North Korea's defense minister has sent to his Chinese counterpart a message touting the Chinese military's achievements on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of its founding, Pyongyang's state media said. Ri Yong-gil's message to Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe came as China commemorated Monday's anniversary for the inception of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA). In the message, Ri ...

South Korea's central bank said Monday it is "appropriate" to raise its key interest rate in small increments going forward as long as inflation and growth trends do not deviate much from the expected paths. The Bank of Korea (BOK) provided the broad guidance on the future trajectory of monetary policy in a report to the National Assembly after it delivered an unprecedented 0.5 percentage-point ...

President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating sank below 30 percent in the wake of the embarrassing disclosure of a controversial text conversation with the ruling party floor leader, a poll showed Monday. In the poll of 1,003 voters nationwide conducted by pollster Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI), 28.9 percent said Yoon was doing well on state affairs, down 3.3 percentage points from the pre...

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 50,000 on Monday on fewer virus tests during the weekend, but the number of seriously ill patients reached a two-month high amid a virus resurgence fueled by a highly contagious omicron subvariant. The country added 44,689 new COVID-19 infections, including 436 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 19,820,739, the Korea Disease Control and Prev...

Amid rumors that he could be dealt ahead of the annual trade deadline this week, Tampa Bay Rays infielder Choi Ji-man has surpassed his RBI total from last season. Choi collected two RBIs despite going hitless in four at-bats in a 5-3 loss to the Cleveland Guardians at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Sunday (local time). Choi was the designated hitter and got his second straight ...

K-pop group Stray Kids put out its new digital single, titled "Mixtape: Time Out," on Monday, the group's agency said. "Aug. 1 is a meaningful day, when the name of the band's fandom 'Stay' was made, so the band prepared a surprise present to celebrate the fandom's birthday," JYP Entertainment said. "Mixtape: Time Out," released at midnight, is a rock genre song written by the members based on ...

South Korean shares opened lower Monday on a decline in major tech stocks amid global recession woes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.14 points, or 0.33 percent, to trade at 2,443.36 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Eyes are on whether the Federal Reserve will become less aggressive in raising rates following an aggressive 0.75-percentage point hike in t...

North Korea's new suspected COVID-19 cases remained at zero for the third consecutive day, according to its state media Monday. No new fever cases were reported over a 24-hour period until 6 p.m. the previous day, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing data from the state emergency anti-epidemic headquarters. It did not provide information on whether additional deaths have ...

SK Geocentric Co., a chemical unit of South Korea's SK Group, said Monday the construction began for the joint factory with Japan's Tokuyama Corp. to produce a high-purity cleaning agent for semiconductors. SK Geocentric CEO Na Kyung-soo, Hiroshi Yokota, president of Tokuyama, and other officials attended the groundbreaking ceremony that took place in the South Korean industrial city of Ulsan, a...

South Korea suffered a trade deficit for the fourth consecutive month in July over high global energy prices, though its exports rose 9.4 percent on-year on solid demand for chips, data showed Monday. Outbound shipments stood at $60.7 billion last month, up from $55.5 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It is the highest tally fo...

South Korean defender Kim Min-jae has made a solid first impression in his preseason debut with Napoli. The 25-year-old center back played the first half of Napoli's 1-1 draw with the Spanish side RCD Mallorca at Stadio Teofilo Patini in Castel di Sangro, Italy, on Sunday (local time). Napoli took a 1-0 lead eight minutes into the friendly match thanks to Victor Osimhen's penalty, and Kim and t...

The latest repackage album from Seventeen has come in fourth on the US Billboard's main albums chart, becoming the band's highest-charting album. "Sector 17" was fourth on the Billboard 200, selling 34,000 equivalent album units, Billboard said Sunday (US time) in a preview of the upcoming chart. The Billboard 200 ranks the most popular albums of the week in the United States, measured by equiv...

Apartment transactions in South Korea fell more than 50 percent on-year in the first half of 2022 due mainly to the government's tough lending curbs and rising interest rates, data showed Sunday. The number of apartments traded nationwide stood at 184,134 units in the January-June period, down 50.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Real Estate Board. It is the lowe...

Another ruling party lawmaker quit the party's Supreme Council on Sunday amid speculation it could lead to the party switching to a collective leadership system from the one-man leadership of acting chairman Kweon Seong-dong. Rep. Cho Su-jin of the People Power Party (PPP) told reporters that she stepped down as a council member, two days after the resignation of Rep. Bae Hyun-jin from the counc...

South Korea's Navy chief is set to depart for the United States to discuss military cooperation and exchanges, the Navy said Sunday. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lee Jong-ho will make a weeklong visit to Hawaii and Washington, D.C., during which he is scheduled to meet with Carlos del Toro, secretary of the US Navy, and John Aquilino, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, as well as other ...