[Newsmaker] Petition urging for punishment of teenage violence reaches 200,000 signatures

A petition calling for the punishment of five teenagers who allegedly assaulted a 13-year-old in Suwon has garnered over 200,000 signatures.As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, more than 210,000 people had signed the online petition posted Monday on the Cheong Wa Dae website, urging for the punishment of the five girls, who are accused of beating the teenager in a karaoke room in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. As more than 200,000 signatures have been collected, the Blue House is required to issue an official

Social AffairsSept. 24, 2019

LS chief urges for innovation in R&D projects for future growth

LS Group Chairman Christopher Koo has called for strengthening the group’s competitiveness in technological innovation, stressing that it is key to overcoming trade disputes between South Korea and Japan.  Speaking at T-Fair, an in-house event held to encourage innovative engineers, Koo said the group needs to develop high value-added products and services to widen the gap with followers. He added that research and development projects should support such a move and generate growth en

MobilitySept. 24, 2019

Hyundai to start mass production of driverless cars in 2024

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Group will start mass production of self-driving cars within the next five years, said Chung Euisun, the heir to the auto giant, as he made a hefty investment in a joint venture the company established with Aptiv on Monday (local time).At a luncheon session held in New York with Korean correspondents on the same day he signed the $4 billion deal with the US software developer, Chung said the company would apply the autonomous driving technology to be developed

MobilitySept. 24, 2019

Efforts pick up to help senior citizens use tech in daily lives

　The government and companies are seeking to help senior citizens benefit from technological innovations, in light of concerns they might be left behind amid fast-changing digital trends. 　The Seoul Metropolitan Government said earlier this month it would make its high-tech welfare program available to more senior citizens. Using internet of things technology, the program helps deal with emergencies by monitoring the temperature of houses and physical movements. 　Meanwhile, mobile carrier SK Tel

TechnologySept. 24, 2019

KAI’s unmanned chopper succeeds in vertical take-off, landing

South Korean aerospace and defense company Korea Aerospace Industries said Tuesday it was successful in flying an unmanned helicopter in its first flight. The company said its unmanned helicopter NI-600VT, or Night Intruder-600 Vertical Take-off & Landing, showed hovering and horizontal direction conversion functions at the Goheung Aerospace Center located in South Jeolla Province. And the copter confirmed its flight control performance and safety. The NI-600VT copter is a reformed vers

IndustrySept. 24, 2019

Naver aims to create massive ecosystem for online cartoons

South Korea’s internet giant Naver on Tuesday announced its plan to boost online cartoon business’ global market presence by establishing a massive ecosystem for diverse contents and talented artists. Speaking at a press conference in Seoul, Naver Webtoon’s chief Kim Jun-koo unveiled the company’s global market strategy and content creation plans. After its launch in 2004, global services began in 2014.To attract more users to its online cartoon platform, the company

TechnologySept. 24, 2019

Justice Minister home raided for 11 hours, row ensues over keeping ‘criminal suspect’ in Cabinet

Prosecutors raided Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s home for 11 hours from 9 a.m. Monday, an unprecedented move that raised questions on the possibility of a biased probe as well as the propriety of Cho keeping the post.The raid at the minister’s home, initially expected to last an hour or two, continued for 11 hours, reportedly after the Cho family’s lawyer took issue with the scope of the search warrant, which then had to be reissued from the court.The prosecution secured from Mond

PoliticsSept. 24, 2019

Helixmith’s Engensis phase 3 trial yields no meaningful result

Helixmith shares on Korea’s secondary bourse Kosdaq closed 30 percent lower at 120,000 won ($100) on Tuesday, the deepest dive possible in a day, after the company made an official report to shareholders regarding a bump in the clinical phase 3 trial results of its innovative drug candidate Engensis, Monday.Helixmith is better known by its 20-year-old name ViroMed. ViroMed was founded in 1999 as a bio venture that develops new and innovative drugs for cardiovascular and neurological diseas

IndustrySept. 24, 2019

Fire at nursing hospital leaves two dead, 47 injured

Two elderly patients died and 47 others were injured in a fire at a nursing hospital in Gimpo, west of Seoul, on Tuesday, local fire authorities said. The fire broke out at a five-story building housing the hospital at 9:03 a.m., Gyeonggi Fire Services said, adding the hospital had 130 elderly patients at the time of the accident.  As of 12:00 p.m., the fire had left two patients, including a 90-year-old woman, dead and 47 others suffering the effects of smoke inhalation, the agency said. S

Social AffairsSept. 24, 2019

Four cases of African swine fever detected in a week

SEJONG -- Four cases of African swine fever were confirmed in South Korea in the week from Sept. 17. The incubation period is one week or more.On Tuesday, the fourth case of the deadly virus was detected at a hog farm in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, following the previous day’s third case at a farm in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province.Since the first outbreak, Paju has recorded two ASF cases, and Yeoncheon and Gimpo have seen one each.　Quarantine officials are looking into another suspected case report

Social AffairsSept. 24, 2019

S. Korea’s producer prices fall in Aug.

South Korea’s producer prices dropped in August on-year, according to data released by the central bank Tuesday, marking the second consecutive month of decline and feeding concerns that it may lead to a prolonged state of weak consumer prices. According to the Bank of Korea, the producer price index dipped 0.6 percent to 103.73 on-year in August. The reading follows July’s corresponding figure of 103.5, which fell 0.3 percent on-year and marked the first on-year drop in 33 months.&n

EconomySept. 24, 2019

Cho Kuk issue to dominate parliamentary interpellation session

Questions about the prosecution’s ongoing investigation into Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s family are expected to dominate the four-day parliamentary interpellation session starting Thursday.Opposition parties are likely to focus on issues surrounding Cho during the session, while the ruling party plans to defend Cho and emphasize prosecutorial reform and other government policies.The first day of the session will center on political issues, followed by national security and foreign aff

Social AffairsSept. 24, 2019

S. Korean, Japanese biz leaders call for restoration of relations amid trade row

Business leaders from South Korea and Japan on Tuesday voiced their hopes that the two countries can work to restore their bilateral relationship over a tit-for-tat trade dispute. Some 300 business leaders from the two countries gathered in Seoul for the annual conference of the Korea-Japan Economic Association to discuss the economic situation surrounding the two Asian neighbors. "Both South Korea and Japan have to deeply understand each other and should live together through cooperation a

IndustrySept. 24, 2019

LoL World Championship to kick off next week

The annual League of Legends World Championship will be held next week, with Korean teams including SK Telecom T1, Griffin and Damwon Gaming in the mix.The LoL Worlds will kick off on Oct. 2 in Berlin, with the quarterfinals and semifinals starting from Oct. 26 in Madrid, culminating with the final round on Nov. 10 in Paris. According to game maker Riot, the main stage groups have been drawn and the Summoner’s Cup trophy will come in a Louis Vuitton trunk in a new collaboration with the up

IndustrySept. 24, 2019

Moon seeks wider cooperation for peace, environment

NEW YORK -- President Moon Jae-in on Monday held a string of meetings with world leaders, seeking closer cooperation with international society on issues ranging from climate change to his administration’s peace drive. Moon kicked off his day with a summit meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda. At the meeting, Moon expressed hopes for wider economic ties between the two nations. “Trade between the two countries has passed $5 billion, setting a record, and bilateral relation

Foreign AffairsSept. 24, 2019

Royal Danish Orchestra to visit in December, play with pianist Sunwoo Yekwon

As Denmark and South Korea celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, the Royal Danish Orchestra is getting ready to play to a Korean audience for the first time at a concert featuring Danish conductor Thomas Sondergard and Korean pianist Sunwoo Yekwon. At the event, slated for Dec. 8 at the Seoul Arts Center, the orchestra will perform the preludes to Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s opera “Maskarade”; Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Conc

PerformanceSept. 24, 2019

Seoul Metropolitan Traditional Music Orchestra to stage new gugak compositions

The Seoul Metropolitan Traditional Music Orchestra will take the stage at the Sejong Center’s M Theater on Wednesday to presenting newly commissioned gugak works. The orchestra, led by conductor Park Ho-seong, has been aiming for creative ways to uphold Korea’s traditional music since its establishment in 1965 as the nation’s first traditional music orchestra.“As Korea’s first traditional music orchestra, we have prepared Wednesday’s presentation to encourage

PerformanceSept. 24, 2019

Former USFK base near border to turn into history park

A former United States Forces Korea base near the border with North Korea will be turned into a history park symbolizing both division and peace on the Korean Peninsula, a local government said Tuesday.The government of Gyeonggi Province said it will begin the construction of a new history park on the former site of Camp Greaves in Paju, some 40 kilometers northwest of Seoul, in 2021 in a bid to reflect on the pain of national division and deliver the message of peace and co-existence. The envis

DefenseSept. 24, 2019

Top diplomats of S. Korea, Japan to hold talks in New York this week

The top diplomats of South Korea and Japan will hold talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this week, an informed source said Tuesday, amid tensions over Tokyo's export curbs and wartime forced labor.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her new Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, will meet on Thursday afternoon (local time) for the first time since the latter was appointed in Tokyo's Cabinet reshuffle earlier this month.The two sides are expected to exchange their vie

Foreign AffairsSept. 24, 2019

Medical dispute support for foreign patients neglected

A 23-year-old Korean staying in Japan visited Seoul in May for a nose and jawline surgery. The clinic she chose was located in the affluent district of Gangnam, which boasted raving reviews and dramatic before-and-after images on its website.Little did she know that it was the same clinic where a college student went brain-dead during rhinoplasty -- nose job surgery -- less than a year ago.“It was a miracle that my daughter survived. But a doctor should not gamble with a patient’s li

Social AffairsSept. 24, 2019