South Korean companies would bring promising results to Romania’s energy sector that has untapped potential, said Costin-Adrian Ionescu, Romania’s charge d’affaires ad interim in Korea. “Nuclear energy, health care, medical equipment production facility are key areas for Korean companies to invest in Romania. Apart from automotive and electronic industries, now Korean companies can establish significant presence for engineering, infrastructure and construction industrie

TOKYO -- South Korean gymnast Shin Jea-hwan did something on Monday that only one other gymnast from the country had done: winning an Olympic gold medal.    And after grabbing the men's vault title at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, Shin paid tribute to the man that came before him, the 2012 Olympic vault champion Yang Hak-seon.    Shin and Yang both competed in the vault event here. Shin won the qualification stage, but Yang finished ninth, just missing out on the final, w

      South Korean game developer Netmarble Corp. said Monday it plans to acquire Hong-Kong based social casino game company SpinX Games in a deal estimated at $2.1 billion.    Under the plan, the South Korean company will purchase a 100 percent stake in Cayman Island-based Leonardo Interactive Holdings Ltd., which fully owns the social casino game developer.    SpinX Games, established in 2014, operates various types of mobile casino content, including

Starbucks Coffee Korea and auto brand Mini Korea have collaborated to launch three drinks, two food items, six pieces of merchandise and three voucher cards.  Under the slogan “We’re different but pretty good together,” the two companies are running a seasonal promotion campaign organized to show respect for diversity, from Tuesday to Aug. 23. (Starbucks Korea) 

  TOKYO -- South Korean gymnast Shin Jea-hwan vaulted into the record books at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, winning the men's vault gold medal to become only the second Olympic gymnastics champion from the country.    Shin scored 14.783 points on average after two vaults in the final held at Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo, beating Denis Abliazin of the Russian Olympic Committee for the gold medal. Shin had 14.733 points with his first vault and 14.833 with the next one. &n

   The head of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Monday urged South Korea and the United States to proceed with their annual summertime military exercise as planned, despite North Korea's latest warning that the drills will complicate future inter-Korean ties.    On Sunday, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the North's leader Kim Jong-un, issued a statement saying that the combined Seoul-Washington exercise could undermine efforts to improve inter-Korean relations at &q

TOKYO -- By reaching the semifinals of the men's table tennis team event at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, Korea has set up a likely showdown against China, the singular force in international ping pong.    Korea defeated Brazil 3-0 in the quarterfinals earlier in the day at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Though China still had to beat France later in the evening to reach the semifinals, no South Korean player expected to see anyone else but China.    Lee Sang-su

  Celebrations were held online Saturday to mark two anniversaries in Bengali poetry -- the birth of Rabindranath Tagore and the publishing of Kazi Nazrul Islam’s revolutionary work “Bidrohi.” The embassies of Bangladesh and India, Seoul’s Indian Art Museum, Tagore Society of Korea, Bengali Association of Korea and expatriate Bangladeshis jointly took part in the event. This year marks the centenary of Kazi Nazrul Islam’s poem “Bidrohi” and the 16

Experts warn hackers deploying more sophisticated techniques and expanding target to small firms with weak security systems

Korea’s scarce COVID-19 vaccines are not reaching people who most need the protection, while people at lower risk are getting first dibs on the jabs, experts say. Dr. Eom Joong-sik, an infectious disease specialist at Gachon University Medical Center, a government-designated COVID-19 hospital in Incheon, said people who are medically frail or otherwise at risk have fallen through the cracks in the national vaccine rollout. “People whose health conditions put them

The office of President Moon Jae-in stressed the need Monday for the two Koreas to maintain their direct communication channels. It was responding to the warning Sunday by Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister who is in charge of inter-Korean affairs as a senior Workers' Party official. She pressed South Korea to cancel its annual joint military exercises with the United States scheduled to kick of next week. Kim stated that the plan for the drills could undermine efforts to re

SAITAMA -- What a difference five years can make. Before making her Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, South Korean LPGA star Park In-bee was dealing with a left thumb injury. The condition was such that she'd barely played on the tour for a few weeks before the Olympics. She even heard whispers that she should cede her spot to another, healthier golfer. Park stuck to it and captured one of the most memorable gold medals for South Korea that year. The LPGA Hall of Famer is back, still g

Virus or not, a growing number of people have been caught attending parties in violation of COVID-19 rules, with some business owners opting to open and pay a fine than not open at all. South Korea has experienced a surge in COVID-19 infections in recent weeks, with more than 1,000 new cases daily since July 7. To contain the outbreak, which has been blamed on increased travel during the summer vacation season and the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, authorities have placed the ca

Boy band Astro welcomed the bright and sunny season of August by hopping on the summer music craze. The six-piece act returned after nearly four months with an aim to expand their musical taste and popularity with the eighth EP, “Switch On,” released Monday evening. The six-song package is a “gift by the band to themselves,” as the album talks about the group’s footprints over the past six years and the path the six bandmates aim to walk in the future, the group

YOKOHAMA -- Lost amid South Korea's offensive outburst in an 11-1 win over Israel in the Tokyo Olympic baseball tournament on Monday was yet another outstanding relief appearance by Cho Sang-woo. The closer for the Kiwoom Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has been one of the most valuable middle relievers for the national team. He has pieced together 4 1/3 scoreless innings in three appearances so far, as South Korea heads into the semifinals scheduled for Wednesday. Cho's bigges