...ailroad freight traffic between North Korea and China halted in August 2020 due to outbreaks of COVID-19 in China, and resumed in January this year. Trade between North Korea and China is expected to...fic was suspended again on April 29 due to tightened border controls put in place to ward off a COVID-19 outbreak in China's border city of Dandong. Last Thursday, North Korea reported its first COVI...

...r its restructuring plan in late August. SsangYong has been under court receivership since April 15, 2021, after its Indian parent Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. failed to attract an investor amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its worsening financial status. The latest deal's collapse due to Edison's failure to make payments marks yet another setback for the SUV-focused carmaker. China-based SAIC Motor C...

...es for North Korea, he said, “The US has also expressed an interest in (helping) North Korea, but there has been no response so far.” The North is currently suffering from an explosive spread of COVID-19, testing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s leadership. Biden is also considering a plan to meet with former President Moon Jae-in on Sunday before he leaves. But Kim said he does not know about ...

Patients in South Korea may soon lose government coverage for medical bills, with the “trial period” for a Moon Jae-in-era change in COVID-19’s legal status due to expire at the end of this week. On April 25, the Moon administration downgraded COVID-19’s level of public health hazard within Korea’s classification of infectious diseases, thereby removing the legal framework for the government to ...

...ar, is expected to be equipped with the world’s largest clean room. Biden’s high-profile visit comes amid his big push to reshape global supply chains after a series of disruptions including the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a trade war with China. He aims to promote new production and trading channels for essential goods like chips and batteries that run through friendly n...

...ed Wednesday that it would decide whether to end the country’s seven-day quarantine mandate for COVID-19 patients on Friday, which would mark another major step towards the next phase of its post-pand...he mandate is lifted, people who are infected with COVID-19 would no longer have to quarantine. COVID-19 patients will also be responsible for their own medical costs treating COVID-19. “South Korea ...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rebuked cadres for their “slackness” in handling the COVID-19 outbreak while the country claimed that the pandemic situation was taking a “favorable turn,” the state-r... admitted the infection of the BA.2 subvariant of omicron for the first time and dropped its zero-COVID policy. At the meeting, the politburo presidium specifically looked into the failure of the cou...

...st monks and practitioners led by Most Ven. Wonhaeng, the president of the Jogye Order. The delegation is also the largest group from Korea to complete a pilgrimage in India since the outbreak of COVID-19. The completed temple will have a total floor area of 3,305 square meters. It will include a Buddha hall, meditation hall, guest quarters, and a health clinic for local residents. Located about...

...n and US intelligence agencies. If carried out, the nuclear test would be the first in nearly five years since the last test in 2017. The North is currently suffering from an explosive spread of COVID-19 which is testing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s leadership. Observers here say that Kim may push to continue with the possible nuclear test and missile launches as a way to boost his standing...

...thout any condition. But mapping out the path to realize “substantial denuclearization” needs bilateral and multilateral cooperation and coordination. China and Korea now are working on providing COVID-19 assistance to the North. Engaging North Korea, rather than perpetually sanctioning and pressuring it, remains a significant option to change North Korea. Hwang Jae-ho is a professor of the divis...