South Korea reported 193 cases of malaria during the first seven months of this year, showing a similar trend to last year when the number was the lowest in 26 years, data showed Friday. According to statistics from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Gyeonggi Province and others, 193 cases of the mosquito-borne disease were confirmed from January to July this year. This compared w...

A ruling party lawmaker quit the party's Supreme Council on Friday amid speculation it could lead to the party switching to a collective leadership system from the one-man leadership of acting chairman Kweon Seong-dong following the embarrassing disclosure of his texts with President Yoon Suk-yeol. Rep. Bae Hyun-jin of the People Power Party said she will step down as a council member, saying th...

South Korea on Friday unveiled guidelines to overhaul operations of public firms in a bid to improve their productivity and prevent lax management amid a sharp rise in personnel and debt. The guidelines called for a total of 350 public firms to reduce their non-core business and lower the maximum number of employees for 2023, according to the finance ministry. Public firms should also sell non-...

President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating fell to a new low, going below 30 percent for the first time, amid soaring inflation and controversy over personnel appointments, a poll showed Friday. In the poll of 1,000 voters nationwide conducted by pollster Gallup Korea between Tuesday and Thursday, 28 percent said Yoon was doing well on state affairs, while 62 percent gave a negative assessment. ...

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker, said Friday it has named a new chief executive for its US operations amid the prolonged chip shortage. Hyundai has promoted Randy Parker to be CEO of Hyundai Motor America effective Aug. 1. He will be in charge of Hyundai's commercial automotive operations in the US market, the company said in a statement. Parker will report to Jose Munoz, pres...

POSCO, South Korea's top steelmaker, said Friday that it has raised $1 billion by selling debts overseas. The two-tranche debt comprises three-year bonds worth $700 million and five-year bonds worth $300 million, according to the steelmaker. POSCO said the proceeds from the debt sale will help beef up its cash flows down the road amid rising market rates. (Yonhap)

South Korea's Navy has decided to allow female sailors to serve on submarines for the first time, starting in 2024, its officials said Friday, a move to broaden their military roles amid prospects of troop shortages caused by the country's low birthrate. The Navy made the decision during Thursday's key policy meeting, making South Korea the world's 14th nation with a personnel assignment policy ...

Credit card spending in South Korea jumped in the second quarter, buoyed by eased antivirus measures, data showed Friday. Spending made with credit, debit and prepaid cards came to 280.7 trillion won ($216.2 billion) in the April-June period, up 14.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association (CREFIA). During the cited period, the number of app...

Samsung SDI Co. said Friday it posted record high operating income and sales in the second quarter, driven by strong sales of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Operating income reached 429 billion won ($330.4 million) in the April-June period, up 45.3 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales came to 4.74 trillion won, also up 42.2 percent from the previous year...

South Korea's tax revenue increased 36.5 trillion won ($28 billion) in the first half from a year earlier as the economic recovery boosted the collection of corporate and income taxes, the finance ministry said Friday. Tax revenue amounted to 218.3 trillion won in the January-June period, compared with 181.7 trillion won the previous year, according to the ministry. In June alone, tax revenue r...

Two directorial debut films of South Korean star actors Lee Jung-jae and Jung Woo-sung have been invited to this year's Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the films' distributors here said Friday. According to Megabox Plus M, the espionage film "Hunt," written and directed by "Squid Game" star Lee, will be presented at the Gala Presentations section at the 47th TIFF slated for Sept. 8-1...

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest carrier, said Friday it will resume flights to Rome and Barcelona next month as travel demand grows amid eased virus curbs. It will operate three flights a week on the Incheon-Rome route starting Sept. 1 and three weekly flights on the Incheon-Barcelona route from Sept. 2, the statement said. Korean Air suspended flights from Incheon to the two Europe...

Exports of South Korean-made passenger cars expanded 2.5 percent in the first half of the year, thanks mainly to brisk overseas demand for green cars, data showed Friday. Local carmakers shipped passenger cars worth a combined $22.3 billion during the January-June period, up from $21.7 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service (KCS). The number of expor...

Hanwha Life Insurance Co. on Friday reported its second-quarter net profit of 318.6 billion won ($245.5 million), up 92.8 percent from a year earlier. Operating income for the April-June period was 458 billion won, up 90.2 percent from a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Revenue rose 38.5 percent to 8.17 trillion won. (Yonhap)

SK Innovation Co. said Friday its second-quarter profit more than quadrupled from a year earlier, boosted by robust sales of petroleum products amid higher oil prices. Operating profit reached 2.32 trillion won ($1.78 billion) in the April-June period, up 318.9 percent from 556 billion won the previous year, the South Korean refiner said in a regulatory filing. Sales increased 76.9 percent to 1...