South Korea's exports rose 3 percent in the first 10 days of April from a year earlier on the back of demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $15.3 billion in the April 1-10 period, compared with $14.9 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports gained 12.8 percent on-year to $18.9 b...

The fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reminded us of the unforeseeable disruptions constantly confronting the global economy. We have been taught this lesson many times. No one could have predicted the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and few anticipated the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, or Donald Trump’s election, which resulted in the United States turning toward p...

Much has changed since President Donald Trump invoked emergency powers to combat the spread of COVID-19. Immunity, whether natural or acquired through vaccines, is much more widespread, and breakthrough treatments are available. While the disease may never be completely eradicated, it’s time to return to a public health policy that prizes individual liberty over government authority. Unfortunate...

In celebration of BTS’ gig in the city, Las Vegas kicked off a special project called “The City,” providing an extensive and immersive fan experience by hosting various BTS-themed events all over the Las Vegas strip. Those experiences include a special photo exhibition that feature unreleased and behind-the-scene photos of the band while preparing for its “Permission to Dance” tour, BTS-themed h...

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol tapped retired three-star general Lee Jong-sup with expertise in the South Korea-US alliance and combined defense posture as the new defense minister. Lee served as a vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before he retired from the army. The defense minister nominee also led a Combined Defense Transformation Group under the JCS, whose task is to prepare for the...

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday named Park Bo-gyoon to become his administration‘s first minister of culture, sports and tourism. Park, a former journalist and vice president of the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, was the president of Korea News Editors’ Association in 2011. After he joined the People’s Power Party in July 2021, Park played a role as a special adviser in the party’s election c...

The writer’s response at first was similar to other writers to whom Kang showed the script: doubts about turning the book into a TV series. “In my career as an agent and now producer, my job is to put together a strategy for selling a project, and then I negotiate on the deals,” she said. “And I told Soo if you come up with a creative vision for the project, then I think that’s the first piece. ...

Kim Hyun-sook, a former lawmaker and economics professor at Soongsil University, who was named to head the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, expressed her determination to assist the president-elect to smoothly carry out the abolition of the ministry on Sunday. Kim was a proportionate representative at the 19th parliament for the then Saenuri Party, predecessor of the People Power Party, a...

Rep. Song Young-gil, former Democratic Party of Korea chairman, defended his intent to run for Seoul mayor in the June 1 local elections, citing his party’s need for a heavyweight willing to sacrifice and contribute after the disappointing defeat in the presidential race. The five-term lawmaker said in a press briefing Sunday that he intends to officially start his campaign for the Seoul mayoral...

More South Korean conglomerates relying heavily on manufacturing and retail networks for growth are turning to the bio and health care industries to secure future growth engines and expand areas of business. Retail and confectionary giant Lotte Group officially announced that bio and health care businesses will be its new growth engine at the shareholders’ meeting last month. Lee Dong-woo, CEO ...

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family was a divisive one, raising ire from opponents who say it is a signal that Korea was about to backslide on women’s rights. But female lawmakers of the People Power Party, the conservative party to which Yoon is a member, say that efforts to promote women’s rights and policies related to family and youth ...

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s finance minister nominee said Sunday that he will seek parliamentary approval of an extra budget to support the self-employed and small businesses hit hardest by COVID-19, despite runaway inflation eating into many household budgets. Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, currently a two-term lawmaker of Yoon’s People Power Party, said inflation cannot be the reason to avoid increas...

Lee Chang-yang, a professor of economics and public policy at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, vowed regulatory reforms to boost the corporate sector as he was introduced by President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol as the trade minister nominee on Sunday. The 60-year-old bureaucrat-turned-professor is likely to be tasked with discontinuing the Moon Jae-in administration’s nuclear power ...

Won Hee-ryong, the former governor of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province who coordinated President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s campaign, was named as the nominee for minister of land, infrastructure and transport Sunday. “The nominee has a high understanding of land policies which is one of the key sectors the new administration would have to work on to stabilize the real estate market, promote bala...