Shim Eun-kyung wins another best actress prize at Japanese film festival

Korean actress Shim Eun-kyung, 26, on Sunday received the best actress award at the 34th Takasaki Film Festival held in Japan, for her role in the upcoming film “Blue Hour.” This is the second award she has won in Japan this month. On March 6, she became the first Korean to win the best actress award at the 43rd Japan Academy Film Prize Awards for her role in “The Journalist.” Shim played journalist Yoshioka Erika, who digs into a political scandal. Directed by Yuko Ha

FilmMarch 24, 2020

Korean Air to halt more flights to China amid virus woes

South Korean airlines are facing further challenges after the government imposed stricter entry restrictions to fight the spreading coronavirus outbreak. Korean Air Co., South Korea's biggest airline and national flag carrier, said Monday it will temporarily suspend all flights on the Incheon-Beijing route from Saturday to April 25, leaving only three routes available to China. The move comes as China steps up efforts to keep out imported COVID-19 cases. On Sunday, the Chinese aviation author

MobilityMarch 24, 2020

Spotify seeks expansion in Korea

The world’s largest music streaming platform Spotify is ramping up to launch its services in Korea. According to industry sources on Tuesday, Spotify has recently set up its Korean office at a WeWork building in Daechi-dong, southern Seoul, with Peter Gradelius, the firm’s head of corporate legal, registered as the Korean chief. Speculation has been growing about Spotify’s imminent launch here. During its second-quarter earnings call last year, CEO Daniel Ek pointed to Kore

K-popMarch 24, 2020

Moon pledges W100tr of emergency funding for virus-stricken business sector

President Moon Jae-in unveiled plans Tuesday to double the size of his administration's emergency-financing aid package to 100 trillion won ($80 billion) for businesses here under growing stress from the coronavirus pandemic, and he announced a set of special funds to stabilize South Korea's bond and securities markets. He stressed that the government would serve as a "stout breakwater" to prevent the huge crisis facing the nation's firms, speaking at the second session of the emerge

PoliticsMarch 24, 2020

76 new coronavirus cases reported in S. Korea, 3 in 10 ‘imported’

Nearly 3 in 10 new cases of the coronavirus reported in South Korea on Tuesday involved travelers arriving in Korea from abroad, as the government is tightening quarantine efforts to counter the growing number of imported infections.  　 Korea reported 76 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, bringing total infections to 9,037, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death toll stands at 124. 　 Of the new cases, 22 cases, or 29 percent, involved travelers arriving in

Social AffairsMarch 24, 2020

2 baseball clubs halt training over coronavirus concerns

Two South Korean baseball clubs halted their offseason training on Tuesday over coronavirus concerns. The Doosan Bears canceled their practice Tuesday after learning that a player had been in secondary contact with a coronavirus patient. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) team said a family member of the player had come in direct contact with the COVID-19 patient at work, and that relative is awaiting test results. In the meantime, all Doosan players have been asked to self-isolate at hom

BaseballMarch 24, 2020

Pulmuone sells $30m of fresh noodles in US in 2019

Pulmuone said Tuesday that its annual sales of Asian noodles in the US reached $30 million in 2019, a sixfold increase in the last four years. The Korean fresh food company, which leads the US tofu market, entered the Asian noodle market in the US in 2015 with premium fresh noodle products, posting annual sales of $5 million in the first year. Led by the solid performance of Black Bean Sauce Noodles and Teriyaki Stir-fry Udon distributed in Costco stores, sales continued to rise, and in 2019

ConsumerMarch 24, 2020

Allies considering holding defense cost talks via videoconferencing amid virus concerns: official

The military reported no additional cases of the new coronavirus among its population Tuesday, with the total number of infections standing at 39, the defense ministry said. Thirty-four COVID-19 patients are active-duty service members, and the remaining five are civilians working for the military, the ministry said, adding that 21 were in the Army, 14 in the Air Force, two in the Marine Corps and one each in the Navy and a unit under the direct control of the ministry. Of the total, 24 have

DefenseMarch 24, 2020

Coronavirus pandemic halts overseas shoots of Korean movies

The coronavirus pandemic is affecting the production of films in South Korea as on-location filming schedules have been canceled due to widening travel bans worldwide. The production team of the crime movie "Bogota," starring Song Joon-ki, has decided to stop shooting at a location in Colombia and return to South Korea. "We've made the decision in consideration of the safety of the cast and crew," said an official from the film's local distributor, Megabox Plus M, last wee

FilmMarch 24, 2020

Men's basketball league cancels season due to coronavirus

The South Korean men's pro basketball season came to an abrupt end on Tuesday, with the coronavirus outbreak forcing a premature finish for the first time in the league's 23-year history. The Korean Basketball League announced Tuesday that the rest of its regular season and playoffs will be scrapped. The largely expected decision was reached during the league's meeting with representatives from its 10 teams. Last Friday, the Women's Korean Basketball League canceled its remaining regular seas

More SportsMarch 24, 2020

Govt. stresses role of fiscal spending for growth in 2021

South Korea on Tuesday highlighted the importance of its budget spending in supporting the country's economic growth next year, signaling a budget hike amid the growing fallout from the spread of the new coronavirus. Under its 2021 budget guidelines, the government said it will continue to maintain the active role of fiscal spending in boosting growth, while seeking to enhance its fiscal soundness. The guidelines, reviewed and approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday, are designed to direct governme

EconomyMarch 24, 2020

Govt. tightens virus guidelines against cram schools

South Korea's education ministry on Tuesday released tightened guidelines for cram schools to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus on fears of group transmissions breaking out in the private-sector education institutions. Under the advisory, local and provincial governments will be able to impose a ban on group activities at "hagwon" that are found to have breached the government's guidelines on virus prevention. Cram schools that continue to violate the ban by opening classes

Social AffairsMarch 24, 2020

ST Unitas’ education app Conects Q&A gains traction overseas

ST Unitas, an education group in South Korea, said Tuesday that its latest app Conects Q&A has topped appstore charts in a dozen countries, even though it is still a beta version. On Google Play Store and Apple App Store, Conects Q&A topped the related category in 12 countries, including the US, Canada and Singapore. The full version is set to launch in April, the company said. Conects Q&A is an artificial intelligence-based homework solving service that provides instant answer

Social AffairsMarch 24, 2020

MBC’s ‘365 Repeat the Year’ starts time slip adventure

Reset was the theme of “365 Repeat the Year” as the new MBC drama started its 24-episode series. Beginning in the present, the characters go through life-changing tragedies that make each of them miserable. The main characters include Ji Hyung-ju, played by Lee Joon-hyuk, a detective who lost his closest teammate to a serial killer, and Shin Ga-hyeon, played by Nam Ji-hyun, a webcomic artist who is in a wheelchair due to a leg injury. Along with eight others, they are called by

TelevisionMarch 24, 2020

New virus cases on downhill as imported infections steadily rise

South Korea's new virus cases appeared to be on a downhill Tuesday, but imported infections marked the biggest one-day increase as the nation enforced quarantines on arrivals from Europe and other regions. The 76 new cases, which were detected Monday and slightly up from 64 new cases a day earlier, brought the nation's total infections to 9,037, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death toll rose by nine to 120. Monday's new cases marked the 13th consecuti

Social AffairsMarch 24, 2020

Military reports no fresh coronavirus cases, total at 39

The military reported no additional cases of the new coronavirus among its population Tuesday, with the total number of infections standing at 39, the defense ministry said. Thirty-four COVID-19 patients are active-duty service members, and the remaining five are civilians working for the military, the ministry said, adding that 21 were in the Army, 14 in the Air Force, two in the Marine Corps and one each in the Navy and a unit under the direct control of the ministry. Of the total, 24 have

DefenseMarch 24, 2020

Uncertainty growing over S. Korean exports despite recent upturn

Despite a recent recovery, uncertainty is growing over South Korea's exports down the road due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, sources said Tuesday. The country's outbound shipments grew 10 percent on-year in the first 20 days of March on brisk overseas demand for chips and automobiles, along with more working days, according to government data. The solid increase follows a 4.5 percent rise in February, the first rebound in 15 months. This month's improved export performan

EconomyMarch 24, 2020

Stricter containment steps necessary for US arrivals: experts

While South Korea has been implementing strict quarantine measures against arrivals from Europe, there are also growing calls that the country needs to apply stepped-up quarantine steps, such as virus tests, on passengers coming from the United States, medical experts said Tuesday. South Korea in recent weeks has been focusing on stemming imported virus cases after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization earlier this month. As of Tuesday, there were 171 imported case

Social AffairsMarch 24, 2020

Real estate trust firms' 2019 net down 5.5%

Real estate trust firms in South Korea saw their combined profit fall 5.5 percent in 2019 from a year earlier due to increased operating costs, data showed Tuesday. The combined net profit of 14 real estate trusts stood at 480 billion won ($379 million) in 2019, compared with 507.9 billion won in 2018, according to the data released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Real estate investment trusts are a type of security that invests in real estate to be traded on major exchanges and p

MarketMarch 24, 2020

Navy holds commemorating ceremony ahead of 10th anniversary of Cheonan sinking

The Navy has held a memorial ceremony to honor dozens of sailors killed in North Korea's 2010 deadly sinking of a South Korean warship ahead of its 10th anniversary, the military said Tuesday. The warship Cheonan went down near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas, on March 26, 2010, killing 46 sailors. After an international probe, the South concluded that the sinking was caused by a torpedo attack by a North Korean submarine. On Monday, service membe

DefenseMarch 24, 2020