N. Korea denounces S. Korea's scaled-down military exercise

A North Korean propaganda outlet on Sunday slammed South Korea's recent civilian-military exercise, calling it tantamount to a hostile act against the North.   Following up on its military agreement with Pyongyang last year, Seoul abolished its annual springtime joint military exercises with the US armed forces, the Ulchi Freedom Guardian, to launch the Ulchi Taegeuk exercise this year.  Around 480,000 South Korean civilians, government officials and armed service members joined t

North KoreaJune 9, 2019

Palme d'Or-winning 'Parasite' on its way to topping 7 mln admissions

The Cannes-winning Korean film "Parasite" has surpassed an accumulated 6.5 million admissions in South Korea and is on its way to topping the 7 million milestone, data showed Sunday.On Saturday alone, the tragicomedy film drew 637,677 moviegoers to local movie theaters, dominating the box-office No. 1 position every day since its official release on May 30, according to the data from the Korean Film Council.As of Saturday, accumulated admissions had reached 6.51 million, and the film i

FilmJune 9, 2019

Sunken Danube tour boat unlikely to be raised before Tuesday

A sunken tour boat involved in a May 29 collision on the Danube River that killed at least 19 people is unlikely to be raised out of the water before Tuesday, Hungarian rescue officials said Saturday.The sightseeing boat was carrying 33 South Koreans and a two-man Hungarian crew when it collided with a much larger cruise ship on the river in Budapest.   Seven South Koreans were rescued after the nighttime crash in heavy rain but eight of the passengers on the Hableany (Mermaid) and the

Social AffairsJune 9, 2019

Precocious midfielder delivers memorable performance in quarterfinals thriller

South Korea's youngest player at the FIFA U-20 World Cup has also been their best player, and midfielder Lee Kang-in put on a dominant show when the team needed it the most.The 18-year-old scored a goal and assisted on two others as South Korea knocked off Senegal 3-2 on penalties in the quarterfinals at Bielsko-Biala Stadium in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, on Saturday. The teams were deadlocked at 3-3 after 120 minutes of action, and Lee was involved in all three South Korean goals. For the past two

SoccerJune 9, 2019

Third NK-US summit is possible despite lack of progress on denuclearization: analysts

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump could meet for a third summit later this year even without much progress toward dismantling the regime's nuclear weapons program, analysts here said.At their earlier summits, the first of which took place a year ago on June 12 in Singapore, Kim and Trump sought to strike a deal that would lead to the dismantlement of North Korea's weapons of mass destruction programs in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions on the regime. Ex

North KoreaJune 9, 2019

S. Korea beat Senegal on penalties to reach semifinals

South Korea advanced to the semifinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup on Saturday after knocking off Senegal on penalties in a heart-stopping contest.After the teams ended 120 minutes of regulation and extra time knotted at 3-3, South Korea prevailed 3-2 in the penalty shootout in the quarterfinals at Bielsko-Biala Stadium in Bielsko-Biala, Poland.The first two South Korean kickers missed before the fifth taker, Oh Se-hun, converted the decisive chance. Cavin Diagne, Senegal's last kicker, missed th

SoccerJune 9, 2019

France beats S. Korea 4-0 in Women’s World Cup opener

France’s women took a first step to follow in the World Cup footsteps of the French men. 　  Wendie Renard, at 6-foot-2 the tallest player in the tournament, scored twice on headers off corner kicks, and Les Bleues overwhelmed South Korea 4-0 Friday night in a gala World Cup opener.　 Eugenie Le Sommer and Amandine Henry also got goals on a cool, windy night at Parc des Princes, the home of Paris Saint-Germain. French pop star Jain provided the pregame entertainment for the sellout crow

SoccerJune 8, 2019

N. Korea‘s missile launches didn’t warrant suspension of talks: FM

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said her country and the United States determined that North Korea‘s short-range missile launches in May did not “deserve” suspending talks with the regime.　Speaking Friday at a security forum in Bratislava, Slovakia, Kang said South Korea and the US analyzed the launches in early May and “decided to take a cool headed approach about this.”　“We said this doesn’t deserve breaking the momentum

North KoreaJune 8, 2019

Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, US to jointly address forum

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The top nuclear negotiators of South Korea and the United States will jointly address a public forum in Washington later this month, organizers said Friday, amid a protracted stalemate in talks with North Korea.Lee Do-hoon, Seoul‘s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and his US counterpart, Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, will deliver keynote remarks at the Atlantic Council-East Asia Foundation Strategic Dial

North KoreaJune 8, 2019

Ryan in Las Vegas: Kakao character attends US licensing festival

South Korean tech company Kakao has sent representatives of its character merchandising subsidiary to attend a popular US licensing festival in Las Vegas this week, as the Korean company is seeking to introduce its popular characters to the global market. According to Kakao IX, which runs Kakao’s character business, its popular characters were showcased during Licensing Expo 2019 held from Tuesday to Thursday. The company’s character booth was decorated under the theme of “Hell

IndustryJune 7, 2019

World swimming champs not making a splash in S. Korea

Organisers of next month's world swimming championships in South Korea are facing the prospect of half-filled grandstands, figures showed Friday, with only around one-third of tickets sold.A total of 419,000 tickets are available for the FINA World Championships taking place in the southern cities of Gwangju and Yeosu, from July 12-28.But only about 149,000 have been taken up since they went on sale in January, organisers said Friday -- just over 35 percent. Around 140,000 of those were block-bo

More SportsJune 7, 2019

NK, Russian officials discuss cooperation to enhance economic, trade relations

Senior North Korean and Russian officials met on Friday to discuss bilateral economic cooperation and trade relations, Pyongyang's official news agency reported.North Korea's Minister for External Economic Affairs Kim Yong-jae met his Russian counterpart, Alexander Kozlov, who was visiting Pyongyang, according to the Korean Central News Agency. "The talks discussed matters of further revitalizing the work of the DPRK-Russia Intergovernmental Committee for Cooperation in Trade, Economy, Scie

North KoreaJune 7, 2019

Harris repeats concerns over 5G network security amid anti-Huawei campaign

US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris on Friday renewed concerns over the security of the fifth-generation (5G) wireless network amid Washington's apparent campaign against Chinese telecom titan Huawei.The United States has recently been prodding its allies and other partner countries to stop using Huawei products on security grounds amid growing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. "We are naturally concerned about the security implications of how the 5G network will be insta

DefenseJune 7, 2019

[Newsmaker] Diplomat dismissed for violating anti-graft law

A former ambassador to Vietnam was dismissed from his post for violating the anti-graft law and other irregularities, the Foreign Ministry said Friday. Former Ambassador to Vietnam Kim Do-hyun received flight tickets and accommodation from a Vietnamese company when he attended an opening event for a golf course in Vietnam with his family in October. He is also suspected of verbally abusing his officials.  The irregularities were found when the Foreign Ministry conducted an inspection of the

Foreign AffairsJune 7, 2019

UK's May quits as party leader, starting succession race

LONDON (AFP) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May steps down as leader of her Conservative Party on Friday, formally triggering the race for a successor who will try where she failed to deliver Brexit.May will remain prime minister until a new leader is chosen, likely in late July, but has relinquished control over the direction of Britain's tortuous departure from the European Union.Brexit is still scheduled for October 31 but while her rivals thrash it out, the project remains stuck, with the

World NewsJune 7, 2019

Original soundtrack for Netmarble’s ‘BTS World’ released ahead of game

South Korean game company Netmarble is releasing the original soundtrack for its new mobile game “BTS World” on Friday at 6 p.m. (local time), the company said.Titled “Dream Glow,” the soundtrack features BTS members Jin, Jimin and Jungkook, as well as British artist Charli XCX.It is produced by the Norwegian team Stargate, which has produced records for chart toppers Beyonce, Rihanna and Khalid, to name a few. The soundtrack was also mixed by renowned mixing engineer Man

IndustryJune 7, 2019

Seoul denies claims of nonparticipation in NK ship monitoring

South Korea on Friday denied reports that it was not participating in international efforts to prevent North Korean ships from circumventing sanctions by transferring cargo at sea. “(South Korea) is actively participating in enforcing UN Security Council resolutions related to sanctions on North Korea,” a Ministry of National Defense official said Friday in response to a Voice of America report. On Thursday, Voice of America had cited a Japanese Foreign Ministry official as sayi

North KoreaJune 7, 2019

Public executions in N. Korea on decline: think tank report

Public executions in North Korea appear to have become less common, but it is unclear if the drop is due to an increase in the number of executions carried out in secret, a state-run South Korean think tank said in a report Friday.According to the White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea 2019 released by the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, the reclusive regime continues to carry out public executions for "crimes disrupting the socialist order" such as watching or

North KoreaJune 7, 2019

Cheong Wa Dae 'cautiously optimistic' about possible inter-Korean summit

A top Cheong Wa Dae official struck a "cautiously optimistic" note on the possibility of holding another inter-Korean summit in the not-so-distant future.Speaking to reporters on background, the official said, "(We) are cautiously attempting to contact" North Korea in connection with a push for the fourth summit between the two Koreas. "The fact that we can't make public (relevant situations) and it's difficult to meet (North Korea) does not necessarily mean we are doing

North KoreaJune 7, 2019

Samdasoo’s market share falls amid heated competition in bottled-water business

Faced with an expanding market and growing consumer demand for cheaper options, South Korea’s bottled-water market leader Samdasoo has a stake below 40 percent in the country’s drinking water market for the first time, industry data showed Friday.Samdasoo, a drinking water brand manufactured by the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Development Corporation, has topped the market since its launch in 1998, having secured a 45.7 percent stake in the 740 billion won ($626 million) bott

IndustryJune 7, 2019