Leaders of S. Korea, Mongolia exchange letters to mark establishment of diplomatic ties

The leaders of South Korea and Mongolia exchanged letters Thursday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year, the foreign ministry in Seoul said. In the letter to Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga, President Moon Jae-in noted that the bilateral relationship has developed in areas such as the economic, social and cultural fields in the past decades based on solid trust and friendship, the ministry said in a release. Moon also expressed hop

Foreign AffairsMarch 26, 2020

President Moon’s approval rating rebounds on virus response

President Moon Jae-in’s approval rating rose to its highest level in more than 16 months, owing to the government’s COVID-19 response, local pollster Realmeter said Thursday. The country’s aggressive tracing and testing early in the pandemic has helped it to avoid drastic lockdowns. According to the poll, conducted between Monday and Wednesday, Moon’s approval rating stood at 52.5 percent, up 3.2 percentage points from the previous week. It was the highest since the

PoliticsMarch 26, 2020

[Photo News] Duty-free hit by coronavirus

The duty-free zone of Incheon International Airport’s Terminal 1 appears quiet Wednesday afternoon. As the industry was hit hard by the sharp drop in outbound travelers due to the spread of the new coronavirus, some of the airport’s duty-free shops couldn’t pay the rent in February. SM Duty Free pays about 3 billion won ($2.4 million) a month in rent and incurs interest of nearly 16 percent per year if it can’t pay on time. (Yonhap)

IndustryMarch 26, 2020

Gyeonggi Province's coronavirus-related aid project to N. Korea halted: official

A coronavirus-related aid project to North Korea planned independently by the Gyeonggi Province government was suspended, as it failed to meet the requirements necessary for government approval, a unification ministry official said Thursday. Local media outlets reported earlier that the Gyeonggi provincial government approved a motion last month to provide North Korea with medical supplies, such as masks and test kits, worth 1.2 billion Korean won ($980,000) to help with Pyongyang's preventive

North KoreaMarch 26, 2020

[Newsmaker] Churches respond to government’s recommendation of stricter social distancing

Churches showed different responses to the Korean government‘s urging of stricter social distancing before schools are due to restart on April 6. The Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul on Wednesday announced that it has decided to suspend holding Mass and other large group activities until April 5. “We take the current situation very seriously so we have decided to delay our original plan and start our Masses from April 6, when elementary, middle and high schools start,” Cardinal

CultureMarch 26, 2020

Feminist photographer Park Young-sook inspired by sacrificed ‘witches’

When Park Young-sook, the first-generation feminist photographer, visited the Gotjawal Forest on Jeju Island for the first time last year, she had to walk through dead vines and thought of the forest as an abandoned place. Then women who were sacrificed in witch hunts came to mind. “I felt like the place turned into a spiritual place where women who were labeled as ‘witches’ in Europe came crossing the sea and peacefully lived at the desolate, lonely forest,” Park said

Arts & DesignMarch 26, 2020

Hyundai Mobis' roof air bag gains US attention

Hyundai Mobis said Thursday that its air bag that ejects out from the sunroof has been evaluated and shared by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The first kind to be invented in the world, according to the firm, the roof air bag is unfolded when a vehicle is flipped over during an accident. It can cover the entire roof in 0.08 seconds, aimed at protecting passengers inside the car from being ejected out of the sunroof. The new system involves 24 patented technologies and h

MobilityMarch 26, 2020

Preorders for Hyundai’s new Avante accelerate on first day

Hyundai Motor said Thursday its steady-selling sedan Avante’s latest model has received 10,058 preorders on the first day of reservation. The number is double the average monthly sales figure of Avante, as well as nine times more than the preorders for sixth-generation Avante, the company said.  It is also beats the past preorder record of the first-generation Avante -- which was named Elantra. The automaker said the number is meaningful amid the sharply falling consumer demand fo

MobilityMarch 26, 2020

Koreans choose to drink at home during virus quarantine

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed daily life for many, driving society to endorse “social distancing” and putting people to work remotely, spending most of their time at home. For many in Korea, well known for its binge-drinking and hoesik (nighttime drinking gatherings) culture, things appear to have changed significantly, as the latest data shows more opting to drink at home. “(Because of COVID-19) I had many of my hangout plans canceled, and it was disappointing at firs

ConsumerMarch 26, 2020

[Video] College students have tough time with online classes

Universities across South Korea have temporarily shifted to remote learning on short notice due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus. Professors have been informed to conduct distance teaching -- at least -- through the end of March. Students are slowly adapting to online classes after colleges officially started on March 16. In two weeks, mixed responses about online classes hit Everytime -- an application used by students to arrange timetables. One of the top-ranked comments was about how

Social AffairsMarch 26, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘COVID-19 to affect humans’ short-term evolution’ Macrogen CEO

A human life is not only determined by the genomic structure, but also by what types of viruses and microbiomes the body interacts with. CEO Yang Gap-seok of Macrogen, a company that has recently been touted as an essential cogwheel in the research to understand the novel coronavirus, says that what COVID-19 is doing will affect our short-term evolution. The company Yang represents has been leading the research for the virus specific to Korea. Macrogen was the first to identify nine muta

IndustryMarch 26, 2020

Golden Child streams concert on Twitter for fans in isolation

Boy band Golden Child on Tuesday streamed a full version video of its first solo concert, “Future and Past,” on Twitter, attracting almost 650,000 views during the three-hour run. The footage was released at 8:28 p.m. here as a surprise for fans around the world, many of whom may be coping with self-isolation amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. The band performed 24 tracks, including debut song “DamDaDi,” for the concert that was originally held in January in Seoul.

K-popMarch 26, 2020

Mixed reactions from S. Korean athletes, coaches to Tokyo 2020 postponement

Olympic gymnastics champion Yang Hak-seon had been peaking just in time for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games, originally slated to start July 24. When the men's vault gold medalist from the 2012 London Games heard the news Tuesday night that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had postponed the Olympics to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, his first thought was, "How am I going to keep doing this for another year?" "I wanted to be able to compete in the Olympics when m

Olympic GamesMarch 26, 2020

Porsche Korea donates W649m for children’s dreams

Porsche Korea said Thursday it has donated 649 million won ($527,000) to ChildFund Korea to continue its social contribution efforts in the country. The company has signed a memorandum of understating with the social welfare foundation and delivered the donation to build on its “Porsche Do Dream” campaign, which has been running for four years. “For the past four years, Porsche Korea has endeavored to create an environment where Korean children can follow and fulfill their

MobilityMarch 26, 2020

Korean refiners cut export price as storage supplies max out

South Korean refiners are exporting more petrochemical products at lower prices as their storage facilities have reached their limit due to a sharp fall in domestic demand, industry sources said Thursday. According to the state-run Korea Natural Oil Corp.’s oil information provider Petronet, the domestic consumption of petroleum goods in February sank to 72.12 million barrels -- the lowest figure since 70.82 million barrels of April 2016 -- while outbound shipments in February rose 8.28

IndustryMarch 26, 2020

Shinhan Financial chief reappointed despite recruiting scandal

Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung on Thursday was reappointed for another three years, despite disapproval of the largest shareholder and an ongoing legal dispute. The appointment was approved at the group’s annual shareholders meeting in Seoul which was livestreamed on the its website due to the COVID-19 spread. Cho will retain his position until March 2023, with no apparent signs of dissent from the attending shareholders. “I will make the best efforts to mini

MarketMarch 26, 2020

LG Display deploys engineers to complete OLED fab in China

LG Display said Thursday it aims to complete its new organic light-emitting diode panel manufacturing plant in Guangzhou, China, soon and has deployed 290 engineers from here. The engineers flew on a chartered Korean Air flight after getting entry permission from Chinese authorities. They will stay at a quarantine facility prepared by the company for a certain period of time. All of them have tested negative for COVID-19. LG Display had planned to start operating the Guangzhou fab within

TechnologyMarch 26, 2020

BOK to provide ‘unlimited’ liquidity to market until end-June

South Korea’s central bank said Thursday that it will inject an unlimited amount of liquidity to the financial market over the next three months, in an effort to sustain the volatile market amid the spread of the novel coronavirus. “The Bank of Korea has decided to supply an unlimited amount of liquidity to financial institutions to reduce the economic fallout of COVID-19 and remove uncertainties in the financial market,” the BOK said in a release. “Also, it will expan

EconomyMarch 26, 2020

90 percent of imported infections involve Koreans

Novel coronavirus infections stemming from overseas outpaced locally transmitted cases in South Korea, and nearly 90 percent of imported cases involve Koreans returning from overseas, local authorities said Thursday. The country reported 104 new cases of COVID-19 between midnight Tuesday and midnight Wednesday, with 57 of them classified as imported, involving both Koreans and non-Korean arriving here from overseas. Of them, 30 were identified during the virus screening and quarantine proce

Social AffairsMarch 26, 2020

[Newsmaker] Seoul city cancels Shincheonji permit, blames religious sect for virus

The Seoul city government canceled a permit for a foundation apparently associated with Shincheonji Thursday, accusing the fringe religious sect of aggravating the coronavirus outbreak. The Shincheonji Church of Jesus, estimated to have more than 200,000 followers in the country, and its founder Lee Man-hee face multiple lawsuits. They are accused of hiding information that could help contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The group is linked to 55 percent of the country's more than 9,000 confirmed pa

Social AffairsMarch 26, 2020