South Gyeongsang Province inks deals for international, local investments

The South Gyeongsang Province government has signed multiple memorandums of understanding with international and local firms in the defense, aviation, industrial and automobile parts sectors for investments in the province's industrial zones. Delegations for the province, headed by Gov. Park Wan-su, visited European countries including Poland and Czech Republic to elicit cooperation with companies that have expanded their operations into the region. On Sept. 2 in the Polish capital Warsaw,

PeopleSept. 10, 2024

Mapo-gu to offer house call pet funeral services

Mapo-gu, a district in Seoul, is set to introduce a house call pet funeral service in collaboration with Petmun, a local pet services firm, district official said Tuesday. This service centers around a specialized vehicle equipped with a smokeless, odorless cremation facility. This vehicle will visit the home of the deceased pet, conduct a funeral service there and transport the pet’s body for cremation. Although the vehicle itself is a moving crematorium, the district plans to set a rul

Social AffairsSept. 10, 2024

27 years later, reformed boy thief leaves 'I'm sorry' note at temple

A Buddhist monk's tolerance toward a boy who stole from a temple led the boy to become a better person, a man who had stolen from a temple's offering box 27 years ago wrote in a letter of gratitude he sent to the temple recently. Tongdosa, a temple of the Jogye Order, has revealed that its monks recently found a letter with 2 million won ($1,490) inside the temple's offering box. The letter writer identified himself as having stolen money from the temple 27 years earlier, but

PeopleSept. 10, 2024

HMM to bolster global alliance, invest W23tr by 2030

South Korea’s leading container shipper HMM said Tuesday it has created a five-year cooperative body, dubbed Premier Alliance, together with two global partners Japan’s ONE and Taiwan’s Yang Ming, to further expand its vessel route network. Separate from the new alliance, the firm has also signed an agreement with MSC, the world’s top shipper based in Switzerland, to share freight space on Northern European and Mediterranean routes for four years, the company added. Wit

IndustrySept. 10, 2024

Jung Hae-in says he felt no pressure to match ‘Veteran’ performance in ‘I, the Executioner’

Jung Hae-in of “I, the Executioner” said he didn’t feel under pressure to match up to Yoo Ah-in’s portrayal of ruthless villain Jo Tae-oh in the film’s prequel “Veteran,” despite the huge buzz Jo created in the 2015 original. Filmmaker Ryoo Seung-wan’s upcoming action blockbuster -- also known as “Veteran 2” -- picks up the story of veteran detective Seo Do-chul (Hwang Jung-min) nine years after the first installment, as he is joined by

FilmSept. 10, 2024

Taihan completes Kuwait’s first fiber optic cable plant

South Korean electric wire maker Taihan Cable & Solution announced Tuesday that it has completed Kuwait’s first fiber optic cable factory, as the company aims to localize production and tap into the Middle East’s growing demand for 5G network infrastructure. The factory, a joint venture with Kuwaiti construction and trade company Rank, held its grand opening on Monday local time in the Mina Abdulla industrial area. Equipped with advanced production and testing facilities, the 5,0

CompaniesSept. 10, 2024

[Photo News] Charitable giving in trusts

Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong (left) poses with Community Chest of Korea Chairman Kim Byong-joon after signing an agreement to make a joint effort to spread a culture of philanthropy harnessing will-substitute trusts at the charity's headquarters in Seoul Monday. Shinhan will encourage its customers who have signed up for its will-substitute trust program to donate a portion of their wealth to the nonprofit Community Chest of Korea when inheriting assets in the future. (Shinh

IndustrySept. 10, 2024

Yungin, Grammy-winning audio engineer, releases debut album 'Did You Know? Part 1'

Yungin, a Korean-American audio engineer boasting three Grammy Awards, made his music producer debut Tuesday with the launch of his first full-length album, "Did You Know? Part 1.” The album is a landmark project featuring a roster of prominent Korean hip-hop artists including Jay Park, Jessi, Camo, Lil Cherry, Changmo, Paul Blanco, Since, Sokodomo, BM, Bobby, Loopy, Dok2 and Koala, according to All Up In The Mix Korea, the agency representing Yungin. “Since the release of '

K-popSept. 10, 2024

[Korea Quiz] Traditional Korean masks

Find the answer at the bottom. Hahoe is a traditional clan-based village in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, known for having the oldest surviving masks for mask dance dramas in South Korea. Eleven Hahoe masks have been passed down, representing different characters in a stage play, including a lion, a bride, a monk, a noble and a scholar. Traditionally, such masks were made from gourds or paper and burned at the end of the performance. However, Hahoe masks were crafted from wood and prese

Hashtag KoreaSept. 10, 2024

Govt. to temporarily raise health insurance payments to hospitals for Chuseok holiday

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday the government will temporarily raise health insurance payments to hospitals for the upcoming Chuseok holiday to better reward their services and to prevent disruptions in emergency medical care. During a Cabinet meeting, Yoon addressed concerns over possible disruptions to the medical system during the extended holiday, which starts later this week, as a majority of junior doctors have stayed away from the job since February in protest of a sharp hike in the

PoliticsSept. 10, 2024

Finance minister calls for scrapping financial investment income tax

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has said the government needs to scrap a financial investment income tax and review various tax schemes regarding stock trading in an effort to ease market uncertainty and help boost the stock market. Under the investment income tax scheme, set to take effect next year, capital gains of over 50 million won ($38,000) from stock investments will be subject to a 20 percent tax, while earnings exceeding 300 million won will be subject to a 25 percent tax. "The sch

EconomySept. 10, 2024

AliExpress vows to step up marketing blitz in S. Korea

Alibaba Group's AliExpress said Tuesday it will step up marketing campaigns in South Korea with an aim of securing more than half of online shopping platform users in South Korea within three to five years. In a press conference held in Hangzhou, AliExpress Korea Chief Executive Ray Zhang announced the target for the Korean market, which is dominated by local e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. The Chinese e-commerce retail platform has aggressively promoted about 150 million products at competit

CompaniesSept. 10, 2024

FSS chief urges banks to curb household debts

The head of the financial watchdog on Tuesday called for banks to curb a continuing rise in household lending. Lee Bok-hyun, chief of the Financial Supervisory Service, made the call in a meeting with the heads of 18 banks. "Should we fail to keep household debts at a proper level in the future, it may lead to increased economic burden by expanding market volatility and working as an obstacle to economic growth," Lee told the meeting. Tuesday's meeting follows reports that househo

PoliticsSept. 10, 2024

[해커스 TEPS] 텝스 시험대비 단기간 고득점 단어 & 문법 5문제

Part Ⅰ Choose the best answer for the blank. 1. A: My homemade cupcakes cost half the price of store-bought ones. B: But I already ordered some from a bakeshop. If only I _________ you earlier. (a) to find (b) will find (c) had found (d) were finding 해석 A: 집에서 만든 제 컵케이크는 가게에서 파는 컵케이크 가격의 절반이에요. B: 하지만 전 이미 제과점에서 주문했어요. 당신을 더 일찍 찾았다면 좋았을 텐데요. 해설 가정법 동사 채우기: 과거완료 문맥상 ‘전 이미 제과점에서 주문했어요. 당신을 더 일찍 찾았다면 좋았을 텐데요’라는 의미가 되어야 하므로, 일찍 찾아내지 못한 과거의 상황을 반대로 가정하고 있다. 빈칸 앞에 if only가 왔으므로,

English EyeSept. 10, 2024

Seoul records season's latest tropical night as heat wave continues into fall

Overnight temperatures in Seoul stayed above 25 C, marking the season's latest tropical night since meteorological observation began, the state weather agency said Tuesday. The lowest nighttime temperature overnight in the capital city was 25.6 C at 6 a.m., another tropical night that refers to a phenomenon where temperatures do not drop below 25 C until 9 a.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. It marks the season's latest tropical night record in Seoul since recor

Social AffairsSept. 10, 2024

Seoul shares open lower despite US gains

South Korean stocks started lower Tuesday despite overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) opened slightly higher but lost 0.48 percent, or 12.09 points, to 2,523.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, major US indices closed higher after the previous week's big losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.16 percent. In Seoul, market heavyweights led the weak opening. Top-ca

MarketSept. 10, 2024

Harris, Trump set to face off in high-stakes presidential debate this week

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump are set to face off against each other in their first -- potentially only -- debate this week, with its outcome expected to substantially impact their final sprint to Election Day in November. The high-stakes 90-minute debate will take place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, as recent polls have shown Vice President Harris and former

Foreign AffairsSept. 10, 2024

N. Korea's leader vows push for exponential increase in nuclear weapons

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to bolster the country's nuclear capabilities to deter any threats by enemies, saying it is steadily carrying out a policy to increase the number of nuclear weapons exponentially, state media said Tuesday. Kim made the vow during a speech in a meeting with senior party and government officials on the occasion of the 76th founding anniversary of the regime, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The North's leader delivered a speech for th

North KoreaSept. 10, 2024

Taiwanese author Kevin Chen says literature liberates our souls

“I am a failed writer who wrote a novel about failure. (But) I hope that through this book, those who have failed can live a bit more freely. I want to tell them that it’s okay to cry loudly if it’s hard,” said Kevin Chen, or Chen Shih-hung, the award-winning Taiwanese author, during an interview with reporters in Seoul on Monday. Currently based in Berlin, he is also a columnist, translator and actor. Chen, visiting Korea for the first time, participated in a talk progra

BooksSept. 10, 2024

[Graphic News] Korea’s electricity demand soars to record high in August

South Korea’s electricity demand hit a historic peak in August, driven by the intense summer heat wave. According to the Korea Power Exchange, the nation’s peak power demand averaged 87.8 gigawatts, a 6.1 percent increase from the previous year. This surge in energy consumption was largely attributed to increased air conditioning usage amid the sweltering conditions. The Korea Meteorological Administration reported that August experienced 16 days where temperatures exceeded 33 degr

Social AffairsSept. 10, 2024