[Herald Interview] How Facebook addresses beautification

　Over the past few years since tech companies introduced a series of camera apps, beautification apps have become some of the most sought-after items for smartphone users around the world, users in South Korea being no exception. 　With special effects filters and colorful stickers, the advanced camera technology can make us over for the small screen, allowing us to project the image we want. But some of the features, such as skin whitening, have prompted criticism over biased beauty standards. 　

TechnologyJuly 16, 2019

Asking job applicant’s personal information now illegal

From Wednesday, prospective employers cannot ask job seekers for information unrelated to the positions they are being hired for.The Employment Ministry said Tuesday that a revised hiring law prohibits employers from collecting information irrelevant to job performance and engaging in behavior that may hurt fairness in employment practices.Asking about a job applicant’s weight, height, place of birth, marital status and assets is subject to a fine of up to 5 million won ($4,200) under the

Social AffairsJuly 16, 2019

LG launches world’s first capsule-type beer brewing machine

LG Electronics announced on Tuesday the commercial launch of the world’s first capsule-type automated beer maker in line with the growing home-brewing trend. The LG HomeBrew machine will be rolled out with a retail price tag of 3.99 million won ($3,390) in South Korea, including the price of receiving after-sales service for up to three years and 10-year warranty for the core inverter compressor. After inserting one capsule and water into the double-metal cylindrical machine, consumers can

TechnologyJuly 16, 2019

SKT launches ‘world’s first’ 5G roaming service

 　After South Korea became the first country to launch commercial services of the 5G wireless network in April, the country’s biggest mobile carrier has taken it a step further by working with a Swiss counterpart to launch international roaming service on the platform. 　SK Telecom announced Tuesday that it will launch “the world’s first” 5G roaming service with Switzerland’s biggest mobile carrier, Swisscom. Those visiting Switzerland will be able to use the se

TechnologyJuly 16, 2019

Moon appoints new prosecutor general

President Moon Jae-in appointed Yoon Seok-youl, a reform-minded veteran prosecutor, as new prosecution chief Tuesday, his office announced. The president authorized the appointment of Yoon as prosecutor general, but Yoon's two-year tenure will begin next Thursday, one day after the term of the outgoing prosecutor general Moon Moo-il is to end, according to Cheong Wa Dae. (Yonhap)  

PoliticsJuly 16, 2019

[Newsmaker] Mitsubishi refuses to discuss compensation for wartime forced labor

The liquidation of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ Korean assets is likely to be expedited as it has refused to hold talks on compensation for victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor, according to sources Tuesday.A civic group working with the victims said that the Japanese firm had not responded to the victims’ request for discussions to follow up on the South Korean Supreme Court’s order that it compensate them by the Monday deadline. “Having lost the lawsuit, Mitsub

Foreign AffairsJuly 16, 2019

S. Korea to receive applications for new internet bank in October

South Korea's financial regulator said Tuesday it will receive applications in October for a third internet bank, as it seeks to reinvigorate the nation's financial industry. The Financial Services Commission said applications will start being received Oct. 10 and an initial approval will be granted by early January next year. If things go well, a final approval will be granted by early February next year, it said. "Financing ability is one of the important standards used by an evaluation c

MarketJuly 16, 2019

Vice minister stresses importance of Seoul-Tokyo relations for regional peace and prosperity

Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho emphasized the importance of bilateral relations between South Korea and Japan on Tuesday to ensure peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia, while expressing support for Tokyo's push for talks with North Korea. Suh made the remark at a forum in Tokyo that was held amid escalating tensions between the two neighbors after Japan's recent move to curb exports of its high-tech parts to South Korea, according to a text of his address provided by the ministry. "Rela

Foreign AffairsJuly 16, 2019

Vice unification minister to meet Japanese official amid trade dispute

Vice Unification Minister Suh Ho will meet with a Japanese official during his three-day trip to Tokyo this week, a ministry official said Tuesday, amid escalating tensions between the two countries over Japan's export restrictions. Suh left for Japan earlier in the day to give a keynote speech at a side event of the Korea Global Forum for Peace hosted by the unification ministry."A meeting with a Japanese government official is included (in his schedule)," a ministry official said. &q

Foreign AffairsJuly 16, 2019

Far-right party removes tents from Seoul square

A minor ultra-right party took down its protest tents at a public square in central Seoul early Tuesday just before city officials arrived there to remove them. The Our Republican Party, however, said it would return to Gwanghwamun Square soon to continue their campaign to press for a special probe into the deaths of five conservative protesters in 2017.The government of the capital city warned it would use all physical, legal and administrative means to block their illegal occupation.The party

PoliticsJuly 16, 2019

More young people seeking public jobs, professional licenses

A growing number of young South Koreans are preparing for state exams for public jobs and professional licenses, data showed Tuesday.The data released by Statistics Korea showed that 714,000, or 15.3 percent, of 4.68 million economically inactive youths aged 15-29 prepared for state exams in May, up 2.2 percentage points from the same period last year. Among the 714,000, 30.7 percent were preparing for state exams to become low-ranking public officials, while 6.7 percent were getting ready for h

Social AffairsJuly 16, 2019

Moon's meeting with party leaders set for Thursday

The office of President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday welcomed a rare bipartisan decision on a proposed group meeting between Moon and the heads of five major political parties.Cheong Wa Dae welcomed the bipartisan cooperation at a time when all relevant parties need to pool their wisdom on ways to cope with Japan's tougher export restrictions against South Korean firms, the office's spokesperson, Ko Min-jung, said at a press briefing. Hours earlier, the ruling Democratic Party and four opposition part

PoliticsJuly 16, 2019

Busan launches fact-finding team over atrocities against vagrants decades ago

The Busan metropolitan government said Tuesday it has launched a commission to investigate human rights violations that took place at a vagrants' detention facility in the southeastern port city decades ago. The commission, headed by social welfare professor Nam Chan-seob, will meet and interview people who survived the alleged illegal confinement and mistreatment of inmates at the Brothers Welfare Center in the city in the 1970s and 1980s.  The commission's nine-month investigation, due to

Social AffairsJuly 16, 2019

Netflix has 1.84m users in S. Korea: data

The number of South Korean users subscribing to the US video streaming platform Netflix Inc. has nearly tripled on-year to surpass the 1.8 million mark, industry data showed Tuesday. Netflix is estimated to have 1.84 million paid active streaming subscribers as of June, compared with 630,000 users during the same period a year earlier, according to the data compiled by industry tracker WiseApp. The data showed that some 38 percent of Netflix users in the country are in their 20s, followed by

IndustryJuly 16, 2019

Nearly half of N. Koreans suffer from undernourishment: UN report

Nearly half of North Korea's total population suffer from undernourishment, a recent UN report said as the impoverished country grapples with worsening food shortages. According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 released by the Food and Agriculture Organization on Monday, the prevalence of undernourishment in North Korea's total population came to 47.8 percent from 2016 to 2018.The number is sharply up from the 2004-2006 period, where the comparable figure stood at 35

North KoreaJuly 16, 2019

Pompeo hopes US, North Korea can be 'more creative' in nuclear talks

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday he hoped both North Korea and the United States could "be a little more creative" when the two sides restart talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.Speaking in a radio interview on "The Sean Hannity Show," Pompeo did not say when the negotiations would resume. At the end of June he had said it would likely happen "sometime in July... probably in the next two or three weeks." President Donald Trump m

North KoreaJuly 16, 2019

Workplace anti-bullying law takes effect

A new law aimed at preventing harassment in the workplace took effect in South Korea on Tuesday, bringing the widespread but overlooked issue of bullying at work into the legal domain.A revised law on labor standards, commonly called the workplace anti-bullying law, went into effect after a six-month grace period.Under the new law, workplace harassment is defined as an act of incurring physical or mental suffering or a worsening of the work environment by employers or workers using their status

Social AffairsJuly 16, 2019

FINA President Maglione receives honorary degree from Honam University

FINA President Julio C. Maglione received an honorary doctorate degree from Honam University on Monday for his contributions to promoting world peace through the proliferation of sports.The Gwangju-based university cited Maglione’s efforts as a medical practitioner to achieve advancements in proliferation of health and welfare for humanity. An awarding ceremony was held on Monday morning at the school, attended by Maglione himself who had been visiting the city to attend the 2019 FINA Worl

PeopleJuly 15, 2019

Iran urges Europe to take 'effective' steps to save nuclear deal

TEHRAN (AFP) -- Iran on Monday urged the European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal "to take practical, effective and responsible decisions" to save the landmark agreement."We stress that the continued voluntary and goodwill based actions by the Islamic Republic of Iran are rooted in the principle of reciprocity of rights and duties" in the nuclear deal, the foreign ministry said in a statement.On Sunday the European parties to the deal -- Britain, France a

World NewsJuly 15, 2019

S. Korea considers lowering extra-high inheritance tax rate for top shareholders

South Korea's government and ruling party are considering a move to lower the extra-high rate levied on inheritance tax for top shareholders of big companies, a ruling party official said Monday. South Korea's top inheritance tax is set at 50 percent, but it could go up to as high as 65 percent if the rate is increased in cases that involve the largest shareholders.The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the government have been in discussions to lower the extra-h

EconomyJuly 15, 2019