Traffic on some highway sections slowed down Saturday as people hit the road to visit their hometowns or go on trips as the Lunar New Year holiday began. This year's extended Lunar New Year holiday runs from Saturday through Tuesday, with the nation celebrating its first such holiday without social distancing restrictions since the outbreak of COVID-19 three years ago. According to the Korea Ex...

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest number for a Saturday in 13 weeks, health authorities said. The country reported 27,654 new COVID-19 infections, including 85 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 29,982,905, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The tally marked the lowest for any Saturday since Oct. 22 last year, when the country reporte...

President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee on Saturday offered Lunar New Year greetings to the people, renewing his commitment to vitalize people's livelihoods and take care of vulnerable people. In a video message, Yoon said the government "will take care of our needy neighbors more warmly and meticulously in the new year." Despite grim economic outlooks at home and abroad, Yoon said ...

South Korea's exports fell 2.7 percent on-year in the first 20 days of January, data showed Saturday, due mainly to weak semiconductor shipments. The country's outbound shipments stood at US$33.6 billion in the Jan. 1-20 period, compared with $34.5 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports rose 9.3 percent on-year to $43.8 billion during the cited per...

"Now while we assess that the amount of material delivered to Wagner has not changed battlefield dynamics in Ukraine, we do expect that it will continue to receive North Korean weapons systems," said Kirby. The NSC official said the U.S. currently has no plan to pursue additional sanctions against North Korea when asked, but noted it was still an option. "We are certainly not going to rule out ...

The number of passengers using South Korea's main gateway, Incheon International Airport, during the Lunar New Year holiday is expected to surpass 610,000, according to the airport's operator Saturday. The Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) said the number of passengers using the transport hub from Friday to Tuesday will reach 616,074. The airport is expected to process an average of 12...

President Yoon Suk Yeol returned home Saturday from a weeklong visit to the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland. Yoon, who was accompanied on the trip by first lady Kim Keon Hee, arrived at Seoul Air Base following a four-day state visit to the UAE and a four-day visit to the European country. In Abu Dhabi, the president secured a $30 billion investment pledge from the UAE and visited a nuclea...

SUWON -- A business tycoon who was nabbed in Thailand after months on the run was formally arrested Friday over high-profile corruption allegations. The Suwon District Court issued an arrest warrant for Kim Seong-tae, former chairman of underwear maker Ssangbangwool Group. He is facing multiple charges, including embezzlement, bribery and the illegal transfer of cash to North Korea. Prosecutors...

South Korean stocks opened marginally higher Friday as gains in tech blue-chips offset concerns over a recession overshadowing the US markets. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 5.23 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,385.57 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The local stock market opened higher, bucking a decline on Wall Street amid uncertainty over the direction of the Federal R...

National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo Thursday and discussed improving bilateral cooperation in various areas, Kim's office said. During the meeting in Jakarta, Kim touted the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Indonesia and called for strengthening economic and security cooperation under a "special strategic partnership." The t...

South Korean stocks snapped the two-day losing streak to close higher Thursday as foreigners went into buying mode despite worries over a recession reignited by weak US economic data, analysts said. The local currency rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 12.02 points, or 0.51 percent, to close at 2,380.34. Trading volume was moderate at 364 million...

INCHEON -- A 27-year-old American man has been extradited to South Korea for allegedly breaking into subway train garages across the country and spray-painting graffiti on trains, police said Thursday. The American is under suspicion of breaking into nine subway train garages in Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon and six other regions together with a 28-year-old Italian accomplice in September and spray-pa...

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest Thursday tally in 13 weeks, in a sign that the country is past the peak of the latest winter COVID-19 wave. The country reported 29,816 new COVID-19 infections, including 63 from overseas, bringing the total to 29,927,958, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Among the imported cases, 36 cases, or 57.1 percent, were from China....

South Korean senior citizens' poverty rate has been on the mend but is still high among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a report showed Thursday. The relative poverty rate of South Koreans aged 65 and older stood at 37.6 percent in 2021, down 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the report on sustainable development goals by Statistics Kor...

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Thursday, as the latest US economic data reignited fears of a recession. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 2.89 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,365.43 in the first 15 minutes of trading. US retail sales and wholesale prices fell more than expected in December, according to its government data released Wednesday Production at factories...