Find the answer at the bottom of the page. Birthdays are a joyous occasion, but some Koreans have an unusual way of celebrating them with saengil-bbang. Saengil-bbang is a combination of the word meaning birthday in Korean -- "saengil" -- and the word “bbang,” which usually means bread or cake. "Bbang" is used here as a suffix to indicate nasty violent celebrations. It refers to the practice in which close friends hit each other on their birthdays. Usually conside

BEIJING-- China resumed mandatory COVID-19 tests for arrivals from South Korea only Wednesday, in its latest tit-for-tat response over Seoul's strengthened antivirus curbs against travelers from the neighboring nation. In a notice sent Tuesday to airlines operating between the two neighbors, Chinese aviation authorities said all passengers on board direct flights from South Korea to China will receive polymerase chain reaction tests on arrival from Wednesday, according to the officials and

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases rose to over 20,000 on Wednesday as the government eased indoor mask-wearing restrictions in an effort to fully restore pre-pandemic normalcy amid a recent overall downward trend. The country reported 20,420 new cases, including 28 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,197,066, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The daily count rose from about a seven-month low of 7,416 on Monday to 19,629 on Tuesday. Wednesday's fi

The South Korean national Olympic body said Wednesday it will seek further clarification from the top Asian sports organization, in light of the latter's decision to allow Russia to compete in the continent's largest multisport event. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee plans to send a formal letter to the Olympic Council of Asia this week demanding answers on how the continental body will operate this year's Asian Games with athletes from Russia and also Belarus on hand. Del

South Korean shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Wednesday it has won a 609.7 billion-won ($495 million) order to build two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers for an Oceanian shipper. Samsung Heavy said in a regulatory filing that it will deliver the vessels to the undisclosed shipping company by mid-January 2027. So far this year, Samsung Heavy has clinched orders worth some $2 billion, or 21 percent of its 2023 target of $9.5 billion. Early last month, Samsung Heavy obtained a $1.5 bi

Posco Chemical Co., a South Korean manufacturer of industrial materials, said Wednesday it has begun construction of its second factory for synthetic graphite anode materials in the country's southeast. Posco Chemical broke ground on the plant at its key manufacturing complex in Pohang, 272 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Tuesday, the company said in a release. The construction is part of a plan to boost the production capacity of the key anode materials to 18,000 tons a year by the time

Arario Gallery, a leading commercial gallery in South Korea, has reopened the space after a year of hiatus, finishing its relocation to a new place in central Seoul. Looking over Changgyeonggung, the gallery is now located next to Arario Museum. Founded in 1989, the gallery is one of oldest galleries that have supported Korean artists for decades. Reopening on Feb. 1, the gallery has moved to Wondseo-dong in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, next to the landmark building of Gonggan Saok, a former archit

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Wednesday that South Korea recorded a trade deficit last month due to higher energy imports, but its trade performance is anticipated to gradually improve down the road on the back of China's reopening. The remark came after the export-reliant economy suffered the largest-ever monthly trade deficit in January, with outbound shipments logging an on-year decline for the fourth consecutive month. "The increased trade deficit in January was blamed on sea

South Korea's exports logged an on-year decline for the fourth consecutive month in January on weak global demand for semiconductors and other items amid an economic slowdown, the industry ministry said Wednesday. The country also suffered the largest ever monthly trade deficit on high energy prices last month, deepening concerns over the country's economic growth momentum. Outbound shipments fell 16.6 percent on-year to come to $46.27 billion in January, following a 9.5 percent on-year fall the

SK hynix Inc. said Wednesday it swung to a deficit in the fourth quarter due to the global chip market's slowdown amid weak demand and oversupply. The world's second-largest memory chip maker logged an operating loss of 1.7 trillion won ($1.37 billion) for the three months ending in December, compared with a profit of 4.21 trillion won a year ago. It was the South Korean chipmaker's first quarterly operating loss since the third quarter of 2012. Its net loss came to 3.52 trillion

The basic taxi fare in Seoul rose by 1,000 won ($0.8) to 4,800 won on Wednesday, marking the first hike in nearly four years. The Seoul metropolitan government raised the base rate for midsized sedan cabs operating in the capital city starting 4 a.m. The last hike was carried out in February 2019. The distance covered in the basic fare was shortened to 1.6 kilometers from the previous 2 km, and an additional 100 won is charged for every 131 meters of travel distance, changed from the previous 13

The government announced a set of measures Wednesday to help the country's vulnerable people to cope with a spike in heating and energy bills. The move came amid a mounting public outcry over higher heating bills caused by a global surge in gas and energy prices. The measures, among other things, call for doubling the value of energy vouchers for vulnerable people and the amount of heating bill discounts for them. Nearly 1.7 million underprivileged households and some 400,000 lower-income f

Seven out of 10 South Koreans see the need for Seoul to independently pursue its own nuclear weapons development program, a survey showed, amid concerns over escalating military threats from Pyongyang and a lack of trust in denuclearization negotiations with North Korea. According to a Gallup Korea poll of 1,000 adults, commissioned by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, 76.6 percent replied that the South needs to develop nuclear weapons independently to counter Pyongyang’s intensify

In the US and Japan, men are not required to fulfill mandatory military duty. Therefore, both Americans and Japanese find military life irrelevant to them. In the case of America, for example, the Council on Foreign Relations has recently revealed that presently there are 1.3 million US soldiers on active duty, which consist of only 0.5 percent of the American population. In South Korea, where military service is compulsory, things are radically different. Except for teenagers, nearly all Kore

You will not believe the video that was released Friday night showing Memphis police officers beating -- ultimately to death -- a young Black man. I don’t really mean that, of course. If you live in the US, and participate in society, you likely have no difficulty believing that a gang of violent police officers fatally pummeled Tyre Nichols in what the city’s police chief accurately described as a “heinous” attack. Indeed, if you have an internet connection or a televi