SEJONG -- The number of employed people increased the most in seven years in 2021 on the back of the base effect after the coronavirus pandemic dealt a severe blow to the hiring market in 2020, state data showed Wednesday. But the number of jobs in sectors such as wholesale-retail and food service-lodging continued to decline last year, following the previous year. About 516,000 jobs disappeared...

South Korea’s top steel maker Posco said Wednesday that it has succeeded in producing neon, a rare gas mainly used for making chips, at its Gwangyang steel mill, becoming the first Korean firm to do so. “It is very meaningful to achieve the complete localization of neon, which was a long-cherished task in the industrial gas market, in cooperation with TEMC, a small but strong Korean company,” Vi...

Isolation. Anxiety. Uncertainty. The stresses of the coronavirus pandemic have taken a toll on Americans of all ages, but a new poll finds that teens and young adults have faced some of the heaviest struggles as they come of age during a time of extreme turmoil. Overall, more than a third of Americans ages 13 to 56 cite the pandemic as a major source of stress, and many say it has made certain p...

Paul Rudd, 52, the affable actor best known for playing “Ant-Man,” was named People magazine’s sexiest man alive, joining the likes of Idris Elba, George Clooney and Bradley Cooper. Rudd played the kind boyfriend of Lisa Kudrow’s wacky Phoebe on TV comedy “Friends” and later took larger roles in comedies like “Knocked Up” before playing Ant-Man in the Marvel superhero movie, followed by a sequel...

For Lim Ji-soo, a 30-year-old retail investor living in Seoul, Kakao and Naver shares account for 80 percent of her spare money and most of her stock portfolio. “I wish I’d found a more appropriate timing to purchase the stocks – I didn’t know they’d fall like this,” she said Wednesday. Lim is one of the growing number of “young Korean investors” in their 20s and 30s who believe that saving mon...

While improving social welfare programs, Baek said the city government will continue its efforts to turn Yongin into an eco-friendly city, in line with the country’s roadmap to carbon neutrality by 2050. During his tenure, Baek made a series of efforts to bring about a greener Yongin and a more balanced development of urban spaces. Baek said the city will continue to increase green spaces by es...

The next episode, “Dark Moon,” set for release on Sunday, is a vampire fantasy involving the seven members of rookie boy band Enhypen. It will be followed by “The Star Seekers,” a low fantasy fiction starring the five bandmates of Tomorrow X Together as characters with magical powers on Monday. Hybe will drop an official story video of “7Fates: Chakho” at 9 a.m., Korea time, on Friday ahead of t...

South Korean stocks closed sharply higher Wednesday, as the US Fed chief's comments about inflation were largely within market expectations. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) gained 4.51 points, or 1.54 percent, to close at 2,972.48 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 506 million shares worth some 10.8 trillion won ($9.1 ...

People’s Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo is taking a firmer stance against the two main parties and their candidates, as well as on a potential merger of his campaign as his support ratings rise. Recent polls show that Ahn has passed the 10 percent bar, absorbing voters peeling away from the major two candidates, the Democratic Party of Korea’s Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party’s Y...

The white peaks of Mount Hallasan on Jeju Island has gained notable popularity this winter, promoting hikers to pay extra cash to get access to the snowy landscape. Dozens of postings seeking to sell, buy or exchange QR tickets to Hallasan National Park have been posted at secondhand online stores. Offered by the national park, tickets are available online for free on a first come first serve ba...

As China plans to phase out subsidies for electric vehicles by 30 percent by the end of 2022 and completely eliminate them starting 2023, South Korean battery trio -- LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On -- are bracing for potential impact. According to industry sources Wednesday, China’s U-turn on EV subsidies indicates its confidence about the local EV market‘s ability to survive without ...

Samsung Electronics dispatched chartered flights to Las Vegas to bring home some 20 staff members and executives who tested positive for COVID-19 at the CES 2022 trade show, according to industry sources Wednesday. The majority of the infected Samsung officials returned to South Korea late Tuesday night, while the remaining officials arrived around noon on Wednesday. Most of the officials repor...

Everyone talks about the March 9 presidential election. But the local elections to be held in June are the big day Park Hye-min, 29, has been counting down the days to. Park is the executive director of Newways, a nonprofit organization that she founded about a year ago with a friend she met at a book club. The organization’s goal is to discover rookie politicians who speak the same language the...

Posco, South Korea's top steelmaker, said Wednesday that it logged its largest earnings ever last year on the back of strong demand for key products and high prices. Its operating income stood at 9.2 trillion won ($7.73 billion) last year on a consolidated basis, compared with an operating profit of 2.4 trillion won a year earlier, the company said. Sales amounted to 76.4 trillion won, up 32.1 ...

Second Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, leading to 16 Cabinet members taking virus tests and canceling their schedules as they attended the same Cabinet meeting with Choi the previous day. Choi attended Tuesday's meeting on behalf of Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong. The 16 other Cabinet members also in attendance included Interior Minister Jeon Hae-...