Legendary Lotte founder passes away, leaving behind bitter sons

 Lotte Group founder and Honorary Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho passed away Sunday at age 97, leaving as his legacy a self-made business empire, although his later years were marred by a family feud.He was the last of the first-generation founders of the major conglomerates -- the other four being Samsung, Hyundai, LG and SK. Shin was a self-made entrepreneur who started Lotte as a maker of chewing gum and grew the business into the nation’s fifth-largest conglomerate, operating in the food,

IndustryJan. 19, 2020

McGregor demolishes Cerrone in 40-second return to UFC octagon

LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- Conor McGregor made a triumphant return to the UFC octagon on Saturday, pummelling Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone for a technical knockout victory in just 40 seconds.The mixed martial arts superstar from Ireland -- returning to the Ultimate Fighting Championship for the first time since he was battered into submission by arch-rival Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018 -- overpowered his American foe without ever being tested.After charging in with a left and missing, McGre

More SportsJan. 19, 2020

BTS' modern art project, 'CONNECT, BTS' hits Berlin

BTS' global contemporary art initiative, "CONNECT, BTS," has landed in Berlin, the second destination following London, the band's management agency said Sunday.Big Hit said, "Rituals of Care," an exhibition of performances, kicked off at Martin-Gropius-Bau, a modern art museum in the German capital Wednesday as the second leg of the "CONNECT, BTS" art project.  The first "CONNECT, BTS" project opened at London's Serpentine Gallery Tuesday, an exhibit

PerformanceJan. 19, 2020

D.Camp holds first startup pitching event for 2020

D.Camp, a leading South Korean startup accelerator, said Sunday that augmented reality solution startup Qrio and health tech startup 9to6 topped its first pitching competition of 2020, held last week in Seoul. The event was organized together with InvestHK, an agency responsible for foreign direct investment in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, a state-run trade organization.Qrio has developed a mobile AR application that helps users create their own virtual action figures

MarketJan. 19, 2020

Samsung likely to replace chiefs of most financial units

Samsung Group is expected to replace most of the chief executives at its financial units, including Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Card, according to news reports on Sunday.According to local business daily the Korea Economic Daily, the conglomerate is scheduled to carry out its annual reshuffle of C-level executives this week, starting with its flagship Samsung Electronics and other IT affiliates on Monday.Financial units, including Samsung Securities and Samsung Card, will follow suit on T

MarketJan. 19, 2020

Interviewers outshine star guests on YouTube

The norm of interviewers having limited roles in front of the camera no longer holds true, as more South Korean interviewers are starting to shine on YouTube. Interviewer and producer Lee Eun-jae of variety show “MMTG,” a program that kicked off on SBS’ YouTube platform in February 2018, is one such example. The program, which features interviews with stars in different fields, has a separate YouTube channel with more than 40,900 subscribers as of Sunday. Lee, also known as Jae

PeopleJan. 19, 2020

[Monitor] Eco-friendly cars on rise in Korea

Amid growing interest in environmental issues in Korea, the number of eco-friendly cars registered here exceeded 600,000 vehicles for the first time, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport showed. The number of eco-friendly vehicles, including electric cars, hydrogen cars and hybrids, stood at 601,048 units as of the end of December last year. The share of the total number of registered vehicles increased from 2.0 percent in 2018 to 2.5 percent last year.The cumulativ

IndustryJan. 19, 2020

Four Koreans still missing after Annapurna avalanche

Six people, including four South Koreans, remain missing in Nepal’s northwestern Himalayan region after an avalanche hit the area on Friday, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday. The Nepali authorities said they have mobilized an additional six to 10 specialized police officers for a search mission that is underway. But heavy snowfall and rough weather conditions are making the search difficult. 　Three search teams consisting of 13 locals who are familiar with the terrain and se

Foreign AffairsJan. 19, 2020

Yongin aims for an upgrade with better jobs, living spaces

Yongin, a city of 1 million located about 40 kilometers south of Seoul, aims to take the livelihood of its citizens to the next level, with improvements in living environments, job opportunities and municipal services. “This year will mark the first year for our city to raise the level of all sectors to the next level,” said Mayor Baek Kun-ki. Under the slogan “Upgrading Yongin,” Baek laid out five policy pillars for this year: invigorating the city economy and its compet

Social AffairsJan. 19, 2020

Ahn pledges to present centrist political vision

Ahn Cheol-soo, founder of the Bareunmirae Party and former presidential contender, said Sunday that he will challenge Korean politics, characterized by idealistic rivalries and partisan strife, with a new centrist political movement. Upon his arrival from Canada, Ahn pledged, in front of hundreds of his supporters at the Incheon International Airport, a practical and realistic political vision to better the livelihood of the people. “I will take the lead in correcting the current governmen

PoliticsJan. 19, 2020

Bias toward tech firms flusters stock market investors

South Korea’s stock market was tepid in 2019 and continues to face uncertainties, rankling many investors who are complaining that technology firms are being preferred for listing on the secondary Kosdaq bourse.While the stock market operator has highlighted the system as a vital foothold for new promising and innovative business players, skeptics also suggest that it provides excessive benefits to underqualified rookies.The number of companies listed on Kosdaq through the preferential pro

MarketJan. 19, 2020

[News Focus] Galaxy phone users jolted by privacy concerns

Users of Samsung Galaxy smartphones and Samsung Cloud in South Korea are on high alert regarding personal security issues in the wake of private data thefts involving some celebrities. A growing number of Galaxy users here are checking on the security status of their gadgets to ensure they follow the recommended security guidelines. Samsung Electronics has notified users to enhance their phone’s security by activating the two-step verification mode that double-checks user authenticity when

TechnologyJan. 19, 2020

[Contribution] What the Korean War Wall of Remembrance means to me

With the world anxiously waiting to see if North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will resume intercontinental ballistic missile testing, to include potentially testing a missile capable of reaching the eastern United States, it is well to remember the conflict that is the root of the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula. On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army invaded South Korea. Following the North Korean invasion, the Unite

PeopleJan. 19, 2020

Banking chiefs edgy as they await final sanctions decision by authorities

The top executives of three major financial groups in South Korea are on the edge of their seats as they await a final decision by authorities on penalties regarding their malfeasance this week, which will impact governance and profitability.Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Young-byoung -- who is currently under trial over his alleged influence-peddling in the flagship Shinhan Bank’s recruiting scandal -- is facing the most pressure.The Seoul Eastern District Court is expected to annou

MarketJan. 19, 2020

JP Morgan 2020 closes, with deals hanging in air

SAN FRANCISCO -- The 38th JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 came to a close Thursday, with small and big deals still covered under wraps.Being the biggest annual gathering of pharmaceuticals companies presenting each of their pipelines’ research progress, JP Morgan conference in San Francisco has often concluded in mega deals that drew eyes. In 2015, Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical was invited to the conference, where it presented its major pipelines and ended up licensing out to big

IndustryJan. 19, 2020

[Behind the Wheel] GV80 packs in high-tech driving experience, with some unfamiliar functions

Hyundai Motor’s luxury brand Genesis unveiled its first sport utility vehicle GV80 last week, with a goal of selling 24,000 units in South Korea this year. The model will be launched in North America this summer.The Korea Herald had an opportunity to test drive GV80 in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, on the day of its launch on Wednesday. Genesis’ first vehicle based on a rear-wheel-drive platform -- runs on a six-cylinder diesel engine -- which exerts a maximum torque of 60 kilogram-meter

MobilityJan. 19, 2020

SK Biopharmaceuticals CEO promises new drug every other year

SAN FRANCISCO -- Korean central nervous system drug developer SK Biopharmaceuticals’ CEO Cho Jeong-woo vowed to acquire a novel drug approval every two years, speaking to reporters during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 in San Francisco on Wednesday. SK Biopharmaceuticals has so far received two approvals from US Food and Drug Administration; one for sleep disorder treatment Sunosi (solriamfetol), licensed out to Jazz Pharmaceutical and the other for partial onset epilepsy tr

IndustryJan. 19, 2020

Heavy snowfall hinders search efforts for 4 missing S. Korean trekkers in Himalayas

SEOUL/KATHMANDU -- Heavy snowfall is delaying Nepalese rescue workers' efforts to save four South Korean school teachers who went missing while trekking a circuit route of Annapurna in the Himalayas, officials here said Sunday.The four South Koreans who went missing in an avalanche during a Annapurna Base Camp trek Friday morning remained unaccounted for as of Sunday even as South Korean and Nepalese authorities try to expand their search efforts.  Nepalese rescue workers have rampped up th

Foreign AffairsJan. 19, 2020

[Herald Interview] S. Korea very lucrative market for Rolls-Royce: CEO

Luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce sold a record 5,152 cars globally in 2019, up 25 percent on-year. And the South Korean market was “instrumental” in this achievement with the growing popularity of its SUV Cullinan, a top executive said Jan. 7. “It has been an excellent year for our brand, and the South Korean market has seen tremendous growth -- very solid, robust and successful -- and is a market that is very important for our business,” Torsten Muller-Otvos, CEO of Roll

MobilityJan. 19, 2020

Majority of big listed firms have no women on boards

Eight out of 10 listed Korean companies with assets of more than 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) were found to have no women on their boards of directors, showing that the invisible barrier to top management is still strong, data showed Sunday.Local corporate tracker Chaebol.com found that 114 of the 143 listed companies with total assets of more than 2 trillion won had no female directors based on the lists of executives submitted at general shareholders meetings last year. Hyundai Motor, SK

IndustryJan. 19, 2020