The United States looks forward to sitting down with North Korea's leadership for nuclear talks, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday, shortly after Pyongyang accused him of slandering the regime and said it will "go our own way."    Pompeo was responding to an official North Korean statement that condemned his earlier call on the Group of Seven major economies to continue diplomatic and economic pressure on Pyongyang.    In a telephone briefing with Yonhap

A US citizen working at a US Forces Korea (USFK) base tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday, bringing the total number of USFK-related infections to 13, the military said.    The latest COVID-19 patient is an American contractor working at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, according to USFK.    He is currently in isolation at his off-base residence, and he last visited the garrison on Friday, it added.    "KCDC and USFK are

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin ranked as the highest-paid corporate executive in South Korea last year, industry data showed Monday.    Shin topped the list by receiving 18.18 billion won ($14.78 million) in wages from seven group companies, including Lotte Shopping Co., according to the companies' public disclosures. Lotte is the nation's fifth largest business group.    He was the highest salary earner in 2017 with 15.2 billion won, but his compensation nearly halved

A n employee at Samsung Electronics Co.'s chip production line in Yongin, south of Seoul, was confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus on Monday, a local government said.    The worker in his 20s first showed symptoms of the COVID-19 virus last week and took a test on Sunday, according to the city government of Hwaseong, where he resides.    After the result came out Monday, he was taken to a hospital and the authorities are tracing his contacts.    Th

South Korea’s Ministry of Education has stocked up about 3 million small medical masks for kindergarteners and first and second grade students ahead of the planned reopening of schools next week, the ministry said Monday. Some 2.2 million masks have been secured on top of 764,000 that the government previously had on hand for immediate distribution by school in case a student shows symptoms of the novel coronavirus or tests positive, according to the Education Ministry. It has also sepa

Amid the rising number of imported cases of COVID-19 infections, a Polish national who tested positive reportedly carried out outdoor activities while in quarantine, sparking concerns of a community spread, local reports said Monday. The Yongsan District in Seoul posted online last week that a Polish man in his 40s had contracted the virus after coming into contact with a previously confirmed virus patient and that he had completed the two-week mandatory quarantine. Multiple Yongsan residents

Suho of EXO released his first solo album, “Self-Portrait,” on Monday, hoping to connect with the audience through the most personal side of himself. “As a solo artist, I wanted to make music that captured the color and musicality of Kim Jun-myeon (Suho’s given name), not the one I had shown through EXO as a group. I do feel burdened, but excitement outruns nervousness,” Suho said in a statement. The six-track EP is fronted by lead track “Let’s Love,

Lengthy battle exhausts doctors, nurses on front line of coronavirus fight

Death rate in patients above 80 surges past 18 percent

Local fans use K-pop references to subtly take swipe at Thai king

Grim outlook overshadows landmark investment deals of HDC, Mirae Asset　

　South Korea reported a net decrease in its population for the third consecutive month in January, due mainly to the critically low birthrate that has plagued Asia’s fourth-largest economy for years. 　Only 26,818 infants were born in January, down 11.6 percent on-year, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The number of births has fallen on-year for a whopping 50 consecutive months, dating to December 2015. 　The number of deaths, on the other hand, advanced 4 percent on-y

With no end in sight in the global coronavirus outbreak, South Korea is pondering sustainable ways of continuing the quarantine system while also allowing for a return to normal.  The government said Monday it will launch a body encompassing public and private experts this week to devise guidelines on how people should go about their day while still helping to bring the spread of the virus under control. “The long-term goal is to control the size of infections to the level where h

American singer-songwriter Halsey called off her Seoul concert due the novel coronavirus spread. “‘Halsey - Manic World Tour Live in Seoul,’ originally slated to be held on May 9 at the Olympic Hall in the Olympic Park, has been canceled,” said the concert’s local organizer Live Nation Korea in a statement issued Monday. The organizer stated that all tickets will be automatically refunded without any charges. Those who canceled their tickets after 5:30 p.m. on

COVID-19 real-time PCR diagnostic kit manufacturer Solgent is working to meet rising global demands, the company said Monday. Solgent is genome precision medicine company Eone Diagnomics (EDGC)’s affiliate that is currently at its full capacity churning out 3,000 kits per week. With one kit, 100 people can test whether or not they are infected with the novel coronavirus. Over 20 nations are requesting Solgent to export its independently developed DiaPlexQ Novel Coronavirus Detection Kit