South Korea will secure 10,000 additional hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in January to counter the increasing number of critically ill coronavirus patients, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Wednesday. If the government successfully adds hospital beds, the total number could increase to 25,000. “(The government) will take preemptive measures in case the country’s daily COVID-19 cases reach ...

진행자: 김혜연, Kevin Lee Selzer 1. Ancient art of lacquer on show at Asian lacquerware exhibition 기사 요약: 국립중앙박물관이 아시아 칠기 특별 전시회를 통해 아시아 고대 옻칠 공예의 문화를 알린다. [1] The National Museum of Korea launched the special exhibition “Ottchil, the Coated Splendor of Asian Lacquerware” on Tuesday, showcasing some 260 pieces of lacquerware produced in different parts of Asia. * lacquerware 칠기(류) [2] Lacquer, cal...

South Korean stocks closed up for the second straight session Wednesday, led by chipmaker gains and easing fear about the omicron variant of the new coronavirus. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 9.45 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 2,984.48 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 453 million shares worth some 8.6 ...

By earning a total of 2,660.42 points, Seodo Band took first place, followed by Kim Jun-su and Aux with 2,154.94 points and 1,915.17 points, respectively. Kim Ju-ri came in fourth place, while Esang and Ondo were fifth and sixth, respectively. After winning the competition, Seodo Band said that it was an honor to participate in the program as a contestant. The group also mentioned that the hards...

TSMC uses three types of scrubbers. A burn-wet scrubber incinerates gases at 1,200 degrees Celsius with natural gas and washes away the remainder with water. A thermal-wet scrubber utilizes heat from electricity, while a plasma-wet scrubber turns gases into a plasma state and breaks them down. “As burn-wet scrubbers use natural gas, which is a fossil fuel, the industry is paying more attention t...

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and CEO Han Jong-hee said Thursday that the global tech giant will unveil innovative technologies centered on customization, seamlessness and sustainability at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show. In his editorial posted on Samsung Newsroom, the head of Samsung Electronics’ device experience division underscored that the “one-size-fits-all” strategy can no longer...

GS Caltex said Wednesday it will utilize oil extracted from plastic waste as a feedstock to manufacture petrochemical products to bolster its environmental, social and governance efforts. According to the South Korean total energy company, it will begin pilot production of petrochemical products with 500,000 tons of plastic waste oil at the firm’s plant located in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province. ...

A man who stunned the nation earlier this year by sexually assaulting and killing a 20-month-old baby girl was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a court in the central city of Daejeon on Wednesday. The Daejeon District Court handed down the sentence to the 29-year-old man, identified only by his surname Yang, after convicting him of raping and killing the baby daughter of his live-in girlfriend...

US President Joe Biden has banned the provision of nonhumanitarian aid to North Korea for fiscal year 2022, accusing the reclusive state of human trafficking, according to the White House. It marks the 19th consecutive year for a US president to take such a measure against Pyongyang. In a presidential memorandum for the secretary of state, posted on the White House website Tuesday (Washington t...

Veteran electioneer Kim Chong-in is once again taking a central role in the presidential election, following yet another power struggle within the People Power Party. Less than three weeks after the party’s Chairman Lee Jun-seok and presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol settled their differences, chaos has struck again with Lee resigning from the election committee following an argument with the ...

A London-based Korean curator has been appointed to head the 2023 Gwangju Biennale. Lee Sook-kyung, senior curator of International Art at the Tate Modern, will take on the role of artistic director of the 14th Gwangju Biennale scheduled to take place in April 2023, the Gwangju Biennale Foundation announced Tuesday. Lee, who has been active in the global art scene for the past 28 years, special...

South Korea's drug safety agency said Wednesday that it has begun reviewing an emergency authorization of US drug giant Pfizer Inc.'s oral drug to treat COVID-19. Paxlovid is the antiviral pill for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in patients at increased risk of hospitalization or death, according to Pfizer and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. If authorized, Paxlovid would be th...

A former elementary school principal indicted for allegedly installing a spy camera in a female teachers' restroom admitted to all charges against him in his first court hearing Wednesday. The 57-year-old former principal at the school in Anyang, 23 kilometers south of Seoul, was charged with the sexual offenses last month for allegedly fitting a tiny camera inside a tissue box in the restroom i...

A man has been arrested in Wonju, Gangwon Province, in connection to the killing of a landlord who was found dead in a residential building she owned on Dec. 15. According to local police on Wednesday, the suspect, in his 40s, had been living secretly in a one-bedroom unit in the victim’s building in Wonju. The attack occurred when the landlord, who lived in Gyeonggi Province, came to check on ...

South Korea's finance ministry said Wednesday it will put the top priority on stabilizing consumer inflation next year as the country faces a buildup in price pressure amid rising prices of raw materials and farm products and the economic recovery. The government plans to beef up the monitoring of the supply of key farm produce closely linked to people's livelihoods and freeze public utility bil...