BTS propels Big Hit to near top of entertainment industry in H1

Big Hit Entertainment, home to K-pop superstars BTS, has revealed its larger-than-expected revenue for the first half of 2019, proving itself to be a great potential game changer in the industry. The unlisted company said Wednesday it posted a record 200.1 billion won ($166.5 billion) in sales for the first six months of the year, which is just 14 billion won shy of the sales it generated for all of 2018.Its first-half operating profit reached 39.1 billion won, which compares with a full-year pr

PerformanceAug. 23, 2019

As Amazon burns, Brazil's Bolsonaro tells rest of world not to interfere

Amid growing international criticism over the wildfires raging through the Amazon, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday admitted farmers could be illegally setting the rainforest ablaze but told foreign powers not to interfere.French President Emmanuel Macron and United Nations Secretary General António Guterres both took to Twitter to express concern about the fires that have reached a record number this year, devastating vast swathes of forest considered a vital bulwark agains

World NewsAug. 23, 2019

SK chief urges digital transformation of businesses, platform

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won called for strengthening the conglomerate’s competitiveness in innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, the group said in a statement Friday.“If we do not minimize trade cost and utilize innovative technology to effectively deliver the value customers are looking for, we cannot secure the future of SK,” he said as he wrapped up four-day in-house forum held in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday evening. “We need to redefin

IndustryAug. 23, 2019

S. Korea vows to minimize negative economic impact from GSOMIA termination

A day after South Korea announced its decision to scrap a military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday that the government will make efforts to minimize any negative impact this might have on the economy. On Thursday, Seoul announced it would terminate the General Security of Military Information Agreement amid an ongoing trade dispute with Japan. Hong said the “pact was deemed not beneficial to the country.”Wi

EconomyAug. 23, 2019

Samsung DeX solution to offer Chicago police digital access

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics’ in-vehicle computing system DeX will be piloted by the Chicago Police Department in the United States, the company said Friday. Dubbed as “DeX In-Vehicle,” the solution will provide police officers the ability to dock their Galaxy smartphones and access policing applications on a dash-mounted display and keyboard. The officers in the pilot -- taking place across the city’s 11th District this year -- will be able to access compu

TechnologyAug. 23, 2019

Biegun departs for US amid tensions over Seoul's termination of military pact with Tokyo

US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun headed home from South Korea on Friday, a day after South Korea decided to end a military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo seen as a symbolic element of trilateral security cooperation.Biegun came to Seoul on Tuesday for talks with senior Seoul officials over joint efforts to resume working-level nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. He apparently extended his stay here by one day for an unspecified reason. Biegun refu

Foreign AffairsAug. 23, 2019

[Around the Hotels] Packages and promotions

Customized cocktails at Park Hyatt SeoulPark Hyatt Seoul’s premium vinyl music bar, Timber House, is offering a series of cocktail promotions until the end of September. Each promotion runs for three weeks: Summer Tropical from Aug. 1-21, Traditional Korean from Aug. 22 to Sept. 11 and Refreshing & Relaxing from Sept. 12-30. Welcome dishes will be served, including pickled cherry, Gouda cheese and banana creme brule. Guests can ask bartenders to create customized cocktails. Each cockta

FoodAug. 23, 2019

S. Korean stocks open lower on tech losses

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday as investors waited to see clues for the future direction of US rates.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 7.15 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,943.86 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The drop came despite overnight gains on Wall Street ahead of the Jackson Hole Fed meeting, where US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is widely expected to hint at a rate reduction down the road.The Dow Jones industrial average added 49.51 point

EconomyAug. 23, 2019

Moon replaces five Cheong Wa Dae secretaries

President Moon Jae-in on Friday appointed five new secretaries at his office in the latest of changes in the lineup of his key aides.Moon is seeking fresh momentum in his presidency as he nears the halfway point of his five-year tenure. Many of his aides are also preparing to run in next spring's general elections. He named Shin Jee-yeon, a Cheong Wa Dae secretary, his "personal secretary." Shin, formerly an international lawyer, has worked as the secretary of first lady Kim Jung-sook.

PoliticsAug. 23, 2019

[Herald Interview] Behind Korea’s first shamanism museum, a folklorist’s lifelong devotion

At first, it seemed the museum was in the wrong place. Traditional wooden architecture standing smack in the middle of a new residential town, the Museum of Shamanism appears out of place among the towering apartment buildings around it. It has no space even for a parking lot. Ironically, though, this might be the location most befitting a building dedicated to shamanism -- which, despite being deeply ingrained in Korean society, is dismissed by many as a backward relic of the past and demonized

CultureAug. 23, 2019

N. Korea says it would be 'miscalculation' if US confronts Pyongyang with sanctions

North Korea's top diplomat warned Friday that it would be a miscalculation if the United States tries to use sanctions to deal with the communist regime, after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the "toughest" sanctions will remain unless Pyongyang denuclearizes.Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho also warned in a statement that Pyongyang is ready for both dialogue and a standoff, but it will remain "the biggest threat" to Washington for a long time should the US stick to a hosti

North KoreaAug. 23, 2019

S. Korea mulling inviting N. Korea to intl. security forum in Seoul

South Korea is mulling whether to invite North Korea to an annual international security forum to be held in Seoul next month, a government official said Friday.The 8th vice-ministerial Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) is set to take place on Sept. 4-6, with the attendance of hundreds of government officials and experts from 56 countries and five international organizations, including the UN. "We are reviewing whether to invite North Korea here," the official said, without elaborating furt

North KoreaAug. 23, 2019

[Weekender] Vegan bakeries gaining traction in Seoul

Vegan bakeries started to emerge in Seoul just a couple of years ago. 　Eschewing the usual wheat, butter, yeast, milk and eggs, vegan bakeries create their goods with alternative ingredients such as soy milk, brown rice or coconut oil. In addition to vegans, these shops attract people with food allergies or atopic diseases, mothers of newborns and customers simply seeking healthy alternatives. The Korea Herald checked out four of the most talked-about shops in Seoul. Yummyyomil “

FoodAug. 23, 2019

[Weekender] Going vegan on the face

The vegan way of life is not limited to diet or eating but encompasses the full spectrum of a person’s life choices, including things like skin care and cosmetics. With more consumers opposing animal testing and the use of animal-derived ingredients, a number of vegan beauty brands have popped up in recent years.To qualify as vegan, a cosmetics maker must not use any animal products or by-products. Animal testing is out of the question too. South Korea, a country that is keen on keeping up

Arts & DesignAug. 23, 2019

[Weekender] Korea’s vegan scene, through eyes of an expat

The following is a Korea Herald copy editor’s personal account of her encounters with the local vegan community. The writer, a vegan since the early 1990s, has lived in Korea for more than 15 years. -- Ed. It was Aug. 7, three days before “A Piece of Vegan Festival” at Seoul Innovation Park in Eunpyeong, northwestern Seoul. One of the organizers, Kang So-yang, posted a picture of the venue on Facebook. Some rooms still had signs left behind by the previous occupants, reading &l

CultureAug. 23, 2019

Three South Koreans die in Hungary rail crossing crash

BUDAPEST (Reuters) -- Three South Korean citizensdied in Hungary in an accident late on Wednesday, when the carin which they were travelling was hit by a train, local policesaid on Thursday.The crash happened at a rail crossing at the Danube Bend, a tourist spot about 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of the Hungarian capital Budapest, when the car ignored a red light and drove onto the tracks. The accident comes less than three months after 26 South Korean tourists died in a boat crash on the Danu

Social AffairsAug. 23, 2019

Govt. to strengthen radiation checks on Japanese food products

The South Korean government said Friday that it will strengthen safety checks on imported food from Japan for possible radiation.The scale of radiation contamination checks on foods will be doubled starting later in the day, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The products that will be subject to closer scrutiny by inspectors are those that have a record of being returned to sellers in the past five years after minute amounts of radiation were detected, the ministry said.Products

Foreign AffairsAug. 23, 2019

US expresses 'strong concern,' 'disappointment' at termination of Seoul-Tokyo intel pact

The United States expressed "strong concern" and "disappointment" Thursday after South Korea withdrew from a military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan.Earlier, Seoul announced its decision to end the General Security of Military Information Agreement amid a bilateral dispute over trade and history.In a rare public rebuke of its South Korean ally, the US State Department and the Pentagon expressed their displeasure with the move."We're disappointed to see the decision

Foreign AffairsAug. 23, 2019

Parties show mixed reaction to govt.'s move to scrap info-sharing pact with Japan

South Korea's ruling party welcomed the government's decision to terminate its military info-sharing pact with Japan on Thursday, calling it due action against Japan's retaliatory export curbs.But the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) condemned the decision as an action that will hurt national interests, calling on the government to immediately recant it.Earlier in the day, South Korea decided not to extend a bilateral deal with Tokyo on exchanging classified military information, citing

PoliticsAug. 22, 2019

S. Korea vows staunch combined posture with US regardless of intel-sharing pact decision

South Korea will maintain a watertight combined readiness posture with the United States based on their strong alliance regardless of its decision to end the military information-sharing pact with Japan, the defense ministry said Thursday.Earlier in the day, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae announced its decision not to renew the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) amid deteriorating bilateral ties following Japan's export restrictions on South Korea."The defens

Foreign AffairsAug. 22, 2019