South Korea's culture minister plans to meet Vatican officials in Italy this week to discuss bilateral exchanges as Seoul and the Vatican mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year, his office said Sunday. Culture Minister Yu In-chon plans to hold a meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin in Rome on Monday to explore opportunities for strengthening ties and participating in a set of cultural events, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Culture Dec. 10, 2023

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top carmaker, and its sister company, Kia Corp., are set to post combined exports of 2 million units in 2023, data showed Sunday, on the back of the post-pandemic market recovery. Hyundai and Kia shipped 945,062 and 867,136 respective units of automobiles over the January-October period, according to the Korea Automobile & Mobility Association. The combined figure represented a 17.5 percent rise from the same period in 2022, the data showed. Considering

Companies Dec. 10, 2023

South Korea, the United States and Japan seek to demonstrate to China and others that being democratic and transparent is "the way for greater economic growth" as the three countries work to deepen cooperation in development projects amid rising global competition, a senior official at the US development agency has said. Michele Sumilas, assistant to the administrator of the bureau for planning, learning and resource management at the US Agency for International Development, stressed t

Foreign Affairs Dec. 10, 2023

North Korea has increased activities in the truce village of Panmunjom after effectively scrapping an inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement last month, Swedish and Swiss military generals overseeing the armistice said. Maj. Gen. Lena Persson Herlitz and Maj. Gen. Ivo Burgener of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission made the remark in an interview with Yonhap News Agency, expressing concern the scrapping of the Comprehensive Military Agreement could increase the risks of militar

North Korea Dec. 10, 2023

South Korea's exports of dried seaweed hit a new record on the back of growing awareness of healthy food around the globe, data showed Sunday. Outbound shipments of dried seaweed, called "gim" in Korean, reached $670 million over the January-October period, up 20.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The ministry noted the combined export volume came to $700 million as of Nov. 10, surpassing the previous record of $690 million for the en

Economy Dec. 10, 2023

OPEC members are pushing against attempts to include language on "phasing out" fossil fuels in a UN Climate Change Conference, or COP 28, deal, highlighting the struggle over whether the summit can for the first time in 30 years address the future of oil and gas. Negotiators and observers at the annual U.N. climate talks, pursuing a deal to tackle the worst impacts of climate change, said several OPEC members appeared to have heeded calls by the oil producer group to veto any deal to p

Foreign Affairs Dec. 9, 2023

China's consumer prices experienced their fastest decline in three years this November, while factory-gate deflation deepened, indicating increasing deflationary pressures as weak domestic demand casts doubt on the economic recovery The consumer price index dropped 0.5 percent both from a year earlier and compared with October, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Saturday. That was deeper than the median forecasts in a Reuters poll, which predicted 0.1 percent declin

Economy Dec. 9, 2023

The Hanwha Eagles announced Saturday they will bring back right-hander Felix Pena for his third season in South Korea. The Eagles said Pena agreed to a new one-year deal worth up to $1.05 million. The Dominican right-hander will receive $650,000 in salary and a $200,000 signing bonus and can earn up to $200,000 more in incentives. Pena first joined the Korea Baseball Organization, specifically the Hanwha Eagles, mid-season in 2022 as a replacement for Nick Kingham, achieving a 5-4 win-loss recor

Baseball Dec. 9, 2023

A recent court victory for South Korean victims of wartime sexual slavery by Japan was confirmed Saturday after Japan decided not to appeal the earlier ruling, sources said. On Nov. 23, the Seoul High Court overturned a lower court's rejection of a damages suit filed by "comfort women" and ordered Japan to pay 200 million won ($151,780) in compensation to each of the 16 victims. Japan had two weeks to file an appeal but chose not to do so, according to the sources. The victims fil

Social Affairs Dec. 9, 2023

The national security advisers of South Korea, the United States and Japan reaffirmed Saturday that North Korea is obliged under UN Security Council resolutions to abandon its nuclear weapons program and refrain from military cooperation, Seoul's adviser said. National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong made the remark during a joint press briefing with his US and Japanese counterparts, Jake Sullivan and Takeo Akiba, following trilateral talks in Seoul. "We reaffirmed North Korea's obl

North Korea Dec. 9, 2023

A sister-in-law of football player Hwang Ui-jo was indicted Friday on charges of exposing his intimate videos online and threatening to make more revelations, officials said. The wife of Hwang's elder brother is accused of sharing intimate photos and videos of him spending time with women on Instagram in June, pretending to be a former lover of Hwang. She also claimed the South Korea forward had slept with several women and inflicted damage on them, threatening Hwang through text message to

Social Affairs Dec. 8, 2023

Four contentious bills, including the pro-labor "yellow envelope" law, were scrapped Friday as they failed to pass through the National Assembly in a revote after President Yoon Suk Yeol vetoed them last week. The results have widely been expected as two-thirds support is required for vetoed bills to pass through the Assembly again, and the ruling People Power Party, which is against the measures, holds 111 seats in the 298-member parliament. The "yellow envelope" bill calls

Politics Dec. 8, 2023

South Korean stocks gained more than 1 percent Friday, led by the strong performance of big-cap tech shares that tracked overnight gains on Wall Street. The local currency sharply rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 25.78 points, or 1.03 percent, to finish at 2,517.85. The secondary KOSDAQ jumped 2.11 percent to end at 830.37. The Kospi's trade volume was moderate at 421.4 million shares worth 7.69 trillion won (US$5.88 billion), with winners ou

Market Dec. 8, 2023

After playing the past three seasons in the second division of South Korean football, Busan IPark are poised for promotion to the top competition for 2024 with one final playoff match scheduled for the weekend. Busan will visit Suwon FC for the second leg of their K League promotion-relegation playoff at 2 p.m. Saturday at Suwon Stadium in Suwon, just south of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province. The winner will play in the K League 1 next year, and the loser will end up in the K League 2 in 2024. Busan

Soccer Dec. 8, 2023

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Friday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 20.03 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,512.10 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, all three major US indexes gained ground, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite up 1.37 percent, as communication and IT shares rallied on favorable news in the artificial intelligence sector. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, jumped more than 5 percent on t

Market Dec. 8, 2023