[Graphic News] Newly registered pet dogs up 40% in 2018

　The number of newly registered pet dogs in South Korea rose nearly 40 percent in 2018 from a year earlier, the country’s animal quarantine agency said.　Around 147,000 new dogs were registered with the state-run Animal Protection Management System last year, compared with the newly registered 105,000 pet dogs a year earlier, according to the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency. 　Since 2014, all pet owners are obligated to register their dogs with the system. As of 2018, the accumulated numb

Social AffairsJuly 24, 2019

[Feature] Marriage migrants often at mercy of Korean husbands

Earlier this month, a video went viral on social media showing a Korean man beating his Vietnamese wife in front of their toddler son during a more than three-hour ordeal at their home in Yeongan, South Jeolla Province. As he assaults the wife crouched in a corner, the man shouts, “Didn’t I tell you that you are not in Vietnam?” The video also shows the son, 2, crying by his mother’s side.The wife, who suffered broken ribs, has been moved to a women’s shelter. On hi

Social AffairsJuly 24, 2019

Doosan Heavy to export parts for US small modular reactor

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, South Korea’s industrial equipment maker has agreed to provide key parts needed for construction of a small modular reactor in the United States, the company said Wednesday.Under a partnership with NuScale Power, the South Korean company will supply parts crucial for a nuclear steam supply system and other parts for the SMR. SMR is a new kind of light water reactor for a nuclear power plant.  The project is a part of a plan between NuScale a

MobilityJuly 24, 2019

Renault Samsung’s SM6 offers premium quality at affordable price

Renault Samsung, the South Korean unit of French carmaker Renault, has released an upgraded version of its premium sedan SM6 while keeping its price down, amid intensifying competition in the midsized sedan market, the company said Wednesday.The company has added the upper-end premium model SM6 Premiere and a liquefied petroleum gas version of the vehicle to cater to the diversifying needs of customers. Emphasizing the premium features of the sedan, the company said it has applied the Bose surro

MobilityJuly 24, 2019

KFS endeavors to create more urban forests in fight against fine dust

Amid growing concerns about worsening fine dust, the Korea Forest Service is making efforts to provide more green spaces by creating forests in cities as part of measures to tackle the environmental problem. Under plans to reduce fine dust and build green infrastructure for urbanities, set by the KFS last year, the government agency is going to create at least one urban forest in each of the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces across the country starting this year. In addition, the agency is pl

EconomyJuly 24, 2019

[David Ignatius] Uncertainty clouds the path forward for Afghanistan

At the military headquarters here (Kabul) where commanders oversee America’s longest war, an official explains in one sentence the US-led coalition’s bottom-line objective: “Peace is a situation where we can leave, and we don’t have to come back.”But how will the United States move toward this endgame, as US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad nears conclusion of his secret peace negotiations with the Taliban jihadists that America has been fighting for 18 years? Afghan

ViewpointsJuly 24, 2019

[Leonid Bershidsky] A comedian‘s triumph is a test for benevolent populism

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has achieved something none of his predecessors managed: Winning a parliamentary majority, obviating the need to form a coalition. Whether he knows how to capitalize on this unprecedented victory will be evident from his next steps.According to preliminary results from Sunday’s snap election, Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People grouping looks set to not only win 122 seats under the party list system, but a further 125 seats under the first-past-t

ViewpointsJuly 24, 2019

‘Seoul’s office building market boom will peak next year’

After picking up last year amid a slowing economy, Seoul’s office building market is likely to catch its breath in the upcoming months and peak next year as large-sized premium buildings spill into the market for sale and lease, according to commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield.“Since 2010, the office building market (in Seoul’s key business districts) has mostly seen supply outrun demand,” Philip Jin, head of research at the Korean office of the US-base

EconomyJuly 24, 2019

KADIZ emerges as potential flashpoint?

The Korea Air Defense Identification Zone in the East Sea has come under the spotlight after warplanes from four countries became tangled in the area Tuesday. Two Russian TU-95 strategic bombers and two Chinese H-6 strategic bombers entered the KADIZ without prior notice in the early hours of Tuesday. A Russian A-50 -- an early warning and control aircraft -- further trespassed into South Korea’s airspace above the Dokdo Islets, twice, prompting the Air Force to fire over 300 warning shots

DefenseJuly 24, 2019

N. Korea rejects food aid over S. Korea-US military drills

South Korea hopes to deliver food aid to North Korea as initially planned, despite Pyongyang’s refusal to accept it in a show of the regime’s discontent with an upcoming joint military exercise with the US.The Unification Ministry said Wednesday that North Korea’s working-level officials have expressed “a negative view” toward South Korea’s assistance of 50,000 tons of rice, citing the joint military drills scheduled for next month.The World Food Program&rsquo

North KoreaJuly 24, 2019

South Korea, US to continue discussion on Strait of Hormuz

South Korea agreed to continue consultations with the US over cooperative measures for Washington’s effort to safeguard freedom of navigation in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz off Iran, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday. South Korea’s national security adviser Chung Eui-yong, who met with US national security adviser John Bolton in Seoul, agreed on “the need for international efforts for the safe voyage of private merchant ships,” according to Ko Min-jung, presidenti

Foreign AffairsJuly 24, 2019

South Korean nationals aboard Russian ship detained by North Korea

North Korea has been holding a Russian fishing ship carrying two South Korean nationals since July 17, after the vessel drifted into waters off eastern North Korea due to a mechanical problem, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Wednesday. The 300-ton red crab fishing vessel, Xiang Hai Lin 8, which sails under the flag of Russia, was apprehended at sea by North Korea authorities and moved to the port city of Wonsan after entering North by crossing the maritime border. The ship was headed to

North KoreaJuly 24, 2019

Why Don’t We to hold Seoul concert in November

US boy band Why Don’t We will hold its first standalone concert in Korea in November, the show’s local promoters said Wednesday.According to Live Nation Korea, “Why Don’t We – 8 Letters Tour” will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 10 at Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul. It marks the second time the band is performing in Korea.Comprising members Zach Herron, Jack Avery, Daniel Seavey, Corbyn Besson and Jonah Marais, the band was launched in September 2016 and

PerformanceJuly 24, 2019

[Newsmaker] Union of delivery workers refuses to handle Uniqlo goods

With South Koreans increasingly taking part in a boycott of Japanese goods, the Parcel Delivery Workers’ Solidarity Union on Wednesday refused to handle Uniqlo products.“Parcel Delivery workers will participate in the boycott by refusing to deliver Uniqlo (products). We object to the Abe administration’s economic retaliation,” members of the union said in a press conference in front of the former Japanese Embassy building in central Seoul.“Uniqlo (dismissed) the boy

Social AffairsJuly 24, 2019

National Museum of Korean Literature to be more than repository of books

The National Museum of Korean Literature aims to function as a culture complex for the public, allowing readers to enjoy Korean literature in diverse forms. The museum has taken the first step toward its launch, as the founding committee was registered as a corporation earlier this year. The museum will be built in the Eunpyeong district of western Seoul. Construction of the museum will begin in October 2021, with the opening date slated for December 2023. “The need to build a proper museu

CultureJuly 24, 2019

School Forest Project promoting urban greenery turns 20

Boosting greenery in cities may seem like a difficult task. However, a project has been coming up with innovative solutions to the lack of green space for the past 20 years. School Forest Project -- launched in 1999 through a collaborative effort between nongovernmental organization Forest for Life and sanitary product manufacturer Yuhan-Kimberly -- targets public schools in South Korea lacking green space on their school grounds. By planting various types of greenery, such as trees and bushes,

IndustryJuly 24, 2019

Hyundai and Kia Motors awarded Platinum in 2018 LACP Vision Award

Hyundai and Kia Motors won the Platinum Award in the 2018 LACP Vision Awards for the quality of their sustainability reports, the companies said Wednesday. LACP, short for League of American Communications Professionals, annually screens some 1,000 business reports from roughly 20 nations for awards.In this round‘s review, Hyundai Motor’s 2018 sustainability report was recognized in the digital and online criteria, and Kia Motors for sustainable management criteria. Both companies re

IndustryJuly 24, 2019

‘Korea to promote forest to combat air pollution, increase well-being’

South Korea is suffering from worsening air pollution each year. Every spring, the concentrations of fine dust particles surge to record levels across the country, threatening human health and environmental sustainability.The state-run Korea Forest Service is seeking to deploy forests to combat air pollution, help people stay cooler during heat waves and increase well-being in nature. “The primary factor behind serious fine dust pollution is air pollutants from industrial complexes, therma

IndustryJuly 24, 2019

Nearly 34% of S. Korean adolescents have thought about suicide over academic pressure: poll

Nearly 34 percent of South Korean adolescents have thought about killing themselves because of academic pressure, a recent survey showed Wednesday. The grim finding came in the National Youth Policy Institute's survey of 9,060 elementary, middle and high school students conducted from June-August last year. According to the results, 33.8 percent of the students polled said they had considered committing suicide over the previous year.  The biggest reason was the pressure they felt over acad

Social AffairsJuly 24, 2019