McDonald’s Korea names Martinez as new chief

McDonald’s Korea announced Wednesday the appointment of Antoni Martinez as the new managing director. He replaces Melanie Joh who resigned last month. Martinez has been market director for the southern region of Australia since January 2016. He joined McDonald’s in Victoria, Australia, in 2000 as a crew member.  “McDonald’s has a strong track record in Korea thanks to the team’s innovative approach over the years.” Martinez said in a statement. &ldquo

ConsumerJan. 29, 2020

Defense minister meets with US army secretary

South Korea's Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo met with visiting US Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and US Army Pacific Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera on Wednesday and discussed ways to boost cooperation between the two countries, the defense ministry said. During the meeting in Seoul, Jeong highlighted the importance of an "ironclad combined defense posture" to support the diplomatic efforts for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and asked for continued support from the United St

DefenseJan. 29, 2020

S. Korean entertainment field on alert amid deadly virus outbreak

  The South Korean entertainment and broadcasting industries have been on full alert amid continued concerns over the Chinese coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 130 people and spread to many other countries and regions, industry sources said Wednesday. An increasing number of entertainment agencies have decided to defer live concerts at which hundreds of fans would come into contact with each other and run the risk of being infected with the virus that originated in the centra

K-popJan. 29, 2020

Korea's trade terms again dip in Dec.

South Korea's trade terms continued to worsen from a year earlier in December, largely due to export prices falling at a faster rate than import prices, but the rate of decline in export prices slowed to a 13-month low, central bank data showed Wednesday. The terms of trade index for products came to 91.09 in the month, down 2.6 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The trade terms index measures the amount of imports a country can purchase for eac

EconomyJan. 29, 2020

Cheong Wa Dae secretary quizzed by prosecutors over election-meddling scandal

State prosecutors summoned a secretary to President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday over the allegations that Cheong Wa Dae is involved in an Ulsan mayor election scandal. Lee Gwang-cheol, secretary for civil affairs, appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office to face questioning over suspicions that he had played a secret role behind the 2017 police probe into alleged corruption by Kim Ki-hyun, the mayor of Ulsan. Kim, a member of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, was seeking

PoliticsJan. 29, 2020

[Newsmaker] Ex-presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo defects from minor opposition party

Ahn Cheol-soo, a former presidential candidate, announced Wednesday that he will defect from the minor opposition party that he previously co-founded, as he has resumed political activity ahead of the April elections. The decision came as the minor Bareunmirae Party is on the verge of being split amid his deepening rifts with Sohn Hak-kyu, the incumbent party chief over reform measures. "I am leaving the BP with a bitter heart. I gave up the dream of reviving the party after seeing Sohn'

PoliticsJan. 29, 2020

No additional new coronavirus cases reported in S. Korea, 28 potential cases monitored

South Korea's health authorities said Wednesday they have not diagnosed new additional cases of the new coronavirus in the country but are monitoring 28 other potential cases amid heightened quarantine rules. So far, the country has confirmed four cases of the novel virus, with the latest one reported Monday. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 187 people have experienced signs of the new virus strain since Jan. 3, and 155 have tested negative and been re

Social AffairsJan. 29, 2020

'Parasite' screened at over 1,000 theaters in North America

The number of theaters in North America screening director Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" surpassed 1,000 over the weekend, industry watcher Box Office Mojo has said. According to the US website tracking film revenues early this week, the South Korean black comedy was screened in 1,060 cinemas Sunday. Since it opened in three theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Oct. 11, the movie took $30.91 million at the North American box office, the seventh largest ever among foreign language f

FilmJan. 29, 2020

Biz sentiment remains weak: survey

Business sentiment about the immediate future in South Korea remains weak due to uncertainties at home and abroad, a local think tank said Wednesday. The business survey index of the country's top 600 companies by sales came to 92 for February, slightly up from the 89.3 recorded for this month but below the benchmark 100, according to the Korea Economic Research Institute. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists, while a figure above the benchmark means the opposite. "T

EconomyJan. 29, 2020

Korea's air passenger traffic up 5% in 2019

South Korea's air passenger traffic rose 5 percent last year from a year earlier on higher travel demand, the transport ministry said Wednesday. For the whole of 2019, 123 million passengers, including 90 million on international routes, flew with full-service and low-cost carriers, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The number of passengers on international routes jumped 5.2 percent on-year last year, mainly helped by increased numbers of flights by low-cost c

IndustryJan. 29, 2020

S. Korea projected to win 9 gold medals at Tokyo 2020

South Korea will grab nine gold medals to finish in the top 10 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a US sports data analysis firm has projected. The latest version of Virtual Medal Table by Gracenote, updated last Friday, also predicted South Korea will get 11 silver and six bronze medals. Those nine gold medals would put South Korea in 10th place for a fifth consecutive top-10 finish at the Summer Olympics, a run that started at Athens 2004. By sport, Gracenote said South Korea will win gold medals

Olympic GamesJan. 29, 2020

USFK sends 60-day notice of potential furlough to Korean employees amid tough SMA talks

US Forces Korea has begun sending a 60-day notice of potential furloughs to its nearly 9,000 South Korean employees, officials said Wednesday, in an apparent move to further pressure Seoul to pay more for stationing American troops here. The notice came as South Korea and the United States have engaged in grueling negotiations over how much Seoul should pay this year and beyond for the upkeep of the 28.500-strong USFK under the cost-sharing deal, called the Special Measures Agreement. The pre

DefenseJan. 29, 2020

SK Innovation to boost investment in EV batteries and materials

SK Innovation Co., South Korea's leading refiner, will boost investment in its electric vehicle battery and materials business, a top executive has said. SK Innovation CEO and President Kim Jun made the comments in an interview with the company's in-house news channel that was provided to employees Wednesday as the company strives to strengthen its battery and materials businesses. Kim did not provide any further details on proposed investments. SK Innovation is South Korea's top oil refiner

IndustryJan. 29, 2020

Samsung No. 2 5G smartphone vendor in 2019: data

Samsung Electronics Co. was the No. 2 player in the global 5G smartphone market last year in terms of shipments, industry data showed Wednesday, as the South Korean tech giant faces tough challenges from Chinese rivals. Samsung had a 35.8 percent share in the global 5G smartphone market last year, with shipments of 6.7 million 5G smartphones worldwide, according to data from market researcher Strategy Analytics. Chinese tech titan Huawei ranked first by shipping 6.9 million 5G smartphones for

IndustryJan. 29, 2020

Brexit not to affect bilateral trade ties with S. Korea

Britain's separation from the European Union slated for later this week is unlikely to have a direct impact on its bilateral trade ties with South Korea, as the two have already signed a back-up agreement, industry watchers said Wednesday. London is widely expected to depart from the EU, the world's single largest economic bloc, on Friday. Major economies around the globe, including Asia's No. 4 economy, have been closely monitoring London's divorce from the EU, as the separation would mean

EconomyJan. 29, 2020

Kumho Tire supplies tires for Audi Q5 SUV

Kumho Tire Co., the South Korean unit of Chinese tiremaker Qingdao Doublestar Co., said Wednesday it began to supply tires to the Audi Q5 SUV. Kumho Tire began to deliver the high-performance Crugen Premium KL33 tires for the Q5 in early January, the company said in a statement. The cars are being manufactured at Audi's Mexico plant and the tires will be produced in Kumho Tire's plant in Georgia, the United States, in the form of original equipment tires, it said. Supplying OE tires to car

IndustryJan. 29, 2020

Korea's January exports tipped to fall 7.5%: poll

South Korea's exports are expected to drop 7.5 percent on-year in January to extend their slump to 14 consecutive months despite a mild recovery in chip shipments, a poll showed Wednesday, due mainly to there being fewer working days compared to a year earlier. Outbound shipments are estimated to reach $42.7 billion this month, according to the poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. The survey was carried out on 10 local brokerage houses. The country's trade sur

EconomyJan. 29, 2020

S. Korea's consumer sentiment sharply improves for Jan.

South Korea's consumer sentiment improved sharply from a month earlier in January, central bank data showed Wednesday, amid outlooks that the country's economic conditions will improve down the road. The composite consumer sentiment index came to 104.2 for the month, up from 100.5 for the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The reading marks the highest since June 2018, as well as the largest on-month gain since September 2019, when the index jumped 4.6 points from a

EconomyJan. 29, 2020

Deaths rise to 132 in China outbreak as foreigners leave

BEIJING (AP) -- Countries on Wednesday began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by an outbreak of a new virus that has killed 132 people and infected more than 6,000 on the mainland and abroad. China's latest figures cover the previous 24 hours and add 26 to the number of deaths, 25 of which were in the Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan. The 5,974 cases on the mainland were a rise of 1,459 from the previous day. Dozens of infections of the new type of coronavirus h

World NewsJan. 29, 2020

Herald to host 49th English Speech Contest

Herald Corp., which publishes 67-year-old English-language newspaper The Korea Herald, will host the 49th Herald National English Speech Contest. The event is designed to foster creative and logical thinking, as well as foreign-language presentation skills of students, providing them a chance to grow into future leaders. The speech contest was launched in 1953 by Korean Republic, now The Korea Herald, and has helped nurture global leaders. Participation in the contest is open to elementar

Social AffairsJan. 29, 2020