Seoul shares open lower amid US election uncertainty

South Korean stocks kicked off lower Tuesday as investors were cautious ahead of the US presidential election. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 18.47 points, or 0.71 percent, to 2,570.5 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, Wall Street closed lower as investors treaded water ahead of the US presidential election Tuesday (US time), where former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are neck and neck in the polls. Investors' eyes are also on the

MarketNov. 5, 2024

Putin meets N. Korean FM Choe: TASS

Russian President Vladimir Putin has met North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui at the Kremlin in Moscow, TASS reported, amid growing concerns over Pyongyang's troop deployment to Russia to support its war in Ukraine. Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Putin received Choe in the presidential complex as Pyongyang's top diplomat was on a working visit to Russia, according to Russia's state-owned news agency on Monday. Choe conveyed North Korean leader Kim Jong-

Foreign AffairsNov. 5, 2024

As many as 10,000 N. Korean troops are in Kursk, could join combat in 'coming days': State Dept.

As many as 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia's western front-line Kursk region and could engage in combat in the "coming days," a State Department spokesperson said Monday, amid growing concerns that their involvement could expand Moscow's war in Ukraine. Matthew Miller, the spokesperson, made the remarks as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message earlier that there are already 11,000 North Korean troops in the Kursk region. "We now assess

Foreign AffairsNov. 5, 2024

Consumer inflation slows to lowest level in nearly 4 years in Oct.

South Korea's consumer prices slowed to the lowest level in 45 months in October on stabilizing oil prices, staying below 2 percent for the second consecutive month, data showed Tuesday. Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 1.3 percent on-year last month, compared with a 1.6 percent on-year increase in September, according to the data from Statistics Korea. October's figure marked the lowest level since January 2021, when consumer prices grew 0.9 percent. Consumer inflation

EconomyNov. 5, 2024

North Korea fires ballistic missiles hours before US Election Day

North Korea on Tuesday fired short-range ballistic missiles into the sea east of the Korean Peninsula, hours before the US goes to the polls to elect its next president. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a brief announcement the missiles were launched at around 7:30 a.m. from a province south of Pyongyang and traveled 400 kilometers before landing in the waters. South Korean and US military and intelligence officials are analyzing details of the launch, including their type and rang

DefenseNov. 5, 2024

[Graphic News] Average lunch over 10,000 won

The average amount workers spend on lunch has risen back above 10,000 won ($7.24), according to data from food tech company SikSin. The survey found that the average amount spent on lunch at restaurants nationwide was 10,037 won. After surpassing 10,000 won for the first time in the first quarter of this year, it dipped slightly to 9,902 won in the second quarter, but has since increased again. Other statistics reflect tighter household budgets. Notably, there has been a significant rise in wo

Social AffairsNov. 5, 2024

[Catherine Thorbecke] Indonesia’s iPhone 16 ban

Even the world’s fourth most-populous country, which has more active cellphones than people, seems to be no match for Apple. Indonesia’s ban on the sale of iPhone 16s after the company failed to meet local investment requirements didn’t faze investors. Shares of the world’s most-valuable company were largely unchanged by the news, which makes sense given the smaller footprint it has in the emerging market. And the deck was already unevenly stacked: Indonesia’s entir

ViewpointsNov. 5, 2024

[John Mark Hansen] Why is the US presidential race even close?

I teach a course at the University of Chicago on presidential elections, and I hear the same kind of question from friends on both the right and the left. The Republicans I grew up with in western Kansas cannot understand why Donald Trump is not far ahead in the polls, whereas the Democrats who surround me in Chicago wonder how it can possibly be that Kamala Harris is not running away with the race. These are the right questions for understanding contemporary US politics. For all its unusual asp

ViewpointsNov. 5, 2024

Yoon to hold news conference on Thursday

President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a news conference on Thursday at 10 a.m. as the South Korean leader approaches the halfway point of his five-year term, Yoon's office announced on Monday. According to the presidential office, Yoon will map out his administration’s policy direction for the future and engage in a sincere discussion of topics that have drawn public interest. Yoon’s aides proposed that he take the opportunity to communicate with the public before he departs for an

PoliticsNov. 4, 2024

S. Korean delegation to Ukraine returns home after discussion on N. Korean troop dispatch to Russia

A South Korean government delegation to Ukraine returned home Monday after visiting Kyiv to discuss possible cooperation measures in response to North Korea's troop deployment to Russia, officials said. The delegation, consisting of senior intelligence and military officials, visited Ukraine after briefing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels last week over the North's troop dispatch. The visit came as South Korea has signaled a potential shift in its Ukraine support poli

Foreign AffairsNov. 4, 2024

S. Korea, US sign defense cost-sharing deal ahead of US elections

South Korea and the United States formally signed a defense cost-sharing agreement Monday, as Seoul seeks to speed up its domestic ratification procedure to ensure the stable stationing of American troops here ahead of the US elections. The signing came a month after the allies reached a new five-year deal on determining Seoul's share of its cost for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea. Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and US Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg signed the deal

Foreign AffairsNov. 4, 2024

Prosecutors demand up to 10 yrs imprisonment for officials over Gwangju apartment collapse

GWANGJU -- Prosecutors on Monday demanded prison terms of up to 10 years for company officials accused of involvement in the deadly collapse of an apartment building in Gwangju in 2022. The collapse of the 39-story apartment building under construction left six workers dead and one injured in January 2022. An investigation found that deck plates and concrete supports affecting the building's bearing capacity had been installed without a structural review. During the final hearing at Gwang

Social AffairsNov. 4, 2024

Zambia marks 60th Independence Day

Zambia celebrated its 60th Independence Day in Seoul on Oct. 23. The day commemorates a historic occasion when the country gained independence from British colonial rule on Oct. 24, 1964, and is remembered as the moment when Zambia's first president, Kenneth Kaunda, raised the new Zambian flag and declared the nation’s sovereignty. Delivering remarks at the event, Zambian Ambassador to Korea Andrew Bwezani Banda highlighted the immense potential for increased trade and investment betw

Foreign AffairsNov. 4, 2024

[Herald Review] TXT concludes third world tour, opens new chapter

Boy band TXT celebrated the grand finale of its third world tour with three days of concerts in Seoul and returned with a new album. The quintet held the final performance of “Act: Promise,” the encore concert of its third world tour, which began in May, at KSPO Dome in Seoul on Sunday. Including the encore concerts, TXT completed a total of 31 performances across 17 cities, including major venues like Tokyo Dome, Kyocera Dome Osaka, Vantelin Dome Nagoya in Japan, and Madison Square

PerformanceNov. 4, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] Red Velvet’s Irene to release 1st solo album

Irene of Red Velvet will bring out her first solo album “Like A Flower” on Nov. 26, said label SM Entertainment Monday. Together with the title track, the EP comprises eight tracks based on the pop genre. It will be her first solo endeavor since debuting as the leader of Red Velvet 10 years ago. The group celebrated its decadelong music career with EP “Cosmic” and a fan concert tour in Asia. The EP topped iTunes' Top Albums chart in 50 regions and debuted on Billboar

K-popNov. 4, 2024

Local food festivals enjoy unexpected popularity as snacks go viral

Local festivals in Korea on the theme of bunsik, Korean light meals and snacks, are enjoying unprecedented success, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors in recent weeks. Although the festivals were held in cities 2-3 hours by car from the Seoul metropolitan area, where half of the Korean population lives, some cities saw visitor numbers similar to their whole populations as the events went viral online. The 1st Gimcheon Gimbap Festival, held at Samyeongdaesa Park in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsa

TravelNov. 4, 2024

SK hynix unveils 2025 shipment plans for most up-to-date HBM chip

SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung unveiled the company’s plan to start mass production of the industry's most up-to-date high-bandwidth memory chips early next year. “We anticipated that the market for the 16-layer product will begin to open (the sixth-generation) HBM4,” he said in a keynote speech at SK AI Summit 2024 in Seoul on Monday. "We are developing the new product to ensure technical stability.” The 16-layer, 48-gigabyte, fifth-generation HBM3E chip boasts the

TechnologyNov. 4, 2024

Man booked after nearly 100 reptiles found dead in his home

A man in his 20s was booked without detention for allegedly abandoning hundreds of pet reptiles, resulting in many of them starving to death, according to police on Monday. Heungdeok Police Station in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province said it is investigating the man on suspicion of breaking the Animal Protection Act. The police said they received a report on October 11 from the landlord of an apartment in the city’s Bokdae-dong neighborhood. The landlord said he had been unable to cont

Social AffairsNov. 4, 2024

[Herald Interview] Roh Yoon-seo talks about acting in sign language in ‘Hear Me: Our Summer’

In director Jo Sun-ho’s coming-of-age romance flick “Hear Me: Our Summer,” a majority of the three protagonists’ scenes rely less on speech and more on sign language, body language and written text. For Roh Yoon-seo, being part of the project was an experience that has improved not only her sign language skills but also expanded her acting spectrum. “At first, there was the pressure to learn a new language, but I started out by learning lines from the scenario in

FilmNov. 4, 2024