China virus death toll passes 1,800: govt.

BEIJING (AFP) -- The death toll from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumped past 1,800 on Tuesday after 93 more people died in Hubei province, the hard-hit epicentre of the outbreak. In its daily update, the province's health commission also reported 1,807 new cases, a smaller number of infections compared to those declared on Monday. The new cases mean more than 72,300 people have now been affected across the country. Most of the cases are in Hubei, where the virus first emerged in Decembe

World NewsFeb. 18, 2020

Court rejects request to detain audition show producers in vote-rigging scandal

A Seoul court on Monday denied a request to detain producers of a popular K-pop TV audition show over their alleged vote-rigging. Following a hearing earlier in the day, the Seoul Central District Court turned down the request to issue arrest warrants for two producers of Mnet's 2017 show "Idol School." "It is hard to recognize the reason and need for the arrest at this stage," the court said of its reason for the rejection. Police, who raided the cable channel's operator

Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2020

Oscar-winning 'Parasite' tops Japanese box office

The Oscar-winning film "Parasite" topped the Japanese box office over the weekend, becoming the most-watched Korean movie in the neighboring country in 15 years. According to Japanese box-office tracker Kogyo Tsushinsha, director Bong Joon-ho's black comedy "Parasite" stood atop the box office for the Saturday-Sunday period in Japan. The war film "1917" placed second. "We are calculating its exact box office revenue for the weekend," the film's Japanese

FilmFeb. 17, 2020

Japan confirms 99 more cases of new virus on cruise ship

TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese officials have confirmed 99 more people infected by the new virus aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, bringing the total to 454, the Health Ministry said Monday . The ministry has been carrying out tests on passengers and crew on the ship, docked in Yokohama, a port city near Tokyo. The 14-day quarantine for those on the ship was due to end Wednesday. Outside China, the ship has had the largest number of cases of the COVID-19 illness caused by the vi

World NewsFeb. 17, 2020

Automakers in China gradually reopen after virus shutdown

BEIJING (AP) -- Automakers are reopening factories in China that were idled by anti-virus controls as they try to reverse a sales slump in their biggest market. Local officials have orders from the ruling Communist Party to get businesses functioning again while still enforcing anti-disease curbs that shut down much of the world's second-largest economy. "Local governments are putting their full weight behind helping businesses open,'' the president of the American Chamber of Commerce i

World BusinessFeb. 17, 2020

UK consumers hit by post-Brexit customs: retailers

LONDON (AFP) -- British consumers will face higher prices and limited ranges of goods in the event of a return to customs controls after the Brexit transition period, an industry body warned Monday. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) issued the gloomy warning in a report entitled A Fair Deal for Consumers: EU Trade Roadmap -- which outlined its priorities for London's trade talks with Brussels. Britain left the European Union on January 31 but remains bound by its r

World NewsFeb. 17, 2020

Season’s heaviest snow pounds Seoul

The heaviest snow so far this winter hit most parts of South Korea on Monday, disrupting road traffic and causing flight cancellations. The Korea Meteorological Administration, or KMA, issued a heavy snow alert or warnings for some parts of Gyeonggi Province and the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces as well as Jeju Island and Ulleungdo. Snowfall hit record levels in many areas as this winter season saw barely any snow until now. Dokdo and Ulleungdo had the most snow in the country with 34.8

Social AffairsFeb. 17, 2020

KB Card launches debit card featuring Pengsoo

Credit card issuer KB Card said Monday that it has rolled out a debit card featuring Pengsoo, a popular penguin character. The newly launched card comes in two designs — one with Pengsoo saying “Peng-ca,” and the other with the character trying out different fashion items. Peng-ca comes from the giant penguin’s signature line, “Peng-ha,” meaning “Pengsoo says hi.” As part of its marketing efforts, KB Card will give out stickers of the character

MarketFeb. 17, 2020

Bithumb agrees partnership with Chinese peer BitMax

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said Monday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese crypto exchange firm BitMax to roll out new crypto services and to tap into global markets together. They also agreed to jointly develop blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies and infrastructure. Founded in 2018 by CEO George Chao, Bitmax has attracted a number of Wall Street financial engineers who used to work for global financial firms, such as Barclays and Deutsche

MarketFeb. 17, 2020

NHN‘s Payco available on Apple platforms

Internet services provider NHN said Monday that its easy-to-use mobile payment service Payco was now available on US tech giant Apple’s platforms, including Apple Store, Apple Music and iCloud. Under the partnership, users can simply link their Payco accounts with their Apple ones via the Apple ID settings, the company said. Once their payment data is registered on one of their Apple devices, Payco subscribers can make online purchases across different iOS-powered gadgets, including t

MarketFeb. 17, 2020

UAE approves operation of Arab’s first nuclear plant built by Kepco

The United Arab Emirates has approved the operation permit of the Barakah nuclear power plant, which is being built by Korea Electric Power Corporation, reports said Monday. This is the first nuclear power plant exported by the Korean firm. The license granted to the plant’s operator Nawah Energy Company will be for 60 years, Hamad al-Kaabi, deputy chairman of Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, was quoted as saying by Reuters. Nawah can now start preparing for commercial operatio

IndustryFeb. 17, 2020

[Graphic News] Number of foreign subscribers to state health insurance soars in 2019

　The number of foreign subscribers to the state health insurance program surged in 2019, topping the 1 million mark, after Korea required long-term-stay foreigners to sign up for it. 　According to data from the National Health Insurance Service, there were slightly over 1.21 million foreign subscribers to the mandatory health insurance plan last year, up some 266,000 from the previous year. Last year marked the first time the figure surpassed 1 million. 　The number had been on a steady ri

NationalFeb. 17, 2020

At least 3 killed on icy roads as snow blankets nation

The heaviest snow so far this winter hit most parts of South Korea on Monday, disrupting road traffic and causing flight cancellations. At least three people were killed as cars crashed on icy roads, while nearly 40 were injured. Dozens of flights to and from the provinces of Jeju, Gangwon, Jeolla and Gyeongsang have either been canceled or delayed. Around 20 vehicles piled up inside a tunnel on a highway connecting Suncheon and Wanju in North Jeolla Province at 12:23 p.m., leaving three peo

Social AffairsFeb. 17, 2020

Park Shin-hye says ‘Call’ a never-before-seen mystery thriller

Actress Park Shin-hye will be returning to the big screen for the first time in three years with “Call,” a movie she describes as the tensest and fiercest among those in which she has acted. “There are stories that stimulate my imagination as I read on. They make me wonder how alike or different those imaginations will be when the stories are actualized on the set,” Park said at a press conference in Seoul on Monday. Park exclaimed she got goosebumps just reading the s

FilmFeb. 17, 2020

“Crash Landing on You” ends with tvN’s highest ratings yet

“Crash Landing on You,” tvN’s Saturday-Sunday drama, came to an end Sunday, breaking its own viewership record and scoring the highest ratings for any tvN drama. The final episode of the 16-part romantic comedy starring Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin saw its ratings peak at 24.1 percent, with the average viewer ratings for the whole series standing at 21.7 percent, according to Nielsen Korea. It set a record for the South Korean drama powerhouse tvN. Previously, “Guardian: T

TelevisionFeb. 17, 2020

Government steps up virus screening as risk of community spread looms

As health authorities struggle to determine how the country’s latest patients contracted the virus without China ties or contact with reported patients, the government on Monday once again vowed “preemptive measures” to stop the virus from spreading to the wider public. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the 30th case of COVID-19 -- the novel coronavirus which originated in Wuhan, China -- on Monday morning, as a woman, 68, is believed to have bee

Social AffairsFeb. 17, 2020

[James Jay Carafano] The Pentagon’s three headaches

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper doesn’t have much gray hair. Just wait. He has some monumental challenges ahead. Even if Esper has the backing of the president, and Trump gets reelected, the Pentagon has a daunting to-do list. If the secretary plans to leave the common defense stronger than it was when he came aboard, he’ll have to overcome three big problems. Big Problem No. 1: All bets aren’t covered. There are three vital areas of operations for the US: Europe, Greater M

ViewpointsFeb. 17, 2020

[Ivo Daalder] China’s secrecy has made coronavirus crisis much worse

For eight years, China’s President Xi Jinping has trumpeted his country’s increasingly authoritarian system as a grand model for other developing countries to follow. No doubt, China has seen an extraordinary period of economic growth, which has benefited hundreds of millions in China and around the world. But authoritarianism has also come at great cost, as the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus underscores. In two months, the virus has spread throughout China and beyond. More t

ViewpointsFeb. 17, 2020