“As more television dramas become available in various local and global streaming platforms, the number of new drama fans continues to increase, leading to the rise in demand of popular series-related contents, including the script,” a Yes24 official said in a press release on Wednesday. “With more drama fans showing their love and support by purchasing the scripts, reading the original script i...

South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases surpassed 5,000 for the first time in 20 days as the omicron variant began to spread rapidly. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s announcement on Wednesday, the country added 5,805 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Tuesday, raising the total to 705,902. The figure was 1,733 up from that of the previous day. The figure went ov...

Nearly a decade after winning a historic Olympic football medal together in London, veteran forward Park Chu-young and longtime coach Hong Myung-bo have been reunited on the perennial K League contender, Ulsan Hyundai FC. After Park left FC Seoul, the only K League club he'd ever played for, in December, Hong and Ulsan reached out and signed him on Sunday. Park, a 36-year-old forward who didn't ...

The National Institute of Korean Language unveiled an ambitious plan to create a Korean language proficiency diagnosis system that utilzes artificial intelligence, the organization’s director Chang So-won said on Tuesday. The AI-based language proficiency test, to be developed over a five-year period from 2023 to 2027 with a budget of 10 billion won ($8.39-million), is meant to help improve the ...

South Korea's state intelligence agency said Wednesday it has identified more than 100 sets of Internet of Things (IoT) equipment in the country that have been infected with malware. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it has detected the Mozi botnet infection after cooperating with Russian authorities in December last year. It has found a total of around 12,000 devices exposed to the m...

Over 114 trillion won ($95.5 billion) in cash deposits from about 4.4 million retail investors flowed into a mega initial public offering by LG Energy Solution during a two-day subscription that ended Wednesday, reflecting explosive interest in the company’s market debut. The world’s second-largest battery maker has already attracted the highest amount of deposits from a total of 1,988 domestic ...

Samsung Electronics’ obsession for foldable smartphones is drawing market concerns as the South Korean tech giant is missing out on what’s coming next: The metaverse. According to market tracker Counterpoint Research Wednesday, Samsung remained as the No. 1 global smartphone brand by market share in 2021, but its smartphone business by sales grew just 0.9 percent on-year, drawing a big compariso...

Korea’s retail giant Lotte Group is highly likely to be picked as a preferred bidder to acquire the nation’s fifth-largest convenience store chain Ministop Korea, according to industry sources Wednesday. Lotte reportedly offered the highest bidding price -- 300 billion won ($251.5 million) -- possibly leaving out its crosstown rival Shinsegae Group in the heated race. “Since Lotte has outbid ot...

Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung’s campaign has been marred by a level of drama unusual even by the standards of Korea’s convoluted and chaotic politics -- deaths of three individuals with links to allegations involving the candidate. The latest death was reported on Jan. 12, when the police found the body of lawyer named Lee Byung-chul in a motel room in Yangcheon-gu, weste...

Former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, who is running to be the next director general of the International Labor Organization, will face a public hearing to present her candidacy and take questions from the organization’s governing body on Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland. The ILO on Wednesday said public dialogues with five candidates for its top job will be held on Thursday and Friday. A Fo...

Seoul Record Fair (SRF), which was launched as the first vinyl record selling event in Korea a decade ago, is set to return this week despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic after a nearly two-year haitus, the SRF committee and fair’s operator Roundx2 announced on Wednesday. Although the fair will go offline, showcasing performances and selling records and music-related products, it is scheduled...

SEJONG -- Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki raised the possibility that the housing market could be swayed by pledges of presidential candidates, and suggested he would try to block any speculative actions in particular regions via close monitoring. During a meeting of ministers in charge of real estate policies on Wednesday, Hong said there are symptoms that “home prices in...

The US has called for a new UN Security Council meeting to discuss North Korea’s fourth missile launch this month, as Washington seeks to ratchet up pressure on the reclusive regime to curb its prohibited weapons program. Closed-door consultations of the UN’s most powerful body are expected to take place on Thursday, at the request of the US, along with the UK, France, Albania, Ireland and Mexic...

The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage analyzed each element in detail to identify the type of folding screen frame, the pigment used and the material of the wallpaper, and applied each to the preservation treatment. During the process, the existing folding screen frame was found to be impossible to reuse due to damage from insects and natural degradation. A new frame was produced b...

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a meeting in Riyadh Tuesday to bolster ties between the two countries beyond construction and infrastructure into more future-oriented fields such as hydrogen. During the talks, the two leaders agreed to build a hydrogen ecosystem where Saudi Arabia supplies carbon-neutral hydrogen and ammo...