Airlines’ 10-year expiration of mileage under review: FTC

The nation’s antitrust watchdog has been zeroing in on whether it is legal for air carriers’ frequent flyer programs to allow mileage to expire within 10 years. According to lawmakers on Monday, Fair Trade Commission Chairperson Joh Sung-wook told lawmakers last week that the antitrust regulator is reviewing the legality of airline companies’ mileage policies revised in 2008. “In addition to conducting a review on whether the policies have been unfair, we will come up wit

IndustrySept. 16, 2019

[Newsmaker] National Cancer Center strike ends after 11 days

An 11-day health workers’ strike at the National Cancer Center ended Monday morning after the labor union and the hospital management reached an agreement on pay and working conditions. The hospital’s operations will return to normal Tuesday at 6 a.m.The management and the union agreed to a 1.8 percent pay hike, overtime pay in 10-minute increments, transportation allowances for night-shift workers and other welfare support for hospital workers. The management also vowed not to take

Social AffairsSept. 16, 2019

Jeep Camp in Pyeongchang offers genuine off-road experience

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Korea, a local importer and distributor of the Italian-American auto brands, held a two-day event in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, offering a unique off-road experience with its signature Jeep.Held Sept. 7-8 at the famous ski resort Phoenix Pyeongchang, the 65-year-old festivities embodied the US brand’s adventurous spirit, the company said. This was the 14th consecutive year in which Fiat Chrysler held a Jeep Camp in South Korea, and it invited 300 teams with 1,

MobilitySept. 16, 2019

S. Korea will push for transfer of wartime operational control as planned: ministry

South Korea is committed to pushing for the retaking of the wartime operational control of its troops from the United States and the relocation of the combined forces command headquarters as planned, the defense ministry said Monday.The comment came after reports that former South Korean generals, who served as deputy CFC commanders, suggested to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae that the envisioned OPCON transfer and the relocation of the CFC headquarters out of Seoul be delayed until North

DefenseSept. 16, 2019

Johnson the Brexit 'Hulk' finally meets EU's Juncker

LUXEMBOURG (AFP) -- Six weeks after he took office and six weeks before he is due to lead Britain out of the European Union, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to meet Jean-Claude Junker.On Monday, after comparing himself to berserk comic book super-smasher Hulk, the British leader will enjoy a genteel working lunch with the EU Commission president.Downing Street has confidently billed the Luxembourg visit as part of efforts to negotiate an orderly divorce from the union before an October 17 EU sum

World NewsSept. 16, 2019

LG Innotek to showcase LED, communications modules for cars in Japan

LG Innotek, the electronic parts affiliate of LG Group, said Monday that the company would showcase around 20 kinds of car components at an upcoming automotive show in Japan this week. The LG affiliate will, for the first time, take part in the Automotive World 2019 that kicks off Wednesday for a three-day run in Nagoya -- where Japan’s major auto parts makers, as well as automakers like Toyota, are headquartered. The event is held in Tokyo every January and in Nagoya in September, attende

TechnologySept. 16, 2019

Greenpeace posts protest sign over Hyundai billboard in S. Korea

Greenpeace campaigners climbed a 40-metre billboard advertisement for Hyundai Motor's near its head office in South Korea to post a sign reading "No more internal combustion engines", the environmental group said on Monday.Police said they were investigating the group on suspicion of defacing the advertisement for a sedan next to a busy expressway in the capital, Seoul.Greenpeace spokesman Sean Lee said the group wanted to send a message to Hyundai Motor that eliminating internal combu

Social AffairsSept. 16, 2019

[Newsmaker] Main opposition leader to have head shaved to demand dismissal of justice minister

The chief of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party will have his head shaved Monday to call for the dismissal of the justice minister, whose family is embroiled in corruption allegations, party officials said.LKP chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn plans to shave his head in front of the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae at 5 p.m. to call on President Moon Jae-in to sack Justice Minister Cho Kuk, according to the conservative party.In South Korea, politicians often have their heads shaved publicly in a sho

PoliticsSept. 16, 2019

Ric Ocasek, visionary frontman of The Cars, dead at 75

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Ric Ocasek, the frontman of synth-heavy new wave innovators The Cars, was found dead Sunday in New York, police said. He was 75 years old.The New York Police Department told AFP they had received a call at approximately 4:00 pm (2000 GMT) for an unconscious male at a townhouse in Manhattan.He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said, and the body was identified as Ocasek.There were no signs of foul play, according to US media. Under the leadership of the singer-songwriter

World NewsSept. 16, 2019

Jailed former President Park in hospital for surgery

Former President Park Geun-hye, who is serving a 32-year jail term for bribery, abuse of power and election law violations, was admitted to a hospital for surgery, the Justice Ministry said Monday.　Park was transferred to Catholic University St. Mary’s Hospital in southern Seoul Monday morning for a surgery on her left shoulder.The former president, who has been in the Seoul Detention Center since March 31, 2017, had previously received treatment for herniated disc and other health co

Social AffairsSept. 16, 2019

LG Chem, SK Innovation CEOs meet to discuss legal dispute

The chief executive officers of LG Chem and SK Innovation, embroiled in a legal dispute over patent infringement issues and the poaching of talent, met Monday at a hotel in Seoul to seek some breakthroughs, the companies said. LG Chem CEO Shin Hak-cheol and SK Innovation CEO Kim Jun reportedly exchanged views for over an hour and maintained their respective stances on the ongoing confrontation. “Details of the talks cannot be revealed,” said an LG Chem official. It has also not been

TechnologySept. 16, 2019

Hyundai Engineering wins $2.2b order in Indonesia

Hyundai Engineering Co., a major South Korean industrial plant builder, said Monday it has won a $2.17-billion deal to upgrade a refinery plant in Indonesia.  Under the deal with Indonesia's state-run PT Pertamina, Hyundai Engineering will take part in Indonesia Balikpapan Refinery Development Project that aims to revamp oil processing facilities in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, some 1,000 kilometers northeast of Jakarta.Hyundai Engineering said it will be responsible for the engineering, pr

IndustrySept. 16, 2019

Seoul city to pump in 482b won to become music hub

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Monday plans to invest 481.8 billion won ($407.1 million) to make the city a music hub in a move seen as building on the K-pop momentum spurred by boy band BTS.Under the five-year plan, the metropolitan government will spend the amount on nine projects aimed at nurturing the local music industry, increasing musical exchanges with cities around the world and expanding musical programs for Seoul residents."We aim to enhance Seoul's competitiveness,

Social AffairsSept. 16, 2019

[Newsmaker] Moon issues 'grave warning' against public agencies for wrong naming of East Sea

President Moon Jae-in ordered disciplinary action against three government-affiliated agencies Monday for their description of the waters between Korea and Japan as the Sea of Japan, not the East Sea.The East Sea is South Korea's official name for the waters, and the country is campaigning hard to publicize that name internationally.But the three organizations, under the wing of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, were found to have used the name, the Sea of Japan, on their Kore

PoliticsSept. 16, 2019

S. Korea voices concern over attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities

South Korea on Monday expressed concern over last week's attacks on key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, saying it would undermine regional stability and energy security around the world.The drone attacks on two plants at the center of the Middle Eastern country's oil industry took place on Saturday. The Iran-linked Houthi rebel group in Yemen has claimed responsibility for the attacks."The attacks this time posed a serious threat to key international energy infrastructure, and we express co

Foreign AffairsSept. 16, 2019

Foreign ministry to focus on early resumption of US-NK nuclear talks

The foreign ministry said Monday that it will focus its diplomacy on facilitating an early resumption of working-level nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea and substantive progress in them.In a report to the National Assembly, the ministry also said that it would maintain close coordination with Washington through bilateral consultations, including at the UN General Assembly in New York."(The ministry) will concentrate its diplomatic capacity on ensuring that the working-

Foreign AffairsSept. 16, 2019

S. Korea trying to talk to NK about World Cup qualifier, weightlifting event in Pyongyang

South Korea's football and weightlifting governing bodies are attempting to talk to North Korea about a World Cup qualifier and an international weightlifting event to be held in Pyongyang next month, the unification ministry said Monday.Pyongyang is scheduled to host the football match with the South on Oct. 15, and the international junior weightlifting event from Oct. 20-27, in what would be rare sports exchanges between the two sides amid a stall in the reconciliation process. "Consulta

SoccerSept. 16, 2019

White House advisor notes Trump's resolve for peninsula denuke

A senior White House advisor has noted US President Donald Trump's commitment to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, while highlighting the benefit of having a "businessman" as the American leader.In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Kellyanne Conway also said that Trump is willing to engage with world leaders and employ diplomacy differently than other politicians who she said are "worried about the next election."Her remarks came amid criticism over Trump's openness to

Foreign AffairsSept. 16, 2019

Saudi races to restore oil supply, strike blamed on Iran

RIYADH (AFP) -- Saudi Arabia raced on Sunday to restart operations at oil plants hit by drone attacks which slashed its production by half, as Iran dismissed US claims it was behind the assault.The Tehran-backed Huthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is bogged down in a five-year war, claimed Saturday's strikes on two plants owned by state energy giant Aramco.But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointed the finger squarely at Tehran, saying there was no evidence the &qu

World NewsSept. 16, 2019

Prosecution requests formal arrest of Cho Kuk's relative

Prosecutors on Monday sought a formal arrest warrant for a relative of Justice Minister Cho Kuk as part of a widening probe into corruption allegations surrounding the minister's family.Cho took office earlier this month despite a heated debate among political parties and the general public over suspicions regarding his daughter's education and a family fund investment.The relative, also surnamed Cho, is at the center of allegations about the family's suspicious investments in a private equity f

PoliticsSept. 16, 2019