Death toll in India landslides at 188, more people feared trapped

Deadly landslides in the southern Indian state of Kerala killed at least 188 people, local government officials said on Wednesday, as rescuers resumed search operations for the 225 missing people feared trapped by mud and debris. The landslides in the hilly Wayanad region took place in the early hours of Tuesday, trapping people in their homes while they were asleep. The local government is compiling data on the number of people residing in the area, those found after the landslide and those sti

World NewsJuly 31, 2024

ASEAN, Indo-Pacific partners call for N.Korea to comply with UN resolutions

Major Southeast Asian nations and their Indo-Pacific partners, including South Korea and the United States, have called for North Korea to "fully comply" with U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions banning its nuclear and missile programs, as they wrapped up an annual ministerial meeting in Laos last week. The chairman's statement from the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), released Tuesday, also called on countries to "fully implement" UNSC resolutions on North Korea and mak

North KoreaJuly 31, 2024

Samsung Electronics, striking labor union still struggle to make compromise

Samsung Electronics and its largest labor union are still at odds over any breakthrough in their wage negotiations amid an ongoing strike, industry sources said Wednesday. The negotiations between management and the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) started Monday after their previous talks ended without an agreement last week. Last week's meeting was the first management-labor discussion since NSEU's full-scale strike started on July 8. The NSEU has proposed three days of &quo

IndustryJuly 31, 2024

NIS closely watching N. Korea-China ties amid signs of rift

South Korea's intelligence agency is closely watching relations between North Korea and China, amid increasing signs of the two countries growing apart, officials said Wednesday. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it is monitoring any unusual moves after learning that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has apparently instructed his diplomats stationed in China "not to mind Beijing" when they are on the job. South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported earlier in the

North KoreaJuly 31, 2024

Video artist Kim Hee-cheon asks, what is horror?

New work by video artist Kim Hee-cheon, acclaimed for his insight into the contemporary technological environment and culture, articulates uncertainty to viewers with his interpretation of the experience of horror. Entering the exhibition hall at Atelier Hermes, visitors will be baffled as nothing will be visible in the dark at first and all you will hear is the sound of someone speaking. Soon after, on two screens, a story will start to unfold evolving around Chanjong, the head coach of a hig

Arts & DesignJuly 31, 2024

Georg Solti Accademia comes to Korea in search of next Park Hae-sang

The Georg Solti Accademia, a prestigious institution dedicated to nurturing the next generation of operatic talent, has finally come to Korea, a decade after the initial concept was conceived. Korean soprano Park Hae-sang, also known as Hera, participated in the Italy-based organization’s master class at The Juilliard School 10 years ago while pursuing a master's degree there after graduating from Seoul National University. Park was later invited to attend the institute's Bel C

CultureJuly 31, 2024

Korean shooter's cool aura captivates social media

Korean sharpshooter Kim Ye-ji is experiencing overnight stardom, with social media swooning over her cool aura as she casually broke a world record at an air pistol competition earlier this year. A 27-second video of Kim performing in the 25-meter air pistol final at the ISSF World Cup, held in May in Baku, Azerbaijan, is circulating on social media, including X. One post by X user Del Walker, sharing the clip with a comment “most ‘Main Character Energy’ I've ever seen

More SportsJuly 31, 2024

Ador’s Min denies ignoring sexual harassment at agency

Ador CEO Min Hee-jin has taken the bull by the horns, disclosing her KakaoTalk messages on her Instagram account on Tuesday to combat allegations that she disregarded a female employee who claimed to have been sexually harassed by a male executive. Min shared six conversations that involved the male executive, the female employee, an advertiser and herself. These conversations show the male executive and the female employee arranging a meeting over dinner with an advertiser during which the fema

K-popJuly 31, 2024

Sword permit loopholes exposed in recent fatal slashing

A recent fatal attack by a sword-wielding man in Seoul has brought the country's control of lethal weapons into question. On Monday night at an apartment complex in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, the suspect, a 37-year-old resident there, wielded a 120-centimeter Japanese sword against a victim in his 40s, eventually resulting in his death. Police have said they barely knew each other. The suspect, who was arrested at his home about an hour after the killing, told police he had believed the victim

Social AffairsJuly 31, 2024

Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang gets spotlight at CGV Arthouse

CGV Arthouse is running a special exhibition and screenings highlighting Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang and his works from Aug. 7 to 20. CGV Arthouse theaters screen independent and art films as part of South Korean multiplex chain CGV. Celebrating the first-ever screening of his 1994 action comedy “A Confucian Confusion” in Korea, CGV Arthouse will also screen six other works by Yang -- “In Our Time” (1982), “That Day, on the Beach” (1983), “Taipei Sto

FilmJuly 31, 2024

Seoul shares spike over 1% on tech gains amid rate cut hopes

Seoul shares ended sharply higher Wednesday on tech gains amid expectations that the US Federal Reserve may begin a rate cutting cycle within months. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shot up 32.50 points, or 1.19 percent, to close at 2,770.69. Trade volume was moderate at 543.14 million shares worth 11.84 trillion won ($8.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 586 to 302. Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 202 billion won

MarketJuly 31, 2024

Covert agent identity leaks trigger alarm over S. Korea's intelligence operations

An ongoing investigation into the leak of military secrets, including personal details of South Korean covert agents abroad, has raised serious concerns about the potential impact on the human intelligence operations critical for gathering information on North Korea. South Korea's Defense Ministry confirmed Tuesday that its central military court issued an arrest warrant for a civilian military employee of the Korean Defense Intelligence Command "on charges including leaking military s

North KoreaJuly 31, 2024

Sex crimes using deepfakes 'rampant' on school grounds

Deepfake sex crimes using artificial intelligence are increasing on school grounds in South Korea, raising concerns over insufficient education and measures to prevent further damage. A student at an international school in Jeju English education city has been handed over to prosecutors for allegedly making sexually exploitative videos of his female student peers, according to the Seogwipo Police Department on Tuesday. The police also sent three of his classmates who watched the videos with him

Social AffairsJuly 31, 2024

Hyundai Group chair named honorary province governor

Hyundai Group Chairperson Hyun Jeong-eun has been reappointed honorary governor of North Chungcheong Province, in recognition of her and Hyundai’s contributions to regional development, the group said Wednesday. The appointment ceremony was held Wednesday at Hyundai Group’s headquarters in central Seoul, attended by Kim Yong-hwan, governor of North Chungcheong Province, and Hyundai Group Chairperson Hyun Jeong-eun. "North Chungcheong Province, with its geographical advantage at

CompaniesJuly 31, 2024

K-pop’s dilemma: ‘Super fans’ vs. ‘casual fans’

A significant dilemma has surfaced in the ever-evolving world of K-pop: Should the industry focus on nurturing casual fans or continue to cater to its dedicated superfans? This debate came to the forefront when Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of K-pop powerhouse Hybe, addressed the issue on a local TV show last November. Bang expressed concerns about K-pop being in crisis, partly due to the intense consumption patterns of its superfans. “The basis of my crisis theory lies in the intense consumption

K-popJuly 31, 2024

Main opposition threatens impeachment of new broadcasting regulator head

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday officially approved Lee Jin-sook, a former journalist of Munhwa Broadcasting Corp., as the new chief of the country’s top broadcasting regulator amid threats from the main opposition to propose an impeachment motion against her. Lee’s term as the new chief of the Korea Communications Commission immediately began Wednesday, with the 63-year-old former reporter and ex-CEO of the public terrestrial broadcaster's Daejeon branch pledging to &ldquo

PoliticsJuly 31, 2024

Samsung projects 15-fold surge in Q2 earnings on AI chip boom

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday that it will continue its earnings growth by expanding sales of the high-performance high bandwidth memory chip in the second half, particularly the fifth-generation HBM3E, to meet rising demand in the fast-growing artificial intelligence market. “Customer evaluation of the 8-layer HBM3E product is currently in progress, and mass production supply is scheduled to begin in earnest in the third quarter,” Kim Jae-june, executive vice president in cha

TechnologyJuly 31, 2024

Regulators look into shady cash flow within Qoo10

Once a prominent figure in the Korean e-commerce sector, Qoo10 Group's CEO Ku Young-bae is now facing allegations of a Ponzi scheme involving delayed payments amounting to thousands of billions of won for vendors on local online marketplaces Tmon and WeMakePrice. These accusations emerged after Ku disclosed during a National Assembly hearing on Tuesday that the Singapore-based parent company used assets from its Korean subsidiaries to acquire American e-commerce platform Wish in February. Ku dis

EconomyJuly 31, 2024

Malaria alert amid heat wave in Greater Seoul, Gangwon

Due to South Korea’s hot and humid temperatures, cases of malaria have been on the rise, with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reporting 367 cases as of Tuesday. Though the number of malaria cases so far this year is half of last year's total figures, the agency on Wednesday noted there has been an unusual surge in malaria cases in Seoul and that it is possible this year's total figures could pass last year's. In previous years, malaria cases were normally rep

Social AffairsJuly 31, 2024

Hyundai Motor signs mobility partnership with UN humanitarian agency

Hyundai Motor Company announced Wednesday that it signed a mobility sector partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme, the world's largest humanitarian organization dedicated to fighting hunger across the globe. The agreement ceremony took place at the Hyundai Motor Studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, with Hyundai Motor Company CEO Chang Jae-hoon and WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain in attendance. Established to combat hunger in developing nations, the WFP aims to create a

MobilityJuly 31, 2024