President Moon Jae-in on Friday nominated four new ministers in a partial shake-up of his Cabinet, Cheong Wa Dae said. Rep. Jeon Hae-cheol of the ruling Democratic Party was picked as the interior and safety minister and Kwon Deok-cheol, head of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, as health minister. Byeon Chang-heum, head of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation, also known as LH, was tapped as the new land and transport minister, and Chung Young-ai, head of the Korea Foundatio

Samsung Electronics on Friday announced a large-scale personnel reshuffle, the biggest in three years, owing to a strong performance this year despite the COVID-19 impact. The tech giant promoted a total of 214 executives, the largest number since 2017. “In spite of difficulty amid the global spread of COVID-19, the company timely responded to demand and raised efficiency in operations, which led to improved earnings from last year,” the company said in a statement. In the thir

Japan remains negligent in carrying out UNESCO recommendations that the country offer correct accounts of wartime forced labor when describing the history of industrial sites recognized as World Heritage, an official said Friday. When the 23 Meiji-era industrial sites won the World Heritage recognition in 2015, Japan promised to set up an information center to remember and honor the victims in a way that recognizes that they were forcibly mobilized for labor. But the promise was not kept. A

The Seoul city government said Friday that stores, theaters and multiple other facilities must close after 9 p.m. for two weeks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. Acting Seoul Mayor Seo Jeong-hyup announced the new restriction during a virtual press briefing, saying the order will go into force Saturday. "Seoul is currently facing a desperately dangerous crisis," he said. "We have no room left to retreat. Starting tomorrow, we are halting Seoul after 9 p.m." The o

After popular trot singer Lee Chan-won tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, celebrities who had come into contact with him were quickly tested and quarantined. How Lee got infected is unknown. On Thursday morning, Lee’s agency New Era Project announced that the singer had tested positive and gone into self-quarantine. “Currently, everyone associated with Lee Chan-won is being tested, and some have already finished testing and are in self-quarantine,” said New Era Projec

After a record-breaking 2020, BTS has ranked No. 1 on the Billboard's year-end Top Artists Duo/Group chart for the first time in its career, the US music publication reported. "BTS is the first non-US act to be the year's top duo/group since British/Irish boy band One Direction led in both 2015 and 2014," the Billboard reported Thursday (US time). It added that the band ranked No. 18 in the overall Top Artists chart. BTS ranked second place on the chart in 2017, 2018 and 2019, when T

South Korea has a new export item. COVID-19 diagnostic reagents notched a 2.5 trillion won ($2.3 billion) performance up to end-November. Diagnostic reagents are among the most fundamental components of diagnostic testing assays. Simply put, it is critical to have a well-functioning reagent to accurately discern a COVID-19 infection. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Korea Customs Service on Friday, Korea had exported enough COVID-19 diagnostic reagents to cover 496.8

JEJU -- Prosecutors have demanded life imprisonment for a sex offender indicted for allegedly producing about 1,300 child sexual exploitation photos and videos and distributing some of them online, judicial officials said Friday. The sentencing demand was made during a hearing held at the Jeju District Court on Thursday on the case of Bae Jun-hwan, a 37-year-old who was arrested in July on charges of forcing 44 minors encountered in an open online chat room to produce 1,293 sexual exploitation

President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook on Friday invited representatives of major charity organizations to Cheong Wa Dae to thank and encourage them for their much-needed work in helping out the needy. The participants represent 14 charity groups, including the Salvation Army, Good Neighbors, the Korean National Tuberculosis Association, the Korean Red Cross and Babonanum, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Also invited were actor Jang Hyun-sung, mountaineer Um Hong-gil and singer Bada, w

Fear is growing among college hopefuls after Thursday’s national college entrance exam, as the coronavirus situation could hinder their chances of gaining admission to the colleges of their choice. Starting this weekend, a number of universities are kicking off written exams and interviews for early admissions. Universities are looking to recruit 77 percent of their new students for next year by Dec. 27. Konkuk University will have a written exam Saturday, followed by Sogang University,

The number of working mothers with underage children fell by the most during the six-month period ending in April as the job market remained sluggish amid the new coronavirus outbreak, data showed Friday. The number of working mothers with children aged under 18 reached 2.67 million as of end-April, down 5.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea. It marked the sharpest decline since 2016, when the statistics agency began compiling related data. The fall was ma

Unification Minister Lee In-young said Friday that South and North Korea should look for creative ways to build peace and prosperity just as the European Coal and Steel Community led Europe into unity "beyond the barrier of ideology and boundaries." Lee made the remark during a video speech at a forum on peace in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), stressing the importance of inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation. The European Coal and Steel Community is an organization established in 1952

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's leading smartphone and chipmaker, on Friday conducted a large-scale personnel reshuffle to reward employees after reporting robust third-quarter results. Samsung Electronics has promoted a total of 214 officials to higher positions to reflect their contributions to the company's stellar performance in the July-September period, the company said in a statement. In the first and biggest personnel changes in three years, 111 general managers were promoted as

Rise in average jeonse price for apartments in Seoul

Six Army soldiers and a Marine have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Friday. Three Army officers at the Sangmudae Artillery School in Jangseong, 310 kilometers south of Seoul, were diagnosed with COVID-19 while in quarantine after cluster infections were reported at the base, according to the ministry. Another officer in the central city of Gyeryong tested positive while in quarantine after he was found to have had contact with a person who was later found to