South Korea ranked 13th in terms of global competitiveness this year, backed by its leadership in information technology and strength to counter external shocks, a report showed Wednesday.The country saw its competitiveness rising two notches from last year and by four from 2017, the Finance Ministry said, quoting the report from the World Economic Forum. Among 141 countries studied by the WEF, Korea ranked tops in macroeconomic stability and dissemination of information and communications techn

MarketOct. 9, 2019

Online consumers outside of South Korea are mostly interested in buying Korean brand beauty products like cosmetics and perfumes, a survey from the Korea International Trade Association showed Wednesday. The survey of 460 consumers in the US, China and Europe conducted by online shopping platform Kmall24 showed that 26 percent of them picked K-beauty as the most desired shopping category. Following that were K-pop-related products such as music albums and DVDs at 24 percent and food and beverage

EconomyOct. 9, 2019

Riding on word-of-mouth through social media, E-mart is seeing a whopping increase in its sales of sushi products, the retail chain said Wednesday.With 65 million pieces of sushi having been sold within the January to September period this year, E-mart said it expects sales to reach 100 million by the year’s end. An official explained the sales amount translates to 2.78 pieces of sushi being sold each second over that period.E-mart has been targeting the sushi market by using fresh fish in

EconomyOct. 9, 2019

Medytox said Wednesday that it has appointed US attorney Joon H. Kim to represent it in a lawsuit against Daewoong Pharmaceutical in the US.Kim is a partner at Cleary Gottlieb, which focuses on white-collar criminal defense, internal corporate investigations, crisis management, commercial litigation and arbitration.  Medytox emphasized Kim’s previous role as the acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York from March 2017 to January 2018, where he held one of the highest-l

IndustryOct. 9, 2019

South Korean internet giants Naver and Kakao are seeking to attract more subscribers with service upgrades reflecting the rapid changes in online behavior. The country’s biggest search engine Naver said Tuesday it will overhaul the company’s platform to provide relevant information via social influencers. The “influence search service” is scheduled to be released by December with a trial service for beauty and travel searches. Kakao, operator of the country’s t

TechnologyOct. 9, 2019

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles to look into the weakening of the global economic framework in light of fading liberalism and the rise of trade protectionism and nationalism. This is the fourth installment. -- Ed.After last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the headlines announced a first in the forum’s 25-year history: Its 21 members had failed to reach a consensus on a joint communique, one repercussion from the ongoing US-China trade war. In rece

EconomyOct. 9, 2019

Amid the continuing work-to-rule campaign, demanding improvement in working conditions and the wage system, which began Monday, the unionized railway laborers reaffirmed their plan to hold an all-out strike.The Korean Railway Workers’ Union will embark on a 72-hour strike starting 9 a.m. Friday, the organization said during a press conference Tuesday. The union has been staging protests requesting the normalization of salaries, shorter working hours, increase in number of employees an

Social AffairsOct. 9, 2019

E-commerce company Coupang said Wednesday that it has appointed economist and former Federal Reserve Gov. Kevin Warsh to its board of directors.The former senior US government official currently teaches at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is also a Shepard Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. “Coupang is at the frontier of innovation. The company’s growth has been impressive, and its customer experience is unmatched. I am honored to

IndustryOct. 9, 2019

The season’s 19th typhoon in the Pacific region, Hagibis will not impact South Korea but is likely to batter Japan over the weekend, the weather agency said Wednesday. As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, Hagibis was in waters some 840 kilometers northwest of Guam in the western Pacific Ocean, the Korea Meteorological Administration said. It was tracking north-northwestward at a speed of 13 kilometers per hour and is expected to reach waters 980 kilometers northeast of Okinawa at around 9 p.m. Thursday

Social AffairsOct. 9, 2019

A Seoul court on Wednesday refused to issue an arrest warrant for Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s younger brother, Cho Kwon. Prosecutors had sought the warrant over allegations of bribery and embezzlement via a school foundation owned and operated by the family.The Seoul Central District Court said it would not authorize the arrest warrant in light of “the suspect’s health condition, his apparent admission of guilt and substantial evidence having already been collected.” The c

PoliticsOct. 9, 2019

The top nuclear negotiators of South Korea, the United States and Japan met Tuesday in Washington, where they reaffirmed the importance of coordination on North Korea to achieve complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, the US State Department said. Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, held bilateral and trilateral meetings with his US and Japanese counterparts to discuss Saturday’s working-level nuclear negotiation

North KoreaOct. 9, 2019

Stonebridge Capital, one of the four bidders shortlisted to buy a controlling 31 percent stake in the country’s second-largest full-service carrier Asiana Airlines, refuted Wednesday news reports that it is not keen to proceed with the acquisition deal.  A local news outlet reported Wednesday that the South Korean private equity fund did not participate in a bidding presentation meeting with Asiana executives earlier this week, indicating that it may drop out of the race. Stonebr

IndustryOct. 9, 2019

European Union members of the United Nations Security Council have condemned North Korea for its recent firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile and urged Pyongyang to commit to negotiations with the United States. After convening a closed-door session on Tuesday (US time), Britain, France, Germany, Poland, Belgium and Estonia issued a joint statement calling for Pyongyang to discard its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. “We reiterate our condemnation

North KoreaOct. 9, 2019

 진행자: 김다솔, Paul Kerry1. Cho Kuk lays out prosecution reform plan기사 요약: 조국 법무부 장관이 취임 한달을 맞아 ‘검찰개혁 추진계획’을 발표했다. 특수부(특별수사부) 폐지와 형사·공판부 강화 등 검찰 권한 조정 방안과 별건 수사 금지, 수사 장기화 제한 등 인권 보호 방안이 두루 담겼다.아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638[1] Embattled Justice Minister Cho Kuk laid out measures to reform the prosecution Tuesday, proposing to curb its power to direct probes and better

PodcastOct. 9, 2019

A Seoul court on Wednesday refused to issue an arrest warrant for a younger brother of Justice Minister Cho Kuk in connection with a probe into corruption allegations surrounding Cho's family.The Seoul Central District Court rejected the prosecution's request filed Friday, saying there is no need to arrest the suspect, given that the charges against him are disputable and enough evidence has already been collected. The rejection is expected to deal a blow to the prosecution's investigation of th

PoliticsOct. 9, 2019

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a military farm, state media reported Wednesday, in his first public appearance since the breakdown of working-level nuclear negotiations with the United States.The "field guidance" to Farm No. 1116 under Unit 810 of the Korean Peoples' Army appears to be designed to underline his commitment to resolve food problems and focus on economic development despite the lack of progress in Saturday's talks with the US in Sweden.The Korean Central News Age

North KoreaOct. 9, 2019

The chief nuclear negotiators of South Korea, the United States and Japan met in Washington Tuesday and reaffirmed the importance of working together to achieve complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, the US State Department said.Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, held bilateral and trilateral talks with his US and Japanese counterparts -- Stephen Biegun and Shigeki Takizaki -- to discuss last weekend's working-level

Foreign AffairsOct. 9, 2019

European Union members of the UN Security Council on Tuesday condemned North Korea's latest missile launch as a clear violation of UN resolutions and urged the regime to engage in "meaningful" denuclearization negotiations with the United States.Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Belgium, as well as Estonia, which joins the council in January, issued the joint statement after a closed-door session of the Security Council in New York. North Korean Ambassador to the UN Kim Song had war

North KoreaOct. 9, 2019

A Canadian American cosmologist and two Swiss scientists won this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for their work in understanding how the universe has evolved from the Big Bang and the blockbuster discovery of the first known planet outside our solar system.Canadian-born James Peebles, 84, of Princeton University, was credited for “theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology” and Switzerland’s Michel Mayor, 77, and Didier Queloz, 53, each from the University of

World NewsOct. 8, 2019