Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, is the heart and engine of the country, and managing the city’s affairs is no less significant than running the country,” O...

US President Joe Biden concluded his trip to South Korea after visiting a joint airspace control center on Sunday before leaving for Japan. During his three-day stay here, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to military and economic alliances and agreed to step up deterrence against North Korea. Before ending his trip, Biden visited the Korean Air and Space Operations Center at the US Ai...

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol formalized the country’s participation in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a US-led regional initiative, during his first summit with US President Joe Biden. As the two leaders have announced plans to elevate their strategic cooperation in economic and security areas, experts here say the South Korean administration is making an official shift in policy b...

Lotte World Tower, the world’s fifth-tallest building, located in Jamsil, Seoul, is illuminated with images of US and Korean flags and messages welcoming the US president during his three-day visit to Korea. President Joe Biden left Sunday afternoon for the second leg of his Asia tour.

The number of metaverse users across major virtual world platforms in South Korea has dropped sharply since social distancing measures were lifted, a report showed Sunday. According to big data analysis firm Mobile Index, the number of Roblox’ weekly active users recorded 773,678 during the period between May 9 and 15, a nearly 18 percent drop from the previous weekly figure. It was the lowest n...

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Group announced the second round of its investment plan Sunday, adding another $5 billion to collaborate with US firms, only a day after the company unveiled a $5.54 billion plan to build an electric vehicle-only factory in Georgia. “Hyundai Motor Group plans to invest an additional $5 billion through 2025 which will strengthen our collaboration with American ...

Hana Financial Group is expanding its project to help youth startups nationwide, as it has signed the first regional partnership with the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage, the group said Sunday. According to the group, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding at the KNUCH in Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province on Friday. They agreed to provide support for startup ideas rela...

Hyundai Steel has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Institute of Energy Research to push for comprehensive cooperation on technologies in the energy and environment sectors with the goal of leading the steel industry’s movement towards carbon neutrality. According to the South Korean steelmaker, Hyundai Steel CEO Ahn Dong-il and KIER President Kim Jong-nam attended the MOU cere...

The latest share purchase is part of SK ecoplant’s investments to accelerate its bolt-on strategy and foray into North American and European markets, according to the company. Before the Malaysian deal, SK signed a deal to acquire Singapore’s electronic waste management firm TES in February. “On the basis of this strategic partnership, we will establish Malaysia as a foothold for the Southeast A...

The Bank of Korea is likely to raise the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 1.75 percent this Thursday as Asia’s fourth-largest economy combats persistent inflation and shrinking growth, according to eight out of nine economists polled by The Korea Herald. But the central bank, which usually changes its rate in 25-basis point increments, is unlikely to back a sudden 50-basis point raise becaus...

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s chances in the local elections appear to be dimming, with many opinion surveys favoring candidates from the ruling People Power Party while major political events work in favor of the ruling bloc. A survey of 880 voters of a constituency in Gyeyang-gu of Incheon from Thursday to Friday found Lee Jae-myung, chief of the Democratic Party’s local elec...

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 20,000 for the first time in six days on Sunday in a downward trend in virus cases amid the government's effort to move the country back to pre-pandemic normalcy. The country added 19,298 new infections, including 24 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,957,697, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The dail...

North Korea said Sunday around 186,000 new cases of fever and another death have been reported, as it announced a COVID-19 outbreak on its soil earlier this month. More than 186,090 people showed symptoms of fever, with one additional death reported, over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, citing data from the state emergency ...

President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden are set to visit an Air Force operations center Sunday on the last stop of Biden's three-day trip to South Korea. The two are scheduled to visit the Korean Air and Space Operations Center at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, to be briefed on its work, and to encourage American and South Korean troops stationed there. Th...