Making a U-turn, Hyundai Mobis to build new EV parts plant in Ulsan

Marking the first case of a Korean conglomerate bringing its overseas manufacturing facility back home, Hyundai Mobis said Wednesday it will build a new plant to produce electric vehicle components in Ulsan, injecting 300 billion won ($247 million) in fresh investments.The new plant will be capable of producing core EV parts for 100,000 vehicles a year, with its operation starting in 2021, the company said.The auto parts maker’s decision of making a “U-turn” investment raises h

MobilityAug. 28, 2019

Hyundai Motor union OKs tentative wage deal without strike

Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co. have reached a tentative wage and collective bargaining agreement, averting strikes for the first time in eight years, the company and the union said Wednesday.  "The union has decided to accept the company's revised proposals as uncertainties in business environments grow further due to uncertain political and economic situation stemming from an escalating US-China trade war and Japan's restrictions on exports (of key materials) to Korea," u

MobilityAug. 28, 2019

Gmarket curates Chuseok gift ideas for expats in Korea

An estimated 1.7 million expatriates reside in Korea, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice. More among the foreign population shop for groceries online via locally operated platforms, where there are options to shop vegetarian, omnivorously or halal. Reflecting the growing demand from foreign consumers, local online marketplace Gmarket, operated by eBay Korea, said Wednesday that it has launched the Hansoowe Gift Set, with curated and discounted gift items exclusive to th

IndustryAug. 28, 2019

NK expected to send message at Supreme People's Assembly

North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament will hold its second meeting of this year Thursday amid stalled denuclearization talks.The Supreme People’s Assembly revises the North’s constitution and laws. It also sets basic policy principles, makes major personnel appointments and approves budget plans. As it is rare for the assembly to be held twice a year, attention is on what decisions will be made Thursday. The meeting comes after South Korea-US military drills, which Pyongyang ha

North KoreaAug. 28, 2019

South Korea finishes 3rd at WorldSkills 2019

KAZAN, Russia -- South Korea came in at third place at the biennial 45th WorldSkills Competition with 264 points, dropping a notch from the previous competition, event organizers said Tuesday.In the six-day competition held in Kazan, Russia, South Korea clinched seven gold, six silver and two bronze medals, as well as 26 medallions of excellence, to land in third place, trailing only China and Russia.Indicative of the paradigm shift of Team Korea from strictly results-centered to a greater empha

Social AffairsAug. 28, 2019

S. Korea calls in Japanese ambassador to protest removal from whitelist

The foreign ministry on Wednesday called in Japan's top envoy in Seoul to protest Tokyo's official removal of South Korea from a list of favored trade partners, a move that deepened a row between the two countries over trade and wartime history.Tokyo put into force its decision to drop South Korea from the "whitelist" despite Seoul's repeated calls to stop such export curbs, which are seen as political retaliation for last year's South Korean Supreme Court rulings against Japanese firm

Foreign AffairsAug. 28, 2019

3 European nations condemn North Korea's missile launches

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Three important US allies on Tuesday condemned the "repeated provocative launches" of ballistic missiles by North Korea, saying they violate UN Security Council resolutions banning any such activity. The United Kingdom, France and Germany issued a joint statement after a closed council briefing by UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo that they requested because of serious concerns at the series of missile launches in recent weeks by North Korea.The three European

North KoreaAug. 28, 2019

[Newsmaker] K-pop star Seungri questioned over gambling charges

Seoul police questioned Seungri, a former member of the K-pop boy band BIGBANG, Wednesday over allegations of illegal overseas gambling. The disgraced singer returned home at around 10:20 p.m. after nearly 12 1/2 hours of interrogation at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. He was booked earlier this month over the allegations of habitual gambling in foreign countries and illegally securing gambling funds in violation of the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act.  Yang Hyun-suk, former chief p

Social AffairsAug. 28, 2019

US hopes South Korea and Japan can rebuild ties from 'rock bottom'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States hopes a damaging row between the leaders of US allies South Korea and Japan has hit rock bottom but believes recent military exercises by Seoul have not helped, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.Briefing reporters in Washington, the official said that both Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had made "unhelpful" choices in the dispute, which has taken relations between Seoul and Tokyo

Foreign AffairsAug. 28, 2019

Japan's exclusion of S. Korea from whitelist takes effect

Japan on Wednesday put into force its decision to remove South Korea from a list of favored trade partners, further deepening a row between the two countries over trade and wartime history. Japan pressed ahead with the removal approved by its Cabinet on Aug. 2, despite Seoul's repeated calls to stop such export curbs, which it sees as political retaliation for last year's South Korean Supreme Court rulings against Japanese firms over colonial-era forced labor.Seoul is expected to officially lodg

EconomyAug. 28, 2019

[팟캐스트] (315) 지소미아 협정 종료 / 조국 검찰 압수수색

진행자: 손지형, Paul Kerry1. South Korea pulls out of intel-sharing pact amid spat with Japan기사요약: 한국, 일본과 지소미아(한일군사정보보호협정) 협정 종료. 안보협력환경에 중대한 변화 초래를 원인으로 꼽아.아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638[1] South Korea decided to withdraw from the bilateral military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan on Thursday, amid escalating friction over trade and historical issues.*withdraw: 철회하다*bilateral: 양측의*pact: 협정*es

PodcastAug. 28, 2019

S. Korea scrapping Japan pact helps China: US official

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- South Korea's decision to end a military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan will benefit China and reduce the allies' ability to respond in crises with North Korea, US officials said Tuesday.Seoul said last week that it would exit the agreement as a row intensified over compensation of wartime forced labor by former colonial ruler Japan, which earlier ended preferential export treatment with South Korea."I don't think Beijing is unhappy about this outcome," a seni

Foreign AffairsAug. 28, 2019

Chung Hyeon rallies to take 1st round match at US Open

South Korean tennis player Chung Hyeon has rallied to win his first round match at the season's final Grand Slam tournament.Chung, ranked 170th, defeated American Ernesto Escobedo (206th) in five sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-2, at the US Open men's singles at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Tuesday (local time).By winning the 3:37 marathon affair, Chung has reached the second round at the US Open for the third consecutive year. He will take on Fernando Verdasco of Spa

More SportsAug. 28, 2019

US offers to help resolve Seoul-Tokyo row after 'whitelist' removal

The United States will do what it can to help South Korea and Japan resolve their differences, the US State Department said Tuesday in response to Tokyo's latest trade restrictions against Seoul. Japan decided early this month to remove South Korea from its "whitelist" of trusted trading partners, and the decision took effect Wednesday (Seoul time), adding to the already high tensions in their tit-for-tat row stemming from differences over their shared history."The ROK and Japan m

Foreign AffairsAug. 28, 2019

S. Korea rejects Abe's accusations, urges Japan to retract economic retaliation

The foreign ministry flatly rejected Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's accusations Tuesday that South Korea is reneging on past promises, and urged Tokyo to retract retaliatory economic measures against Seoul.During a news conference after the conclusion of a Group of Seven summit in France, Abe claimed that South Korea's decision last week to terminate a military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan damages trust between the two countries. Abe also accused Seoul of failing to keep promi

Foreign AffairsAug. 27, 2019

Moon's presidential hydrogen car debuts amid his clean energy drive

President Moon Jae-in's new official car, based on hydrogen fuel-cell technology, made its debut Tuesday, rolling briefly across the grounds of Cheong Wa Dae.Moon moved from one office building to another inside the presidential compound in the Nexo crossover SUV, produced by Hyundai Motor, according to Cheong Wa Dae.  Moon chose it as a presidential car in a demonstration of his resolve to do his best for the growth of the hydrogen economy and efforts to tackle fine dust air pollution

PoliticsAug. 27, 2019

Japan says no specific decision yet on disposal of Fukushima radioactive water

Japan notified South Korea on Tuesday that it has not made any specific decision yet on how to dispose of contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, Seoul officials said.Tomofumi Nishinaga, an economic minister from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, delivered a diplomatic note in response to South Korea's request last Monday to clarify its disposal plans and verify speculation that it could discharge the radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, they said. "The Japanes

Foreign AffairsAug. 27, 2019

X1 defies vote-rigging scandal to debut as one of highest-profile

Vote-rigging allegations and an ongoing police probe surrounding new boy band X1 mattered little as the 11-member group made a high-profile debut Tuesday through an idol audition TV show known for producing breakout K-pop stars.It took only four months for the 11 members to rise from obscurity to stardom in the Mnet audition show, "Produce X 101,"through which three sensational bands -- I.O.I, Wanna One and IZ*ONE -- were formed and thrived.On Tuesday, the 11 final winners of the show'

PerformanceAug. 27, 2019

NK's criticism of Seoul over joint drill, weapons purchase nothing new: official

North Korea's recent stepped-up criticism of South Korea over joint military exercises with the United States is not anything out of the ordinary, a unification ministry official said Tuesday.The North has been ramping up pressure on Seoul, taking issue with the South Korea-US joint military drill that wrapped up last week and the introduction of new weapons, such as F-35A stealth fighters, from Washington."We don't see it as an occurrence of a new situation between the South and the North.

North KoreaAug. 27, 2019

Facebook, Naver join forces in criticizing network usage fee regulations

　With a South Korean court overruling the media regulator’s decision to fine Facebook Korea for a network outage in 2017, content providers are raising pressure on the government to amend regulations on network usage fees.　Google, Facebook and Netflix have partnered with local tech companies including Naver and Kakao in ramping up criticism that the “network sharing” regulation has caused excessive financial burdens for content providers here and abroad.　The criticism intensifi

TechnologyAug. 27, 2019