Australian student released from North Korea in 'good spirits'

An Australian student who was detained in North Korea has been released and has safely left the country, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.Alek Sigley, 29, who was studying in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, had been missing since June 25. Alarm was raised when the normally active social media user ceased all communication. Morrison interrupted Parliament to confirm that Sigley had been freed. He later said in a statement that Swedish authorities had helped secure the stud

North KoreaJuly 4, 2019

Cheong Wa Dae replaces two key communication secretaries

President Moon Jae-in replaced two senior secretaries for public relations Thursday.Jung Gu-cheol, standing auditor at the Korea Federation of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises, was appointed Cheong Wa Dae secretary for public relations planning, succeeding Yu Min-yeong. Jung served as presidential secretary for domestic media from 2006-2008 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.He has long worked in the media, having worked as a reporter at Media Today, a news outlet specializing press-relate

PoliticsJuly 4, 2019

Hyundai Home Shopping to launch 24/7 channel in Australia

Hyundai Home Shopping will start running an around-the-clock TV channel in Australia next month, a first for a South Korean home shopping business even as an increasing number of its rivals are tapping overseas markets.After making an AU$45 million ($31.65 million) investment in December last year to establish ASN, the home shopping operator said it would launch Open Shop on Aug. 1 on Channel 75. To ensure high broadcasting standards, the company has partnered with Seven Network, Australia&rsquo

IndustryJuly 4, 2019

Disney live-action ‘Little Mermaid’ to star a black Ariel

R&B singer Halle Bailey is to play Ariel in a live-action version of “The Little Mermaid,” she said Wednesday, in a rare casting of a black actress as a Disney princess.Bailey, 19, who rose to fame under the wing of pop queen Beyonce, said it was a “dream come true” to play the lead role. She tweeted a cartoon image of the princess in which the traditionally red-headed Ariel has dark skin, brown eyes and black hair. Director Rob Marshall said Bailey had been cast afte

FilmJuly 4, 2019

Seoul says now is time to focus on US-N. Korea talks

The government said Thursday that now is time to focus on talks between the United States and North Korea to build on progress made at a recent meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.The unification ministry made the remark, rejecting a local newspaper report that the government told the North about the need for an inter-Korean summit on the occasion of the Trump-Kim meeting at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom on Sunday.  "The governmen

North KoreaJuly 4, 2019

North Korea: Trump tries to undermine peace with sanctions

North Korea’s UN Mission is accusing the Trump administration of deliberately trying to undermine peace efforts by pressuring all countries to implement UN sanctions. The mission said Wednesday that while the US is talking about dialogue it is "more and more hell-bent" on hostile acts.It cited a joint letter from the US, Britain, France and Germany on June 29 to UN member states calling for all North Korean workers abroad to be sent home _ the same day President Donald Trump prop

North KoreaJuly 4, 2019

[Photo News] Ernst Busch workshop

With the sponsorship of the Goethe Institut, the Seoul Institute of the Arts and Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts have collaborated to host a theater workshop themed around unification. A performance will be presented Thursday at the institute’s Red Door Theater, Ansan campus. Anyone can attend free of charge.

Social AffairsJuly 4, 2019

Moon reprimands national security advisor for undetected NK boat

President Moon Jae-in has reprimanded a national security advisor for security loopholes that allowed a North Korean boat to cross the eastern maritime border and float undetected in South Korean waters for several days, his office said Wednesday.Moon delivered a strong warning to Kim You-geun, deputy director of national security, over the security failure in the maritime border patrol, Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Ko Min-jung said in a text message to reporters.The measure reflects Moon's view t

DefenseJuly 4, 2019

Outage hits Facebook services worldwide

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -- Facebook acknowledged Wednesday an outage affecting users in various parts of the world and said it was working on a fix.Online monitoring service DownDetector reported earlier the outage began around 1200 GMT and affected Facebook as well as its Instagram and WhatsApp services.#Facebookdown and #instagramdown were trending on Twitter as users around the world reported these apps were not functioning. Facebook said in a tweet: "We're aware that some people are having

World NewsJuly 4, 2019

North Korea says US ‘hell-bent’ on sanctions despite Trump-Kim meeting

North Korea complained on Wednesday after the United States sent a letter urging countries to send back North Korean workers as President Donald Trump was inviting Kim Jong Un to hold talks.  The North Korean mission to the United Nations said the letter sent to all UN member-states showed that the United States is “practically more and more hell-bent on the hostile acts” against North Korea, even though it is seeking dialogue. The mission said the letter from the United States,

North KoreaJuly 4, 2019

S. Korea posts current account surplus in May

South Korea's current account balanced turned to black in May, one month after the country posted its first deficit in seven years amid sluggish exports, central bank data showed Thursday.The country's current account surplus came to $4.95 billion in the month, marking a turnaround from a $660 million deficit the month before, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The turnaround was largely attributed to a $1.16 billion surplus in the primary income account, which in April posted

EconomyJuly 4, 2019

Japan says curbs on exports to S. Korea due to broken pledge

TOKYO (AP) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says Japan cannot give South Korean exports preferential treatment because the country is not abiding by an agreement regarding wartime issues that Japan insists have been resolved. Abe was objecting Wednesday to criticism over escalating tensions between the two neighbors amid disputes over Koreans forced to work as laborers during World War II.He was defending a decision announced Monday to impose restrictions on Japan’s exports of semiconduct

IndustryJuly 3, 2019

Senior NK official meets Swedish envoy amid reports of missing Australian student

A senior North Korean official met with a special envoy from the Swedish government on Wednesday, the North’s state media said, amid speculation over possible discussions about an Australian student who has been missing in the North for the past week.Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea’s Central Committee, “met and had a talk with Kent Rolf Magnus Harstedt,” the Korean Central News Agency said, without giving further details.  On Tue

North KoreaJuly 3, 2019

[팟캐스트] (307) 文 “북미 적대관계 종식”, 성평등 이루려면 남성 육아휴직 필요

진행자: 임정요, Kevin Lee Selzer1. US, N. Korea have ended hostile relations: Moon기사요약: 문재인 대통령은 최근 비무장지대(DMZ)에서 성사된 북한 김정은 위원장과 미국 트럼프 대통령의 만남이 북미간 적대관계를 종식시키고 평화시대가 도래했다고 말했다. 아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638[1] President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that the US and North Korea have put an end to their hostile relations with the recent meeting of their leaders, who stepped back and forth over the Korean

PodcastJuly 3, 2019

Korea starts work on Japan WTO case

The South Korean government said Wednesday that it has started a legal review for filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization over Japan’s export restrictions -- widely seen as the neighboring country’s retaliation against the ruling by Korea’s top court on wartime forced labor.Trade officials here believe that Japan’s move to limit exports of key materials used to produce semiconductor and displays violates the WTO’s ban on states’ control of exports

TechnologyJuly 3, 2019

S. Korea lowers growth forecast for 2019 to 2.4-2.5%

South Korea’s government on Wednesday revised the growth rate forecast for this year to 2.4-2.5 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from its earlier estimation, amid sluggish exports and investments.It also added pressure upon the National Assembly to swiftly approve a long-pending supplementary bill of 6.7 trillion won ($5.7 billion) dedicated to economic revitalization. “The government has devoted all efforts to achieve an economic paradigm shift but uncertainties such as the global

EconomyJuly 3, 2019

Realty investments of Korean conglomerates near W40tr

The total real estate investments of South Korean conglomerates slid slightly to 39.6 trillion won ($33.80 billion) as of end-2018, corporate business performance reviewer CEO Score said Tuesday. The aggregated business and audit reports of 59 conglomerates showed that Lotte Group topped the list ahead of Samsung Group, it said.Lotte Group had 4.4 trillion won worth of real estate holdings for investment purposes as of last year, up 12.6 percent on-year. It spent 70.2 billion won in acquiring mo

IndustryJuly 3, 2019

[Graphic News] France’s Mirazur crowned world’s best restaurant

　France’s Mirazur restaurant - whose Argentine chef Mauro Colagreco draws inspiration from the sea, the mountains and his own garden - was crowned the world’s best by an influential trade list.　The accolade came just months after Colagreco was handed a third Michelin star, and was the first time a French establishment has triumphed in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.　In the second spot in the awards - which took place in Singapore, their first time in Asia - was Noma in Co

WorldJuly 3, 2019

Government admits failure over N.Korean boat incident, denies cover-up

The government on Wednesday admitted to security failure, but rejected the accusation that it attempted to downplay the incident in which a North Korean boat arrived at a South Korea seaport undetected. Announcing the result of a joint government investigation, the government said it reprimanded top military chiefs and dismissed an Army commander who was in charge of the surveillance operation in the coastal area where the incident occurred.A small wooden boat carrying four North Koreans was fou

DefenseJuly 3, 2019

Samsung Galaxy Fold internally ready for launch

Samsung Electronics has completed fixing the flaw in the outer film of the Galaxy Fold and has set a retail price for the Korean market, according to company insiders Monday. In order to prevent the protective film on the outer layer of the foldable display screen from being taken off by hand, the company has decided to adopt a slightly bigger film to cover the entire screen and conceal the edges of the film underneath the screen’s bezel, a Samsung official told The Korea Herald.  Sin

TechnologyJuly 3, 2019