Democrats, GOP to vie for impeachment narrative: on TV

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Impeachable or not?Both Democrats and Republicans see the televised impeachment hearings starting this week as their first and best opportunity to shape public opinion about President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.Democrats believe the testimony will paint a vivid picture of presidential misconduct. Republicans say it will demonstrate just how lacking the evidence is for impeachment.They agree on one thing: The stakes are very high.Democrats plan a narrow foc

World NewsNov. 12, 2019

US JCS chairman addresses questions about troop presence in S. Korea, Japan

WASHINGTON -- US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley has said the American public poses questions about why the United States should station troops in South Korea and Japan and why the Asian allies can't pay for their own defense, according to a Pentagon account of his recent conversation with reporters.Milley made the remark Sunday as he departed for the Indo-Pacific region, his first overseas trip since taking office in September.He was emphasizing the importance of the US alliance

Foreign AffairsNov. 12, 2019

North Korea assails US, South Korea and UN nuclear agency

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- North Korea on Monday accused the United States of "political and military provocations" and South Korea of "double-dealing behavior."North Korea's UN Ambassador Kim Song made the accusations in a speech to a General Assembly meeting on the International Atomic Energy Agency, which he accused of "ignorance of the prevailing reality of the Korean peninsula."Kim said relations between the US and North Korea "have made little progress"

North KoreaNov. 12, 2019

S. Korea beats US to open Super Round

TOKYO (Yonhap) -- South Korea defeated the United States 5-1 at an Olympic baseball qualifying tournament in Japan on Monday to inch closer to a spot in the 2020 Summer Games.Designated hitter Kim Jae-hwan launched a three-run home run in the first for South Korea, who added a couple of insurance runs in the seventh to claim its opening game of the Super Round at the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 at Tokyo Dome in the Japanese capital. South Korean starter Yang Hyeon-jong wiggle

BaseballNov. 12, 2019

Blackpink becomes 1st K-pop group to have music video with over 1b YouTube views

Blackpink has become the first K-pop group to have a music video with more than 1 billion views on YouTube, the group's Seoul-based agency said Monday.YG Entertainment said that the female group's "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" music video surpassed the threshold in the afternoon, nearly 17 months after it was released last June. Blackpink is the second K-pop artist with the achievement, after singer PSY, whose mega-hit "Gangnam Style" has 3.4 billion views on YouTube.The quartet, who

K-popNov. 11, 2019

S. Korea launches new naval frigate on 74th anniversary of Navy foundation

South Korea launched a new frigate on Monday featuring advanced sonar and power systems to boost anti-submarine capabilities in coastal operations, the Navy said.The launch ceremony for the 2,800-ton FGG-II Seoul took place at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.'s shipyard in the southeastern port city of Ulsan, according to the Navy. It is the third frigate to be built under the project to secure a second batch of such vessels to replace the Navy's aging frigates and patrol combat corvettes. The

DefenseNov. 11, 2019

‘Parasite’ biggest commercial success among foreign films in N. America this year

The Cannes-winning Korean film “Parasite” has garnered more than $11 million in revenue in North America, becoming the most commercially successful foreign language title of this year so far, industry data showed Monday. The film’s revenue from the one-month period since its North American release on Oct. 11 till Sunday came to $11.28 million, according to the data by the US box office and the American magazine Variety. This marks the most revenue garnered by a foreign-lan

FilmNov. 11, 2019

[Graphic News] No. of China’s ‘unicorn’ startups exceed US for first time

　China now has more privately held startups valued by investors at over $1 billion than the US, a report said.　There were 206 Chinese firms out of a global total of 494 ultravaluable startups - known as unicorns - in June 2019, according to the research firm Hurun Report.　This makes China the country with the largest number of unicorns in the world, with the US coming in second with 203 such companies.　According to Hurun, China is home to the world’s three most valuable unicorns - Alibaba

World BusinessNov. 11, 2019

‘Humanitarian status holders deserve same protection as refugees’

Asylum seekers staying in South Korea with humanitarian status should enjoy the same protections and treatment as recognized refugees, activists monitoring the human rights situation facing 39 asylum seekers said Monday.  Better access to information on how humanitarian status holders can adjust to life in Korea -- what rights they have and what services are available to them -- are also necessary, the activists said at the briefing held at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. &ld

Social AffairsNov. 11, 2019

‘Women can be great conductors,’ without qualifiers

Cellist-turned-conductor Chang Han-na will embark on a South Korean tour with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra from Wednesday to Sunday. Chang, 37, is the artistic leader and chief conductor of the Norway-based orchestra. The orchestra’s first-ever Korean tour will kick off at the Seoul Arts Center on Friday, followed by concerts in Busan (Thursday), Daegu (Saturday) and Iksan (Sunday). The program includes Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 1

PerformanceNov. 11, 2019

[Newsmaker] Ex-Minister Cho’s wife slapped with additional charges

Prosecutors on Monday indicted former Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s wife on 14 charges, including obstructing business, insider trading, embezzlement and destroying evidence.  Chung Kyung-shim is already on trial for forging a document to support their daughter’s college application. The judge presiding over the forgery trial is likely to review her other 14 charges as well. Chung, arrested on Oct. 23, has consistently denied most of the charges against her during six rounds

PoliticsNov. 11, 2019

Kepco signs 25-year power supply deal in Guam

State-run power supplier Korea Electric Power Corp said Monday that it has signed a deal to sell electricity to the Guam Power Authority Pacific for 25 years.Kepco will start providing electricity in October 2022 after building a power plant. Korean builder Hyundai Engineering is set to construct a 200-megawatt combined cycle power plant in the US island territory in August 2020. The commercial operation of the plant will start two years later. A special purpose company in which Kepco holds a 60

MobilityNov. 11, 2019

Samsung Display earns gold grade from UL for recycling

Samsung Display said Monday it has received a gold grade from Underwriters Laboratories in recognition of its efforts to recycle waste at its factory. The panel maker’s second plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, reached 97 percent in terms of the percentage of industrial waste recycled as of 2018. UL, a global certification organization for waste recycling with the aim of achieving zero waste to landfills, grants a silver grade to companies that reach 90 to 94 percent in recycling a

TechnologyNov. 11, 2019

Korean society through the eyes of a female minjung artist

Just a few minutes ahead of the exhibition tour on Thursday, Nho Won-hee, 71, asked visitors for their names. With a pen in her hand, Nho approached her painting “People in the Square” (2018) and started to write their names on the canvas.“It’s OK,” she said of her rather unusual decision to modify a work on display on the spot. “I have already been adding the names of the people who came to see the exhibition. I have been adding any names of individuals, both

Arts & DesignNov. 11, 2019

[From the Scene] Incheon Airport draws MRO cluster blueprint

EVERETT, Washington -- Despite growing fears on plane defects worldwide, Boeing is relentlessly assembling 24 new aircrafts at its one-roof factory in Washington.At its Everett factory -- the world’s largest by size at 13.38 million cubic meters -- the firm’s wide-body 747, 767, 777 and 787 planes are being assembled by humans, robots and cranes. Robots bring the carbon fiber components for the B777X and fasten them together. They work by going underneath the components, whereas

IndustryNov. 11, 2019

170 conglomerate affiliates remain in regulation blind spot

Some owner families of South Korean conglomerates control many affiliates outside their holding company system, increasing their possibility of profit-taking, according to the nation’s antitrust watchdog Monday.The Fair Trade Commission noted that although large corporate groups have switched to a holding company structure, many of their affiliates are still controlled by owner families. There are currently 23 large companies that have adopted the structure following government regulations

IndustryNov. 11, 2019

Hyundai adds inverted sound waves to GV80 for noise control

The first sport utility vehicle under the Genesis marque will use inverted sound waves for noise control, the first of its kind in the world, Hyundai Motor said Monday.The South Korean carmaker said in a statement that it has applied for a patent for Road-noise Active Noise Control, or RANC, both in the domestic market and the US. With RANC, the internal noise of a vehicle drops 3 decibels, half of what a passenger hears from a regular vehicle, it said. The technology, developed over six ye

MobilityNov. 11, 2019

Former US commanders of combined command to discuss future of alliance

Former commanders and deputy commanders of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command will gather to discuss the future of the alliance this week, forum organizers said Monday.The Korea-US Alliance Foundation said it will host the first Former Combined Forces Command CDR-DCDR Forum at Millennium Hilton Seoul on Wednesday. The theme will be the Republic of Korea-US alliance.Four former US commanders -- John Tilelli, Walter Sharp, James Thurman and Curtis Scaparrotti -- and four former deputy commanders -

DefenseNov. 11, 2019

[Shang-jin Wei] Using digital technology to narrow opportunity gap

Although many societies aspire to provide equal opportunities for everyone, that is easier said than done. People born into different economic and social statuses have unequal educational or financial starting points. This often leads to very different career and life opportunities.Digital technology was not invented to tackle inequality, and there is even a risk that it could widen existing economic and social disparities. But, as the case of China illustrates, new platforms also offer many pos

ViewpointsNov. 11, 2019

[Trudy Rubin] Cutting-edge tech in China raises questions about future

One of the first things I learned on my current trip to Beijing is that foreigners are marooned if they don’t have a Chinese bank account.That’s because China, a global leader in e-commerce, has become a nearly cashless society. Everyone from school kids to grandmas pays for everything with a personal barcode on their cellphone. I mean everything, including bottles of water, rides with DiDi (the Chinese Uber), takeout dinners and haircuts.　International credit cards are rarely accept

ViewpointsNov. 11, 2019