Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges to South Korea fell 15.6 percent in the first half of this year from a year earlier amid global uncertainties caused by the prolonged crisis surrounding Ukraine and surging inflation, the industry ministry said Friday. The country received $11.09 billion worth of FDI commitments during the first six months of this year, compared with $13.14 billion logged ...

South Korea's car exports reached an eight-year high in the first half of this year on the back of global popularity of eco-friendly cars, data showed Friday. The value of outbound shipments of automobiles grew 3.2 percent on-year to $24.35 billion during the January-June period, which marked the highest figure since 2014, when the figure came to $25.23 billion, according to the data from the Mi...

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday it will launch its first all-electric high-performance IONIQ 5 N model in the domestic market next year. Hyundai has strengthened the high-performance N brand and the N Line brand to compete with its bigger rivals in terms of performance cars. The N models bring full performance capability to daily driving, while the N Line brings performance-inspired...

The state human rights watchdog is expected to announce its opposition next month to the government's proposal to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility below 14, officials said Friday. Currently, children aged between 10 and 14 cannot be held criminally responsible for their actions and are instead sent to juvenile detention facilities, not prisons, or made to do community service, in...

Sales of short-term corporate bonds in South Korea climbed more than 11 percent in the first half of 2022 from a year earlier on a spike in securitized debt issuance, data showed Friday. Local firms floated 642.7 trillion won ($486 billion) worth of bonds maturing within one year in the January-June period, up 11.3 percent a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depositor...

President Yoon Suk-yeol will appoint Byeon Yang-kyoon, a well-known former economic technocrat who served as budget and planning minister, as an outside economic adviser Friday, his office said. Byeon, 72, served as chief policymaker in the presidential office of former President Roh Moo-hyun from 2006 to 2007 after spending decades working at the finance ministry and serving as budget and plann...

High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok has already made plenty of South Korean athletics history, with his first career world indoor title from March this year being the biggest feather in his cap so far. The ascendant athlete will look to add an outdoor world title this time. Woo will take part in men's high jump at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The qualification phase is scheduled ...

As they enter the midseason break for the 2022 South Korean baseball season, the SSG Landers find themselves exactly where they started the proceedings three months ago: first place. The Landers defeated the Kiwoom Heroes 4-1 on Thursday night to arrive at the All-Star break in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) on a six-game winning streak. At 57-26-3 (wins-losses-ties), they lead the Heroes...

K-pop girl group ITZY will roll out a new EP on Friday, to be followed by its first-ever US tour, the group's agency said. The album titled "Checkmate," set to be out at 1 p.m., is the band's fifth EP and first release in about 10 months since its first full-length album "Crazy in Love" last September. Preorders for the upcoming album had surpassed 720,000 copies as of Thursday afternoon, a rec...

The government will beef up quarantine inspections at major airports as the number of travelers are expected to rise sharply in the summer vacation season amid a new wave of virus resurgence, Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said Friday. Some 200 quarantine workers will be additionally assigned to Incheon International Airport, the No. 1 gateway to the country, and seven other regional airports in...

South Korea has identified the remains of another soldier killed during the 1950-53 Korean War following their excavation in North Korea decades ago, the defense ministry said Friday. The ministry's excavation team recently confirmed the remains of Pfc. Park Jin-ho. They were among those the North handed over to the United States from 1990-94. His remains returned here in 2020, as they were thou...

South Korea's new coronavirus cases more than doubled in a week again on Friday to near 40,000 amid the fast spread of a highly contagious new omicron subvariant. The country added 38,882 new COVID-19 infections, including 261 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,680,142, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Friday's figure more than doubled from 19,308 new c...

Seoul shares opened lower Friday amid concerns over more aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks to tackle inflation and a global economic slowdown. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 7.96 points, or 0.34 percent, to trade at 2,314.36 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Institutions and foreigners sold a combined 109 billion won ($82 million) worth of stocks, exceeding...

South Korea ranked second at this year's youth international mathematics competition in Norway earlier this month, with China clinching the top spot, the event's organizers said Friday. The six-member South Korean delegation earned a combined 208 points with three gold medals and as many silvers at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2022 that took place in Oslo from July 6-15, accordi...

North Korea held a Cabinet meeting earlier this week to assess its economic performance for the first half of the year and urged utmost efforts to attain its goals in the remaining months, state media reported Friday. The enlarged plenary meeting of the Cabinet took place via video links the previous day, chaired by Premier Kim Tok-hun, as Vice Premier Pak Jong-gun delivered a report, according ...