A South Korean family who fled the besieged Gaza Strip via an Egyptian border returned home Monday. The Emirates plane with the family on board landed at Incheon International Airport, the main gateway to the country, west of Seoul, at around 5:05 p.m. The plane made a stopover at Dubai before flying to Seoul. The family of five departed from Cairo late Sunday (local time), where they had taken shelter after evacuating from the war-torn region by crossing the Rafah border last Thursday. The fami

Social Affairs Nov. 6, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Monday to move up the completion of the Great Train Express commuter rail networks as he visited a train station in Seoul's suburbs to check progress on a new service line. The GTX networks are set to enter service next year, starting in March with the GTX-A line connecting Suseo Station in Seoul's Gangnam Ward with Dongtan Station in Hwaseong, 45 kilometers south of the capital. The GTX-C line connecting Yangju, 29 km north of Seoul, to Suwon, just south of the cap

Social Affairs Nov. 6, 2023

South Korean stocks surged over 5.6 percent Monday as the country reimposed a ban on stock short selling to crack down on illegal market practices by global investment banks. The local currency sharply rose against the greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index soared 134.03 points, or 5.66 percent, to close at 2,502.37, extending its winning streak to a fourth day. Tech and battery-related stocks led the overall market advance. Trading volume was high at 518.4 million shares wor

Market Nov. 6, 2023

Fears of bedbugs are spreading nationwide, with some avoiding sitting on public transportation or visiting movie theaters, amid an increasing number of reported cases of bedbug appearances and damage. In South Korea, bedbugs were nearly brought to eradication following sweeping disinfection campaigns in the 1960s and the adoption of the powerful pesticide dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, in the 1970s. The country has, however, recently witnessed a surge in reports of bed

Social Affairs Nov. 6, 2023

The Federal Reserve's rate hike may not have come to an end given strong economic performance, although long-term neutral interest rate will come down to a 2 percent range, former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said Monday. Early this month, the Fed held its benchmark lending rate steady between 5.25 and 5.50 percent for a second consecutive time as it keeps striving to bring down inflation to its 2-percent target. But it left open the possibility of a rate change later to achieve &

Economy Nov. 6, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to replace several senior secretaries, including those in charge of press affairs and political affairs, in line with the resignations of those preparing to run in next year's parliamentary elections, sources said Monday. Yoon is considering promoting presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon to the position of senior secretary for press affairs to replace Kim Eun-hye, who is expected to resign next month to run for a seat in the Bundang district of Gyeonggi

Politics Nov. 6, 2023

A South Korean family, who fled the besieged Gaza Strip to Egypt, left for Seoul earlier this week. The family of five, who had been living in Gaza for more than seven years, safely crossed into Egypt on Thursday via the Rafah border in an evacuation from the war-torn region. They are known to be a South Korean woman, her naturalized husband of Palestinian descent and their three children. Following a three-day stay in Egypt, the family departed Cairo International Airport late Sunday and is set

Social Affairs Nov. 6, 2023

In 1994, the last time the LG Twins won the Korean Series title as the champions of the Korea Baseball Organization, the league only had eight teams. The KT Wiz didn't even exist then. The Wiz joined the league in 2015 as the 10th team. Just six years later, they won their first Korean Series championship. Starting Tuesday, the two clubs will square off in the best-of-seven Korean Series, with the Twins trying to end a drought that has gone on for nearly three decades, and the Wiz chasing t

Baseball Nov. 6, 2023

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday as the country launched a temporary ban on stock short selling to crack down on illegal market practices by global investment banks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 48.16 points, or 2.03 percent, to 2,416.50 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Sunday, the Financial Services Commission announced the ban on stock short selling, effective starting Monday through the end of June 2024, citing concerns about growing market volatility

Market Nov. 6, 2023

More than 90 percent of cattle in South Korea have been vaccinated against lumpy skin disease, the agriculture ministry said Monday, as there have been signs that the spread of the viral disease is letting up. The authorities have inoculated more than 3.11 million out of the country's 4.08 million cows so far to protect them against LSD, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. South Korea reported its first-ever case of LSD on Oct. 20 and has since confirmed 78 cas

Social Affairs Nov. 6, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating rose for the second consecutive week to 36.8 percent, a poll showed Monday. The survey, conducted by the polling agency Realmeter, showed the positive assessment of Yoon's performance increased by 1.1 percentage points from the previous week, while 60.2 percent of respondents disapproved of his performance, down 1.7 percentage points. Yoon's approval rating had rebounded to 35.7 percent last week, following a two-week decline. The pollster

Politics Nov. 6, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol considers illegal stock short sellers as a serious social "malady," his office said Sunday following the financial regulator's decision to ban stock short selling through the first half of next year. The remarks came as the Financial Services Commission announced the ban on stock short selling, effective starting Monday through the end of June 2024, citing concerns about growing market volatility and the illegal short selling practices undermining market st

Industry Nov. 5, 2023

Members of Samsung Group's owning family are set to sell nearly 2.6 trillion won ($2 billion) worth of shares in Samsung affiliates to cover inheritance taxes, a regulatory filing showed Sunday. Since the death of late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee in October 2020, his family members have been paying inheritance taxes in installments for the assets inherited according to a five-year plan. The total inheritance tax amounted to 12 trillion won. According to the regulatory filing with the Fin

Industry Nov. 5, 2023

South Korea's financial regulator said Sunday that it will temporarily ban stock short selling until the second half of next year, amid efforts to crack down on illegal short selling by global investment banks. The move will be effective as of Monday and until the start of July 2024, according to the Financial Services Commission. "(The FSC) has decided to fully suspend stock short selling until (the end of) the first half of next year since there exist concerns that the expansion of

Industry Nov. 5, 2023

More than 84 percent of cattle in South Korea have been vaccinated against lumpy skin disease, with the country struggling with the rapidly spreading disease nationwide, officials said Sunday. Over 3.45 million cows out of the total 4.07 million here have received shots to protect them against LSD, which does not affect humans but is highly infectious and can lead to death, according to officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. So far, the country has confirmed 78 cases

Social Affairs Nov. 5, 2023