Seoul draws up anti-virus measures to protect citizens

Alarmed by mass infections in southern cities, Seoul is stepping up measures to protect its 9.7 million citizens, readjusting work hours for municipal workers, beefing up inspection personnel and closing public facilities. 　 “So far, the central government and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have taken charge of the virus fight, but now, with new infections coming in hundreds a day, the situation calls for proactive actions from local governments,” Seoul Mayor

Social AffairsFeb. 24, 2020

Special unit launched to probe illegal real estate brokers

South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Monday that it has launched a squad with investigative powers to effectively crack down on illegal or unfair practices in the real estate market. According to the ministry, the “special judicial police” will probe long-existing issues such as real estate contract frauds and illegal transfer of bank accounts that gives its holders unfair priority. It will also look into new issues including unregistered brokerin

EconomyFeb. 24, 2020

Investors in troubled Lime Asset lose over W634b

Troubled hedge fund Lime Asset Management on Monday confirmed total investor losses of 634.1 billion won ($520.3 million) from 173 feeder funds, which were injected in two of its master funds, Pluto FI D-1 and Tethys 2. The company said the estimate is based on the combined subscription amount of the feeder funds -- investor’s money that initially went to the funds -- at 1.6 trillion won minus their current net asset value. The estimate came as Lime Asset wrapped up the revision of the v

MarketFeb. 24, 2020

Coronavirus empties theaters, box office

The film industry continues to suffer as people stay away from cinemas amid the increasingly rapid spread of COVID-19, and scheduled movie releases are now being put on hold. The number of theatergoers, which saw a small recovery in the second week of February, plummeted again over the weekend, with 474,979 people going to the movies on Saturday and Sunday, according to the Korean Film Council. The figure represents a steep drop of almost 60 percent from the previous weekend. The total number

FilmFeb. 24, 2020

Hit by COVID-19 outbreak, art sector turns to online platforms

With the coronavirus outbreak leading to cancellations of exhibitions and art fairs, galleries are opening online platforms in an effort to revive plummeting sales of artworks. Art Basel announced Friday it would launch Online Viewing Rooms, its first digital initiative offering exhibitors an opportunity to showcase artworks to its global network of patrons and buyers. “As the market continues to evolve, Art Basel has continually reviewed how new technologies can give us fresh opportun

Arts & DesignFeb. 24, 2020

S. Korea set to release 4 more fully recovered coronavirus patients: KCDC

South Korea will release four more novel coronavirus patients Monday after they were declared virus-free, bringing the total number of fully recovered patients here to 22. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said the country's ninth, 13th, 15th and 20th patients will be discharged from quarantine at their hospitals. South Korea's ninth patient is a 28-year-old woman who was confirmed to be infected on Jan. 31. She is an acquaintance of the country's fifth coronavirus

Social AffairsFeb. 24, 2020

South Korea’s key industries hit hard by COVID-19

South Korea’s major industries -- including electronics, automobiles, retail and oil refining -- are on high alert due to a surge in COVID-19 cases here, as well as the market slowdown in China, the nation’s biggest export destination. As of Monday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients stood at 833, up 161 from the previous day, and the death toll had risen to eight. The nation’s largest tech firm, Samsung Electronics, temporarily shut down its operations at its Gumi p

IndustryFeb. 24, 2020

Ruling party, government mull W10tr to tackle COVID-19

The ruling party and government are considering a supplementary budget of more than 10 trillion won ($8.2 billion) to contain the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. “Due to the emergency situation, we are formulating an extra budget plan in the first quarter, which is rare. … Over 10 trillion won would be a ‘super supplementary budget,’” an official of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea told Yonhap News. During the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003

PoliticsFeb. 24, 2020

[Herald Interview] Philip Morris Korea reworks HR management for all stages of employment

A corporate culture centered on employees is often misunderstood here. It is mistakenly considered the opposite of a profit-centered culture and is used to describe companies providing generous welfare and compensation to employees. However, PMK goes beyond that, said Upadhyay in an interview with The Korea Herald. The company ensures staff go through a better employee experience throughout the employment cycle, starting from the job-seeking stage to leaving the company. Upadhyay, who has w

IndustryFeb. 24, 2020

Three minor parties merge ahead of April elections

Three minor parties based in the southwestern region merged on Monday to launch a new middle-of-the-road party ahead of the April 15 parliamentary elections. The leaders of the Bareunmirae Party (BP), the Party for Democracy and Peace (PDP) and the New Alternative Party (NAP) declared their union, vowing to "end the nation's antagonistic politics stemming from dominance by the two major parties." "The united centrist party takes its first step in the support of the people,"

PoliticsFeb. 24, 2020

JR AMC gets green light for Korea’s 1st cross-border REIT listing

South Korean real estate investment firm JR Asset Management (JR AMC) said Monday that it had obtained government approval for the initial public offering of its real estate investment trust, which invests in Belgium’s second-tallest skyscraper. The REIT, called JR Global, is hoping to carry out the nation’s first listing of a cross-border REIT. The Land Ministry authorized JR Global to embark on the IPO process and submit a prospectus. Under the Korean rules, a REIT listing does n

MarketFeb. 24, 2020

Air Busan suspends 25 international routes amid coronavirus outbreak

Air Busan on Monday said it will suspend 78 percent of its international routes next month to counter business challenges amid the COVID-19 outbreak. In March, the domestic low-cost carrier will stop operating 25 international routes bound for China and Southeast Asian countries, which have recently seen a dramatic decrease in passengers. According to the company, all Air Busan executives, including the CEO, have submitted their resignations to help the company cope with recent financial diff

IndustryFeb. 24, 2020

SK Bioscience to build vaccines platform for future virus spreads

Vaccines company SK Bioscience will build a research and development platform that will allow a speedy response to future outbreaks of mutant viruses, the company said Monday. COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome are ribonucleic acid coronaviruses that endlessly transform to outlive treatments. Developing vaccines for coronaviruses, therefore, generally requires one to five years. SK Bioscience said it envisions to shorten that by understanding what

IndustryFeb. 24, 2020

S. Korea's virus cases soar to 763, containment of more outbreaks in Daegu in focus

South Korea reported another record spike in the number of new coronavirus cases on Monday, with most new cases centered in the southwestern city of Daegu, where health authorities are shifting the focus of the anti-virus fight to containing its further spread. The 161 additional cases of the new coronavirus brought the total number of infections in South Korea to 763. Also, a 62-year-old man, who is tied to a hospital in Cheongdo, near Daegu, died of the virus on Sunday, bringing the nation's

Social AffairsFeb. 24, 2020

Korean economy tipped to grow below 2% on virus

Major foreign investment banks (IBs) and economic institutes have forecast South Korea's economic growth to be below 2 percent in 2020 due to the fallout of the fast-spreading novel coronavirus. According to a recent survey by Bloomberg, five out of 42 foreign IBs and economic think tanks predicted Asia's fourth-largest economy to expand in the 1 percent range this year, hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. ING Group offered a growth forecast of 1.7 percent for the Korean economy, down from a 2.2 pe

EconomyFeb. 24, 2020

BLACKPINK's 'Boombayah' tops 800m YouTube views

The video for "Boombayah," the debut single of K-pop girl band BLACKPINK, topped 800 million views on YouTube, making the quartet the only K-pop act with two music videos that have achieved the feat, the band's management agency said Monday. The video reached the milestone Monday morning, emulating the band's earlier "Ddu-du Ddu-du," according to YG Entertainment. "With this, BLACKPINK got to own two music videos that have more than 800 million views as the first K-

K-popFeb. 24, 2020

Pro football league to discuss postponing season amid coronavirus scare

Faced with the fast-spreading coronavirus, the South Korean professional football league will convene an emergency board meeting later Monday to discuss postponing the start of the new season. The K League announced the meeting will begin at 2 p.m. at its Seoul headquarters. The 2020 season is scheduled to open Saturday with two matches, followed by two more on Sunday. But that could change, as the K League joins several other sports organizations in South Korea grappling with the deadly COVID

SoccerFeb. 24, 2020

The global spread of the new coronavirus: Where is it?

PARIS (AFP) -- The new coronavirus that emerged in central China at the end of last year has now killed more than 2,400 people and spread around the world. Outside mainland China there have been 26 deaths and more than 1,500 infections reported, with cases concentrated in South Korea and the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined off Japan. Here is a roundup of the areas where cases of COVID-19, the virus's official designation, have been confirmed: CHINA  ===== As of Sunday some 77

World NewsFeb. 24, 2020

11 soldiers confirmed as coronavirus patients, 7,700 in quarantine

Eleven service members have been confirmed to have the new coronavirus as of early Monday, and around 7,700 others are quarantined as part of efforts to stop the virus from spreading further into barracks, the defense ministry said. Eight COVID-19 cases in the Army and one each in the Navy, the Air Force and the Marine Corps were confirmed as of 8 a.m. Monday, up from a total of seven cases the previous day, according to the ministry. The four newly confirmed soldiers are suspected of having

DefenseFeb. 24, 2020