Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday the government needs to mobilize all available policy means to tame inflationary pressure and stabilize the housing market in the new year. Hong also said the country will prioritize supporting small merchants hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and vulnerable people and strengthen social safety nets. "The government faces an urgent need to stabilize infla...

Top executives of South Korean technology giants stressed on Monday their need to push relentlessly for unmatched quality in a long-term approach, as their electronics and semiconductor chip businesses are projected to yield the highest revenue for 2021, in their respective New Year’s addresses. Fierce competition on a global scale still leaves Samsung Electronics, one of the world’s leading ele...

SEJONG -- The average trading price of homes in Seoul posted 39.99 million won ($33,500) per 3.3 square meters, which is equivalent to 1 “pyeong,” at the end of 2021, data from KB Kookmin Bank and Naver showed. This indicates that the price for an 84-square-meter unit, a popular size in Korea, in the capital has surpassed 1 billion won on average. In the capital’s priciest district of Gangnam-g...

Lee Kyung-ran, who has been working as a therapist for the past 15 years, has ditched face-to-face consultations thanks to a growing demand for phone and virtual sessions after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since late 2019, she has been offering therapy sessions through Naver eXpert, a service launched by the country’s largest portal Naver. Naver eXpert provides a wide range of one-on-o...

South Korea’s new coronavirus cases remained below 4,000 for the second straight day as of midnight Sunday, but the number of critically ill patients continued to surpass 1,000. Two deaths in connection with the omicron variant of the coronavirus were reported on Monday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, South Korea added 3,129 new COVID-19 cases during Sunday, raisin...

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker, said Monday its sales fell 11 percent last month from a year earlier amid global chip shortages. Hyundai Motor sold 334,242 vehicles in December, down from 375,193 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales declined 3.5 percent to 66,112 units from 68,486 during the mentioned period, as the lack of semiconductor parts...

Australia and Korea are longtime allies. Some 120 years ago, Australian missionary Henry Davies took the first step, coming to spread the gospel here. He was buried in Busan, his health suffering due to the long journey, but his dedication allowed many Australian missionaries to come to Korea, who in turn brought the fruit of the gospel. Seventy years ago, during the Korean War, there were the s...

SsangYong Motor Co. said Monday its sales fell 17 percent last month from a year earlier as a prolonged chip shortage continued to affect its vehicle production. SsangYong Motor sold 8,755 vehicles in December, down from 10,561 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales declined 31 percent to 5,810 units last month from 8,449 a year ago, while exports climbed 39 perce...

Heads of South Korea’s top five traditional banking groups on Monday pointed to swift digital transformation and bolstering competitiveness of diverse business units as the main requirements for their survival in the new year. KB Financial Group, the nation’s No. 1 banking group in terms of total assets, must become the nation’s top financial platform and provide customers with the best digital ...

The eight-part series ranked in the fifth place as of Monday on the global Netflix chart, according to the US-based streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol. By Lee Si-jin ( sj_lee@heraldcorp.com )

The key benchmark Kospi and junior Kosdaq opened higher on Monday after their last trading session on Thursday, amid strong retail demand and foreign buying betting on a pandemic recovery. The Kospi, which ended at 2,977.65 for its final trading session in 2021, closed at 2,988.77, while the Kosdaq ended at 1,037.83, slightly up from 1,033.98 from the previous session. The rebound was backed by...

“I think you should debut as a television director or a screenwriter for a local broadcaster,” a netizen commented on a Zepeto drama on YouTube. “Our metaverse platform Zepeto can be promoted in two different ways. With the ‘out to in’ strategy, collaborations with global companies, including Christian Dior and Samsung, can be perfect example. But, ‘in and out’ strategy requires actual Zepeto us...

South Korea’s key manufacturers, retailers and service providers on Monday vowed to prepare for a full business recovery from the prolonged pandemic crisis by initiating both technological and organizational innovation to tap into markets that had already gone through tremendous changes for last two years. “The paradigm shift that was brought by the COVID-19 crisis and challenges to overcome it ...

Speculation is growing that Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong may go on a work trip later this month possibly to China where the Korean tech giant is struggling to elevate smartphone and home appliance sales. According to industry sources on Monday, the de facto Samsung chief is expected to make another business trip during the court’s holiday recess that begins later this month. Le...

Leaving just 66 days before the presidential election, the entire leadership of the main opposition People Power Party’s campaign committee resigned Monday, amid unending internal strife, constant gaffes and falling support. After the campaign chief Kim Chong-in announced earlier in the day that he would carry out a complete reform of the election committee, the party said all politicians holdin...