[Go, Munir, Vishwanath] Asia’s multilateral balancing act

After World War II, Asia emerged from years of conflict and centuries of colonialism. The United States quickly became the main guarantor of regional security, signing bilateral defense treaties and establishing preferential trade and investment relationships with its Asian allies -- in particular the Philippines, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Pakistan. In the decades since, Asia has reaped substantial development gains from open trade, investment, and multilateral cooperation, enabling the

ViewpointsSept. 22, 2019

[Leonid Bershidsky] Europe’s last land frontier is opening up

Ukraine has almost as much agricultural land as France and Germany combined and will finally start allowing it to be bought and sold next year. This is Europe’s last farmland frontier, and the fight over it is going to be messy.About 17 percent of Ukraine’s gross domestic product comes from agriculture, the one sector where Ukraine punches above its weight on the global stage. It’s the world’s sixth-biggest wheat exporter, a top 10 supplier of corn and barley, the global

ViewpointsSept. 22, 2019

[News Focus] Korean chipmakers expect to bottom out in H2

 The semiconductor firms in South Korea are holding their breath at the current market conditions, hoping they have avoided the worst. “Starting with NAND, memory chip prices are showing signs of a rebound,” said an industry insider. “DRAM prices also stopped falling last month, which we hope is a sign of bottoming out finally.”  The price of three-dimensional high-spec NAND rose for two months in a row, while the most widely used memory DRAMs halted their price

TechnologySept. 22, 2019

[Management in Korea] Why governance reform is key to make chaebol accountable　

Management in Korea is a regular column written by the members of Egon Zehnder Seoul, touching on various aspects of Korean enterprises and business leaders, offering management tips. -- Ed.Nearly every presidential candidate in South Korea over the past two decades has made the same campaign promise and failed to deliver on it: End the near-monopoly chaebol -- family-owned conglomerates -- hold in the country and give smaller companies an opportunity to thrive. To enact some semblance of contro

EconomySept. 22, 2019

Moon heads to US for UN General Assembly, Trump summit

President Moon Jae-in on Sunday set out on a five-day trip to the US to attend the UN General Assembly.On the sidelines of the event, Moon is scheduled to hold a summit with US President Donald Trump and a number of other world leaders.  According to Cheong Wa Dae, Moon’s meeting with Trump -- scheduled for Monday there -- will focus on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as well as the South Korea-US alliance. “President Moon will discuss cooperation measures for the compl

PoliticsSept. 22, 2019

N. Korea’s seasoned negotiator responds quickly to Trump’s ‘new method’

Kim Myong-gil, who recently released a statement confirming that he is the head of the North Korean delegation for the envisioned working-level negotiations with the United States, is known to be a US expert. Having participated in various levels of nuclear weapons negotiations with the US since the 1990s, Kim may be able to bring about a more productive outcome for North Korea in the upcoming denuclearization negotiations, experts here say. Amid speculations that Kim would be the counterpart of

North KoreaSept. 22, 2019

Son of former police officer stopped with bullets at airport

A 47-year-old man, the son of a former police officer, was caught by airport security holding three bullets at around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.He was discovered with the bullets at the airport security check counter, Incheon Airport police said. The man was apparently departing on a trip abroad with colleagues.During police questioning, the man said the bullets may have been placed in the pocket of the jacket he was wearing when his mother was cleaning the house.Finding no criminal intentions, auth

Social AffairsSept. 22, 2019

Typhoon Tapah sweeps Korea’s southern region, at least one dead

Typhoon Tapah battered Jeju Island and the southern region of Korea on Sunday with strong winds and heavy rain, leaving at least one person dead and seven injured. The typhoon, packing wind gusts of 126 kilometers per hour with an atmospheric pressure of 970 hectopascals at its center, was traveling northeastward from Jeju Island at a speed of about 35 kilometers per hour as of 3 p.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. A two-story house collapsed at 10:25 p.m. Saturday in Bus

Social AffairsSept. 22, 2019

[From the Scene] SsangYong’s Changwon plant responsible for gasoline engines of SUV powerhouse

CHANGWON, South Gyeongsang Province -- An engine is often dubbed the “heart of a car” as it converts gasoline energy for motion. When it comes to sport utility vehicles, the performance of an engine is even more important because it decides their power. SsangYong Motor, with 30-year-history, has been churning out gasoline engines at its Changwon plant in South Gyeongsang Province.The plant, comprised of two units, spans over 111,500 square meters. The first factory is respo

MobilitySept. 22, 2019

[Herald Review] ‘Lifetime companions’ grace stage with complete Brahms sonatas

INCHEON -- Violinist Chung Kyung-wha and pianist Kevin Kenner, who call each other “lifetime companion,” presented the complete Brahms violin sonatas on Thursday at Art Center Incheon. The duo performed the German composer-pianist’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in G major, “Regen,” Op. 78; Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A major, “Thun,” Op. 100; and Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108. The first sonata, often referred to

PerformanceSept. 22, 2019

National Assembly speaker inspects Samsung SDI plant in Hungary

National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang took time on Saturday (local time) to inspect the Samsung SDI factory located near Budapest, the company said Sunday.In a meeting with executives and employees of the battery maker, Moon remarked that Samsung represents South Korea in the global market, praising it for its tireless efforts to elevate the global status of both the conglomerate and country. Moon also talked of how proud he was when he heard that foreign countries were purchasing technologies

IndustrySept. 22, 2019

Eximbank runs soup kitchen during holiday season

The Export-Import Bank of Korea has been consistently engaging in community welfare, such as through the Hope Seed volunteer program involving a soup kitchen earlier this month near Seoul Station, according to the bank Sunday.The soup kitchen provided some 300 homeless people with hearty meals ahead of Chuseok. “It was a meaningful time to share some love and bond with those who are excluded during the thanksgiving holiday,” said Eximbank Deputy President Kang Seung-joong.  Acco

IndustrySept. 22, 2019

Coupang publishes ‘Mini business impact report’

“Mini” businesses selling products on Coupang have seen their businesses grow by 81 percent on average, with combined sales exceeding 2.65 trillion won ($2.22 billion) in 2018 alone, a report released by Coupang showed.These and other findings were included in the “2019 Coupang Mini Business Impact Report -- Small Giants Working With Coupang,” highlighting the socioeconomic correlation between Coupang, its business partners and local communities. It is the first such in-d

EconomySept. 22, 2019

Korea’s Oscar-tipped ‘Parasite’ sets French box office record

PARIS (AFP) - The South Korean satire “Parasite” has become the most successful Cannes-winning film at the French box office in 15 years, new figures show.Director Bong Joon-ho became the first Korean to lift the Palme d’Or in May for his brilliant class war black comedy, and is an early favorite to lift the best foreign language movie Oscar. More than 1.6 million people have paid to see the film in France so far, according to the site CBO box office, a feat not achieved by a C

FilmSept. 22, 2019

[Newsmaker] Fire at Dongdaemun fashion market injures 2, fumes continue for hours

A fire that started around midnight Sunday at a fashion wholesale market in central Seoul continued to burn Sunday afternoon, with two people injured.Fire authorities have been fighting the blaze for more than 14 hours as of 3:30 p.m. Sunday at a six-story building located in Jeil Pyunghwa Clothing Market in Sindang-dong.While the fire was mostly contained, the surrounding area was thick with black fumes still rising from the building on Sunday afternoon.Two women who were inside the building wh

Social AffairsSept. 22, 2019

Samsung slips 26 notches in global corporate reputation ranking

South Korea's top tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. fell sharply in a global corporate social responsibility ranking to a record low of 90th this year, a US market survey showed Sunday.In the 2019 Global RepTrak report released by the Reputation Institute, the world's biggest memory chip giant moved down a whopping 26 steps in terms of its global reputation. The rankings are based on a company's governance structure, social contribution and working conditions for workers.  It marked the lo

IndustrySept. 22, 2019

Typhoon Tapah approaching S. Korea with strong winds, heavy rains

Typhoon Tapah was moving north toward the southern island of Jeju on Sunday, the weather agency said, with heavy rains and strong winds already battering the island and other southern regions and causing cancellations of hundreds of flights.The powerful typhoon, packing wind gusts of 126 kph with an atmospheric pressure of 970 hectopascals at its center, was about 250 kilometers southwest of Jeju traveling at a speed of 28 kph as of 9 a.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.

Social AffairsSept. 22, 2019

S. Korea's pork exports to remain intact despite ASF: ministry

South Korea's exports of pork are expected to remain steady despite two confirmed cases of African swine fever in the country as the disease has been reported only in a limited area, officials said Sunday, The first-ever confirmed ASF case in South Korea was reported Tuesday in Paju, located near the heavily fortified border with North Korea. The second confirmed ASF case was reported in the neighboring Yeoncheon the next day.The confirmed cases sparked concerns over the local pork industry, inc

EconomySept. 22, 2019

[From the scene] Koreans join global climate protest

Thousands of people took to the streets in central Seoul on Saturday to call for immediate action to tackle climate change, joining millions of protesters around the world in the global movement.　An estimated 4,000 people gathered in Daehakro in central Seoul to criticize the government for its lukewarm response to climate change and to call for more drastic change in energy policies -- such as shutting down coal-fired power plants, shifting to renewable energy and cutting other emissions.　&ldqu

Social AffairsSept. 21, 2019

NK website unveils revised constitution aimed at strengthening Kim's status

A North Korean propaganda website on Saturday unveiled the full text of the country's revised constitution, which is apparently aimed at bolstering leader Kim Jong-un's legal status.The website, called Naenara, made public the constitution that the 14th Supreme People's Assembly, the country's rubber-stamp legislature, amended during its second session late last month.In the latest revision, Article 104 stipulated new responsibilities for the chairman of the State Affairs Commission, the North's

North KoreaSept. 21, 2019