Early voting started for the 20th presidential election on Friday, with candidates and political heavyweights casting their votes to encourage more voters to participate. The National Election Commission on Friday opened early voting at 3,552 polling stations across the country, and eyes are on how high the turnout would be in the continued dead heat race between the two main candidates. Pollin...

ULJIN -- A wildfire broke out in the eastern coastal county of Uljin on Friday, prompting authorities to issue a natural disaster alert while trying to make sure the blaze does not pose a threat to a nuclear power plant in the area, officials said. The blaze started on a road near a mountain in the North Gyeongsang Province county, about 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at 11:17 a.m. and has b...

Gapyeong, a county of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul, plans to hold a memorial ceremony commemorating a Korean War (1950-53) battle next month, together with four Commonwealth countries, the county office said Friday. The ceremony slated for April 22 in Gapyeong, 60 kilometers east of Seoul, will be jointly organized with the embassies of Britain, New Zealand, Canada and Australia to hon...

The military on Friday reported 1,225 additional COVID-19 cases to set a new daily record, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 22,916. The new cases included 766 from the Army, 170 from the Air Force, 110 from the Navy, 90 from units under the direct control of the defense ministry and 80 from the Marine Corps. There were also eight cases from the ministry and one from th...

All tickets for K-pop supergroup BTS' upcoming Seoul concerts were sold out on the first day of sales as were those for the group's Las Vegas shows earlier, sources in the music scene said Friday. The sources said tickets for all three "Permission To Dance On Stage - Seoul" concerts were sold out in a few hours after they went on sale exclusively for members of the BTS fan base ARMY at 8 p.m. th...

About 2,000 restaurant owners and other small merchants sued the government Friday for a total of more than 161 billion won ($133 million) won in damages for losses incurred due to anti-COVID-19 business restrictions before a compensation law was enacted. The association of small businesses representing the businessmen filed the suit with the Seoul Administrative Court, demanding compensation fo...

South Korea and Australia agreed Friday to enhance cooperation on e-commerce and other digital trade issues during a senior-level dialogue, Seoul's industry ministry said. Kim Wan-ki, chief of South Korea's trade policy bureau under the trade ministry, held a videoconference with Australia's First Assistant Secretary of the foreign and trade department Elisabeth Bowes, and the two sides discusse...

Uzbekistan will continue to pursue an active agenda of developing constructive and practical cooperation at the international and regional level in countering terrorism and other destructive threats. Over the past few years, Uzbekistan has significantly stepped up its counterterrorism activities at the international and regional level, building a strategy of openness for cooperation in counterin...

Separate voting booths were set up for those infected with COVID-19, including 10 special polling stations at big hospitals, as early voting got under way for next week's presidential election amid soaring virus cases. This year's election takes place as the wave of the omicron variant has been spreading rapidly in South Korea, pushing the country's daily virus cases to record highs. Friday's ta...

Russian forces shelled Europe's largest nuclear plant early Friday, sparking a fire as they pressed their attack on a crucial energy-producing Ukrainian city and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea. Leading nuclear authorities were concerned -- but not panicked -- about the damage to the power station. The assault triggered phone calls between Ukrainian President Volod...

Han Sung Motor, an official dealer of Mercedes-Benz Korea, said Friday that it has clinched a contract to sponsor three breakdancers. The sponsorship is part of a new project called WANNA.B by Han Sung Motor. It was established this year to support B-boy and B-girls to achieve what they want to become in the future. Through such a project, Han Sung Motor said it will launch more activities to ex...

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday that its flagship electric model Ioniq 5 has received a higher score than Mercedes-Benz EQB from German automotive magazine AutoBild’s review. The carmaker said AutoBild compared the two models based on seven categories -– body, comfort, powertrain, driving dynamics, connected car, environment and cost -– along with 53 subcategories. Out of 800 points, Ioniq 5 rec...

The South Korean government announced Friday that it has decided to push back the curfew on cafes and restaurants by one hour to 11 p.m. while keeping the private gathering size limit at six. Interior Minister Jeon Hae-cheol announced it during a COVID-19 response meeting on Friday. Jeon explained that the decision was made largely to help business owners and small merchants, who have been suffe...