US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted their shared desire to avoid conflict and pursue cooperation during a high-stakes summit in California on Wednesday, raising hopes for improved ties between the two superpowers. Their first in-person meeting in a year took place at Filoli estate in Woodside south of San Francisco, where South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and other world leaders will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum this week. The summit came

Foreign Affairs Nov. 16, 2023

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday praised Korean residents in San Francisco for playing a large role in developing the alliance between South Korea and the United States. Yoon met with a group of around 150 Koreans living in the city shortly after arriving here to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. "The history of the development of the South Korea-US alliance is equivalent to the history of the development of the Korean community in the United States,"

Politics Nov. 16, 2023

About half a million students sat the college entrance exam across the country Thursday, South Korea's most important annual academic event during which airplane takeoffs and landings will be temporarily banned for noise control. A total of 504,588 high school seniors, graduates and others signed up to take this year's state-administered College Scholastic Ability Test, a nine-hour, five-session exam that began at 1,279 test sites nationwide. For the first time since the onset of the C

Social Affairs Nov. 16, 2023

A new boy band from local cable channel Mnet's latest audition program, "Boys Planet," made its debut Wednesday under the name "Ampers&One." It is the first boy group from FNC Entertainment, the K-pop label behind FTisland, CNBlue and SF9, in three years, following P1Harmony. The rookie group consists of seven members -- Brian, Kamden, Jiho, Siyun, Kyrell, Mackiah and Seungmo. The first three members were contestants on the show who scored high but failed to make t

K-pop Nov. 15, 2023

Football player Song Ui-young grew up in South Korea hoping to one day play at Seoul World Cup Stadium, considered the mecca of football here. That dream will come true for the 30-year-old on Thursday, but with a twist. Song, who became naturalized as a Singaporean citizen in August 2021, will represent his adopted country against his native country in their World Cup qualifying match. "I dreamed of being here when I first started playing football as a kid. I am excited and nervous at t

Soccer Nov. 15, 2023

South Korean shares closed higher Wednesday after US reports showed softer inflation data that raised hopes of an end to US rate hikes. The local currency sharply gained ground against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 53.42 points, or 2.2 percent, to close at 2,486.67. Trading volume was moderate at 413.1 million shares worth 9.22 trillion won ($7.08 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 752 to 140. Foreigners scooped up a net 542.3 billion won worth of

Market Nov. 15, 2023

The United States is set to deploy a B-52 bomber to South Korea on Wednesday for joint air drills with its Asian ally, sources said, in the latest show of force against North Korea. South Korean fighter jets will escort the nuclear-capable bomber when it flies over South Korea later in the day, sources with knowledge of the issue said. The B-52 bomber is returning to the country after less than a month, following its first-ever landing in South Korea on Oct. 17. It will mark the allies' six

Defense Nov. 15, 2023

Container shipping costs from South Korea to the US west coast gained 7.1 percent on-month in October, data showed Wednesday. The average shipping cost for a 40-foot container for the route came to 4.38 million won ($3,358) last month, compared with 4.09 million logged a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It marked the second on-month increase following 1.8 percent growth the previous month. On an on-year basis, however, the costs dropped 58.6 percent in October

Economy Nov. 15, 2023

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho called on the National Assembly on Wednesday to reenact the now-defunct corporate restructuring act that makes it easier for insolvent companies to begin an out-of-court debt restructuring program. The Corporate Restructuring Promotion Act was legislated in 2001 with a sunset provision after South Korea was hit by the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and had been extended five times before expiring last month. It allows an insolvent company to start a debt workout pr

Economy Nov. 15, 2023

South Korea's on-year employment grew at a faster pace for the third consecutive month in October, but jobs in the manufacturing sector fell for the 10th month in a row amid an economic slowdown, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people came to 28.76 million last month, up 346,000 from a year earlier, or 1.2 percent, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Monthly job additions had slowed down for four months in a row to tumble below 300,000 in July but made a reboun

Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2023

A Russian government delegation has arrived in Pyongyang for talks on trade and science cooperation, the North's state media said Wednesday, as the two countries seek to strengthen ties following the rare summit between their leaders in September. The delegation, led by its Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov, arrived Tuesday to take part in the 10th meeting of the Committee for Cooperation in Trade, Economy, Science and Technology between the two countries, according to the Korean

North Korea Nov. 15, 2023

The US Department of State has approved a possible sale to South Korea of Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) shipborne missile interceptors and related equipment to help improve the Asian ally's security capabilities, a government agency said Tuesday. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency under the Department of Defense made the announcement on the potential government-to-government Foreign Military Sale estimated to cost $650 million. The South Korean government has made a request to buy up to 38 SM-6

Defense Nov. 15, 2023

The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan held three-way talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco on Tuesday, as they are stepping up cooperation to address North Korean threats and other regional and global issues. Foreign Minister Park Jin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa met trilaterally less than two months after they held brief talks on the margins of the UN General Assembly i

Foreign Affairs Nov. 15, 2023

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the United States is not trying to "decouple" from China, but pursuing better relations with its assertive rival, as he prepares for a summit with the Chinese leader this week. Biden's remarks apparently set an amicable tone ahead of the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping slated to take place in San Francisco on Wednesday on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. "As I told you, we are not trying to decouple fro

Foreign Affairs Nov. 15, 2023

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street helped by lower-than-expected US inflation data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 35.21 points, or 1.45 percent, to 2,468.46 in the first 15 minutes of trading. US stocks closed higher overnight following reports that the US consumer price index, a key inflation measure, rose at the slowest pace in October since 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.43 percent, while the Nasdaq Compo

Market Nov. 15, 2023