President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday appointed three more ministers, including the North Korea policy chief, with his Cabinet formation delayed by the main opposition party's refusal to endorse certain nominees. Yoon appointed Kwon Young-se as unification minister after the National Assembly adopted his confirmation hearing report the previous day. Yoon went ahead with the appointment of Park Bo-g...

Samsung Electronics Co. is considering raising chipmaking prices by up to 20 percent, a news report said Friday. Bloomberg reported the South Korean chipmaker is in talks with foundry clients to hike the contract chipmaking prices. Samsung spokespersons, contacted by Yonhap, said they could not officially comment on the matter. Samsung is the world's largest memory chip maker and second larges...

South Korea has co-sponsored a recently adopted UN Human Rights Council resolution on the deteriorating situation in Ukraine stemming from Russia's aggression, an official at Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday. During a special session in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday (local time), the council adopted the resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities against Ukraine and reque...

Seoul shares bounced back to end higher on Friday, snapping an eight-session losing streak, as investors scooped up large-cap stocks on bargain hunting amid inflation concerns. The South Korean won rose against the US dollar. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 54.16 points, or 2.12 percent, to 2,604.24. The main index shed 5.4 percent over the past eight sessions through Thursday...

South Korea's state power firm Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) on Friday reported a record-high operating loss in the first quarter of this year due to high global energy costs and the freeze in electricity rates. Operating loss for the January-March period hit an all-time quarterly high of 7.78 trillion won ($6.06 billion), compared with the operating profit of 565.6 billion won from a year ...

Police have decided to continue to ban demonstrations within the 100-meter radius of the new presidential office in Seoul's central district of Yongsan, sources said Friday. The Seoul Metropolitan Police has recently instructed the Yongsan Police Station and nearby police forces to give a notification of prohibition to those filing for permission to stage rallies near the presidential office, ac...

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday offered to send COVID-19 vaccines to North Korea, his spokesperson said, a day after Pyongyang acknowleged an outbreak for the first time since the pandemic began. After claiming for over two years that it was coronavirus-free, the North reported its first case of COVID-19 on Thursday, saying the country declared the implementation of the "maximum emergency" vir...

South Korean girl group aespa has been chosen as one of the Next Generation Leaders by the US news magazine TIME. Since 2014, the magazine has annually announced the list featuring trendsetters and trailblazers who are guiding the way to a brighter future. "aespa is an experiment, but it may also be the inevitable next step for the music industry: a fresh way to bridge the virtual and the real,...

LG Household & Health Care (H&H) Ltd., a major South Korean producer of cosmetic and health care products, said Friday it has opened a new research and development (R&D) center in Hokkaido, Japan, focusing on microbiome beauty products. LG H&H said Hokkaido provides the optimal environment for conducting research on useful strains of microbiomes -- which refers to the collection of bacteria, fun...

The government will add an additional 230 international flights by next month to meet growing demand for travel in the wake of an easing of COVID-19 restrictions, Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said Friday. The addition will raise the number of weekly international flights from 532 in May to 762 in June. Starting May 23, the government will also recognize negative rapid antigen test results for...

The two worst clubs in South Korean football this year will collide for their second meeting of the season this weekend, as they both desperately seek to move out of the relegation zone. Suwon Samsung Bluewings will host Seongnam FC at 7 p.m. Saturday at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul. Seongnam are bringing up the rear in the K League 1 this year, stuck in 12th pl...

The war between Russia and Ukraine, and extended global supply disruptions are feared to sap South Korea's corporate investment and exports, and add upward pressure on inflation, the finance ministry said Friday. The South Korean economy faces heightened external uncertainty, as global economic downside risks have heightened amid major central banks' monetary tightening and China's COVID-19 lock...

President Yoon Suk-yeol will visit the southwestern city of Gwangju next week to commemorate a democracy uprising that led to the massacre of hundreds of civilians in 1980, his office said Friday. Yoon will travel to Gwangju, 329 kilometers south of Seoul, to attend a state memorial ceremony on the anniversary of the May 18 uprising at the May 18th National Cemetery. The visit will mark Yoon's ...

Seoul shares opened higher Friday as technology stocks rebounded amid concerns over the Federal Reserve's further monetary tightening to tackle high inflation. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 21.67 points, or 0.85 percent, to 2,571.75 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI rebounded following an eight-day losing streak as the Fed is likely to raise interest rates by a ...

The United States has no immediate plans to provide COVID-19 vaccines to North Korea but supports international efforts to help vaccinate the people of the reclusive country, a White House spokesperson said Thursday. Jen Psaki, however, accused Pyongyang of exploiting its people by denying or diverting international assistance to pursue unlawful weapons programs. "The United States does not cur...