Kassy drops new love-themed EP ‘Rewind’ for your autumn blues

Singer Kassy is back with her second EP, “Rewind,” nearly six months after the single “True Song.”The album, which consists of four songs and one instrumental track, keeps in line with the title as the main theme throughout the record is love.The lead single, “Story of Night Fall,” is a fitting track for the autumn season as the song captures the loneliness that many experience after a relationship comes to an end.“You know when it’s late at night

K-popSept. 19, 2019

#Sunmipop: 7 Songs to celebrate the best of Sunmi

 With over 5 million Instagram followers and 200 million views on YouTube, Sunmi has built a brand of her own since a time when a solo female artist was considered something of a novelty in the K-pop world.Having debuted in 2007 as part of the four-piece Wonder Girls, the 27-year-old has been in the game for over a decade now. And since departing from JYP Entertainment in 2017 and going solo with a new label, she has churned out a number of quality pop bangers.With a consistency in style an

K-popSept. 19, 2019

NHN’s cloud solution greenlighted to tap health care

NHN’s cloud solution Toast acquired the ISO27799 mark for its ability to guarantee cybersecurity for medical data, the company said Thursday.With the acknowledgement, NHN said it is now actively knocking on doors of health care institutions to expand its portfolio. ISO27799 is the global guideline for health informatics data management, set by the International Organization for Standardization. Health care data such as patient diagnosis and treatment records are sensitive, personal informa

IndustrySept. 19, 2019

Chong Kun Dang, Hanmi disclose research results to EU scholars

South Korea’s Chong Kun Dang and Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Thursday they presented their research results of novel diabetes treatments at the 2019 European Association for the Study of Diabetes held in Barcelona, Spain.At the 55th annual event held from Monday through Friday, Chong Kun Dang reported the efficacy of its thiazolidinedione type diabetes treatment Duvie for patients with insulin resistance syndrome. It is the 20th in the list of novel drugs developed in Korea and was commercia

IndustrySept. 19, 2019

MU:CON to connect K-pop musicians with the world

The 2019 Seoul International Music Fair, also known as MU:CON, will take place from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 at Coex in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul. Seventy-four acts will participate in the event, hosted by the Korea Creative Content Agency, including rock bands Daybreak and South Club, girl group Laboum, rhythm-and-blues singers Sam Kim and Suran, known for her collaboration with BTS’ Suga, pop singer Sunwoojunga, and boy band JBJ. “I thought of myself as someone who has ears open to chec

PerformanceSept. 19, 2019

Dwight School Seoul offers personalized learning experience

As a leading school offering the International Baccalaureate Continuum curriculum in South Korea, Dwight School Seoul provides personalized education, discovering every student’s unique talent.Having opened in 2012, Dwight School Seoul is the first school in Korea to establish a fully authorized International Baccalaureate Continuum curriculum. The International Baccalaureate is an international educational foundation founded in 1968 and headquartered in Geneva.With a maximum enrollment of

Social AffairsSept. 19, 2019

Typhoon Tapah expected to bring heavy rain nationwide over weekend

Typhoon Tapah, building up as it approaches from the south, will affect the Korean Peninsula over the weekend, bringing heavy rain, the weather agency forecast Thursday.The storm is predicted to gain force as it passes through a high-temperature area of the ocean, reaching 28 degrees Celsius on its path toward the peninsula.“Once it shapes into a typhoon within the next 24 hours, Tapah is expected to advance fast southeastward toward Korea, accelerated by the high pressure in the Nort

Social AffairsSept. 19, 2019

Dismantlement of Yongbyon complex most crucial next step for NK denuclearization: expert

Dismantling North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex is the "most immediate next step" in the denuclearization process, an American scientist said Thursday, rebutting claims that the plant is too outdated to consider its closure a major concession from the North.Siegfried Hecker, a Stanford University professor, made the remarks during a seminar in Seoul, stressing that while Yongbyon's dismantlement will not end the North's nuclear program, it will "dramatically" limit its nuc

North KoreaSept. 19, 2019

Unification minister highlights progress in easing tensions with NK after Pyongyang summit

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said Thursday that cross-border military tensions between the two Koreas have declined significantly thanks to the implementation of their summit agreements last year.Kim made the remark during an event in Seoul to mark the first anniversary of the third inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang last year.The two held three summit meetings, including the latest one in September, where they ag

North KoreaSept. 19, 2019

S. Korea to add more jobs in social service sector

South Korea will create some 96,000 new jobs in the social service sector in 2020 in line with its push to become a more inclusive country that takes better care of its citizens, the health and welfare ministry said Thursday.The plan came amid the country's rapidly population aging and greater calls to look after young children and those suffering from health issues.Asia's fourth-largest economy has steadily strengthened its social security infrastructure over the years, but its social service-r

Social AffairsSept. 19, 2019

Moon’s approval rating at its lowest point

President Moon Jae-in’s job approval rating tumbled to its lowest point since he took office, pollster Realmeter said Thursday.In a survey of 2,007 eligible voters conducted between Monday and Wednesday by Realmeter, 43.8 percent of the respondents said Moon was doing a good job, down 3.4 percentage points from last week.Realmeter attributed the decline to continued media reports on the ongoing investigations into Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s family.The weekly poll was commissioned by

PoliticsSept. 19, 2019

S. Korea, US to hold defense talks next week

South Korea and the United States will hold biannual defense talks in Seoul next week, the defense ministry said Thursday, the first such meeting since speculation arose of a rift between the allies following Seoul's decision to end a military information-sharing deal with Japan.   Deputy Defense Minister Chung Suk-hwan will represent the South, and Heino Klinck, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia, will lead the US delegation in the 16th Korea-US Integrated Defense Dia

DefenseSept. 19, 2019

US Fed’s rate cut gives room for easing monetary policy: BOK

South Korea’s central bank chief said Thursday that the latest US rate cut has created some policy space for easing actions amid the slowing economy.“The US Federal Reserve’s rate cut alleviates the burden for other countries in operating their own monetary policies,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol told reporters. On Wednesday local time, the Fed cut the base rate by a quarter percentage point to a range of between 1.75 percent and 2 percent. This was its second rate cut

EconomySept. 19, 2019

Police vow to crack cold case of serial rape-murder from 1980s, after DNA identifies suspect

Police have vowed to crack a cold case of serial rape and murder from more than 30 years ago, with a prime suspect identified via DNA testing. Police said the suspect, already in jail on another conviction, denied charges in the first round of questioning.Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said in a press briefing Thursday morning that DNA from the suspect and from at least three of the serial rape-murders were found to match in a forensics analysis.According to police, a man surnamed Lee,

Social AffairsSept. 19, 2019

Seoul lifts movement ban on pig farms, revs up quarantine to tackle swine fever

South Korea's agriculture ministry said Thursday it has lifted the 48-hour movement ban on local pig farms as the country accelerates efforts to prevent the spread of African swine fever here.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs imposed a nationwide standstill on all pig farms, slaughterhouses and feed factories across the country on Tuesday morning after the country confirmed the first case of ASF in Paju near the heavily fortified border with North Korea.A new ASF case was repor

Social AffairsSept. 19, 2019

Biggest names in women's golf to meet in S. Korea for exhibition match

A who's who in women's golf will descend on an east coast town in South Korea for a weekend of an exhibition match, giving fans in the golf-crazed nation a rare opportunity to see stars from the past and present.Seolhaeone Resort in Yangyang, about 215 kilometers east of Seoul in Gangwon Province, will host the Seolhaeone Legends Match on Saturday and Sunday, featuring four World Golf Hall of Famers and four active players on their own path to the sport's shrine.Headlining the star-studded roste

GolfSept. 19, 2019

Japan court to rule in only Fukushima criminal case

TOKYO (AFP) -- More than eight years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a Japanese court will rule Thursday on the only criminal prosecution stemming from the worst nuclear accident in decades.Three former executives from Tokyo Electric Power Company, the firm that operated the Fukushima plant, face up to five years in prison if convicted of professional negligence resulting in death and injury.They are the only people to face criminal prosecution in the wake of the disaster, triggered w

World NewsSept. 19, 2019

BOK chief says US rate cut gives room for additional policy

The head of South Korea's central bank said Thursday the latest US rate cut may have created further room for his country to more actively support the local economy as it grapples with falling exports and sagging investment.On Wednesday (local time), the US Fed slashed its policy rate by 25 basis points to a range of between 1.75 percent and 2.0 percent in its second rate cut in two months -- and the second since 2008. "Of course the US Fed reducing its rate somewhat removes the burden for

EconomySept. 19, 2019

US Fed cuts key interest rate a quarter point, citing 'uncertainties'

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The US central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time this year on Wednesday, and Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell vowed to do whatever is needed to keep the economy growing.But the Fed's policy committee is divided, with three of 10 voting members dissenting from the decision, one because he wanted even more stimulus.Powell said policymakers do not expect a recession, but trade uncertainty is creating "cross winds" that are weighing on the econ

World NewsSept. 19, 2019

US is actively engaged to help resolve S. Korea-Japan row: official

The United States is actively engaged in efforts to resolve the current trade and historical row between South Korea and Japan, and will continue to encourage both sides to find "positive solutions," a top US official said Wednesday.David Stilwell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made the remark at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, saying that he has spent a "considerable" amount of time on the issue in his two and a half months in

Foreign AffairsSept. 19, 2019