Unification Ministry seeks to disclose more N. Korean information to public

The Ministry of Unification aims to disclose more information on North Korea to the general public in 2023, it said Friday during a New Year’s policy briefing to President Yoon Suk Yeol. The ministry said it would focus on improving accessibility and convenience by releasing more North Korean newspapers and broadcasts to the public. It added that it would operate a pilot program by publishing information from Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party and the regime’s

9 out of 10 who passed Seoul teacher exam are women

Nine out of 10 successful candidates for this year’s teacher employment examination for public kindergartens, elementary schools and special education schools in Seoul are women, data showed Friday, continuing a years-old trend of extreme sex-ratio imbalance. A total of 166 applicants passed the test -- 164 applying to work at schools operated by the city government and two for national educational facilities in the city, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. Of the 16

Korea's pension to run out faster on population decline

South Korea's public pension reserve is set to run out from 2055, two years earlier than the previous projection, in the face of rapidly changing demographics coupled with slowing economic growth, according to officials on Friday. A Health Ministry committee on the financial projection of the National Pension Service announced that the reserves will be depleted by 2055 as the fund is expected to fall from 2041 onward. A depletion will force the working population to provide more than 26 per

S.Korean military admits flaws in anti-drone operations, information sharing

The South Korean military on Thursday has publicly conceded overall defects in its counter-unmanned aircraft operations and the absence of real-time information-sharing between the army and air forces on airborne objects.  The forces initially failed to recognize the urgency of the situation and communicated via wire-tapped phone calls when North Korean unmanned aerial vehicles infiltrated South Korea, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff in its report of a three-week ins

Samsung Biologics 2022 earnings hit all-time high with W3tr sales

Korean contract manufacturer Samsung Biologics' earnings in 2022 hit all-time high, mainly because its biopharmaceutical unit was included in the consolidated financial result after a full acquisition early in the year. Its sales almost doubled to 3 trillion won ($2.4 billion) from 1.56 trillion won in 2021, according to its regulatory filing on Friday. It logged 983.6 billion won in operating profit, up 183 percent from 537.3 billion won a year earlier. The dollar figure above has been calcu

LG Energy Solution logs record earnings on increased shipments

Battery maker on track to qualify for US Inflation Reduction Act’s EV incentives

KT&G refuses ginseng unit spin-off, aims to double sales by 2027

KT&G, South Korea's dominant tobacco and ginseng company, rolled out an aggressive mid-term business plan Friday to bolster its investment and sales in an apparent move to fend off a campaign launched by a Singapore-based activist fund. Under the plan, the company will invest a total of 3.9 trillion won ($3.1 billion) until 2027 with it businesses focused three areas -- next generation tobacco and nicotine products, often referred to e-cigarettes, and health supplement products including g

LG Electronics Q4 operating profit tumbles 91%

LG Electronics said Friday its operating earnings for the fourth quarter dipped more than 90 percent from a year earlier on slumping demand for home appliances coupled with global economic difficulties. The consumer electronics giant reported an operating profit of 69.3 billion won ($56.1 million) for the October-December period, down 90.7 percent from the same period a year prior, the regulatory filing showed. It was the first time South Korea’s No. 2 home appliances maker had reported