6 arrested for cultivating 1,306 opium poppies: Coast Guard

The Coast Guard is investigating six people on possible charges of cultivating opium poppies in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.According to the Pyeongtaek Coast Guard Station on Tuesday, the suspects were arrested without a warrant on suspicions of growing 1,306 opium poppies at their homes and greenhouses.The Coast Guard said the plants that could potentially be used for narcotics were confiscated on the site. The agency will also investigate the purpose and intentions of the cultivation and ref

Social AffairsJune 11, 2019

[News Briefs] 3 officers charged with helping brothels in exchange for sex

Three police lieutenants appeared in court for tipping off brothels of police inspections in exchange for sexual services, prosecutors said Tuesday.According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, the police lieutenants -- identified by their surnames Gu, Yoon and Hwang -- face charges of taking bribes, leaking official secrets, forging official documents and dereliction of duty. The prosecutors say the police lieutenants, who were members of the prostitution crackdown unit at

Social AffairsJune 11, 2019

Ultra Korea 2019 wraps up, troubled with hiccups

Ultra Korea 2019 wrapped up three days of festivities on Sunday, but the Korean leg of the annual electronic dance music festival was troubled with hiccups that included last-second cancellations by headliners and controversy over its operations.Misfortune crept up on the event last Wednesday when organizers notified fans that Martin Garrix, one of the main headliners whose act was supposed to be the main stage finale for Friday’s event, had to cancel due to an ankle injury he sustained in

PerformanceJune 11, 2019

Jean-Christophe Maillot says his ‘Cinderella’ is relatable to just about anyone

Born and raised in a small town in France, Jean-Christophe Maillot rose to the top: Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, one of the world’s most famous ballet companies, founded by Monaco’s royal family. Maillot described himself as a “Cinderella” during a press conference held Monday at Ode Port in Sinsa-dong, Seoul.The longtime director of the renowned ballet company added that making the timeless story real had been his initial focus. According to the director, the reinvention

PerformanceJune 11, 2019

[Kim Seong-kon] Reading Zack Rogow's poems in this harsh world

When I first heard Zack Rogow reading from his deeply moving poem, “Skating Lessons” at a poetry reading in San Francisco in 2006, I was mesmerized by his exquisite poetic sensitivity in the way he rendered a little girl’s painful initiation into adulthood on an ice rink and her father’s sad feelings of parting with her. The poem beautifully captured the moment of a father’s last skating lessons for his daughter: “I tugged my six-year-old around the rink/ shoc

ViewpointsJune 11, 2019

[Lee Jae-min] A well-intended policy gone awry

After four deferrals in eight years since 2011, the revised Higher Education Act goes into effect this August. With roughly one month left, colleges and universities are preoccupied with how to implement new requirements under the law. There are still many unanswered questions and missing details. If you have any doubt, this is a well-intentioned law in all respects. It aims to protect the rights and working conditions of part-time lecturers at colleges and universities nationwide. Their employm

ViewpointsJune 11, 2019

[News Focus] Ruling party, main opposition race to lure young voters

With less than a year left until the general election slated for April next year, South Korea’s two largest political parties have their sights set on voters in their 20s and 30s.Young liberal and conservative voters are increasingly losing interest in politics -- whether due to disappointment with the ailing economy under the Moon Jae-in administration or incendiary language and actions by the leadership of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party. Polls from previous elections have shown

PoliticsJune 11, 2019

Battery makers expect turnaround as way cleared to resume ESS business

South Korean battery manufacturers on Tuesday expressed optimism after receiving government approval to resume business in the area of energy storage systems, after being forced to suspend it due to a probe into a series of fires at 23 ESS facilities. After suffering losses in the first quarter of this year largely because of delayed supplies, the country’s two major ESS providers, Samsung SDI and LG Chem, are expected to resume business in the second half of the year in hopes of recoverin

TechnologyJune 11, 2019

[News Focus] 1 in 6 car buyers choose import brands

SEJONG -- The automobiles segment was one of the few hot-button issues during South Korea’s respective negotiations for a free trade agreement with the United States and the 28-member European Union.The Korea-EU FTA and Korea-US FTA, which took effect in July 2011 and March 2012, respectively, heralded the era of import cars in the nation under eased tariff barriers. Market insiders say that German carmakers -- the most popular import brands in Korea -- have been propelled forward in

IndustryJune 11, 2019

Will North Korea send condolence delegation to former first lady Lee’s funeral?

The question of how North Korea will respond to the death of former first lady Lee Hee-ho, who along with her late husband, President Kim Dae-jung, devoted her life to improving inter-Korean relations, is the focus of attention as Pyongyang has been lukewarm for months toward Seoul’s offers of cross-border cooperation. 　The Unification Ministry said Tuesday it had delivered the news of Lee’s death to the North in the morning through the inter-Korean liaison office in the North’

North KoreaJune 11, 2019

[Newsmaker] Lee Hee-ho, women’s rights pioneer, partner in inter-Korean reconciliation efforts

Lee Hee-ho was most often in the spotlight as late President Kim Dae-jung’s wife in the later parts of her life, but Lee was a champion of women’s rights whose beliefs and actions have left a lasting mark on Korean society.Lee was born into a wealthy family in 1922 during the Japanese occupation of Korea. While Korea was a patriarchal society where women took second priority to men, Lee’s parents are said to have raised her without such bias. Lee studied at a girl’s high

PoliticsJune 11, 2019

Instagram fastest-growing social media app in S. Korea: survey

The photo-sharing application Instagram is gaining popularity faster than any other social media app in South Korea with young Koreans leading the trend, a survey showed Tuesday. According to the survey of 33,000 Android smartphone users carried out last month by Wise App, time spent on Instagram amounted to a combined total of 2.6 billion minutes for all respondents -- a 73 percent increase from the same period a year before. Instagram’s on-year growth in Korea was stronger than that of o

TechnologyJune 11, 2019

Panel blames electric shock, poor management system for ESS fires, not companies

Ending a five-month-long probe into energy storage systems that caught fire, the South Korean government blamed defects in devices, poor management and systems, without holding companies accountable for the fires.On Tuesday, a private-public joint committee, formed in January to look into the series of fires, announced the results of the probe, saying multiple factors played a role in the 23 fires that occurred over the past year. It highlighted four factors: a lack of battery protective systems

IndustryJune 11, 2019

4 more bodies found inside sunken Hungary tour boat

Four bodies, three of them believed to be South Koreans, were found in the wreck of a tour boat raised from the Danube River early Tuesday (Budapest time), nearly two weeks after its deadly sinking left 26 South Koreans dead or missing. One of the bodies appears to be the Hungarian captain of the sightseeing boat, the Hableany, while the three others are believed to be South Korean passengers, seven of whom are still missing after the May 29 sinking, officials said.A floating crane raised the bo

Social AffairsJune 11, 2019

Return of Korean Air heiress hints at family feud over succession nearing end

The surprise return of an heiress to Hanjin Group appears to signal that the family members of the group’s late chairman are close to settling succession plans of the transport empire, with each taking core businesses, according to industry sources and reports on Tuesday.On Monday, Hanjin Group said in a statement that Cho Hyun-min, the youngest daughter of the late Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, has been reinstated as a senior vice president at Hanjin KAL, the holding company of Hanji

IndustryJune 11, 2019

Korean Literature Showcase hopes to pave way for ‘K-literature’ trend

While the Seoul International Book Fair is set to open next week, the Korean Literature Showcase will take place from June 18 to 22 at the Coex Convention and Exhibition Center.Organized by the Korean Culture and Information Service, the event, launched last year, aims to introduce and promote Korean literature to other parts of the world.  This year, 10 overseas publishers from 10 countries who are interested in publishing translations of Korean literature are participating. Around 30 loca

CultureJune 11, 2019

Road trip event by SK Energy rakes in youth participation

More than 137,000 people entered their names as of Tuesday for the SK Oilro Pass, a travel event that launched a week ago targeting those aged between 25 and 35.The SK Oilro Pass is a 200,000 won ($170) gas charging card by SK Energy that can be used at some 3,600 SK gas stations nationwide. To be given out to 1,000 winning candidates with the most inspirational road trip ideas, each petrol card is enough to power a 5-day trip on the road, the company said.  SK Oilro Pass event kicked off o

IndustryJune 11, 2019

Sunken Hungary tour boat salvaged, placed on barge

The wreck of a tour boat salvaged from the Danube River was safely placed on a barge nearly two weeks after its deadly sinking, officials said Tuesday.Four bodies, three of them believed to be South Koreans, were found in the wreck early Tuesday (Budapest time), after its sinking that left 26 South Koreans dead or missing. The other body appears to be the Hungarian captain of the sightseeing boat, the Hableany.  If the three bodies found Tuesday are confirmed to be South Koreans, that would

Social AffairsJune 11, 2019

YouTube blocks preteen users from livestreaming

YouTube has updated its safety guidelines to restrict creators below the age of 13 from livestreaming without adult supervision. YouTube Korea said Friday on its official blog that it is blocking preteen users from livestreaming without being accompanied by an adult. The change had been announced on the company’s global blog on June 3.   “When it comes to kids, we take an extra cautious approach towards our enforcement and we’re always making improvements to our prote

TechnologyJune 11, 2019