[Kim Myong-sik] Moon slides deeper into hot water embracing Cho Kuk

The fall of President Moon Jae-in’s approval rating down to the 40 percent mark made headlines last week. The Korea Gallup figure was the lowest since the May 2017 election, which he won with 41 percent support in a five-way race with two conservative contenders, one centrist and one progressive. The rating had been over 60 percent after the dramatic summit talks with North Korean chief Kim Jong-un in the border village of Panmunjom and the North’s capital of Pyongyang last year. A s

ViewpointsSept. 25, 2019

[Kent Harrington] When US president can’t be trusted

The White House is trying to prevent the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence from viewing a whistleblower complaint detailing President Donald Trump’s repeated attempts to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading Democratic contender to challenge his presidency in 2020. Given Trump’s refusal to cooperate with nearly a dozen other congressional investigations, this episode will most likely end in

ViewpointsSept. 25, 2019

S. Korea’s top-priced apartment valued at W8.4b

Despite continued policy measures to steady the overheated real estate market, the overall prices of top-tier apartments are surging, government data showed Wednesday.According to data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, South Korea’s most expensive apartment as of last month was Hannam The Hill. One of the units of this premium apartment located in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, was valued at 8.4 billion won ($7 million) in January this year.The corresponding data

IndustrySept. 25, 2019

SKT previews Microsoft’s xCloud game-streaming service for 5G users

　South Korea’s telecom giant SK Telecom said Wednesday that it is inviting online applications for free trials of Microsoft’s upcoming cloud-based game-streaming service Project xCloud.　According to SKT, Android-based smartphone users who subscribe to its 5G wireless service can sign up until Oct. 8.　Those selected to take part will get a glimpse of Microsoft’s game-streaming service next month, SKT said. Trials in the United States and the United Kingdom are scheduled to run s

TechnologySept. 25, 2019

Hyundai to test hydrogen trucks in Israel: report

Hyundai Motor Group is reportedly planning to conduct a large-scale trial of its hydrogen-fueled trucks in Israel, although the automaker refused to confirm the details Wednesday.According to the report by Israel’s Calcalist, a delegation from Hyundai visited the country last month to discuss the project with officials from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Israel’s extremely dry and hot climate due to the Dead Sea region, as well as optimal road situation in the Northe

MobilitySept. 25, 2019

Are inter-Korean relations back on track?

A glimmer of hope for the revival of inter-Korean diplomacy has emerged as international events have opened possibilities for engagement to break a monthslong impasse. With North Korea confirming that it will host South Korea next month for the World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang as planned, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Wednesday that it will consider sending a squad to the North. On Tuesday, the Korea Football Association in Seoul said it had been informed by the Asian Football Confeder

North KoreaSept. 25, 2019

LG Electronics sues 3 European rivals over patent infringement

LG Electronics said Wednesday it has filed lawsuits against three European home appliance manufacturers with a court in Munich over allegations that they infringed LG’s ice-making patents for side-by-side refrigerators. The accused companies are Arcelik, Beko and Grundig, affiliates of Turkey-based Koc Group, which sell home electronics in European markets.LG claimed that the three firms have violated its patents related to an ice-making system built into the door of a freezer. The Korean

TechnologySept. 25, 2019

Panel asks military to reinvestigate suspicious deaths of 12 soldiers

Two conscripted soldiers, who committed suicide separately while serving in the South Korean military 34 years ago, turned out to be victims of physical abuse in barracks, a presidential panel said Wednesday.The Presidential Commission on Suspicious Deaths in the Military included the wrongful deaths of the two soldiers, identified only as Private First Class Kim and Sergeant Kim, in a report issued on the occasion of its first founding anniversary.The commission said it has received a total of

DefenseSept. 25, 2019

UN Command denies reports it wants to remain in control

The United Nations Command flatly denied news reports that it may be seeking exercise control over military activities on the Korean Peninsula after the transfer of wartime operational control to South Korea. The UNC told The Korea Herald in an email response that its role will remain the same even after the OPCON transfer, and that it has no plans to become an operational command.“Media reports that the US wants to use the UNC as a means to get around OPCON are unfounded. There is no plan

DefenseSept. 25, 2019

Pension funds net purchase Kospi stocks worth W2.5tr

South Korean pension funds net purchased nearly 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) worth of stocks in companies listed on the benchmark Kospi this month as of Tuesday, Korea Exchange data showed Wednesday.Analysts say the move was fueled mainly by the state-run National Pension Service’s efforts to balance out its investment in domestic stocks in its asset portfolio amid a bear market. According to the KRX, institutional investors net purchased nearly 2.6 trillion won worth of Kospi shares fr

MarketSept. 25, 2019

[Newsmaker] 1980s serial rape-murder suspect may be linked with additional crimes

Police are looking into the possibility that more unsolved crimes might be linked to a 56-year-old man surnamed Lee, who has been identified as a prime suspect in cold case rape-murders from the 1980s and early 1990s.Police said Tuesday that there might be another set of rapes involving Lee, who is already a suspect in at least eight rape-murders that took place between 1986 and 1991 in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. Police tied Lee to the case after DNA evidence from three of the rape-murders mat

Social AffairsSept. 25, 2019

Google to accelerate cloud business push in S. Korea

Global IT giant Google Inc. aims to rev up its cloud business in South Korea by opening its first data center in the country early next year, company officials said Wednesday. It will be Google Cloud's eighth data center in the Asia Pacific region, and it wants local companies to expand globally and multinational customers to do business in the country, they said. "Google Cloud has focused on four industries -- finance, health care, retail and manufacturing -- globally," Yang Seung-do,

IndustrySept. 25, 2019

Busan film fest set to attract audiences with all sorts of delicacies

The 24th edition of Busan International Film Festival is ready to entertain local and overseas movie buffs with delicate flicks for 10 days in the middle of the fall season.This year's festival will take place from Oct. 3-12 at five cinemas, including the Busan Cinema Center, in Busan, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, featuring 303 films from 85 countries.Among the invitations, 120 films, including 97 feature-length movies, will be at BIFF for world premieres.Award-winning auteurs' new works a

FilmSept. 25, 2019

Posco International embarks on Ukraine grain export terminal

Posco International, a trading subsidiary of Posco, has become the first Korean company to complete construction of an overseas grain export terminal, as it went into full operation, the firm said Wednesday. The new grain terminal at the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Nikolayev, which is owned by Posco International with a 75 percent stake, is one of the largest export ports in the southern Black Sea. It is capable of shipping 2.5 million tons of grains such as wheat, corn and soybeans annually.The

IndustrySept. 25, 2019

[News brief] Number of parolees rises 61% over 5 years

The number of inmates released on parole has increased 61 percent over five years, data released by the National Assembly’s Legislative and Judiciary Committee showed Wednesday.A total of 8,667 convicted criminals were released last year, up by 61 percent from 5,394 in 2014, according to Justice Ministry data. Over 5,000 inmates have been paroled this year as of August.Larceny or fraud convicts accounted for 55.3 percent of the parolees, followed by traffic offense criminals making up 12.4

Social AffairsSept. 25, 2019

Global e-scooter companies flock to Korea

Global electric scooter operators are entering South Korea’s micro-mobility market, intensifying competition in the bike-sharing market. According to industry sources, US-based e-scooter and bike company Lime is gearing up for its debut in Korea. The company is expected to announce the launch on Oct. 1 in Seoul. Lime has been preparing to enter the Korean market and has been recruiting local employees since earlier this year. Currently, the company is operating in more than 120 cities in o

TechnologySept. 25, 2019

Top nuke envoys of S. Korea, US, Japan hold trilateral talks in New York

The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan held trilateral talks on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York this week ahead of nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, Lee Do-hoon, met his US and Japanese counterparts -- Stephen Biegun and Shigeki Takizaki, respectively -- on Tuesday to discuss three-way cooperation in addressing the North Korean nuclear issue. W

Foreign AffairsSept. 25, 2019

Music festivals coming this fall

While rock festivals cooled us down in the summer heat, autumn is the perfect time to appreciate other music genres. Starting this weekend, jazz and pop music festivals are set to take place around the country. Celebrating the beautiful fall weather, these outdoor festivals afford a chance to enjoy colorful foliage from a picnic mat, sipping wine with family and friends. Jazz at Seoul Forest  Seoul Forest, located in eastern Seoul, is a park that covers 1.16 million square meters. On Friday

PerformanceSept. 25, 2019

Cho Kuk probe ‘excessive’ 49.1%, ‘adequate’ 42.7%: poll

Results of a poll released Wednesday showed that 49.1 percent of respondents believe the prosecution’s ongoing investigation into Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s family is excessive, while 42.7 percent called it adequate.The gap of 6.4 percentage points was within the margin of error, according to Realmeter, which conducted the survey of 501 adults on Tuesday. The remaining 8.2 percent declined to answer or said they did not know.The poll, conducted at the request of online news website O

Social AffairsSept. 25, 2019