[Newsmaker] Railway services affected as 72-hour strike begins

Railway services across South Korea are expected to be affected Friday and throughout the weekend as workers began a 72-hour strike demanding better working conditions.Around 20 to 60 percent of passenger and cargo train services are forecast to be affected by the labor action, according to the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.Intercity subway operations will be reduced to 88.1 percent of normal operations, while high-speed train services and

Social AffairsOct. 11, 2019

Prosecution denies reports of chief prosecutor’s connection to sex scandal

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on Friday denied reports that Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl is linked to the sex-bribery scandal involving a former deputy justice minister. Hankyoreh 21, a weekly magazine affiliated to the left-wing daily Hankyoreh, reported Friday that Yoon was entertained by construction business operator Yoon Joong-cheon. Yoon Joong-cheon is accused of bribing and providing sexual services to a number of influential figures, including former Deputy Justice Mini

Social AffairsOct. 11, 2019

Moon to meet with Seoul-based foreign diplomats next Friday

President Moon Jae-in will meet with Seoul-based foreign diplomats next week in an effort to seek cooperation to bring about peace on the Korean Peninsula, his office said Thursday. The chief executive will hold a meeting with diplomatic corps on Oct. 18 at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae to encourage promoting closer ties, sources said.It would be the first time that the president would meet foreign diplomats based in Seoul at once.Such a meeting was held on a regular basis under past adm

PoliticsOct. 10, 2019

Olga Tokarczuk, Peter Handke win Literature Nobels

Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk on Thursday won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, which was delayed over a sexual harassment scandal, while Austrian novelist and playwright Peter Handke took the 2019 award, the Swedish Academy said. Tokarczuk, considered the most talented Polish novelist of her generation, was honoured "for a narrative imagination that with encyclopaedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life".Her books portray a polychromatic world perpetually

CultureOct. 10, 2019

Speaker to visit Japan next month for G-20 parliamentary meeting

National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang plans to visit Japan next month to attend a parliamentary meeting of the Group of 20 leading nations, officials said Thursday. Moon has received an invitation from Japan's parliament to take part in the speakers' gathering, which will be held on Nov. 4 in Tokyo, according to parliamentary officials.A detailed itinerary is under consultation, they added. It would be Moon's first trip to Japan since he was elected as the speaker in July 2018.Moon is pushing

PoliticsOct. 10, 2019

S. Korea to travel to Pyongyang for World Cup qualifier via Beijing on match's eve

The South Korean men's national football team will travel to Pyongyang for a World Cup qualifier against North Korea via Beijing on the eve of the match, the sport's governing body here said Thursday. The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced the itinerary for the Taeguk Warriors for the World Cup qualifying match scheduled for next Tuesday. Coached by Paulo Bento, South Korea will fly to Beijing on Sunday and stay there overnight, and then fly to Pyongyang on Monday.The KFA said it had pro

PoliticsOct. 10, 2019

[Herald Design Forum] Breathing new life into used plastics

Plastic can be a valuable material if effectively upcycled, argued Dutch designer Dave Hakkens in his speech, “The Power of an Open Source” at the Herald Design Forum 2019 held at Grand Hyatt Seoul in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul on Thursday. “Less than 10 percent of the plastics (used around the world) get recycled. For companies, it’s just easier to buy new plastic. The plastic waste is burned, sent to landfills or to the ocean,” he said. Hakkens said, he started to

Arts & DesignOct. 10, 2019

Alex Mustonen talks about breaking prejudice about architecture

Alex Mustonen, co-founder of New York-based studio Snarkitecture, talked about breaking some of the biased perceptions that people have about architecture at the Herald Design Forum 2019 on Thursday.“A lot of time, we think of architecture as something quite serious. I think the same limitations that people have with art can also be applied to architecture. They are seen as something that has to be looked at and not necessarily something that they can engage with,” Mutonen said. &ldq

CultureOct. 10, 2019

Moon vows 'bold' gov't support for new-generation display sector

President Moon Jae-in said Thursday his government will offer "bold support" for South Korea's development of next-generation displays as he paid a visit to a local factory of Samsung Group, the country's largest conglomerate.  "Now, it's important (for South Korea) to keep the No. 1 spot, changing the trend of the world's display market," he said during a speech at Samsung Display's factory in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, 90 kilometers south of Seoul. "The gov

PoliticsOct. 10, 2019

S. Korea voices hope for replenishment of Green Climate Fund

South Korea's finance minister expressed hope Thursday that Seoul's increased contribution to the U.N. Green Climate Fund could help with its successful replenishment. Hong Nam-ki made the comment in a meeting with Yannick Glemarec, executive director of the Green Climate Fund, at the government complex building in central Seoul.Last month, Asia's fourth-largest economy announced that it would double its contribution to US$200 million for this first round of the replenishment of the fund. Seoul

EconomyOct. 10, 2019

[Graphic News] S. Korea;s annual greenhouse gas emissions hit record high in 2017

　South Korea’s annual greenhouse gas emissions reached a record high of 709.1 million tons in 2017, a government environment agency said Monday.　The Greenhouse Gas General Information Center, under the Ministry of Environment, disclosed the emissions results after getting confirmation by a government committee in charge of controlling greenhouse gas.　The output marks growth of 2.4 percent from 2016 when the corresponding figure came to 692.6 tons, according to the center.　It is also the fi

NationalOct. 10, 2019

S. Korea to open 5G centers on K-pop

South Korea said Thursday that it will build two 5G experience centers in central Seoul to showcase K-pop and other cultural content through the latest technology.The centers near Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul will provide interactive ways to imitate K-pop dances while providing such content as K-pop concerts and the changing of royal guards ceremony at Gyeongbok Palace.K-pop -- which mostly features choreographed singing and dancing by boy or girl groups -- has gained ground in not only A

IndustryOct. 10, 2019

S. Korea's top nuke envoy returns from US trip

South Korea's top nuclear negotiator returned home Thursday after talks with his US and Japanese counterparts in Washington over how to make progress in denuclearization negotiations with North Korea.Lee Do-hoon had bilateral and trilateral meetings with his US and Japanese counterparts, Stephen Biegun and Shigeki Takizaki, on Tuesday, after the unfruitful working-level talks between the US and the North in Sweden on Saturday last week.When asked whether the talks between Washington and Pyongyan

Foreign AffairsOct. 10, 2019

4 Chinese boats seized for alleged illegal fishing

South Korea has seized four Chinese fishing boats on charges of illegal fishing in its exclusive economic zone in the West Sea, the oceans ministry said Thursday.The West Sea Fisheries Management Service seized the four vessels, including two 99-ton fishing boats, between Saturday and Wednesday. The four boats had permits to enter South Korea's western exclusive economic zone for fishing, but they are suspected to have used gillnets with a mesh 41 millimeters in diameter on average.The ministry

Foreign AffairsOct. 10, 2019

Iran suspected of continuing missile cooperation with NK: CRS report

Iran is suspected of continuing to cooperate with North Korea on missile development, a recent US congressional report said after the communist nation carried out a surprise test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile.The Congressional Research Service report, published on Tuesday, raised the suspicions while noting that the two countries have cooperated on a wide range of military and weapons of mass destruction-related activities in the past, particularly the development of ballistic missil

North KoreaOct. 10, 2019

[Herald Design Forum] Changing old neighborhoods with new thinking

While the construction of a building or a house may be a familiar concept, establishment of a neighborhood or a community is a relatively new notion. Assemble is a London-based multidisciplinary collective that builds neighborhoods, responding to the actual needs of the community. More than just renovating a building, it rejuvenates the whole area, working across the realms of architecture, design and art.Maria Lisogorskaya, one of the founding members of Assemble, took the podium at the 2019 He

Arts & DesignOct. 10, 2019

[Herald Design Forum 2019] Astronomer Ribas stresses importance of preserving our ‘Pale Blue Dot’

Finding another planet with a hospitable environment for humans has been a long-cherished wish for mankind. Astronomer Ignasi Ribas, a leading expert in that field, however, stresses the importance of preserving the Earth’s environment, pointing out that migrating to another planet is science fiction, at least for now. “Can another planet be a possible second home (for humans to live in)? The answer is no, and if it is possible, it would take forever to get there,” said Ribas,

Arts & DesignOct. 10, 2019

NK ship seized by US once owned by South Korean firms: report

A North Korean ship seized and auctioned off by the US had operated under the South Korean flag in the past, Voice of America reported Thursday. According to the report, the Wise Honest was owned by South Korean entities between 2004 and 2015 and sailed under the name “Eny.”Based on International Maritime Organization data, the report showed that the ship began operations as a Panama-registered vessel in 1989, and came to be owned by the South Korean entities in 2004, after operating

North KoreaOct. 10, 2019

N. Korea slams EU nations over statement condemning SLBM test

North Korea on Thursday lashed out at European Union members of the UN Security Council for issuing a statement condemning its recent test of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile, calling it a "grave provocation" against Pyongyang.In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, a spokesperson of the North's foreign ministry accused the United States of pushing the countries to sign the statement, warning that Pyongyang might reconsider the steps it has taken to

North KoreaOct. 10, 2019

[Fumihiro Kitayama]

In April, Japan made a significant policy shift on accepting foreign workers, including those who will perform simple labour.A decrease in the working-age population caused this change.However, it is unclear whether or not Japan will be able to secure enough foreign workers to sustain the Japanese economy in the future.The focus of debate over foreign workers is shifting from “Should Japan accept foreign workers?” to “Can Japan be the country of their choice?” in the glob

ViewpointsOct. 10, 2019