Seoul, Feb 19 (IANS) The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said on Thursday she ‘highly appreciates’ South Korea’s pledge to prevent a recurrence of drone incursions into the North, vowing to step up the country’s vigilance along the border with the South. Kim Yo-jong, a party vice department director, issued the statement via the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) a day after Unification Minister Chung Dong-young expressed ‘regret’ over drone incursions into the North and announ…
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Seoul, Feb 17 (IANS) North Korea said on Tuesday it has completed a landmark housing project to build 50,000 living units in Pyongyang ahead of a party congress later this month.”The construction of 50,000 flats in Pyongyang, powerfully carried on as the top-priority task of the historic eighth congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, has been successfully concluded to be an epoch-making success in the new era of the comprehensive national rejuvenation,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) sai…
Seoul, Feb 16 (IANS) North Korea has built new homes in Pyongyang for the bereaved family members of North Korean soldiers who died during the Russia-Ukraine war, its state media said on Monday.The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the opening ceremony of the new street called Saeppyol Street on Sunday, accompanied by his daughter Ju-ae and other officials.In his speech at the ceremony, Kim said the new street “has been built thanks to the ardent des…
Seoul, Feb 15 (IANS) The cremation rate in South Korea continues to be on a steady rise, data showed on Sunday, prompting concerns over potential shortages of cremation facilities, especially in densely populated major cities, such as Seoul, amid the rapid aging of the population.The national cremation rate came to 94 percent in 2024, up from 92.9 percent a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the welfare ministry, reports Yonhap news agency.The figure has been on…
Seoul, Feb 14 (IANS) Exports by South Korea’s 10 largest companies accounted for nearly 40 per cent of all outbound shipments last year, reaching a record high, largely driven by strong semiconductor sales, government data showed on Saturday.In 2025, outbound shipments by the top 10 exporters accounted for 39 per cent of the country’s total exports, up 2.4 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, reports Yonhap news agency.”The concentr…
Seoul, Feb 11 (IANS) South Korea’s media watchdog said on Wednesday it has launched a probe into US social media platform Instagram over allegations that the service disabled user accounts without justifiable reasons last year.The Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) said the investigation will examine whether Meta Platforms Inc.’s Instagram violated the local telecommunications act and provided proper and timely support to affected users, reports Yonhap news agency.The move follows …
Seoul, Feb 9 (IANS) South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Monday that US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told him the United States will revert reciprocal tariffs to the pre-agreement level of 25 per cent if Seoul makes no progress on addressing non-tariff barriers. Cho shared details with lawmakers of his meeting with Greer in Washington last week, as Seoul seeks to keep the trade deal with the ally intact following US President Donald Trump’s warning of raising the tariff rate from …
Seoul, Feb 6 (IANS) South Korea posted its largest-ever annual current account surplus last year, supported by robust exports amid strong semiconductor demand, central bank data showed on Friday.The country’s current account surplus totalled $123.05 billion in 2025, up from $99.97 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).The figure marks the largest yearly surplus on record, surpassing the previous high of $105.1 billion set in 2015 and beating the BOK’s forecas…
Seoul, Jan 30 (IANS) LG Electronics said on Friday it remained in the red in the fourth quarter of 2025 from a year earlier, due mainly to weak market demand coupled with one-off costs caused by its restructuring programme.Its net loss came to 725.9 billion won (US$505.7 million) for the October-December period, compared with a loss of 713.7 billion won posted a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.LG Electronics posted an operating loss of 109 billion won for the fourth quarter…
Seoul, Jan 29 (IANS) A golf driving range was found to have been constructed illegally on the presidential residence compound used by ousted former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, the state auditor said on Thursday.The facility was built at the orders of then Presidential Security Service (PSS) chief Kim Yong-hyun and disguised as a guard post in official construction documents, the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) said in a report.The BAI did not state whether Yoon personally gave the …