Chinese FM to visit South Korea next week

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit South Korea next week for the first time in over five years, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday. He will visit Dec. 4-5 at the invitation of South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Kang Kyung-wha. Kang and Wang are expected to arrange a summit between President Moon Jae-in and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the occasion of Moon’s visit to China for a trilateral meeting with Japan and China, which will be held in Chengdu

Foreign AffairsNov. 28, 2019

Gracias Choir tours 18 cities with heart-warming ‘Christmas Cantata’

In celebration of Christmas, Gracias Choir has embarked on its “Christmas Cantata” tour across Korea from Nov. 15 to Dec. 22. The choir will perform in 18 cities, including Ansan, Gyeonggi Province; Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province; Gwangju; Gangneung, Gangwon Province; and Mokpo, South Jeolla Province. The tour ends in Seoul. The 120-minute performance is separated into three acts. The first act takes the format of an opera, depicting the birth of Jesus. The second follows a mu

PerformanceNov. 28, 2019

Colors and more colors: new social media-friendly exhibition opens in Seoul

As the art scene becomes more social media-friendly, a new exhibition -- literally full of colors -- opened Friday, openly welcoming Instagram users. Sfactory, a culture complex in the hip Seongsu-dong neighborhood in eastern Seoul, has organized an exhibition inspired by colors, titled “Museum of Colors,” targeting 20- and 30-somethings.Influential artists on social media are featured, in the exhibition, including Russian photographer Kristina Makeeva, Korean artist Yoon Sae-rom, Sc

Arts & DesignNov. 28, 2019

JYJ's Kim Jae-joong to drop first new album in 4 years

Singer Kim Jae-joong will drop a new album early next year, returning to the Korean music business after a near four-year hiatus, his agency said Thursday.Kim, a member of the Korean pop group JYJ, will also start a concert tour across Asia starting in Seoul in January, according to C-Jes Entertainment.The detailed schedule of the Asian concerts will be determined later, it added. It is Kim's first Korean album in four years since he released his last studio album "No.X" in 2016.His la

PerformanceNov. 28, 2019

GS Energy signs deal to build LNG power plant in Vietnam

GS Energy, the energy unit of GS Group, said Thursday that it has signed a deal with Vietnam’s VinaCapital to build a liquefied natural gas power plant there.Through the collaborative partnership, the two firms will build a megasized LNG power plant with total capacity of 3 gigawatts in the southern region of Vietnam. All electricity generated from this power plant will be provided nationwide via a power purchase agreement with Vietnam’s state-run power company Vietnam Electricity.&n

IndustryNov. 28, 2019

Korea, Malaysia to upgrade relations to strategic partnership

President Moon Jae-in and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad held a summit meeting in Seoul on Thursday, agreeing in principle to upgrade bilateral relations to that of strategic partners next year. At the summit, Moon praised Malaysia’s rapid economic growth and expanding South Korea-Malaysia relations, going on to express hopes for further cooperation. “Malaysia’s Look East Policy and Korea’s New Southern Policy have come together harmoniously (enabling

Foreign AffairsNov. 28, 2019

Mercedes-Benz Korea delivers first new EQC

Mercedes-Benz Korea said Thursday that it has delivered its new EQC to the model’s first customer in South Korea. The vehicle, launched here Oct. 22, is the German carmaker’s first full electric vehicle under the EQ brand.The delivery ceremony at the EQ Future Pavilion in Seoul’s Sinsa-dong was attended by Lee Sang-kuk, vice president of sales at Mercedes-Benz Korea, and Mark Raine, the company’s vice president of products and marketing. They delivered the new EQC to

MobilityNov. 28, 2019

Pulmuone Foods claims 75% of US tofu market in Q3

South Korea’s Pulmuone announced Thursday that its wholly owned US subsidiary has gained 75 percent market share in the third quarter.Pulmuone entered the US tofu market by acquiring the nation’s top brand Nasoya in 2016 to establish nationwide distribution channels and its market share, according to Nielsen’s data, increased from 4.9 percent in 2015 to 69.5 percent that year.　The company said the total sales of Pulmuone Foods USA was around $90 million in 2015 prior to the acq

IndustryNov. 28, 2019

Opposition floor leader takes flak over remarks on US-N. Korea summit made on US trip

The floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party came under fire Thursday after it was reported that she had expressed concerns to the US that holding a US-North Korea summit before South Korea’s general elections might have a negative impact. On Wednesday, a local broadcaster reported that Rep. Na Kyung-won had asked US officials not to hold a US-North Korea summit before April 15, when South Korea’s general elections will take place. The US officials reportedly included

PoliticsNov. 28, 2019

[News Focus] Real estate, education policies lower Moon’s approval ratings among housewives, students

SEJONG -- President Moon Jae-in started the latter part of his term this month amid discontent with his administration’s policies on real estate and education.Alongside sagging economic indices, a number of other factors have led citizens to express frustration or anger with Moon. Among these are skyrocketing apartment prices in Seoul and alleged irregularities by former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and his family.Though President Moon’s approval ratings remain above the psychologically

PoliticsNov. 28, 2019

Sweden-based audio book operator Storytel launches Korean service

Storytel, a Sweden-based audio book streaming provider, officially launched a Korean service Thursday, tapping the tech-savvy Asian country with an underdeveloped market for audio books.South Korea is now one of the 19 countries Storytel is currently servicing since its founding in 2005 in the Scandinavian country.South Korea is the third Asian country Storytel has tapped into so far, following India and Singapore. Including the Korean language, Storytel has a catalogue of 300,000 titles in 20 d

IndustryNov. 28, 2019

Using coin-minting tech to curb fake apparel

South Korea’s coin and bank note manufacturer, Korea Minting and Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp., or Komsco, has unveiled its forgery prevention technology to stop illegal apparel sales, the agency’s CEO Cho Yong-man announced Thursday.Distribution of fake goods carrying “Made in Korea” labels at cheap prices have caused damage to local businesses here, Komsco said, explaining that the latest technology comes from its’ expertise in minting coins. &ld

MarketNov. 28, 2019

New EXO album tops iTunes charts across globe

K-pop boy band EXO took iTunes music charts by storm Thursday with its latest album, "Obsession."The sixth full-length album by EXO, released on Wednesday, had topped iTunes' Top Album charts in 60 countries by Thursday morning, according to SM Entertainment, the band's management agency. The 60 countries include Canada, France, Denmark, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, Peru and Taiwan. At home, "Obsession" also came atop daily album sales charts by online book stores and music di

PerformanceNov. 28, 2019

South Korea’s exports to grow 3.3% next year: KITA

South Korea’s exports are expected to rise 3.3 percent next year on the back of global economic recovery and rising memory chip prices, a local trade association said Thursday. The Korea International Trade Association said exports are forecast to stand at $561 billion in 2020 with imports of $522 billion, growing 3.3 percent and 3.2 percent on-year, respectively. This year’s exports are expected reach $543 billion while imports are estimated at $506 billion, down 10.2 percent and 5.

IndustryNov. 28, 2019

‘Kakao Klaytn ahead of Facebook Libra’

Kakao’s Klaytn has ambitions to become the world’s biggest public blockchain consortium, said Kakao CEO Yeo Min-soo, Thursday, at the first Klaytn Governance Council Summit held in Seoul.“Currently, Klaytn’s expansion is centered in Asia, but it will gradually spread, in the end becoming the best global blockchain platform. To that end, we will not spare any investment and implore the Governance Council members to actively join in on the growth of our ecosystem,” sa

IndustryNov. 28, 2019

Transportation sector sales rise for 4th straight year in 2018

South Korea's transportation sector sales gained ground for the fourth year in a row in 2018 due mainly to an increase in air services, government data showed Thursday.The combined sales of local transportation firms totaled 146.9 trillion won ($124.5 billion) in the one-year period, up 3.3 percent from 142.2 trillion won tallied the year before, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Land transportation companies saw their sales rise 1.8 percent to 65.3 trillion won, and storage an

IndustryNov. 28, 2019

Facebook unveils report on enforcement of its community standards

US social networking giant Facebook Inc. said Thursday it has released an updated report on how it has been making efforts to detect content that violates community rules to proactively remove it from both Facebook and Instagram.The report contains data and metrics that show which categories are the most problematic in terms of violations of Facebook rules and the number of cases that violated regulated standards.Among the wide variety of content were child nudity, child sexual exploitation and

IndustryNov. 28, 2019

NK merchant ship driven out of S. Korean waters: JCS

South Korea has completed an operation to drive a North Korean merchant ship out of its waters after the vessel strayed across the Yellow Sea border due to an engine problem, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday. The ship was detected crossing the Northern Limit Line, the de facto sea border in the Yellow Sea, early Wednesday. South Korea's military later confirmed it to be a merchant ship from the North and broadcast warnings and fired warning shots according to procedure. North Korean sailo

North KoreaNov. 28, 2019

11 booked for posting naked pictures to student community

Police booked 11 college students and graduates for posting naked pictures of themselves and others on an online student community site.Hyehwa Police Station in Seoul said Thursday they recently booked without detention 11 men and women, mostly in their 20s, on charges of spreading obscene materials on the internet.  Police launched an investigation in June after receiving reports that obscene pictures had been posted to an anonymous community site only accessible to students of a private u

Social AffairsNov. 28, 2019

S. Korea adds 464,000 jobs in Q2

The South Korean economy added 464,000 jobs in the second quarter of 2019 from a year earlier, government data showed Thursday.There were 18.68 million salaried jobs in the second quarter, compared with 18.22 million a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.The figure represents a decline from the first quarter of this year when 503,000 jobs were created.The statistics agency said the economy added 162,000 jobs in health care and social welfare, and 77,000 jobs in the wholesal

EconomyNov. 28, 2019