[Video] Mobile orders and unmanned serving: Robot restaurant lands in Seoul

When you take your seat in this seemingly ordinary Italian restaurant in Seoul, no waiter comes to the table with a menu. Bustling servers carrying plates of food are also missing.Touted as the nation’s first robotized restaurant, Merry-Go-Kitchen opened its doors in southeastern Seoul last month in collaboration with South Korean food-delivery unicorn Woowa Brothers.At this establishment, placing an order for a meal starts by downloading the mobile application Baedal Minjok -- Baemin for

IndustryAug. 30, 2019

Leading Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong arrested: party

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Leading Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong was arrested Friday, his party said, a day ahead of a planned rally in the city that has been banned by police. His arrest came just hours after the reported detention at Hong Kong's airport of a vocal independence campaigner, and as Beijing continues to pile pressure on the anti-establishment movement in the city."Our secretary-general @joshuawongcf was just arrested this morning at roughly 7:30," Demosisto tweeted. &

World NewsAug. 30, 2019

[Weekender] Betting on money-for-waste business model

Pictures of dead or dying sea turtles, whales and birds have gone viral recently, warnings of an escalating waste problem that causes animals to choke on plastic debris. Although such heartbreaking pictures are effective in increasing awareness about environmental issues, they often fall short of motivating the general public to reduce their waste output in the long term. To build momentum for saving the earth, a South Korean recycling startup offers financial incentives for recycling as a way o

TechnologyAug. 30, 2019

S. Korean PM to meet ex-Japanese minister to discuss diplomatic tensions

South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon plans to meet with a former Japanese chief Cabinet secretary to discuss bilateral tensions sparked by Tokyo's export curbs against Seoul, officials said Friday.Takeo Kawamura of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will make a four-day visit to South Korea starting Saturday amid heightened tensions over Japan's trade restrictions. He is a senior member of the Japan-South Korea Parliamentarians' Union, a group of lawmakers of both nations to promote better t

Foreign AffairsAug. 30, 2019

[Newsmaker] Chung Hyeon stages huge comeback to win 2nd round match at US Open

South Korean tennis player Chung Hyeon has completed a big comeback to reach the third round at the US Open.Chung, world No. 170, defeated the 34th-ranked Fernando Verdasco 1-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Thursday (local time). Chung rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the fifth set and saved a match point to force a tiebreak. He then charged out to a 5-0 lead before finishing off Verdasco 7-3 in a match that lasted three hours and 21 minutes.Nex

More SportsAug. 30, 2019

Netflix users more than quadruple on-year in S. Korea: data

The number of South Korean users subscribing to the US video streaming platform Netflix Inc. has more than quadrupled to surpass the 1.8 million mark, industry data showed Friday.Netflix is estimated to have 1.86 million paid active streaming subscribers in the country as of July, compared with 420,000 users during the same period a year earlier, according to the data by Nielson Korea.Industry analysts said the increase came after LG Uplus Corp. began offering Netflix on its set-top boxes in Nov

IndustryAug. 30, 2019

Two BOK board members call for rate cut: BOK chief

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Friday two BOK board members cast a dissenting vote in the August rate-freeze decision. Cho Dong-chul, who is considered the most dovish among the seven-member monetary policy board, and another dovish member, Shin In-seok, called for the central bank to cut its key rate by a quarter percentage point, Lee told reporters, after freezing the key rate at 1.5 percent. Many analysts view that a dissenting vote could signal a change in the BOK's policy in the c

EconomyAug. 30, 2019

NK amends constitution to bolster Kim’s authority

North Korea revised its constitution Thursday to further solidify its leader Kim Jong-un’s authority during its rubber-stamp parliamentary session.The second session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly convened Thursday and “made some amendments and supplements to the Socialist Constitution,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said. This included a stipulation about the status of the chairman of the State Affairs Commission, a position held by Kim.Kim

North KoreaAug. 30, 2019

Hyundai Oilbank encourages employees’ personal development

South Korean petroleum and refinery company Hyundai Oilbank said Friday it has rolled out activities and perks for employees in response to increasing demand for better work-life balance. For example, one-day after-work workshops spanning from leathercraft to cooking to flower-related classes, which employees can participate in if they are interested.  “The one-day class program was launched to help develop employees’ personal interests outside of work,” a representative o

IndustryAug. 30, 2019

[Eye Plus] Garden of dignity

In the forest of the Soswaewon garden in Damyang, South Jeolla Province, there stands a colony of bamboo trees that symbolize the pride of the “seonbi,” the noble scholars of the Joseon era (1392-1910).Standing upright and reaching straight toward the sky, bamboos were seen as a symbol of dignity and the principles of the scholars. Built in the 16th century by Yang San-bo, the garden functioned as a place where great scholars of the time interacted with each other, discussing politic

TravelAug. 30, 2019

Veteran pizzaiolo brings artisanal pies to Nonhyeon

“Salt, water, yeast,” Darobe founder and primo pizzaiolo Kang Woo-seok, 39, rattled off -- referring to the ingredients needed to craft his pizza dough. “And flour.” At Darobe, those ingredients, transformed into a multi-textured, flavorful crust, formed the foundation for the artisanal pies Kang started serving when he first opened his pizzeria in Seoul’s Seongsu-dong two years ago. Fast forward to August, Kang is at the second location of Darobe in Seoul’s N

FoodAug. 30, 2019

[Around the Hotels] Packages and promotions

Savory afternoon tea at Park Hyatt SeoulPark Hyatt Seoul’s The Lounge presents the Plentifall afternoon tea set.The afternoon tea, served on a three-tier porcelain tea tray customized for the hotel, includes pumpkin soup, mushroom crepe, salmon sandwich, ham, chocolate roll cake, persimmon mousse cake and a variety of chocolates, along with in-house scones and fresh fruit. Guests can choose coffee or tea, or add a glass of champagne at an additional cost of 18,000 won. Priced at 39,000 won

FoodAug. 30, 2019

[Herald Interview] Fine lines and finer art 　

To call Kim Kyeong-ho a master calligrapher seems like an understatement. His transcriptions of the sutras, the Buddha’s teachings, lead viewers to wonder about the limits of human ability. Ultrathin lines no thicker than a fraction of 1 millimeter form intricate designs and paintings that decorate the scripts. One such example depicts Buddha figures, almost invisible if not scrutinized with a magnifying glass, hidden inside minuscule pagodas. “I did this many years ago. I

CultureAug. 30, 2019

BOK signals rate cut after standing pat at 1.5%

South Korea's central bank has room for a further rate cut to deter a longer skid in Asia's fourth-largest economy, the bank's chief said Friday, with analysts eying a rate reduction in October.The Bank of Korea's monetary policy board voted to leave the bellwether rate steady, after in July the bank carried out the first quarter percentage-point reduction in three years. The BOK's wait-and-see stance had been widely expected as it needs to gauge the impact of the rate cut on Asia's fourth-large

EconomyAug. 30, 2019

[Weekender] A peek at upcycle art in Gwangmyeong

The city of Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, has the country’s first gallery dedicated to upcycling and runs programs for both artists and the general public. The ongoing exhibition at the Gwangmyeong Upcycle Art Center has a child-friendly zoo theme: A tiger, an eagle and other wild animals have been recreated out of various waste materials. But the message isn’t just for kids. “The ‘Upcycle Zoo’ exhibition intends to provoke thoughts about what’s happening on

Arts & DesignAug. 30, 2019

[Weekender] From trash to art

A fancy new building with an inviting lawn yard, public art installations and plenty of Instagrammable photo spots, Seoul Upcycling Plaza looks just like a hip place to be. And that’s what city officials hope it will become -- a magnet for trendsetters and a hotbed of new lifestyle movements. Upcycling is, according to the center’s public relations manager Cho Ara, a step beyond recycling. “It is not just about using things again (recycling). It is about giving them a new

Arts & DesignAug. 30, 2019

‘N. Korea won’t give up nukes, efforts should be made in normalizing ties’

North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons, and it would be more effective to seek normalization of relations with the regime, an expert at US-based think tank said Tuesday.John Mueller, a senior fellow at Cato Institute and a political scientist at Ohio State University, also criticized the United States as the cause of friction on the Korea Peninsula due to its “atomic obsession.”  “It doesn’t matter whether North has nuclear weapons or not. There is a good c

North KoreaAug. 30, 2019

Japan OKs 1st shipment of hydrogen fluoride to S. Korea since export curbs

Japan has allowed the first shipment of hydrogen fluoride to South Korea since it tightened export controls in July, according to a government official.Hydrogen fluoride is one of three materials, used in the production of semiconductors and display panels, affected by Japan's export curbs against South Korea. Since the controls took effect, Japan has twice allowed the shipment of photoresist. The other material is fluorinated polyimide."We confirmed with the relevant industry today (Thursd

IndustryAug. 30, 2019

Industrial output up 1.2% on-month in July

South Korea's industrial output rose 1.2 percent in July from a month earlier due to increased auto output and facility investment, government data showed Friday. The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed the production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries also went up 2.6 percent in July from a month earlier, while the output of the service sector increased 1 percent on-month.From a year earlier, industrial output grew 0.5 percent. (Yonhap)

EconomyAug. 30, 2019

Barrier-breaking ‘Kim’s Convenience’ family reflects immigrant experience

Imaging hearing “appa” and “eomma” -- the affectionate words for dad and mom in Korean -- on an English-language TV channel, let alone a regular sitcom series in Canada. One would say, improbable.But that is what has been happening for more than three years now through “Kim’s Convenience,” a much loved sitcom on public broadcaster CBC that depicts a Korean Canadian family’s authentic everyday life.  The story revolves around the Kims, a Korean

TelevisionAug. 29, 2019