Regional associations of Korean pharmacists are boycotting imported over-the-counter drugs from Japan, recommending Korean alternative products to patients.Some of the popular Japanese OTC drugs in Korea include: Takeda Pharmaceutical’s fatigue-restoring vitamin Actinium; teardrop solution Rohto; stomatitis treatment Albothyl; cold remedy Whituben; Kobayashi Medicine’s eye-cleaning agent Eyebon; Nichiban’s first-aid bandage Careleaves; and Kowa’s digestion medicine Cabagi

IndustryJuly 29, 2019

It is perhaps unusual for a deceased artist to be listed as a member of a group exhibition alongside living artists. Especially, when the person is a well-known figure, a retrospective exhibition is often the more favored option.  “In the beginning, I wanted to organize an exhibition that highlights Yi Jong-ho himself, an architect who is respected in the local architecture scene yet not much known to the public. However, I later realized he would have not liked such a spotlight, He w

Arts & DesignJuly 29, 2019

While production of high-computing chips at Samsung Electronics, the world’s top memory chip business, is expected to suffer in the wake of a trade dispute between South Korea and Japan, other global chipmakers are aggressively expanding investments to spur production, according to the industry on Monday. TSMC, the world’s third-biggest chipmaker based in Taiwan, has announced a plan to hire more than 3,000 engineers by the end of this year, along with plans to invest in new extreme

TechnologyJuly 29, 2019

Police have launched a probe into circumstances surrounding the leak of video footage taken during the arrest of Koh Yu-jeong, a prime suspect in the murder of her ex-husband.The leaked footage, released Saturday by local media, shows Koh’s arrest on June 1 at 10:32 a.m. in the parking lot of an apartment block in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. As police officers handcuff her after informing her of her Miranda rights, Koh asks, “Why? I never did that. I am the victim.”Ko

Social AffairsJuly 29, 2019

South Korea faces economic disruption as Japan moves to tighten export curbs on materials necessary for local tech frms, along with fresh objections raised by the US that could hurt the domestic agricultural sector.Japan is likely to remove Korea from a whitelist of 27 countries that receive preferential treatment in trade after a Cabinet meeting Friday, major Japanese media outlets reported Monday. Tokyo gathered public opinion on its decision to remove Korea from the whitelist last week. A maj

IndustryJuly 29, 2019

TvN’s Saturday-Sunday drama “Hotel Del Luna” recorded its highest viewership rating over the weekend with Sunday’s episode peaking at 9.7 percent with an average viewership rating of 8.7 percent. The numbers are higher than the ratings peak for “Arthdal Chronicles,” that was shown in the same slot, which was at 7.7 percent.Initial expectations had not been too high, as the drama was scheduled to air between the second and the third part of “Arthdal Chron

TelevisionJuly 29, 2019

Samsung C&T has been named the top builder in South Korea for six straight years in terms of building capacity, government data showed Monday. The construction affiliate of Samsung Group took the top slot among the 61,559 local construction firms evaluated, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Those evaluated account for about 89 percent of 68,781 construction firms here.Samsung C&T’s construction capacity was valued at 17.5 trillion won ($14.7 billion),

EconomyJuly 29, 2019

South Korea’s exports have extended their slump for the eighth consecutive month in July, falling nearly 10 percent from a year earlier, a poll showed Monday, due mainly to the prolonged trade row between the United States and China.Outbound shipments are estimated to reach $46.6 billion last month, down from $51.8 posted a year earlier, according to the poll conducted by Yonhap Infomax, a financial information service arm of Yonhap News Agency, on 10 local financial companies. The Korea C

EconomyJuly 29, 2019

South Korea’s top court ruled that sharing torrent files that contain only metadata about pornographic videos and not the video content itself can be taken as the act of distributing such videos, and is thereby subject to punishment. Torrent files contain metadata for files and folders, and users tend to share and download videos and other files through such torrent files found in directories and widely circulating on the internet. The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a lower court’s r

Social AffairsJuly 29, 2019

Three North Koreans who crossed into South Korea in the East Sea on Saturday were repatriated to the North, as a daylong investigation uncovered no evidence of espionage activities, the Ministry of Unification said Monday. A wooden boat and the three crew members were transferred to North Korean authorities in the afternoon after the ministry announced that they had departed for the inter-Korean sea border. The government notified the North of the repatriation decision through the inter-Korean l

North KoreaJuly 29, 2019

Five South Korean political parties agreed to launch a consultative body on Japan’s export regulations this week, made up of officials from the government, private and public sectors, officials said Monday.The launch of the group comes as the National Assembly remains plagued by differences over the terms of an extraordinary parliamentary meeting.The development is part of a consensus reached during party leaders’ recent meeting with President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae on a commit

PoliticsJuly 29, 2019

Daewoo Engineering & Construction said Monday it will start sales of its new premium apartments located in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.Gwacheon Prugio Summit is a complex of 32 apartment blocks with seven different apartment floor plans to choose from. Starting from 254 units of 59 square meters, sizes range all the way to 151 square meters.Unlike other similar complexes that have been renovated, the new complex in Gwacheon is designed with luxurious features.Residents will get to enjoy Euro

IndustryJuly 29, 2019

Amid the expanding market size of budget airlines following the South Korean government’s approval of three additional low-cost carriers earlier this year, they have become the most-preferred travel option for Koreans due to their low costs and widespread connectivity. Competition among LCCs is growing intense, with more air carriers stretching their services by introducing larger, long-haul aircrafts as well as premium seats such as Jeju Air’s “New Class.”But accord

IndustryJuly 29, 2019

South Korea’s Oriental Brewery on Monday denied news reports that its parent Belgian company AB InBev is seeking to sell its majority stake. According to local media reports, AB InBev -- which acquired OB for $5.8 billion in 2014 -- has been contacting local retail conglomerates such as Lotte and Shinsegae, as well as private equity funds via foreign securities companies to sell its stake. The deal could be worth some 9 trillion won ($7.65 billion). But OB has flatly denied such

IndustryJuly 29, 2019

Korean fans disappointed and angered by soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s solely bench-warming presence at a friendly match between Juventus FC from Turin, Italy and a team of K League players last week are pursuing a class-action suit against the organizer for failing to meet legal obligations.The 34-year-old star athlete -- whose first visit in 12 years was highly anticipated among fans here-- was benched in the exhibition match last Friday at the World Cup Stadium in western Seo

Social AffairsJuly 29, 2019

The CEO of TheFasta, the local agency in charge of the exhibition match between Juventus and South Korean league All-Stars team, said her Italian counterpart had apologized to the agency about Cristiano Ronaldo’s benching.During an interview with local media outlet Sports Seoul, Robin Jang, TheFasta’s CEO, said she was able to reach Juventus’ project manager on Saturday and received an apology. According to the newspaper’s reporting, Jang quoted the manager as s

SoccerJuly 29, 2019

A scorching heat wave began to grip South Korea on Monday after the monsoon season ended, with heat wave advisories issued for most of the country. Showers were expected between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday in Seoul and its surrounding area, due to unstable air masses, with daytime high temperatures to stay between 29 degrees Celsius and 35 C. 　As of 11 a.m. Monday, a heat wave advisory had been issued for Seoul, Busan, parts of all the provinces and Jeju Island. Heat wave warnings were also in eff

Social AffairsJuly 29, 2019

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. and affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Monday they have sold over 90 million vehicles in accumulated overseas sales.  As of the end of June, Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 90,189,640 vehicles in global markets except for South Korea. The vehicles sold outside the country were shipped from the carmakers' domestic and overseas plants, according to the data.Helped by robust sales of their SUVs in the United States, the companies expect to sell over 100 million aut

MobilityJuly 29, 2019

Big Hit Entertainment, the management agency of K-pop super band BTS, has taken over a medium-sized talent agency that is home to popular girl band GFriend, Big Hit said Monday. "Having recently completed its contract to take over shares of Source Music, Big Hit will integrate (the company) as its subsidiary," Big Hit said in a press release. "Source Music plans to retain its current management to operate with its own color and independence as a music label," it said.  T

PerformanceJuly 29, 2019