[Herald Interview] ‘South Korea’s renewable energy initiative in right direction’

Renewable energy -- utilizing wind, solar, ocean tides and geothermal heat -- has been in the limelight for mitigating global climate change over the past decade.  South Korea also joined the global move by announcing “Renewable Energy 3020” in 2017, which aims to increase power generation from renewable resources to 20 percent. As of 2017, its renewable energy proportion was 7.6 percent. According to professor Miranda A. Schreurs of Environmental and Climate Policy at Techni

IndustryMarch 9, 2020

Virus patients to face fines over info concealment

South Korean health authorities warned Monday that any new coronavirus patients will face fines for concealing their travel history, residences and other important information. The measure comes as a 78-year-old patient at a Seoul hospital was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Sunday. But despite repeated inquiries, the virus patient misled the hospital staff and gave incorrect information about her residence and other details. The patient, a resident in the southeastern city of Daegu -- the epicen

Social AffairsMarch 9, 2020

LG Chem unlikely to spin off EV battery biz this year

LG Chem, a leading lithium-ion battery supplier, seems unlikely to push ahead with plans to spin off its battery business this year, a news report suggested Monday. The report said the company’s task force team responsible for the battery spinoff had concluded last week that it would not be profitable due to various business hurdles and difficult market conditions. The South Korean battery maker said last year in a regulatory filing that the company was seeking to enhance the competit

TechnologyMarch 9, 2020

Korea.net’s honorary reporters report on coronavirus in Korea

Korea.net, the South Korean government’s online platform, announced Monday that its ninth group of honorary reporters had begun their first assignment and were covering the spread of COVID-19 in Korea. Korea.net is operated by the Korea Culture and Information Service, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and has a mandate to promote Korean culture globally. The reporters’ first task was to produce a video about how the Korean government is dealing

CultureMarch 9, 2020

#BillboardRecalculate controversy explained

BTS’ latest single “On” shattered expectations, debuting at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its first week. Fans were obviously happy to see the latest single become the highest-charting song for not just BTS, but any Korean group ever. But what should have been a celebratory occasion soon spawned controversy, as curious fans took notice of an alleged gap between Billboard’s streaming figure for the song -- 18.3 million streams -- and what could be found publicly: ar

K-popMarch 9, 2020

[Herald Interview] Virus data from Korea ‘to be of great value globally’

South Korea is the country with the highest number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus outside China, accounting for about 6.9 percent of the 105,586 infections worldwide. Since the first case was reported Jan. 20, Korea has tested 196,618 people and confirmed 7,382 cases, according to the latest official tally published Monday. Its death rate stands at 0.7 percent. In discussing some of the most frequently asked questions about the new virus, Harvard epidemiology professor Marc Lipsitc

TechnologyMarch 9, 2020

BOK names research head as new deputy governor

The Bank of Korea said Monday that it had appointed Lee Hwan-seok, the incumbent head of its research department, as its new deputy governor, a senior post within the central bank that had been vacant for nearly two months. Lee, 55, joined the BOK in 1991 and built his career in its policy departments, including research and monetary policy, the bank said. He also served as monetary policy board secretariat within the bank’s planning and coordination department and chief of staff withi

EconomyMarch 9, 2020

S. Korea to provide $3m to WHO for fight against coronavirus

South Korea will provide US$3 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) to help global efforts to fight the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry said Monday, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha made the pledge during phone talks with WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus late Sunday, the ministry said in a text message to reporters, as COVID-19 cases have topped 109,000, with more than 3,700 deaths worldwide. During the phone talks, Kang also explained to the WHO chief Seoul's

Foreign AffairsMarch 9, 2020

North Korea flies out foreign diplomats during virus fight

A special North Korean flight carrying presumably dozens of diplomats and other foreigners arrived in Russia's Far East on Monday as the country tightens its lockdown intended to fend off the coronavirus. North Korea has not publicly confirmed a single case of the COVID-19 illness, but its state media have reported thousands of people have been quarantined as part of strict prevention measures. Seemingly dozens of passengers, most of them masked and some accompanied by children, lined up at

North KoreaMarch 9, 2020

Dark clouds loom over Korea's economy

Fifty days after confirmation of the first novel coronavirus case in South Korea, the economy is in a tailspin with major industries facing severe setbacks amid production disruptions, falling consumption and growing uncertainties. As of Monday morning, the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients stood at 7,382, up 248 from the previous day, while the death toll stood at 51. As the outbreak continues to escalate, global investment banks and rating firms -- including Morgan Stanley, Nomura, Sta

IndustryMarch 9, 2020

Why TikTok is becoming go-to platform for K-pop

  Just 12 hours before global sensation BTS released its newest album “Map of the Soul: 7” last month, the group dropped a 30-second preview of lead track “On” -- not on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, but on TikTok. TikTok, a short-form video-sharing app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is becoming the go-to platform for K-pop. Since its release in 2016, the app has witnessed a meteoric rise. According to app analytics site Sensor Tower, its downloads worldwide

K-popMarch 9, 2020

String of K-pop concerts called off in Japan as entry restrictions go into force

 A string of major K-pop concerts have been called off or postponed in Japan as mutual entry restrictions by South Korea and Japan went into force early Monday. South Korea and Japan's visa waiver programs for nationals from each other were suspended at the start of Monday amid outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus. On Monday, Japan's new quarantine measures also took effect, introducing a two-week quarantine period for travelers coming from South Korea and restricting the landing of flights f

K-popMarch 9, 2020

Celltrion applies for European approval of Humira biosimilar

Celltrion said Monday that it applied for the European Medicine Agency’s commercialization approval of CT-P17, a Humira (adalimumab) biosimilar. CT-P17 is a highly potent biosimilar of AbbVie’s autoimmune disease treatment Humira, a blockbuster original that recorded $19.1 billion global revenue in 2019. If approved, the CT-P17 will be a meaningful addition to Celltrion’s portfolio for rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease treatment, alongside the company’

IndustryMarch 9, 2020

S. Korea identifies 4 Korean War soldiers from remains found in DMZ

South Korea has identified four soldiers who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War from the remains found during an excavation project carried out near the border with North Korea last year, the defense ministry said Monday. The remains were found during excavation work on Arrowhead Ridge, a former battlefield inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, according to the ministry. The excavation project began in April in line with an inter-Korean military accord signed in Septemb

DefenseMarch 9, 2020

S. Korea denies report it rejected N. Korea's request for masks

South Korea has denied a news report that it rejected North Korea's request for masks to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. The Yomiuri Shimbun, a major Japanese daily, reported earlier that Seoul proposed sending medicine and diagnostic reagent to the North to help check COVID-19 virus infections after President Moon Jae-in expressed his support for such cooperation in his March 1 Independence Movement Day address. In response, the North requested mask assistance, but the South

North KoreaMarch 9, 2020

N. Korea quarantines about 10,000 people for potential infection by new coronavirus

North Korea has placed around 10,000 people under quarantine over coronavirus concerns and released about 40 percent of them as they showed no symptoms, according to state media reports. North Korea has not reported an outbreak of COVID-19, which emerged in neighboring China in late December, but it has intensified anti-virus efforts by tightening its borders and toughening quarantine criteria and procedures. According to North Korea media reports, Pyongyang has put 2,420 people under quarant

North KoreaMarch 9, 2020

Corporate bond sales soar amid low rates in Feb.

Corporate bond sales in South Korea surged in February as firms rushed to secure funds amid low rates and greater uncertainty, data showed Monday. South Korean companies floated 12.3 trillion won ($10.2 billion) worth of bonds last month, up 5.5 trillion won from the previous month, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. The amount was far larger than a forecast of 6.5 trillion won for the month's estimated demand for corporate debt sales. The association said

MarketMarch 9, 2020

Virus fatalities on rise amid signs of infection slowdown

The number of new coronavirus-related deaths in South Korea is rising steadily, although the increase of new virus cases is showing signs of slowing down, data showed on Monday. The daily death toll has been alarming since last week, when the country started to report multiple deaths in a single day, mostly in Daegu and the surrounding North Gyeongsang Province, where the caseload accounts for 90 percent of the country's total infections. As of Sunday midnight, South Korea had reported 51 de

Social AffairsMarch 9, 2020

New coronavirus leading to more jitters in Seoul-Tokyo trade row

South Korea and Japan plan to hold another meeting this week to discuss their monthslong trade dispute, but they are unlikely to reach a compromise anytime soon as the global outbreak of the new coronavirus has led to more jitters in the bilateral relationship. The two Asian neighbors are set to hold their first trade meeting in around three months on Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. While the meeting was planned to be held in Seoul, it was later replaced with

EconomyMarch 9, 2020

No. of coronavirus cases in military remains unchanged at 36

The military reported no additional cases of the new coronavirus among its population Monday, with the total number of infections standing at 36. Of the total COVID-19 cases, 20 were in the Army, 12 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, according to the defense ministry. As preventive steps, around 2,580 service members are quarantined at their bases. Of them, around 340 have either shown symptoms or had direct

DefenseMarch 9, 2020