The government has allowed a convicted conscientious objector to replace his military service duty with an alternative service for the first time, a decision suggesting a softening of the government's stance on the issue. Jeong Wook, who was sentenced to a one-year jail term for draft dodging and served nine months before being released on parole, was notified earlier this month of the Military ...

BEIJING , Jan. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CGTN America launches the "Together For A Shared Future" media action. The program includes the video messages of high-profile guests, expectations from a senior IOC member and Olympic athletes on the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, as well as celebrations of Chinese New Year of Tiger in Washington, D.C.   China Media Group Pre...

South Korea's military on Monday reported 22 additional COVID-19 cases, with all of them being breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,633. Of the new cases, 19 are from the Army, two from the Marine Corps and one from the Navy. Currently, 235 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,810 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

Popular Korean TV series will return to the stage as musicals to meet the rising demand from fans who long to enjoy their favorite shows in diversified formats. The smash-hit rom-com "Crash Landing On You" (2019) with Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin in starring roles will come back in the form of a musical in September at COEX in southern Seoul. The 16-episode "Crash Landing On You," which aired simult...

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases fell below 4,000 for the first time in a week Monday, but health authorities remained vigilant over a possible resurgence due to the fast spread of the omicron variant amid partially eased antivirus curbs. The country added 3,859 new COVID-19 infections, including 3,551 local infections, raising the total caseload to 696,032, according to the Korea Disease C...

The South Korean four-man bobsleigh team led by an Olympic medal-winning pilot had its best performance of the season in the final race before the Beijing Winter Games. Won Yun-jong led his quartet to a 10th place finish at the season-ending International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Sunday (local time), with a combined time of 2:10.28 after two...

Shopping on social media such as Facebook, TikTok and WeChat is going to grow three times faster than sales from traditional channels over the next three years, according to a study released by Accenture. Social commerce, defined as transactions that take place entirely within the context of a social-media platform, will reach $1.2 trillion by 2025, up from $492 billion in 2021, the consulting...

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung with 40.6 percent public support against Lee's 36.7 percent, a survey showed Monday. Yoon of the People Power Party (PPP) gained 6.5 percentage points from the previous week, while Lee of the Democratic Party lost 3.4 points, according to the Realmeter survey conducted on 3,031 adults from Jan. 9...

Of the seven medals that South Korea won in speed skating at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, none was more surprising than the out-of-the-blue silver by Cha Min-kyu in the men's 500m. Sure, he had won an odd medal here and there at other international races, but an Olympic podium finish was completely unexpected. But lost in the hoopla over that silver was just how close Cha came to winni...

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday, weighed by losses of auto and financial heavyweights. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 13.39 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,908.53 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The key stock index got off to a weak start, following a two-day losing streak amid concerns about the rising inflationary pressure at home and in the ...

South Korea's Air Force said Monday it will resume the operation of its combat aircraft suspended after a pilot died earlier this month following the sudden crash of an F-5E fighter. The armed service said the operation of its warplanes, except for F-5Es and F-35As, will resume in phases, starting at noon. Since the fatal crash last week, the Air Force has run only essential assets, such as rec...

The scheduled talks between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan were canceled due to an "unforeseen matter of state" of the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a senior Seoul official has said. Moon, who is in Dubai for a three-day visit as part of his weeklong trip to the Middle East, had been scheduled to hold talks with the ...

North Korea launched two apparent short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea from an airfield in Pyongyang on Monday morning, in its fourth weapons test this year. “We are aware of the ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely with our allies and partners,” a US Indo-Pacific Command spokesperson said in a statement, adding the event “does not pose an immediate threat” to US p...

The coronavirus is everywhere: in the air, on surfaces, in our respiratory tracts, and, over the past week, at the US Supreme Court. On Jan. 10, key elements of US President Joe Biden’s controversial “vaccine-or-test” mandate provisionally went into force, requiring that all workers at companies with more than 100 employees be vaccinated or tested regularly for COVID-19. With roughly 84 million A...