The presidential office held an emergency meeting Sunday to assess the damage caused by recent downpours and decided to establish an inter-agency headquarters to prevent further damage from additional heavy rain or typhoon forecast next week. The government also plans to promptly carry out emergency repairs to damaged facilities by providing special grants and operating emergency recovery teams, according to Jeong Hye-jeon, the presidential spokesperson, during a press briefing. Last week, Presi

Social AffairsJuly 21, 2024

FONTAINEBLEAU, France -- South Korea announced Sunday high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok and swimmer Kim Seo-yeong will be its flag bearers at the opening ceremony for the Paris Summer Olympics. Lee Kee-heung, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, made the announcement during an open house event at the South Korean training camp at the National Sports Center for Defense (CNSD) in Fontainebleau, about 60 kilometers south of the French capital. The opening ceremony is scheduled for Frid

Olympic GamesJuly 21, 2024

An overwhelming majority of the child victims in sex crimes perpetrated by a family member were aged 13 or younger when they were first victimized, a parliamentary report showed Sunday. The National Assembly Research Service compiled a report based on its survey of the four juvenile protective facilities for the victims of sex crimes by family members, which were established in 2010. Of the 316 children and teens currently under protection, 115 -- or 36.4 percent -- were first subject to the c

Social AffairsJuly 21, 2024

The primary victim in an infamous 2004 gang rape case by high school boys discussed the case in a rare interview with a local media outlet that aired Saturday, explaining to the public the pains she had to endure due to the horrid incident and secondary damages that followed. The victim, referred to as Kim, not her real name, in a recent episode of "Unanswered Questions" on SBS said she had been living in fear of retribution from the 44 alleged perpetrators of the incident in Miryang

Social AffairsJuly 21, 2024

The number of South Koreans without a job or seeking a job marked an all-time high in the first half of this year, government data showed Sunday. According to Statistics Korea, there were 4.058 million people in the country with a college degree who were considered an "economically inactive population," which refers to those aged 15 or over who are unable to or unwilling to work. This includes students, homemakers, those preparing for state exams for government official posts and peo

EconomyJuly 21, 2024

The National Theater of Korea unveiled its 2024-25 season programs which will “emphasize its identity as producing theaters.” The new season, which runs from Aug. 28 to June 29, 2025, will feature 61 titles, including 23 new works, 8 productions from repertoires, 14 regular performances and 16 co-hosted works. “We have prepared works that focus on two trajectories: Contemporary creative productions based on tradition and encore performances from our repertoires that audiences h

PerformanceJuly 21, 2024

Samsung Electronics is seen ramping up its merger and acquisition efforts to secure a stronger footing in the rising technology sectors, including artificial intelligence. The South Korean tech giant, leading in mobile devices and semiconductors, announced Thursday its acquisition of Oxford Semantic Technologies, a UK-based startup specializing in knowledge graph technology. It is the first time the company makes such an investment via Samsung Research, its research and development hub. The deal

IndustryJuly 21, 2024

The leadership race for the two major parties here heated up in recent days, with the main opposition kicking off its primaries and the ruling party wrapping up its weekslong contest with an election scheduled for Tuesday. Ex-main opposition leader and Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Sunday won a primary in Gangwon Province, the third of the 15-leg race across the country, as he tries to secure a second term. Lee won a whopping 90.02 percent of the total ballots cast by registere

PoliticsJuly 21, 2024

South Korea logged an all-time high trade surplus with the United States in the first half of this year based on strong auto exports, as the country monitors the US presidential race carefully and the chances of a second Donald Trump administration’s heavy protectionism. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Korea International Trade Association on Sunday, Korea posted a record US trade surplus of $28.7 billion from January to June this year, up 55.1 percent from the

EconomyJuly 21, 2024

MG Non-Life Insurance's third attempt to find a new owner has failed amid concerns over its financial stability. Samjong KPMG, the lead advisor for the insurer's sale, conducted the final bidding on Friday, but no participants showed up, according to sources in the financial sector. Local private equity fund Dayli Partners and US-based JC Flowers were likely contenders, having participated in the preliminary bidding. However, neither showed up for the final round. Under current law, on

IndustryJuly 21, 2024

Prosecutors questioned First Lady Kim Keon Hee face-to-face for the first time from Saturday to early Sunday on allegations of her involvement in a stock manipulation case, as well as receiving a Christian Dior handbag and other luxury gifts in exchange for favors, the South Korean prosecution confirmed Sunday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office announced Sunday that Kim was questioned for around 12 hours, from 1:30 p.m. Saturday to 1:20 a.m. Sunday, at an undisclosed government build

Social AffairsJuly 21, 2024

The South Korean military announced Sunday it has switched from rotational anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts to full-scale broadcasting, simultaneously blaring from all border speakers as of Sunday afternoon. The action comes in response to North Korea's continued launch of trash-laden balloons into South Korea, despite repeated warnings to stop, especially during the monsoon season. "As previously warned multiple times, our military will begin full-scale loudspeaker broadcasting t

North KoreaJuly 21, 2024

Following the mass global tech outage linked to Microsoft that disrupted critical public services and grounded planes, 10 companies affected in Korea have restored their operations or are on their way to recovery, said industry officials on Sunday. A faulty update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike was released worldwide to Microsoft's Windows operating systems on Friday, resulting in “blue screen of death” crashes and systems being knocked offline in airports, hospitals and

IndustryJuly 21, 2024

Earlier this month, Cho Hyun-moon, the second son of late Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Suck-rai, held a surprise press conference to announce his intention to donate his entire inheritance, worth about 100 billion won ($72 million), to a public foundation. Cho, a former Hyosung executive, has remained estranged from the founding family since he was engaged in a high-profile succession battle with his brothers – Cho Hyun-joon, the eldest, and Cho Hyun-sang, the youngest, in 2014. Currently, t

IndustryJuly 21, 2024

After a second date, Lee Tae-hyung, 26, wanted to ask the woman out again. He sent her a KakaoTalk message saying, “Do you have time this weekend?” and the reply he received was, “I don't think I can make time. I have plans this weekend.” “The message made me wonder. Is she politely saying, ‘No, I don’t want to go on another date with you,’ or does this mean that I can ask her again next week?” Lee said. Lee asked his friends and fou

Hashtag KoreaJuly 21, 2024

South Korean independent renewable energy producer Brite Energy Partners said Sunday that it has secured a fresh investment worth 100 billion won ($72 million) from its largest shareholder BlackRock. This funding, provided through BlackRock’s climate infrastructure business, is the fourth investment since BlackRock first backed BEP in August 2021. With the new capital, BEP plans to expand its solar portfolio to over 1 gigawatt, widen its electric vehicle fast-charging network and secure ba

IndustryJuly 21, 2024

Former US President Donald Trump once again boasted of his friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his campaign rally in Michigan on Saturday, just two days after delivering similar remarks at the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin. "You know, a lot of times the press would say, 'He gets along with Kim Jong-un. North Korea has a lot of nuclear weapons.' I got along with them great. You were never in danger with me as your president. It’s a good thing

Social AffairsJuly 21, 2024

A trusted name in comedy flicks, actor Jo Jung-suk's unique charm and friendliness maximize the characteristics of any role he takes up, as witnessed once again in upcoming comedy film "Pilot." A remake of the Swedish movie “Cockpit” (2012), “Pilot” revolves around the life of pilot Han Jung-woo (Jo) who, after getting fired from his job and divorced by his wife, is now searching for a new job. Out of desperation, he disguises himself as a woman to get a p

FilmJuly 21, 2024

Jimin of the K-pop group BTS is thriving with his second solo album “Muse” released on Friday. “Who,” the lead track of Jimin’s second solo album, landed at No. 3 on Spotify’s Daily Top Song Global chart dated July 19 after accumulating a staggering 7,901,507 streams. All of the seven tracks in his new album made it to Spotify’s Daily Top Song Global chart, with the Side-B tracks “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band (feat. Loco)” and “Closer

K-popJuly 21, 2024