Seoul, Jan 11 (IANS) The leadership of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Sunday demanded former floor leader Rep. Kim Byung-kee voluntarily leave the party amid mounting corruption suspicions surrounding him, as the DP was set to pick a new floor leader later in the day.”We request that (Kim) deeply deliberate on which path best cherishes the party,” DP spokesperson Park Soo-hyeon said, in what was apparently a call on him to give up party membership.Park said there were even impending calls f…
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Seoul, Jan 3 (IANS) More than 30,000 customers of KT Corp, the country’s second-largest mobile carrier, canceled their subscriptions after the telecom company began waiving contract termination penalties following a major data breach incident, industry sources said on Saturday.According to the sources, 31,634 KT users moved to other carriers between Wednesday and Friday. Of those, 18,720 subscribers, or more than 70 percent, switched to SK Telecom Co., while some 7,200 users moved to LG Uplus Co…
Seoul, Jan 2 (IANS) Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Rhee Chang-yong on Friday projected the economy, when excluding the information technology (IT) sector, to grow 1.4 percent this year, forecasting widening disparities across sectors.”The IT sector is expected to lead growth this year on the back of a global semiconductor upcycle. If we exclude its contribution, economic growth would be limited to 1.4 percent,” Rhee said in his New Year’s address, reports Yonhap news agency.In its latest outlook r…
Seoul, Dec 30 (IANS) Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon on Tuesday reaffirmed that a recent data leak at Coupang affected 33 million customers in South Korea, voicing concerns over an assessment report released separately by the US-listed e-commerce giant last week.”The joint government–private sector investigation, including the Personal Information Protection Commission and the police, revealed that the names and email addresses of more than 33 million users were leaked,” Bae said during a parl…
Seoul, Dec 30 (IANS) The number of foreign visitors to South Korea rose sharply in November, climbing 17.3 per cent from a year earlier as the country’s tourism sector continues to recover to pre-pandemic levels, official data showed on Tuesday.According to figures from the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), about 1.6 million foreign tourists visited in November, up from 1.36 million a year ago and 9.6 percent higher than the same month in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.China remained the lar…
Seoul, Dec 29 (IANS) E-commerce giant Coupang announced a compensation plan worth more than 1.68 trillion won ($1.17 billion) on Monday following a massive personal data breach.The compensation plan comes a day after Coupang founder Kim Bom-suk issued his first public apology since the incident, which affected nearly two-thirds of South Korea’s population, reports Yonhap news agency.Under the plan, the U.S.-listed company will provide 50,000 won worth of discounts and coupons to each of 33.7 mil…
Seoul, Dec 27 (IANS) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a message of greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of New Year’s Day, calling the two countries’ relations a “precious common asset,” the North’s state media said on Saturday.In the message, Kim described this year as a ‘meaningful’ one when the two countries ‘steadily wrote a great biography of the alliance’ through “full mutual support and selfless encouragement,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).Kim’…
Seoul, Dec 27 (IANS) Shinsegae I&C, the information technology (IT) arm of retail giant Shinsegae Group, said the personal data of about 80,000 employees and subcontractors had been breached, but no customer information was compromised.”We have confirmed that personal data of our employees and staff working at our subcontractors has been leaked from our internal intranet system,” the IT company said in a notice to the press about a data breach case.The affected information includes corporate…
Seoul, Dec 23 (IANS) Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday denied allegations he sent drones into North Korea to create a pretext for his failed martial law imposition, citing his phone call with then US President-elect Donald Trump to back up his claim. Yoon spoke before the court himself during a closed-door hearing held to decide whether to extend his arrest, on charges of benefiting the enemy and power abuse in connection with his alleged drone deployment to Pyongyang in Oct…
Seoul, Dec 22 (IANS) South Korean space startup Innospace plans to launch the country’s first commercial orbital rocket this week following three delays, according to the company on Monday.The company officials stated that the Hanbit-Nano rocket is scheduled to lift off from the Alcantara Space Center in Brazil at 3:45 p.m. Monday (local time), or 3:45 a.m. Tuesday (Korean time), Yonhap news agency reported.The Hanbit-Nano vehicle will carry eight payloads, including five satellites, and deploy …