LA Phil to highlight Seoul with 10-day festival

The Los Angeles Philharmonic, also known as the LA Phil, will hold “Seoul Festival” in 2021, appointing celebrated composer Chin Un-suk as the curator of the 10-day event. On Wednesday, the prestigious orchestra, led by music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel, released its 2020-21 season program, including some of the programs for “Seoul Festival” which will be held from April 25 to May 4 next year.   LA Phil’s website says the city of Los Angeles is hom

PerformanceFeb. 6, 2020

Young female artists raise gender issues through art

The TV screen at the exhibition hall shows a bird flapping its wings midflight, while through the headset connected to the TV set, one can hear a conversation in which a Korean woman from the 21st century talks about her neighbor, Yeonji's mom. The woman says Yeongi's mom, a victim of domestic violence, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for killing her husband. "... it feels like we're living in the 19th century," the woman says bitterly to the three other women, who are from Vienna

Arts & DesignFeb. 6, 2020

Ports, shipping industry disrupted by novel coronavirus

In the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, operations at ports and the shipping industry have been severely disrupted, with sea ports and manufacturers shutting down in China, South Korea’s major trade partner, according to the industry on Thursday. Shipyards here are clogged with containers that should have been either delivered or stopped over at Chinese ports. Meanwhile, vessels bringing in imported goods to Korea from China have slowed, leaving customs inspection storage units ne

IndustryFeb. 6, 2020

Insurance sector speeds up digital transition

Traditional insurance companies in South Korea are speeding up digital transformation of their operations and services to compete with emerging tech-savvy companies that are proliferating in the financial sector. However, their digital strategy also involves industrial crossover partnerships with the emerging competitors, if necessary. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, the nation’s largest non-life insurance firm, and Kakao Pay, a fintech spin-off of mobile messenger giant Kakao,

MarketFeb. 6, 2020

Hyosung’s operating profit surpasses W1tr in 2019

Hyosung Corp. said Thursday the company and its four major affiliates saw their combined operating profit surpass 1 trillion won ($848 million) in 2019. The five companies – Hyosung Corp., Hyosung TNC, Hyosung Heavy Industries, Hyosung Advanced Materials, Hyosung Chemical -- recorded combined revenue of 18.11 trillion won and operating profit of 1.1 trillion won. It is the second time the Hyosung Group has seen the operating profit go above 1 trillion won since 2016, when it saw revenue

IndustryFeb. 6, 2020

Hyundai to inject W1tr to support auto parts makers amid virus crisis

Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday it has decided to urgently inject 1 trillion won ($847 million) of capital into local small and midsized auto parts makers struggling amid low demand from automakers due to a disruption in parts supply from China. Some 350 companies that supply auto parts to Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Wia and Hyundai Transys will be given 692 billion won worth of product payment in advance, as well as 308 billion won of interest-free loans for the automot

MobilityFeb. 6, 2020

Korean airlines suspend 60% of flights to China

Fears of the new coronavirus have prompted South Korean air carriers to suspend more than 60 percent of their flights to China as of Thursday, according to industry sources. A total of 58 of the 94 China-bound routes operated by eight Korean carriers have been suspended due to the coronavirus scare.  The airlines have also reduced the number of flights on 25 routes to China, meaning 88 percent of all routes between the two countries have been affected by the outbreak.  The country&

MobilityFeb. 6, 2020

[News Focus] Korea’s national debt up 107 trillion won since 2016

SEJONG -- The Moon Jae-in administration has drawn up and approved a series of supplementary budgets in a bid to stimulate GDP growth and create jobs amid a tough employment market. Officials say the stimulus measures, including the active use of tax money and the issuance of treasury bonds, have benefited the overall economy. But opponents question their efficacy, pointing to a sharp increase only in nonregular jobs and to disappointing GDP growth -- 2 percent in 2019, the lowest rate in 10 y

EconomyFeb. 6, 2020

Returning IZ*ONE's new album tops pre-order charts in S. Korea, Japan

"Bloom*Iz," an upcoming full-length album by K-pop girl band IZ*ONE, topped major album pre-order charts in South Korea and Japan this week in the run-up to the band's official return this month. The album, set for official release on Feb. 17, stood atop Japan's Tower Records chart for online album pre-orders as of Tuesday, according to the band's management agency, Off the Record. The album also came atop or stayed high on the album pre-order charts by major online record distribut

K-popFeb. 6, 2020

S. Korea pushes for deregulation for new industries

South Korea unveiled plans for regulatory reform Thursday in a bid to promote innovation in new industries related to the fourth industrial revolution. Making public the 2020 road map for "regulatory innovations" in the economic sector, the government said it will allow new industries to develop in an amicable environment and impose necessary regulations later. New major industries that will benefit from the initiative include software, future-generation cars, drones and medical dev

IndustryFeb. 6, 2020

Boycott cuts Japanese car imports to S. Korea by half

  Japanese car imports to South Korea halved in the fourth quarter last year as the boycott of Japanese products in the country continued, latest data showed Thursday. The value of imported Japanese cars in South Korea amounted to $203 million in the period, a 51.9 percent drop from $422 million a year earlier, according to data from the Korea Customs Service. The market share of Japanese cars -- which commanded 15.2 percent of total imported cars -- plummeted to 6.2 percent in the same

MobilityFeb. 6, 2020

Kakao’s entry into brokerage to vitalize fintech market: reports

Mobile messenger Kakao’s entry into the stock trading market, via its fintech spinoff Kakao Pay, will boost growth of the financial technology sector and the brokerage market, according to local analysts on Thursday. The Financial Services Commissions, South Korea’s financial regulator, on Wednesday approved Kakao Pay’s request to acquire a controlling 60 percent stake in local brokerage Baro Investment & Securities. The stock trader has been renamed to Kakao Pay Securi

MarketFeb. 6, 2020

S. Korea sees coldest day on record

Amid an unusually warm winter, Seoul saw the coldest day of the season Thursday, with the morning low in the capital recorded at minus 11.8 degrees Celsius.  The temperature, registered at 6:34 a.m., marks the lowest since November last year, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. The current cold spell is expected to continue until Friday morning, Many other cities in the country’s central region also had their record lowest temperatures, with Incheon at minus 10

Social AffairsFeb. 6, 2020

Korean Air to sell assets to regain financial health

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest airline and national flag carrier, said Thursday it will sell property and non-core assets to improve its financial status. Korean Air plans to sell its idle property in central Seoul and a non-core business unit to emerge as a financially healthy company amid growing uncertainties in the airline industry, the company said in a statement. The company aims to sell its land and building in Songhyeon-dong and an entire 100 percent stake in Wangsan Lei

MobilityFeb. 6, 2020

S. Korea to release second fully recovered coronavirus patient from hospital

South Korea discharged its second coronavirus patient from hospital as she has made a full recovery and shows no signs of the illness, health authorities said Thursday. The 35-year-old Chinese woman -- who came to South Korea from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak -- was the first person to be confirmed with the illness in the country, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She was diagnosed with the virus on Jan. 20

Social AffairsFeb. 6, 2020

Business circles concerned about NPS’ stronger shareholder activism

The National Pension Service’s growing interference in corporate management as it enforces stricter yardsticks on investments and recent revisions of commercial acts are raising the hackles of South Korean business circles. On Thursday, a forum on “Improving governance structure for national pension independence” was co-hosted by five business associations -- Korea Economic Research Institute, Korea Enterprises Federation, Korea Listed Companies Association, Federation of Mi

IndustryFeb. 6, 2020

New kits for nat'l football teams unveiled

New uniforms for the South Korean national football teams were released on Thursday, featuring designs inspired by the global popularity of the country's pop culture and by a mythological guardian animal. Nike unveiled the new home and away kits for South Korea, with hallyu, or the Korean wave, the phenomenon of Korean culture's popularity, at the forefront. The home kit is highlighted by a wavy pattern made up of the trigrams from the South Korean national flag, Taegeukgi. The trigrams are a

SoccerFeb. 6, 2020

KT 2019 profit falls 12% as investment, marketing costs rise

KT Corp., South Korea's major telecommunication firm, said Thursday its net profit fell 12.2 percent last year from a year earlier as it ramped up spending on its network and marketing. In a regulatory filing, KT reported a net income of 669.3 billion won ($ 565.7 million) last year, down from 762.3 billion won in 2018, on a consolidated basis. The company said that operating profit for the year fell 8.8 percent on-year to 1.15 trillion won, although its annual revenue increased 3.8 percent

IndustryFeb. 6, 2020

[Newsmaker] Taiwanese voice-phishing suspect alarms police by coughing

A Taiwanese person arrested for voice phishing repeatedly coughed and said he felt feverish Thursday morning, prompting police to take precautions against the novel coronavirus. The 35-year-old, locked up at the Gwangju Bukbu Police Station for allegedly stealing cash through telephone fraud, was taken to a clinic, where he was declared well as he had a normal temperature and no symptoms of pneumonia. Medical staff assumed that his persistent coughing was due to excessive smoking. Police ha

Social AffairsFeb. 6, 2020

LG to supply P-OLED-based digital cockpit system for Cadillac

LG Electronics announced Thursday it will supply digital cockpit systems made with flexible organic light-emitting diode displays for General Motor’s premium brand Cadillac. Known as Plastic-OLED, LG Display’s proprietary flexible OLED display will be the main material for the 38-inch dashboard and infotainment system integration that offers 4K content for the 2021 Cadillac Escalade model, according to the company. The P-OLED-based digital cockpit system, consisting of audio-vid

TechnologyFeb. 6, 2020