Drug smuggling caught by South Korea's customs agency hit a record high last year as trafficking via non-contact delivery means shot up amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The Korea Customs Service said it confiscated a total of 1,272 kilograms of drugs in 2021, up 757 percent from the previous year. Drug smuggling via international mail and cargo sharply increased as drug delive...

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday its chipmaking facility in the Chinese city of Xi'an has returned to normal as the city has lifted a lockdown. The world's largest memory chip maker had temporarily adjusted operations at its NAND flash chips manufacturing base late last month following the lockdown in the city. The draconian restrictions imposed on Dec. 22 banned the city's 13 million cit...

The presidential National Security Council (NSC) has discussed tensions between Russia and Ukraine, including how the crisis will affect South Korea's economy and the situation in Northeast Asia, a senior presidential official said Wednesday. National security adviser Suh Hoon presided over an NSC meeting Tuesday and checked measures to ensure the safety of Korean nationals in Ukraine, according...

SINGAPORE and MANILA, Philippines and BANGKOK , Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Inteluck, a Southeast Asian technology-driven logistics platform, said today that it has raised US$15 million in a Series B fundraising round. Creo Capital, a Hong Kong -based investment firm under New World Group, spearheaded the investment. East Ventures and Headline Asia are among the investors in this rou...

A Cultural Communication Project by the Agency for Cultural Affairs Media Arts exhibition fusing traditional Japanese culture and technology to be exhibited at Haneda Airport and one other location starting Wednesday, January 19, 2022 TOKYO , Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan , launched an innovative cultural promotion project called "CULTU...

South Korean boy group Enhypen's latest album, "Dimension: Answer," has ranked 14th on the Billboard 200 main albums chart. "Dimension: Answer," a repackaged version of its first full-length album "Dimension: Dilemma" released in October, became the third album from the septet to make it onto the chart. Billboard 200 ranks the most popular albums of the week in the United States, measured by eq...

South Korea's military on Wednesday reported 160 additional COVID-19 cases, including 147 breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 4,180. The latest virus count was up from 78 reported the previous day as the military remains on high alert to fight the omicron variant. The country as a whole added 13,012 new cases Wednesday. Of the new military cases, 101 are f...

President Moon Jae-in will preside over a COVID-19 response meeting Wednesday, a senior presidential official said, after the country's daily coronavirus cases shot up to over 13,000 amid the rapid spread of the omicron variant. Due to anti-virus guidelines, the meeting will be held with a small group of ministers, including Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum. Other health-related ministers will join t...

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it will hold its Unpacked 2022 event next month to showcase the latest Galaxy smartphone with improved chips and boosted camera performance and capabilities. The tech company will show off the Galaxy S22 smartphone at the Feb. 10 event, saying it will "set an epic new standard for smartphones with the most noteworthy S series ever created." The event will ...

South Korean game developer Kakao Games Corp. said Wednesday it has invested $20 million in US-based independent game developer Frost Giant Studios in line with its efforts to increase its global profile. The game affiliate under Kakao Corp., which operates South Korea's most-used mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said it made the investment through its European corporate, Kakao Games Europe B.V. The...

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's biggest auto parts maker, said Wednesday its fourth-quarter net profit edged up 0.4 percent from a year earlier amid global chip shortage. Net profit for the three months ended in December climbed to 553.98 billion won ($463 million) from 551.97 billion won during the same period of last year, the company said in a statement. "Increased sales of high-end parts f...

지난 주에 이어 우리 일상의 대화를 좀 더 세련되게 만들 수 있는 표현들을 보겠습니다. 저희 책 『나는 더 영어답게 말하고 싶다 일상회화 편 2』에서 뽑은 표현들입니다. 1 A: Didn’t you say that you’re going to finish your doctoral dissertation and start applying for universities? B: Well, I thought that spending time with my child would be more rewarding than following the “ publish or perish ” career. A: 박사 논문 마치고 교수 자리 지원할 거라고 하지 않았어? B: 아이와 더 많은 시간을 보내는 것이 죽도...

South Korea’s exports of kimchi hit an all-time high last year thanks to its growing popularity, data showed. Outbound shipments of the spicy Korean traditional side dish came to a record $159.9 million in 2021, resulting in a trade surplus of $19.2 million in the sector, according to the data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It is the first time in 12 years that Sou...

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung with 44.7 percent public support against Lee's 35.6 percent, a survey showed Wednesday. Yoon of the People Power Party (PPP) gained 5.5 percentage points from a Jan. 10-11 survey, while Lee of the Democratic Party lost 1.3 points, according to the Realmeter survey conducted on 1,018 adults from M...