[Newsmaker] Court orders consulate to rethink visa denial for K-pop singer

The Seoul High Court on Friday upheld a Supreme Court decision in favor of Korean American Steve Seung Jun Yoo, also known as Yoo Seung-jun, requiring the South Korean Consulate in Los Angeles to reconsider its 2017 decision to deny the former K-pop singer an F-4 residency visa. With the exception of a brief visit, the Korean-born singer and actor has been banned from his birth country since 2002, when he became a naturalized US citizen and evaded his mandatory military duty in Korea. Korea&rs

Social AffairsNov. 15, 2019

Penguin character Pengsoo’s popularity excites stock investors

South Korea’s obsession with a penguin character is nothing new, with Pororo the “little penguin” having charmed kids with his orange goggles and innocence for more than a decade. However, Pengsoo -- a penguin character that bears a striking resemblance to Pororo, but armed with a blunter persona -- has gained cross-generational popularity in recent months, even nudging investors to purchase related stocks.Digital education contents producer Uangel -- which signed a memorandum

MarketNov. 15, 2019

S. Korea shakes up batting order for crucial match vs. Mexico

TOKYO -- South Korea will send out a new-looking batting lineup in an important Olympic qualifying game against Mexico later Friday in Tokyo.South Korean manager Kim Kyung-moon announced changes ahead of the Super Round game at the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo.The Premier12 is also an Olympic qualifying tournament for Asian/Oceanian and American countries. South Korea can clinch its spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a win over Mexico. A loss would fur

BaseballNov. 15, 2019

BTS records $116.6m in sales from 'Love Yourself: Speak Yourself' tour

K-pop superstars BTS clinched $116.6 million in sales through its sensational "Love Yourself: Speak Yourself" world tour, Billboard said Friday.Under the globe-trotting concert tour, BTS staged 20 performances in 10 cities in North and South America, Europe, Japan, Saudi Arabia and finally in South Korea through May to October.  Through the tour, BTS sold a total of 976,283 tickets, averaging 48,814 ticket sales worth $5.8 million per concert, according to figures from Billboard B

PerformanceNov. 15, 2019

Namsangol Hanok Village incorporates modern artifacts inspired by Korean traditional themes

The exhibition “Hang in Hanok” at Namsangol Hanok Village shows how the traditional Korean village incorporates contemporary works of art that its artifacts have inspired. The project, co-organized by Namsangol Hanok Village and the Seoul Metropolitan Government, consists of four Korean traditional themes: hanbok (traditional Korean garments), scrolls, lamps and scenery.  The modern artifacts based on these themes were designed by four designers and two art institutes. Installat

Arts & DesignNov. 15, 2019

Ex-Justice Minister Cho refuses to open up during questioning

Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk refused to testify on all charges against him during an eight-hour questioning session by prosecutors Thursday. “I deemed it unnecessary to answer their questions,” Cho said in a statement released by his attorney. “If the prosecutors decide to indict me, I will reveal the truth in court.” Observers speculate that Cho, who teaches criminal law at Seoul National University, was trying to find out what evidence the prosecutors have aga

PoliticsNov. 15, 2019

Indie publishers seek synergy at annual book festival

Unlimited Edition 11, the 2019 Seoul Art Book Fair, kicked off Friday at the Seoul Museum of Art, giving indie publishers and small publishers throughout the country a chance to gain exposure at the largest annual book festival for small and indie publishers in South Korea. Unlimited Edition was launched in 2009 and has grown into the largest book fair of its kind in Korea, attracting more than 2,100 visitors last year. A total of 220 teams of writers, book illustrators and local bookstores are

BooksNov. 15, 2019

Police: Lee Chun-jae is behind all Hwaseong murders

SUWON -- Police said Friday they have reached a provisional conclusion that all 10 of the Hwaseong serial murders were committed by the same man.Lee Chun-jae, who is serving life imprisonment for a similar murder, admitted in October his involvement in 10 crimes linked to the serial murder case after DNA tests identified him as the key suspect in at least five cases.Ten women were killed in the rural village of Hwaseong, south of Seoul, between 1986 and 1991 in the country's worst serial murder

Social AffairsNov. 15, 2019

Essays from Sahara trekking trails

“Walking Through Sahara”By Ju Hyung-won(Nike Books) Not everyone gets a chance to visit the Sahara Desert. But a writer who has done it in an Antoine de Saint-Exupery-inspired expedition of a lifetime, says we may all be crossing our own desert of life. Writer Ju Hyung-won booked an air ticket to Morocco on the spur of the moment, after reading Saint-Exupery’s philosophical memoir “Terre des Hommes” or “Wind, Sand and Stars.” Her latest book, “Walk

BooksNov. 15, 2019

US trade body likely to rule against Hanwha Q Cells in patent case; panel maker to ‘appeal immediately’

South Korean solar panel manufacturer Hanwha Q Cells received a preliminary notice from the US International Trade Commission indicating that the US body regards as unfounded the company’s patent infringement complaints against other foreign solar energy companies, the firm confirmed Friday. The USITC is set to announce an official ruling in about two weeks. Hanwha said it would “appeal immediately” if the decision were to be finalized. The reasoning behind the USITC’s pr

IndustryNov. 15, 2019

China's Xi warns Hong Kong protesters jeopardise 'one country, two systems'

HONG KONG (AFP) -- China's President Xi Jinping warned Thursday that protests in Hong Kong threaten the "one country, two systems"  principle governing the semi-autonomous city that has tipped into worsening violence with two dead in a week.Hong Kong has been ruled by a unique system guaranteeing greater freedoms than on the mainland since its handover from British rule to China in 1997.But protests, which began against a now-shelved extradition bill to China, have spiralled into

World NewsNov. 15, 2019

Two killed in California school shooting, teen in custody

SANTA CLARITA (AFP) -- A teenage boy gunned down fellow students at a California high school on his 16th birthday Thursday, killing two and wounding another three before turning the pistol on himself.The gunman was taken into custody in "grave" condition, police said, as officers stormed Saugus High School in Santa Clarita -- the latest in a relentless cycle of classroom shootings in the United States that have left around 300 youngsters dead over two decades. The chilling scene played

World NewsNov. 15, 2019

NK says it will remove S. Korean facilities from Kumgangsan

Pyongyang sent an ultimatum to Seoul on Monday, warning that it will unilaterally remove all South Korean-built facilities from the Kumgangsan resort unless Seoul tears them down on its own, North Korean state media said Friday.Dismissing South Korea’s calls for talks to salvage the long-suspended tourism venture at the mountain resort, the North said it would develop the resort in its own way, and that there was no room for the South to meddle. “We sent an ultimatum on Nov. 11 that

North KoreaNov. 15, 2019

Slowing exports weigh on S. Korea's economic growth: ministry

South Korea's weak investment and slowing exports have undermined its economic growth, the finance ministry said Friday."Overall industrial output and consumption are on the rise, but a sluggish trend persists in exports and construction investment, weighing on economic growth," the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in its monthly economic assessment report. The report, called the "Green Book," is based on the latest economic indicators of such key factors as output, expor

EconomyNov. 15, 2019

Seoul stocks open almost flat on lack of market momentum

South Korean stocks opened almost flat on Friday as investors attempted to cash in recent gains amid a lack of market momentum.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched down 0.91 point, or 0.04 percent, to 2,138.32 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Large caps were mixed, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics unchanged.No. 1 portal operator Naver shed 2.78 percent and carmaker Hyundai Motor was down 0.4 percent.In contrast, chipmaker SK hynix climbed 0.48 percent and POSCO, the No

MarketNov. 15, 2019

S. Korea, US hold annual defense ministers' talks

South Korea and the United States held annual defense ministers' talks in Seoul on Friday as the allies face tricky issues such as a soon-to-expire intelligence-sharing pact between Seoul and Tokyo and defense cost-sharing negotiations. Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper held the 51st Security Consultative Meeting for "in-depth discussions on various pending security issues," the defense ministry said.Details of their discussions were not immediate

DefenseNov. 15, 2019

CJ ENM, Walt Disney neck-and-neck at S. Korean box office

Two film distributing powerhouses, CJ ENM and Walt Disney Company Korea, were neck-and-neck at the South Korean box office in the first 10 months of this year, data showed Friday.In January to October, CJ ENM, an entertainment unit of CJ Group, distributed 13 films, garnering 45.4 million admissions and taking up 24.5 percent of the total tickets sold.Walt Disney Company Korea, the local unit of the U.S.-based media titan, also managed 13 movies, which attracted 45.2 million moviegoers with a ma

IndustryNov. 15, 2019

Trump asks Supreme Court to protect his tax returns

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Donald Trump on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to bar a prosecutor from obtaining his tax returns, arguing that as president he has blanket immunity.Trump, a former New York businessman, is the first American president since Richard Nixon not to make his tax returns public, arguing they're under audit by the Internal Revenue Service.Opposition Democrats have turned to the courts to force their release in a case that's considered a crucial test of the separation of powers. A

World NewsNov. 15, 2019

[Eye Plus] A stroll through Korea’s naval history

Since the early history of the Korean Peninsula, the Han River has served as a strategic waterway and was the center of a power struggle among the Three Kingdoms of Baekje, Silla and Goguryeo.It was also near its banks that Joseon-era kings visited to observe the training of the nation’s Navy.Seoul Battleship Park, located on the river’s northern bank in Mapo-gu, is the first shipbuilding theme park in Seoul, providing an ideal destination for family outings.The 9,952-square-meter ar

TravelNov. 15, 2019

Health-conscious brews at Oga Teahouse

Sequestered on the basement floor of a building near Posco Center in Seoul’s Daechi-dong, Oga Teahouse is a personal haven for manager Oh Ki-hwan. Oh, who runs this Korean teahouse with his mother, turned to herbal remedies when he found himself burned out from work. Herbal medicine was not unfamiliar to Oh, whose grandfather was a doctor of traditional Asian medicine. “We always had licorice root around,” he said.Oh, 44, recalls sucking on the bark-like root and how sweet it t

FoodNov. 15, 2019