Police mull publicly naming suspect in case of dismembered body in Han River

Police are to review revealing the identity of a suspect in the murder of a 32-year-old man whose torso was found without a head or limbs in the Han River on Aug. 12.Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency said Monday a committee was to be launched to decide whether to make the suspect’s identity public and to what scope.The suspect, a 39-year-old motel employee, turned himself in to Jongno Police Station on Saturday after police identified the victim via fingerprint analysis after a sever

Social AffairsAug. 19, 2019

Gucci, Louis Vuitton use retro mobile games for marketing

Global fashion houses Gucci and Louis Vuitton have incorporated 8-bit retro games into their mobile apps and online websites to attract more millennial attention. Gucci, the first from high fashion house to pivot to games for marketing, has launched the Gucci Arcade corner in its smartphone application since July. The Gucci Arcade currently has two titles Gucci Bee and Gucci Ace, whose names take after the iconic fashion lines of the Italian brand. Users can play the game for free after download

IndustryAug. 19, 2019

[Newsmaker] Panel confirms widespread use of humidifier disinfectants in military

Humidifier disinfectants, suspected to have been a cause for at least dozens of deaths, were widely used in military barracks and hospitals in the early 2000s, a state-funded agency revealed Monday, raising speculation that a large number of service members could have been exposed to the chemicals.The Special Commission on Social Disaster Investigation said it has confirmed 12 institutions affiliated with the Army, Navy, Air Force and units under the defense ministry had purchased more than 800

DefenseAug. 19, 2019

Naver’s Papago enhances image translation

Papago’s image translation function will be updated to automatically detect text and improve accuracy for three languages.South Korean tech giant Naver said Monday its service Papago will upgrade its image translation for English, Chinese and Korean. The function translates text captured in images.The improved image translation uses deep learning technology to enhance text extraction and recognition from an image.With the “Translate all” feature, users will no longer need to ma

TechnologyAug. 19, 2019

BTS agency acquires music game developer

Big Hit Entertainment, the agency of BTS, has recently acquired a domestic game developer as the company continues to expand its business portfolio.  The company said Monday it has completed a contract to take over Superb, which has developed games based on music since 2016.  "We believe gaming is an industry that will generate a strong synergy with our core field of music," Bang Si-hyuk, Big Hit founder and co-chief executive, said in a press release.  Superb CEO Oh Min

PerformanceAug. 19, 2019

[Going Renewable 6] How IMO regulations affect Korean oil refiners, shipbuilders

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles on the quest of South Korea’s government and businesses to switch to renewable energy. -- Ed.New environmental regulations in international waters could serve as a momentum for Korean oil refiners and shipbuilders to seek new opportunities in the sluggish markets. In response to heightening environmental concerns and growing harmful emissions from ships, the International Maritime Organization has ruled that from January 2020 ships will h

IndustryAug. 19, 2019

Details for Dokdo defense drills yet to be fixed: ministry

South Korea is still reviewing the timing and the scale of semiannual maritime defense drills to be held on and around its easternmost islets of Dokdo, the defense ministry said Monday.This year's drills have been pushed back amid an escalating trade row with Japan stemming from differences over wartime forced labor. South Korea usually stages the drills in June and Dec. to better defend the rocky outcroppings and the surrounding waters.Japan, which has made territorial claims to Dokdo, has prot

DefenseAug. 19, 2019

NK-China ties in 'new historic chapter': top Chinese official

A "new historic chapter" has opened in relations between North Korea and China in the wake of visits by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping to each other's country, a top Chinese military official was quoted Monday as saying.Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, made the remark during a meeting in Beijing on Saturday with a North Korean military delegation led by Kim Su-gil, director of the General Political Bureau of the North

North KoreaAug. 19, 2019

'Tiananmen Square' crackdown in Hong Kong would harm trade deal: Trump

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump on Sunday warned China that carrying out a Tiananmen Square-style crackdown on Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters would harm trade talks between the two countries."I think it'd be very hard to deal if they do violence, I mean, if it's another Tiananmen Square," Trump told reporters in New Jersey. "I think it's a very hard thing to do if there's violence." The months-long trade dispute between the US and China has been blamed for s

World NewsAug. 19, 2019

Korea takes first step toward free high school education

South Korea has taken a first step toward free high school education by exempting all third graders from their entire education expenses starting in the fall semester, the Ministry of Education said Monday.As most high schools nationwide resumed classes on the day after a lengthy summer vacation, about 439,700 three-year high schoolers will not pay for their education during their last semester, the ministry said, noting the per-student benefit amounts to 749,000 won ($620), including tuition fe

Social AffairsAug. 19, 2019

N. Korea lashes out at veteran S. Korean lawmaker for comments on projectile launch

North Korea's state news agency lashed out at a senior South Korean politician Monday for criticizing Pyongyang over its latest projectile launch.In a signed commentary, the North's Korean Central News Agency branded Rep. Park Jie-won as a "tramp and dirty man" in rare criticism of the veteran lawmaker known for his key role in arranging the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000.Park criticized the North in a Twitter message Saturday for firing projectiles a day earlier from a region

North KoreaAug. 19, 2019

Apple says it employs 500 workers in S. Korea

The South Korean unit of Apple Inc. employs 500 workers and has helped create more than 300,000 jobs here over the past 20 years, according to its website Monday. It marks the first time since the US tech giant's entry into South Korea in 1998 that the company has unveiled the workforce of its local subsidiary.The newly opened "job creation" section of the Korean-language website said Apple's local unit started with only two employees, but its payroll had increased to some 500 as of en

IndustryAug. 19, 2019

MOU with Think Tank

Herald CEO and Publisher Kwon Chung-won (left) shakes hands with Lim Kang-taeg, president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, after signing a memorandum of understanding for partnership at the Herald headquarters building in Seoul on Friday. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)

Social AffairsAug. 19, 2019

Hong Kong protesters flood city streets in 'peaceful' march

HONG KONG (AFP) -- A sea of democracy activists flooded the streets of Hong Kong Sunday in a defiant show to the city's leaders that their movement still pulls wide public support, despite mounting violence and increasingly stark warnings from Beijing.Tens of thousands of protesters carrying umbrellas poured across the heart of Hong Kong island despite torrential rain, closing key roads and flouting a police order not to march from a park where they had gathered earlier for a rally.Ten weeks of

World NewsAug. 18, 2019

S. Korea undaunted by troubles in peace journey, minister says

South Korea's unification minister on Sunday pledged to make unswerving efforts for inter-Korean peace despite "difficulties" two days after Pyongyang said it will never talk with Seoul again.The minister, Kim Yeon-chul, stressed that Seoul's initiative for a "peace economy" is aimed at bringing gains to both South and North Korea amid mutual security assurances. He was delivering a congratulatory message for a peace concert organized by the Korean Council for Reconciliation

North KoreaAug. 18, 2019

S. Korea-ASEAN summit in Nov. to address free trade amid Japan's export curbs: Cheong Wa Dae

South Korea plans to focus on seeking ways to bolster the free trade order during a November special group summit with Southeast Asian nations, Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday, as Tokyo maintains its retaliatory export restrictions against Seoul.The office of President Moon Jae-in revealed the scheme in a press briefing on its preparations for the summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 100 days ahead of its opening. The two-day session is to begin on Nov. 25 in the southern cit

Foreign AffairsAug. 18, 2019

Late North Korean leader wanted US troops to stay in Korea even after unification

The late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il supported the continued presence of US troops on the Korean Peninsula even after the eventual unification of the two Koreas, a veteran lawmaker said Sunday. Recalling the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000, Rep. Park Jie-won of the Alliance for Alternative Politics of Change and Hope said the late Kim, the father of current North Korean leader Jong-un, told then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung that the US forces should remain on the peninsula to m

North KoreaAug. 18, 2019

‘You will get killed again in your next life,’ says murder suspect

A suspect in the murder of a man whose dismembered body parts were found in Han River claimed the victim “started it” during an arrest warrant hearing held Sunday afternoon, a day after he had turned himself in to police.The suspect, a 39-year-old motel employee, said the victim “punched (him), and talked down to (him) first” before the press gathered at the Uijeongbu District Court in Gyeonggi Province, where the warrant hearing was held.Coming out of the 20-minute heari

Social AffairsAug. 18, 2019

Nearly 1,000 complaints filed about discolored tap water in Pohang

Nearly 1,000 complaints have been filed in a week concerning suspicions of tap water contamination in Pohang, a port city in North Gyeongsang Province.Pohang City said Sunday that 925 complaints were lodged Aug. 10-16, reporting black or reddish tap water.The most number of complaints came from residents in Nam-gu, whose water is filtered at a plant in Yugang-ri, a neighborhood in the city’s southern district. According to the city government, North Gyeongsang Province’s public insti

Social AffairsAug. 18, 2019

[Graphic News] Korean card spending on Japanese goods halves in a month

　South Koreans’ credit card spending on Japanese products has halved over the past month amid an escalating trade row between the two countries, government data showed.　Many Korean consumers began boycotting Japanese products and tourism in early July, when Japan restricted exports of key materials to Korea. A Japanese Cabinet decision early this month to exclude Korea from Japan’s list of trusted trading partners has fueled anti-Japan sentiment.　In a report submitted to Rep. Lee Tae

BusinessAug. 18, 2019