A first-term lawmaker, who led the opposition's attack on a land development scandal surrounding the ruling party's presidential candidate, has been named a spokesperson for President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, his aide said Friday. Rep. Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party (PPP) will serve as a spokeswoman for the president-elect, according to Yoon's chief secretary Chang Je-won. Kim, who was elect...

The Seoul city government on Friday unveiled three virtual influencer candidates for promotional ambassador of the capital's central fashion district of Dongdaemun. The profiles of the candidates -- Ha Ri-ra, Seo Hi and Mo I-da -- are available on the city government's online voting website (mvoting.seoul.go.kr), where a four-day public vote to pick a winner will be held through Tuesday. The wi...

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol said Friday he is certain South Korea-China relations will develop further as he met with Beijing's top envoy to Seoul. Yoon made the remark during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Xing Haiming two days after his election, noting China is South Korea's largest trading partner and South Korea is China's third-largest. "I'm certain South Korea-China relatio...

GWANGJU -- The head of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Friday tested positive for COVID-19 in a rapid antigen test while on a visit to the southwestern city of Gwangju, according to party officials. Should PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok's infection be confirmed in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will also have to take a virus test, because party o...

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol and his aides are working to move the presidential office from where it is now in Cheong Wa Dae to the government complex by the Gwanghwamun area in Seoul, as he had promised during his campaign. The project would be one of the first initiatives Yoon will push in starting his presidential transition committee, which will officially launch within the next two weeks. ...

Trade volume of goods between South Korea and the United States grew nearly 70 percent, and bilateral investment more than doubled over the past decade since their free trade agreement, Seoul's industry ministry said Friday. The Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) marked its 10th anniversary this month, as the trade deal came into force in March 2012. The bilateral trade of goods stood at...

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Friday it has won ship orders totaling 290 billion won ($235 million) in the Asia and Oceania regions. KSOE obtained orders to build one liquefied natural gas carrier for an Asian shipper by the first half of 2024 and four container ships for an Oceania-based shipper by March 2024, the company said in a statement. Hyundai Heavy Industrie...

The ongoing wildfires in east coastal mountain areas have so far burned nearly 24,000 hectares of woodland since they started a week ago, becoming the country's most devastating on record, a government agency said Friday. The blaze that started in the east coastal town of Uljin last Friday, about 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul, has spread to nearby areas and continued for the 8th day. An est...

Final voter turnout for the 20th presidential election is estimated to be at 77.1 percent. Of the nearly 44.2 million eligible voters, more than 34 million had cast their ballots. The figure is 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous election in 2017, which had the highest turnout since 1997, being held after former President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment. By region, Gwangju had the hig...

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases fell below 300,000 on Friday after spiking to a record high two days earlier, but deaths hit a fresh high amid the omicron surge. The country reported 282,987 new COVID-19 infections, including 282,880 local cases, raising the total caseload to 5,822,626, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The omicron-fueled surge in infect...

South Korea's exports rose 14.9 percent in the first 10 days of March from a year earlier on the back of demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Friday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $18.7 billion in the March 1-10 period, compared with $16.3 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports gained 15.3 percent on-year to $20....

WASHINGTON -- The United States opposes reducing or lifting sanctions on North Korea while the reclusive state continues to advance its nuclear and missile capabilities, US deputy special envoy for North Korea Jung Pak said Thursday. Pak also said the US remains committed to dialogue with the North but that would not stop it from calling out Pyongyang's bad behavior. "I know that there's been s...

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday that the country is expected to see the omicron wave peak in the next 10 days with daily cases going up to 370,000. South Korea's daily virus infections exceeded the 300,000 mark for the first time Wednesday with 342,446 cases due to the highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19. "During that period, the government's top priority will be reducing t...

South Korea continued to post a current account surplus in January, but the surplus sharply declined compared with a year earlier as imports expanded sharply amid soaring oil and commodity prices, central bank data showed Friday. The current account surplus came to $1.81 billion in January, marking the 21st straight month that the current account has remained in the black, according to the preli...