US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a much-anticipated summit in the San Francisco Bay Area next week, senior U.S. administration officials have said. Biden and Xi plan to meet bilaterally Wednesday on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering slated to begin its weeklong run in San Francisco on Saturday, the officials said in a telephonic press briefing Thursday. The leaders are expected to discuss a "whole range" of issues, including

Foreign Affairs Nov. 10, 2023

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has designated a unique fishing style of female divers on South Korea's southern island of Jeju who dive without oxygen masks as one of its world agricultural heritage systems, officials said Friday. The decision to list the Jeju Haenyeo Fisheries System on the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems was made during a three-day General Assembly session at the FAO headquarters in Rome, according to Jeju City. "Haenyeo," some in thei

Culture Nov. 10, 2023

South Korea's top container shipper HMM Co. said Friday its third-quarter earnings tumbled on sluggish shipping rates amid decreased cargo volume. Net income amounted to 95.4 billion won ($72.3 million) in the July-September period, down 96 percent from a year earlier, the shipping company said in a regulatory filing. Sales dipped 58 percent on-year to 2.1 trillion won, with operating income plunging 97 percent to 75.8 billion won. In the first three quarters of this year, the company poste

Market Nov. 10, 2023

South Korean stocks finished lower Friday after the US Federal Reserve's chief hinted that interest rates could be raised further and Tesla dropped overnight. The local currency fell against the greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 17.42 points, or 0.72 percent, to close at 2,409.66. Trading volume was slim at 304.12 million shares worth 5.61 trillion won ($4.26 billion). Losers outnumbered gainers 600 to 259. US stocks sagged overnight after Federal Reserve Ch

Market Nov. 10, 2023

Unionized Seoul subway workers opposed to their company's downsizing plans are set to end a two-day "warning" strike Friday evening but threatened to go on a general strike sooner or later unless their demands are met. The latest strike was launched Thursday by the biggest of the three labor unions of Seoul Metro, the operator of subway lines 1-8, in protest of the city-run company's bid to reduce its workforce by 13.5 percent, or 2,212 employees, by 2026 to address its chron

Social Affairs Nov. 10, 2023

South Korea will host an annual ceremony this week to commemorate the sacrifices of fallen troops who fought under the United Nations flag during the 1950-53 Korean War, the veterans ministry said Friday. The "Turn Toward Busan" event will take place at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Saturday, with the attendance of some 1,000 people, including bereaved family members, Korean War veterans and diplomatic delegates, according to the ministry. The

Defense Nov. 10, 2023

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday in line with overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 20.68 points, or 0.85 percent, to 2,406.40 in the first 15 minutes of trading. US stocks sagged overnight after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated interest rates may be hiked again if needed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.9 percent. In Seoul, market heavyweights remained weak. Top market cap

Market Nov. 10, 2023

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is scheduled to visit France later this week to bolster South Korea's bid for hosting the 2030 World Expo, just around two weeks before the crucial vote, his office said Friday. Han will depart for Paris on Sunday for a four-day trip in a last-minute pitch to win support to bring the mega event to the southeastern city of Busan. The trip comes as South Korea has been stepping up its campaign to host the quadrennial event, as member states of the Bureau Internatio

Foreign Affairs Nov. 10, 2023

The agriculture ministry said Friday it has nearly completed nationwide cattle vaccination against lumpy skin disease, less than a month after the country reported its first-ever infection. The ministry has so far inoculated 99.9 percent of 4.05 million cattle in the country to protect them against LSD after launching the intensive vaccination campaign following its first-ever case of LSD reported on Oct. 20. South Korea plans to complete the vaccination on Friday. Authorities, meanwhile, plan t

Soccer Nov. 10, 2023

Israel has agreed to four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in the fighting in northern Gaza to bring humanitarian aid in, get civilians out of harm's way and facilitate the release of hostages, a White House official said Thursday. John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, made the announcement that the pauses would begin Thursday -- a move that he said followed an "awful lot of engagement," including a series of talks between President Joe

Foreign Affairs Nov. 10, 2023

South Korean author Han Kang won a prestigious French literary award Thursday with her novel "I Do Not Bid Farewell." The 2021 book was named the winner of the Prix Medicis award for foreign literature. The Prix Medicis, founded in 1958, is among the top literary awards honoring works of fiction in France. The foreign literature category was added in 1970 to recognize books published in translation. Han had also been nominated for the Prix Medicis with "Greek Lessons" in 2017

Books Nov. 9, 2023

Twelve Labs, South Korea's generative artificial intelligence (AI) startup, unveiled its video language foundation model Thursday in a bid to take the lead in the hyperscale large language model market. The model, named Pegasus-1, can accurately summarize long videos into a text and have a chat about the video with its users, offering 61 percent higher performance compared with the existing most advanced video language model, according to Twelve Labs. The company said Pegasus-1 has been tra

Economy Nov. 9, 2023

Lotte Chemical Corp. said Thursday it swung to a net profit in the third quarter from a year earlier due mainly to narrowed losses in the basic chemicals business division. Lotte Chemical shifted to a net profit of 32.77 billion won ($25 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30 from a net loss of 31.07 billion won in the same period last year, the company said in a statement. "On top of reduced losses in the basic chemicals division, the bottom line was buoyed by increased sales of high-

Industry Nov. 9, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol called Thursday for imposing tough punishments on illegal private lenders who charge interest rates of thousands of percent, saying it is the state's duty to protect ordinary and vulnerable citizens from such "vicious criminals that suck the blood of the weak." Yoon made the remarks during a meeting on illegal private financing, which was attended by some 30 people, including victims of the practice, workers at a victims' call center, and government an

Politics Nov. 9, 2023

Prosecutor General Lee One-seok on Thursday slammed the main opposition Democratic Party for proposing a motion to impeach two active prosecutors on corruption charges, saying the party is out to protect its leader. Lee told reporters outside the Supreme Prosecutors Office building in Seoul that the DP is trying to intimidate the prosecution in retaliation for its probe into allegations surrounding DP leader Lee Jae-myung. "If they are trying to impeach prosecutors because they don't l

Politics Nov. 9, 2023