Most Popular
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Psy's touch or new trend in music? P Nation’s solo stars lose their shine
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Yoon warns North Korea against nuclear attack attempt
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Seoul to hold grand military parade on Tuesday, disrupting major city routes
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81-year-old model awarded ‘best dressed’ in Miss Universe Korea
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Shut up and dance
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Seoul mayor suggests shift in immigration policy
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NewJeans fans corner Hybe amid PR backlash, looming National Assembly audit
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'Smart pill'? ADHD treatment prescriptions spike this year
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Israel targets Palestinian group in first strike on Beirut center
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Brit pop legend Oasis to perform in Seoul next year
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[Herald Review] ‘Orchestra Pit’ musical witty, unexpected barrel of laughs
What happens when an orchestra conductor marries his violinist, who leaves him for a trumpet player, then ends up falling for a harpist -- only to find out his estranged wife wants to reconcile? The basic premise of Japanese author Koki Mitani and composer Takayuki Hattori’s musical “Orchestra Pit” may sound befuddling, but its combination of light-hearted humor and up-tempo musical interludes make it a refreshing departure from other blockbuster musicals whose scores and lyrics have been memori
PerformanceDec. 24, 2015
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[Yu Kun-ha] Challenges for finance minister
The Korean economy is expected to face a host of external and internal challenges in 2016. Externally, the risks stemming from the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China, will put the Korean economy to a severe test. Domestically, a rapid rise in household and government debt and resistance to structural reforms will constrain efforts to boost the economy. Yu Kun-ha Earlier this week, President Park Geun-hye picked a new helmsman who will steer the nation through these challe
ViewpointsDec. 24, 2015
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[Jawed Naqvi] Did Gandhi hate music, cinema?
Wonder what Nietzsche — who famously claimed not to believe in a god that could not dance — would have said of Gandhi. The question arose when I went to an old-world type meeting where people were celebrating the centenary year of the late Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, a leftist writer and filmmaker. Iffat Fatima and Syeda Saiyidain have produced an impressive reference guide to his enormous body of work, primarily as a writer of countless books, newspaper articles and numerous film scripts. It is safe t
ViewpointsDec. 24, 2015
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Public debt growth outpaces GDP
Korea’s public-sector debt relative to gross domestic product is much smaller than advanced countries, but it is growing faster than the economy, government data showed Thursday. The Korean government and nonfinancial public institutions owed 957.3 trillion won ($816 billion) to creditors at the end of 2014, up 6.5 percent from a year ago, the Finance Ministry said in a report. The pace of debt growth was faster than the 3.3 percent of the Korean economy last year. The debt was tantamount to 64.
Dec. 24, 2015
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Tough time to be a central banker, says BOK chief
Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol (Yonhap)A little less than a decade ago, the job of a central banker could be described as important but simple: With one tool -- short-term interest rate -- they targeted inflation. In a downturn economy, when signs of low inflation emerged, they loosened the monetary policy, lowering interest rates. In an upcycle, they prevented economic overheating and high inflation with monetary tightening by raising the rates. Nowadays, the job is much more complex, with s
Dec. 24, 2015
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Mirae Asset preferred bidder for Daewoo Securities
The state-run Korea Development Bank on Thursday picked the Mirae Asset consortium as the preferred bidder for KDB Daewoo Securities, the country’s second-largest brokerage by capital. The Mirae Asset consortium -- comprising Mirae Asset Securities and Mirae Asset Global Investments -- offered the highest 2.4 trillion won ($2.06 billion) for a 43 percent stake in the brokerage house and 100 percent of KDB’s asset management operation. (Yonhap)Mirae’s offer price was far higher than the market v
Dec. 24, 2015
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Strengthened IMF benefits U.S. and world
Overlooked in the circus of national politics this past week was a small victory for U.S. global leadership and common sense -- in the bipartisan agreement to restore full U.S. support for the International Monetary Fund. This move, part of what’s known as “quota reform” of the IMF, should have been a no-brainer when it was proposed five years ago. The modernization plan will expand the voting power of emerging economies such as China and India in the IMF, and modestly reduce that of European co
ViewpointsDec. 24, 2015
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We must do more to help H.K. street sleepers
On Dec. 13, a 59-year-old street sleeper who had worked as a food delivery worker was found dead at the intersection of Fa Yuen Street and Nullah Road in Kowloon’s Mong Kok district. Two months earlier, a homeless woman was found dead in a 24-hour McDonald’s at a public housing estate in Kowloon Bay in Kowloon. It is believed, from security camera footage that she was a street sleeper who regularly spent her nights in McDonald’s. These are terribly sad stories at a time when people are preparin
ViewpointsDec. 24, 2015
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India returns to Russia for weapons procurement
A tactical imperative and a strategic rekindling of relations could both result from the Defense Acquisition Council’s clearing the purchase of five advanced S-400 Triumph antiballistic missile systems from Russia. The price, an estimated 350 billion rupees, or about $5.28 billion (to be paid in hard currency), would certainly be duly appreciated by the Russians, who have their economic difficulties given the shrinking of dealings with the West. A major gap in the Indian defense shield would be
ViewpointsDec. 24, 2015
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Thai government crowing over precious little
The Thai government will today formally list its accomplishments after a year in office. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and his Cabinet will be on hand for the unveiling of an exhibition outside the Government House that continues through Saturday. Keeping the public informed is fine, and politicians can’t be faulted for wanting to boast about gains they’ve made on the country’s behalf. But this is, after all, a military-installed government, and Prayuth goes on TV every Friday to declare wha
ViewpointsDec. 24, 2015
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Korea to sign contract on KF-X next week
South Korea's state arms procurement agency said Thursday it will sign a formal contract next week on its fighter jet development project, known as KF-X.The Defense Acquisition Procurement Administration plans to ink the deal with Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., the country's sole aircraft maker."Negotiations over the formal contract on the KF-X program are going well. It seems to be possible to sign it around Dec. 28," the agency official said on the condition of anonymity.South Korea hopes to
DefenseDec. 24, 2015
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Korea paroles 550 prisoners in celebration of Christmas
The government released 550 prisoners on special parole, ministry officials said Thursday, in celebration of the Christmas holiday.The inmates, who had a low possibility of repeating their crimes and led an exemplary life in prison, were granted parole on the last working day before the holiday, the Ministry of Justice said.Two juvenile prisoners and the former head of the Hankook Ilbo media group were included in the list.Chang Jae-ku, 68, had about a month left to finish his 30-month jail term
Social AffairsDec. 24, 2015
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Koreas' women call for efforts to improve inter-Korean ties
South and North Korean women have called for efforts to bring reconciliation and peace to the Korean Peninsula, Pyongyang's state media said Thursday.About 60 South Korean women from 35 female activists' organizations visited the North's border city of Kaesong Wednesday for a set of cultural events with their North Korean counterparts.Participants raised the need to cherish an inter-Korean agreement in August to defuse military tension and implement it thoroughly to open a "fresh turning phase"
North KoreaDec. 24, 2015
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Seoul shares fall 0.4% on profit-taking
South Korean stocks fell 0.43 percent, snapping a three-day winning streak on Thursday as investors locked in recent gains, with losses in tech heavyweights dragging down the index. The local currency rose against the greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index retreated 8.57 points to end at 1,990.65. Trade volume was thin at 497.59 million shares worth 3.54 trillion won ($ 3.04 billion), with losers beating winners 418 to 381.Stocks got a head start as a rebound in crude oil pri
Dec. 24, 2015
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North Korea denounces Obama for military tensions
North Korea fiercely accused the Obama administration Thursday of deliberately raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, while refraining from criticizing South Korea.Recounting security-related events in Korea this year, the Korean Central News Agency claimed a military crisis has returned to Korea due to Washington's "hostile policy" on Pyongyang."The current U.S. administration's policy on the DPRK and its implementation is the most hostile and ferocious in the history (of the U.S. government
North KoreaDec. 24, 2015
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6 major builders fined for collusion in bids for river project
The nation's top court on Thursday upheld monetary penalties for six major construction companies on charges of bid rigging in the previous government's project to improve the country's four major rivers.The Supreme Court ordered the builders -- Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co., Daelim Industrial Co., GS Engineering and Construction Co., SK Engineering and Construction Co. and Hyundai Development Co. -- to pay a fine of 75 million won ($64,000) each for rigging the 2009 biddings for the
IndustryDec. 24, 2015
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Four more years of cheap oil: OPEC
VIENNA (AFP) - The OPEC oil cartel sees only a gradual improvement in the global crude market, with prices recovering to above $70 per barrel after four years, according to a report released Wednesday.With the global benchmark oil price touching an 11-year low of $36.04 on Monday, the cartel which produces a third of the world's crude said that it foresees a "gradual improvement in market conditions as growing demand and slower than previously expected non-OPEC supply growth eliminate the existi
World BusinessDec. 24, 2015
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BOK to cut rate-setting meetings to eight in 2017
South Korea's central bank said Thursday it will reduce the number of rate-setting meetings to eight per year starting in 2017 as part of efforts to enhance the validity of its monetary policies.The decision came after Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol noted sometimes fewer were better."Central banks of major advanced countries are reducing their number of rate-setting meetings to eight per year and the main reason for this is that it is most desirable when a monetary policy is based on long-term g
Dec. 24, 2015
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Seoul shares up 0.2% in late morning trade
South Korean stocks traded 0.22 percent higher late Thursday morning as the market sentiment was buoyed by a rebound in crude oil prices from a multi-year bottom and gains in Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 4.41 points to 2,003.63 as of 11:20 a.m.U.S. crude futures jumped 3.8 percent to $37.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, supporting the battered energy sector on Wall Street on Wednesday.Doosan Infracore, the maker of construction equipment unde
Dec. 24, 2015
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Top court confirms conviction of ruling party lawmaker
The nation's top court on Thursday upheld a six-month jail term for a ruling party lawmaker convicted of receiving illegal political funds, a verdict that stripped him of his seat.The Supreme Court handed down the decision on Park Sang-eun of the ruling Saenuri Party. Still, the prison term was suspended for one year, meaning that Park would not have to serve prison time if he stayed out of trouble during that period.It is the latest in a string of bribery convictions involving lawmakers in rece
PoliticsDec. 24, 2015