Police raid CJ-owned cable channel over alleged K-pop audition scam

Police raided the production company of the K-pop audition TV series “Produce 101” on Wednesday.According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the agency’s cybercrime investigation unit executed a search and seizure operation at cable channel Mnet’s headquarters in Mapo, western Seoul. Mnet -- owned by mass media and entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM -- asked police to investigate its production team Friday after viewers raised suspicion of manipulation of t

Social AffairsJuly 31, 2019

[Newsmaker] Search continues for missing teenage girl in Cheongju

Hundreds of personnel continued the search Wednesday for a teenage girl who went missing eight days ago while hiking with her family in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.Cho Eunnuri, 14, was last seen near the upper part of a stream in Naeam-ri, Gadeok-myeon in Cheongju at around 10:40 a.m. on July 23. She has intellectual disabilities. About 151 centimeters tall, Cho was wearing a gray, short-sleeved T-shirt, black skirted leggings, gray-colored aqua shoes and blue horn-rimmed glasses at the

Social AffairsJuly 31, 2019

Cheong Wa Dae convenes NSC meeting over NK missile test

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday convened a National Security Council session over North Korea's firing of short-range ballistic missiles.Earlier in the day, the North fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.They flew some 250 kilometers, marking the second such launch in less than a week. Chung Eui-yong, the national security adviser, presided over the meeting of the NSC standing committee, according to Cheong Wa Dae.&q

DefenseJuly 31, 2019

New N. Korean submarine seen as capable of carrying 3 SLBMs: S. Korea

A newly constructed North Korean submarine seems to be capable of carrying three submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), South Korea's defense ministry was quoted as saying on Wednesday.The defense ministry determined that the North's submarine is ready to be deployed soon, Rep. Lee Hye-hoon, the chief of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters after the ministry's closed-door briefing.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected a new submarine, which the deployment of whic

North KoreaJuly 31, 2019

Samsung’s Q2 profit plummets over sluggish chip, smartphone markets

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday announced a 56 percent plunge in operating profit in the second quarter due to the sluggish performance of its two main divisions -- memory chips and smartphones -- amid weakening market conditions. The South Korean tech giant posted consolidated sales of 56.13 trillion won and 6.6 trillion won in operating profit in the April-June period. Its quarterly sales and operating profit decreased 4 percent and 56 percent, respectively, from the same period last year.&nb

EconomyJuly 31, 2019

BLACKPINK's 'Ddu-du Ddu-du' gets 1st K-pop group record of 900 m YouTube views

The music video of K-pop girl group BLACKPINK's 2018 song "Ddu-du Ddu-du" has hit the milestone of 900 million YouTube views, becoming the first music video by a K-pop group to do so, its management agency said Wednesday.The addictive, stylish music video hit the 900 million record late Tuesday, slightly more than one year after its release in June last year, according to YG Entertainment. It makes BLACKPINK the only K-pop act that has achieved the feat so far and "Ddu-du Ddu-du&q

PerformanceJuly 31, 2019

FM says NK missile firings not helpful to easing regional tensions

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Wednesday North Korea's latest missile firings are not helpful to efforts to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula. "North Korea's actions do not help (easing) military tensions, nor do they help keep the momentum for denuclearization talks when (the talks) are in the process of being resumed," she told reporters at the Incheon airport on her way to Thailand for a regional forum. "We make it clear that it must be stopped."  North Kore

North KoreaJuly 31, 2019

Clashes in Hong Kong after police charge protesters with rioting

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Renewed clashes broke out between pro-democracy protesters and police in Hong Kong on Tuesday night after dozens of demonstrators were charged with rioting -- an offence that carries a jail term of up to ten years.The city is reeling from seven weeks of mass protest rallies -- some of which have ended in violence -- triggered by a controversial bill which would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. They have evolved into calls for wider democratic reforms and a halt to

World NewsJuly 31, 2019

FM Kang departs for Thailand to attend ASEAN meetings amid trade row with Japan

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha left for Thailand on Wednesday to attend a series of bilateral and multilateral talks amid a trade row with Japan and limited progress in efforts to resume nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang.Kang plans to attend the annual gatherings involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Bangkok, such as the ASEAN Regional Forum, which are slated to take place from Thursday to Saturday.The minister will use the regional meetings to highlight the impor

Foreign AffairsJuly 31, 2019

Pompeo says he plans to meet S. Korean, Japanese ministers in Thailand

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday he plans to meet with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Bangkok this week amid a simmering trade row between the two Asian nations. Pompeo told reporters flying with him to Thailand for a regional forum that he will meet separately and then trilaterally with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono.The three-way talks will come as tensions have increased over Tokyo's adoption of stricter export

InternationalJuly 31, 2019

Samsung Electronics Q2 net halves on weak chip prices, mobile slump

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday its net profit tumbled 53.1 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier due to weak memory chip prices and a slump in the mobile business. The net profit for the world's largest chip and smartphone maker came to 5.18 trillion won ($4.4 billion) in the April-June period, compared with 11 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory briefing.  Its operating profit plunged 55.6 percent on-year to 6.59 trillion won, and sales slipped

IndustryJuly 31, 2019

Industrial output down 0.7% on-month in June

South Korea's industrial output edged down 0.7 percent in June from a month earlier due to decreased production in the service sector, government data showed Wednesday.The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed the production in the service sector declined 1 percent in June from a month earlier, while the output of semiconductors rose 4.6 percent on-month.From a year earlier, industrial output fell 1.1 percent. Retail sales fell 1.6 percent in June from a month earlier due to decreased sales o

EconomyJuly 31, 2019

US, NK officials met in DMZ last week: reports

US and North Korean officials met at the inter-Korean border last week, and the North Koreans expressed a willingness to resume working-level nuclear talks very soon, a senior US official told foreign media on Tuesday.A US National Security Council official traveled to the Demilitarized Zone while in the region for "unrelated talks" and met with a North Korean counterpart to deliver photographs from last month's DMZ meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim

North KoreaJuly 31, 2019

New US defense chief to visit S. Korea in Aug. amid reports on burden-sharing talks

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper will visit South Korea next month as part of a trip to Asia, the Pentagon said Tuesday.Esper's trip comes as the United States reportedly wants Seoul to increase its contribution to the upkeep of 28,500 American troops stationed in its Asian ally's territory.The new defense secretary, who took office last week, will leave Friday on a trip to Hawaii, Sydney, Auckland, Tokyo, Ulaanbaatar and Seoul, the Pentagon said in a press release.  During his stay in Seoul

Foreign AffairsJuly 31, 2019

US says it is aware of reports of NK missile launch

The United States is aware of reports of a missile launch from North Korea and will continue to monitor the situation, a State Department spokesperson said Tuesday ahead of the expected resumption of denuclearization negotiations with the regime.The response comes after South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea had fired multiple unidentified projectiles into the East Sea early Wednesday (Seoul time), six days after it launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the waters. "

North KoreaJuly 31, 2019

[Breaking] N. Korea fires multiple unidentified missiles off east coast: JCS

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast Wednesday, South Korea's military said, the second such launch in less than a week. The first missile was launched at 5:06 a.m., and the second at 5:27 a.m., from the Kalma area in the North's eastern port of Wonsan, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Both are estimated to have flown about 250 kilometers at an approximate altitude of 30 km, the JCS said, adding that the South Korean and US militaries are analyzing more d

North KoreaJuly 31, 2019

Kia workers vote to go on strike over wages

Unionized workers at Kia Motors Corp. on Tuesday voted to go on strike over wages, raising concerns of production losses at a time of rising demand for some models.  In the companywide vote, 83 percent of the 26,290 workers who cast a ballot supported a walkout after management refused to accept the union's wage demands in talks held July 23.Kia's 29,545-member union demanded an increase of 123,526 won(US$105) per person in basic monthly pay for the one-year period that ends in March in 202

Social AffairsJuly 30, 2019

UN grants sanctions exemption for transfer of funds to NK for humanitarian activities

The United Nations Security Council has granted a sanctions exemption to an Italian company for the transfer of funds to support the European Union Food Security Office's humanitarian assistance projects in North Korea, its website showed Tuesday.A UN committee overseeing sanctions approved the waiver for Agriconsulting SA -- which was awarded an "EU tender for providing technical support for food-related matters" to the North - on July 1, according to the UN website.AESA plans to spen

Foreign AffairsJuly 30, 2019

[Graphic News] Medicine exports hit record high in 2018

　Exports of medicine and medical supplies reached a record high in 2018, government data showed.　Outbound shipments of locally manufactured medicines and medical supplies stood at $4.67 billion last year, up 14.8 percent from the previous year, according to the data by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. 　Medicine exports have been increasing at an annual rate of 17.9 percent since 2014, the data showed. (Yonhap)

BusinessJuly 30, 2019

Democratic Party invites NK delegation to late President Kim Dae-jung anniversary event

South Korea’s ruling party has invited a North Korean delegation to an event marking the 10th death anniversary of former President Kim Dae-jung on Aug. 18, a lawmaker said Tuesday. Rep. Kim Han-jung of the Democratic Party delivered the invitation to the delegation -- including Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister -- to Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of the Korea Asia-Pacific Committee, during a peace forum in Manila, the Philippines.  The two met during the Inter

PoliticsJuly 30, 2019