North Korea on Tuesday urged its people not to let their guard down against COVID-19, having claimed victory last week in its fight against the pandemic. On Thursday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convened a national meeting, reviewed the virus situation and ordered the lifting of the country's "maximum emergency anti-epidemic" measures, three months after the nation reported the first confirm...

LG Chem Ltd. said Tuesday it will build two production facilities in the US state of Illinois with a US food processing company to produce a biodegradable plastic widely used in food packaging. Under the two joint ventures with Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM), an agricultural food processor and biosolution company, they will build a facility to annually produce 75,000 tons of polylactic acid (P...

South Korean shares opened a tad higher Tuesday led by tech advances, tracking overnight US gains, despite woes over China's economic slowdown. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had added 7.57 points, or 0.3 percent, to trade at 2,535.51 points as of 9:15 a.m. Stocks got off to a solid start despite weaker-than-expected economic data from China, the country's top trading p...

The United States strongly supports South Korea's efforts to restart dialogue with North Korea and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, a state department spokesperson said Monday. Department Press Secretary Ned Price also said the U.S. will continue to closely work with Seoul to that end. "We strongly support the ROK's aim to open a path for serious and sustained diplomacy with Pyongyang," Price...

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted the importance of the US-South Korea alliance on Monday, while congratulating the Asian ally on its national day. "On behalf of the United States of America, I send my kindest regards and congratulations to the Republic of Korea and the South Korean people as you celebrate your National Day," the top US diplomat said in a released st...

WASHINGTON -- Nearly nine out of every 10 South Koreans hold a favorable view of the United States, the second highest rating among 17 countries surveyed, a poll showed Monday. It also showed more than 80 percent of South Koreans think the US is a reliable partner. In the poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based nonprofit think tank, 89 percent of South Koreans surveyed sai...

Conservative activists held a massive rally in downtown Seoul on Monday to celebrate Liberation Day, despite lingering concerns over COVID-19. About 20,000 members, according to police, of the far-right Liberty Unification Party led by Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon gathered in Gwanghwamun Square, which reopened earlier this month after a major facelift. Jun is a conservative pastor of Sarang Jeil Church ...

A special prosecution team has requested a warrant to arrest an Air Force officer who allegedly leaked information about a probe into the suicide of a servicewoman and defamed the deceased victim, authorities said Monday. The public affairs officer is accused of leaking information about the probe into the suicide a female Air Force servicewoman and fabricating the cause of her death, according ...

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group said Monday it ranked third in first-half global vehicle sales on increased high-end model sales despite the lack of automotive chips. Hyundai Motor Co., its independent Genesis brand and Hyundai's smaller affiliate Kia Corp. sold a total of 3.299 million vehicles in global markets in the January-June period, following Toyota Motor Group's 5.138 million units an...

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 100,000 for the first time in seven days Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend amid the spread of a highly contagious omicron subvariant. The country reported 62,078 new COVID-19 infections, including 396 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 21,418,036, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily ...

The deaths from last week’s heavy rains stood at 14 and the number of people registered missing was revised down to four from five as one person was mistakenly reported missing, officials said Sunday. Of the dead, eight died in Seoul, four in the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and two in the eastern Gangwon Province, according to data from the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquar...

The suspended chairman of the ruling People Power Party, Lee Jun-seok, again cried foul Saturday over a party leadership switch, which he claims is aimed at removing him from his position. The PPP’s move to switch to an emergency leadership system is “unfair” and “nonsense,” Lee told reporters in a news conference held just a few days after the PPP amended the party charter to switch to an emer...

South Korea‘s new daily COVID-19 cases declined for the third straight day Saturday but remained above the 100,000 level for the fifth day in a row amid the fast spread of the omicron variant. The country added 124,592 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total caseload to 21,236,355, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Of the new cases, 480 were from overseas. The...

North Korea has lifted a face mask mandate and eased antivirus curbs as the communist state moves toward normalcy after declaring victory in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, state media reported Saturday. Earlier this week, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared victory in his country‘s emergency campaign against COVID-19, three months after the nation first reported the COVID-19 outb...

South Korean stocks closed slightly higher Friday amid persistent worries about the US Federal Reserve's pace of its monetary tightening. The local currency ended almost unchanged against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 4.16 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,527.94. Trading volume was moderate at 437.8 million shares worth 7.89 trillion won ($...