Global map of COVID-19 cases

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South Korea   Cases 11,225｜Deaths 269

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  Social affairs

  Club-linked virus cases still on rise ahead of further school reopenings

  • Public transport passengers, staff required to wear masks

• Social affairs
  

  [From the Scene] Police adapt to COVID-19 era, introduce non-contact DUI testing

  Life is getting back to some semblance of normality in South Korea, with people out and about on the streets and in parks, students returning to school in stages, and public transportation crammed during rush hours. Also getting back into gear is the police’s war against drunk driving. Police, who in the past months could only sparingly test drivers’ breath for alcohol due to virus fears, are now employing a new tool -- non-contact DUI testing equipment that does not require dri

• Economy
  

  [News Focus] Korea falls behind Japan, US in Q1 GDP growth

  23 of 25 members post negative growth: OECD

• Foreign affairs
  

  S. Korea, US pushing for defense ministers' videoconference next month

  South Korea and the United States are working to set up a videoconference call between their defense ministers next month to discuss defense cost-sharing, North Korea and other pending issues, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The move came as an annual meeting in Singapore of defense ministers in the region, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, has been called off due to the coronavirus pandemic. The South and the US have usually held one-on-one talks on the sidelines of the conference. "

• Economy
  

  Korea's consumer sentiment improves in May on eased virus concerns

  South Korea's consumer sentiment slightly rebounded in May, central bank data showed Tuesday, apparently on a sharp decline in the number of new COVID-19 infection cases here. The country's composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) came to 77.6 in the month, up 6.8 points from a month earlier when the index dropped to the lowest level since December 2008, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. "The consumer sentiment

• Industry
  

  S. Korea's telecom market lacks competition: report

  South Korea's telecommunications market dominated by three major firms lacks competition and needs to improve its structure to provide better services to consumers, a state-run think tank said Tuesday. The Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) said although competition in the local telecom market, viewed as an oligopoly, has grown over the years, it still appears to be "insufficient." "The market share and concentration ratio of the country's top telecom ope

• Transport
  

  All S. Korean auto plants resume this week as Mexico plant reopens

  Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest carmaker, said Tuesday that its plant in Mexico will restart production this week, marking the resumption of operations at all of South Korea's overseas auto plants. The resumption scheduled for Tuesday (Mexico time) comes after Kia Motors put in place all requirements meant to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, a Hyundai spokesman said over the phone. All manufacturers in Mexico are required to check the temperatures of workers, give them

• Economy
  

  Online, health care industries to give new chance for S. Korean exports: KITA

  South Korean companies need to find new growth engines in the online and health care industries as the new coronavirus pandemic has boosted demand in such sectors, a local trade association said Tuesday. "As different countries are moving to bolster their public health infrastructure, South Korean exporters should also seek new opportunities," the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) said in a report, suggesting they should especially set their sights on the online and smart

• Social affairs
  

  Surviving ‘comfort woman’ accuses civic group of ‘using’ victims

  A surviving victim of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery on Monday slammed a longstanding advocacy group for selling out the victims to raise donations in its 30-year campaign for the victims. Lee Yong-soo, 92, also called for due punishment of the group -- Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan -- and its former President Yoon Mi-hyang over their alleged mishandling of donations. “I was tricked and used. We did the work and onl

NEWSMAKER

• Industry

  

  31 diabetes drugs banned for suspected carcinogen substance

  South Korea has banned the production and sale of 31 diabetes drugs with a substance that may pose cancer risks, although the drugs do not pose serious health risks, the country's public health agency said Tuesday. The drugs are metformin-based medication, with 257 other diabetes drugs also being checked for the substance, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said. "Of the drugs checked, the 31 had above the permitted level of N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA)," the ministry said. The

LATEST NEWS

• Today

  

  Social affairs

  Schools are key to success of 'everyday life quarantine,' Moon says

  President Moon Jae-in vowed the government's full efforts Tuesday to stave off sporadic cluster infections in South Korea, as more than 2 million students nationwide are preparing to return to schools this week in a phased measure to normalize the public education system disrupted by the new coronavirus. He stressed that the reopening of schools would decide the success or failure of the "everyday life quarantine" in place, speaking at a weekly Cabinet meeting. In case of a COVID-1

• Today

  

  Social affairs

  S. Korea looking into 2 suspected cases of Kawasaki-like illness in children

  South Korea on Tuesday reported two suspected cases of inflammatory syndrome in two children possibly linked to the new coronavirus for the first time. The two children -- one under the age of 10 and one teenager -- were reported in Seoul for the disease whose symptoms are similar to the rare illness Kawasaki, as of midnight Monday, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The KCDC said the two children did not test positive for COVID-19. The disease, named

• Today

  

  Defense

  S. Korea, US to discuss cost-sharing pact next month

  South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and US Defense Secretary Mark Esper will discuss cost sharing for the upkeep of 28,500 American troops stationed here at a teleconference next month, Seoul’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday. “The date and agenda haven’t been finalized yet. We’re in the middle of consultations with the US,” ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo told a press briefing. Seoul and Washington arranged the teleconference after the cancellati

• Today

  

  Industry

  Pandemic reshuffles market cap rankings, bio firms emerge

  The market capitalization of large South Korean companies was hugely affected by the pandemic, with 89 of the nation’s top 100 by market value changing their rankings, according to latest data Tuesday. Local corporate tracker Korea CXO Institute surveyed changes in the rankings of the top 100 companies in market capitalization between Jan. 2 and May 22. According to the survey, the market cap of the top 100 companies in Korea stood at 1,082 trillion won ($876 billion) on May 22, an 8.5

• Today

  

  Technology

  Samsung set to conduct first online aptitude test for job appliers

  This weekend, Samsung Electronics will conduct its first-ever online aptitude test for entry-level job applicants, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the company said Tuesday. Known as Global Samsung Aptitude Test or GSAT, the exam is required for all applcants who have passed document screening. The test used to take place physically at middle and high schools during weekends. On Tuesday, the company sent kits needed for the first online test via mail. The kits included a cover for an iden

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SPOTLIGHT

• Television

  

  Retro trend continues with TV drama soundtracks

  As the recent decade has seen a revival of the 1980s and 1990s in many sectors, such as fashion and food, retro music has been making its mark on South Korean pop culture, especially in TV dramas. The weekend romance series "When My Love Blooms" on tvN is a story about a middle-aged man and woman, who were in love in their 20s. Twenty years later, the two come across one another again and look back at their lives as college students. As the drama changes back and forth from the pre

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  Baseball

  Last-place SK Wyverns lose top slugger to injury

  Things have gone from bad to worse for the last-place club in South Korean baseball this season. The SK Wyverns said Tuesday their leading slugger Han Dong-min will be out six to eight weeks with a broken right tibia. Their starting second baseman Kim Chang-pyeong is also out with left shoulder issues. Han, who is leading the Wyverns with six homers, good for second overall in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), fouled a pitch off his right leg during Sunday's game against the Kia Tigers.

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  Baseball

  New slugger thriving at KBO's biggest ballpark

  For the 2009 and 2010 seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), the LG Twins were so desperate for home runs that they installed a temporary, drawn-in fence for their home games at the cavernous Jamsil Stadium. The Seoul ballpark, shared by the Twins and the Doosan Bears, is the largest stadium in the league: it is 125 meters from home plate to center field, and 100 meters down the line to both left and right. The Twins set up the fence 4 meters closer to home plate at the center. It w

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  Industry

  S. Korean mobile games expanding clout overseas amid pandemic

  South Korean mobile games have gained huge popularity in overseas markets partly on the back of the coronavirus pandemic that has confined more people to their homes, industry data showed Tuesday. Global mobile game usage shot up 20 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with a year earlier, data from app analytics firm App Annie showed. Global app downloads also rose 15 percent on-year during the cited period. Separate data from Nielsen showed that the average time spent gaming i

GRAPHIC NEWS

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EDITORIAL

• No window dressing

  Change of sample, survey method raises questions about reliability

• Don’t be hasty

  Moon government needs patience to enhance inter-Korean cooperation on a firm footing

VIEWPOINTS

THE INVESTOR

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  IBK fined $86m in US over mishandling anti-money laundering program

  State-run lender Industrial Bank of Korea and its New York branch have been fined $86 million by the Attorney General’s Office for allegedly failing to manage their anti-money laundering program, documents and local reports showed Monday. The bank’s apparent decision to delay the upgrade of the program for nearly a decade, eventually led to its failure to detect transactions that violated US sanctions against Iran, settlement documents between IBK and the Attorney General’s O

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  Acleda Bank lists on KRX-invested Cambodian stock exchange

  Acleda Bank, the biggest commercial bank in Cambodia, said Monday it was listed on the Cambodia Securities Exchange in which the Korea Exchange (KRX) has invested. The Cambodian bank had assets of $6.18 billion as of the end of last year. Its market capitalization marked $1.75 billion -- nearly three times that of five listed firms in the country. Since the large-cap stock went public, the lackluster Cambodian stock market is expected to be revitalized by attracting new local and foreign inve

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  Bio & Medicine

  Samsung Biologics bags CMO deals worth W468b

  Samsung Biologics has bagged two contract manufacturing deals worth 468 billion won ($378 million) combined, according to its regulatory filing on May 22. 　The total value of the latest deals is equal to two-thirds of the company’s revenue for last year at 701 billion won. 　According to the biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung, it inked a contract manufacturing deal worth 284 billion won with global biopharma GlaxoSmithKline to manufacture the latter’s lupus treatment Benlysta. 　B

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  Startups & Investors

  Tmon vows to turn profit by 10th anniversary

  Tmon, an e-commerce platform in South Korea, promised on May 22 to turn profit this year as it marks its 10th anniversary. With the goal of going public, the firm’s Chief Executive Officer Lee Jin-won revealed his ambition to lead the e-commerce market. "Tmon is a company that has been labeled the most as ‘the industry’s first,’ in Korea’s e-commerce market. We started as the country’s first social-commerce (provider), and now created the title &lsquo

K-POP

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  Big Hit acquires Pledis in push for expansion

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  BTS Suga's new mixtape 'D-2' tops global iTunes charts

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  TWICE set for June comeback with ‘More & More’

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  BTS' Suga releases new mixtape 'D-2'

HERALD INTERVIEW

• Technology

  

  Linkflow seeks to be Korea’s first hardware unicorn with 360-degree wearable cameras

  They may look like Bluetooth neckband headsets, but Linkflow’s FITT360 and NEXX360 are cameras that allow users to capture 360-degree shots of their surroundings. FITT360 and NEXX360 each have four cameras which constantly take photos and instantaneously process them into 360-degree videos. This camera concept was born out of founder Kim Yong-kuk’s romantic desire to capture the beautiful scenery of his honeymoon in Hawaii in all its glory.  Kim, who had at that point had

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  Retail

  Ocado Solutions in talks with retailers to enter Korea

  CEO Luke Jensen describes Korea’s retail market as “early adopter” to online groceries

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  K-pop

  Yubin, CEO and artist, is happier than ever

  Yubin may be having the busiest year of her career, establishing her label rrr Entertaiment in February and now putting out a new digital single “Me Time.” Its release date, May 21 (521), read backward is the date she left JYP Entertainment, January 25 (125), 13 years after debuting as a member of Wonder Girls. The track has already garnered a buzz for mentioning JYP in the lyrics: “I’m freaky freakin’ happy / I feel free / THX JYP but Free now.” “

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  K-pop

  Sujeong of Lovelyz takes a leap as a solo musician

  Sujeong of girl group Lovelyz returned to the music scene but on her own. It is the first time she is going solo since debuting in 2014 as the lead vocalist of the eight-piece band. Her first solo EP “Tiger Eyes” released Wednesday is packed with seven songs of various genres, from the pop-based EDM title, also called “Tiger Eyes,” to an R&B “Call Back” and acoustics “Your Name” and “zz.” “My voice is husky but isn’t

PHOTO NEWS

• Culture

  

  Modern Korean history at a glance

  The forces that shaped today’s Korea -- from its belated opening to the outside world in the late 19th century and its annexation by Japan in 1910 to the 1950-53 Korean War, dictatorships, rapid industrialization and blood-paved democratization -- are on exhibit at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History. Located in Gwanghwamun Square, a site of historic and symbolic importance, the eight-story museum tells stories of the country’s politics, society, economy and culture

VIDEO

• Social affairs

  

  Night spots closed as virus spreads again

  Slight loosening of restrictions allowed Seoul’s youth culture to boom again, outpouring public vitriol

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  Culture

  How to speak, look better for video meetings

  Although the number of new COVID-19 infections has decreased sharply in South Korea, fears of a resurgence persist. As the coronavirus crisis has gripped the country for more than three months, life as we know it has changed. The prevalence of video meetings and interviews is one of the changes that seem likely to stay even as the pandemic situation subsides. The Busan branch of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement conducted its first-ever online conference on Saturday with 100

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  Education

  Virus scare leads to drive-thru upgrades

  Drive-thru system helps institutions and organizations meet growing demand amid virus pandemic

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  Social affairs

  What is ‘Nth Room’ case and why it matters

  Unprecedented digital sex crimes have prompted calls for stronger punishment

MOST POPULAR

• Korea to introduce major change to resident ID card system
• Face masks mandatory on public transport
• Surviving ‘comfort woman’ accuses civic group of ‘using’ victims
• Club-linked virus cases still on rise ahead of further school reopenings
• 1 kindergarten student contracted coronavirus in Seoul ahead of expanded school reopening
• No. of arrivals from Vietnam surges in April
• China looms over Korea in high-tech race (1) : Chinese firms enter memory market
• Moon calls for bold fiscal strategy in light of COVID-19
• Recycling centers face desperate battle to survive
• Over 30,000 S. Koreans return home from abroad amid coronavirus pandemic

FEATURES

• Social affairs

  

  20-somethings hit hardest by pandemic job losses

  SEJONG -- While the novel coronavirus has dealt a serious blow to people of all ages in terms of employment in South Korea, it has hit younger people especially hard. According to Statistics Korea, the employment rate among those in their 20s stood at 54.6 percent as of April, down 3.5 percentage points from 58.1 percent in January, when the nation reported its first case of COVID-19. For people between the ages of 20 and 29, the employment rate posted its steepest decline. Next were peopl

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  Technology

  Caught between the US and China, Korean chipmakers on edge

  South Korea’s chipmakers are again on edge over the second round of technology war between the United States and China involving semiconductors, according to industry sources Monday. Although the flagship businesses of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix pivot on memory products, which aren’t yet subject to the new US sanctions on China’s tech giant Huawei Technologies, worries are growing over the their dependence on US technologies broadly applied to the comprehensive proces

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  Transport

  Re:spec Korando proves SsangYong Motor’s reason to survive

  Automaker’s ambitious model returns with useful voice recognition system

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  Business

  China looms over Korea in high-tech race (1) : Chinese firms enter memory market

  IT powerhouse Korea challenged as China wades in with economies of scale and US-China rivalry intensifies upon COVID-19

WEEKENDER

• Industry

  

  Tightrope walk between hair regrowth and side effects

  Increasing number of Koreans seek anti-hair loss treatments despite pitfalls

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  Social affairs

  Coronavirus takes silent toll on children

  Children have their own set of problems and distresses amid the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak, experts say, as they are forced to forgo childhood necessities such as outdoor fun and play -- and, in some cases, are left unprotected from abuse and other fears. Battling COVID-19, the contagious respiratory illness caused by the new virus, happens in isolation for adults and kids alike, and the process is prone to place emotional strain on child patients, said pediatric infectious disease spe

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  Culture

  New social norms emerge in the age of COVID-19

  Changes may be here to stay, requiring people to adjust to the new reality

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  Markets

  From vintage furniture to Fendi: Flea markets go mobile

  Mobile flea markets help uphold social distancing, value of sustainability during coronavirus outbreak