JB Financial logs record-high net profit in 2019

JB Financial Group, the holding group of North Jeolla Province-based Jeonbuk Bank, posted a record-high net profit in 2019 on the back of its balanced business portfolio and overseas expansion. The banking group recorded 341.9 billion won ($290 million) in net profit last year, up 41.6 percent from a year earlier and hitting an all-time high, officials said Wednesday. Its BIS capital adequacy ratio -- barometer established by the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements to meas

MarketFeb. 12, 2020

Pentagon releases first full-length album 3 years after debut

Nearly 3 1/2 years since its debut, Pentagon is releasing its very first full-length album, “Universe: The Black Hall.” The album consists of 11 tracks representing different genres, and leader Hui says it captures the essence of the band’s work so far. “The new album is an aggregation of our previous nine EPs we’ve released so far,” he said during the press showcase in Seoul on Wednesday. While some might think 3 1/2 years is a long delay, Jinho said he wa

K-popFeb. 12, 2020

[Herald Interview] Playing harmonica more than a hobby

For Park Jong-seong, the harmonica is a sophisticated instrument with great versatility. The 34-year-old is a harmonica player, a rare profession in the local music scene. Although many pick up the instrument as a hobby, especially seniors, the number of professional harmonicists remains limited. Park is therefore unique, having won awards at international competitions in Japan, China and Germany. He has also released three solo albums. The third album, released in 2019, includes harmoni

PerformanceFeb. 12, 2020

Samsung hints at partnership with BTS

SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL -- Speculation is growing about Samsung Electronics possibly teaming up with global sensation BTS for the tech giant’s latest Galaxy devices. At the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2020 event held at the Palace Fine Arts in San Francisco Tuesday, V, a member of the seven-piece group, made a surprise appearance in a presentation video of the latest Galaxy phones, including the flagship Galaxy S20 and the foldable Galaxy Z Flip. The screen flashed a photo of V wearing Samsung

K-popFeb. 12, 2020

Hyundai Motor Group to adopt e-voting system at all subsidiaries

All of Hyundai Motor Group’s listed subsidiaries will introduce an electronic voting system, with the aim of shareholder friendly management, the group said Wednesday. Until last year, Hyundai Glovis, Hyundai Bng Steel and Hyundai Motor Securities had preemptively introduced the e-voting system to allow wider participation from shareholders. This year, the remaining nine listed subsidiaries decided to adopt the electronic voting. The units are Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, Hyundai Ste

MobilityFeb. 12, 2020

Three more patients cleared of virus, Wuhan evacuees arrive

The isolation period ended Wednesday for three patients infected with the novel coronavirus, pushing up the number of fully recovered patients in Korea to seven. Including the recovered patients, the number of confirmed cases in Korea stands at 28. The third batch of evacuees from Wuhan, China’s Hubei province -- 147 Koreans and Chinese nationals who are family members of Korean nationals -- arrived here via a flight chartered by the Korean government. Seven of them were sent to a hospi

Social AffairsFeb. 12, 2020

Yonsei professor gets 1st Korean Studies Writing Award

The Academy of Korean Studies conferred the first Korean Studies Writing Award on Wednesday, honoring a Yonsei University scholar for his nine-volume collection of works on the history of Korean agriculture. For health reasons, professor emeritus Kim Yong-sup was unable to attend the ceremony at the school in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, so a family member accepted the prize on his behalf. “Kim Yong-sup’s Collected Works” documents the history of Korean agriculture from anci

BooksFeb. 12, 2020

SK Plasma taps Middle East through Egypt’s ACDIMA

SK Plasma said Wednesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding worth $330 million with Egypt’s state-run pharmaceutical company ACDIMA. Under the memorandum, SK Plasma will now contract manufacture plasma-derived medical products using 1 million liters of Egyptian plasma at its facility in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, which has an annual capacity of 600,000 liters. It will also transfer plasma fractionation technology to ACDIMA and construct a plasma fractionation plant

IndustryFeb. 12, 2020

NCSoft draws bow for W2tr revenue in 2020

NCSoft is set to break through the 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) annual revenue mark this year, on the back of Lineage2M and upcoming titles Aion 2 and Blade & Soul 2M. The company’s 2019 fiscal report released Wednesday showed that it earned 1.7 trillion won last year, down 1 percent from the previous year. While NCSoft shouldered a 22 percent on-year operating loss due to decreased royalties, in the fourth quarter alone, after the launch of new mobile game Lineage2M, the company r

IndustryFeb. 12, 2020

[Lionel Laurent] Ireland brings new twist to populism

Sinn Fein’s electoral smash in Ireland is a historic moment for a party that has long had difficulty shaking off its past ties to the sectarian violence of the “troubles.” It’s clear that the party’s new leader and a policy platform based around fixing the country’s housing crisis and improving public services have struck a chord with the public. That was especially true with the under-35s, for whom peace in Ireland has been the norm rather than the exception.

ViewpointsFeb. 12, 2020

[Kim Myong-sik] Blue House and 2018 Ulsan mayoral election conspiracy

It is a crime story with enough sinister plots that Bong Joon-ho or even Martin Scorsese might be interested in making it into a movie. After several months of investigation, the South Korean prosecution under Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-yul indicted 13 people, including current and former senior secretaries of President Moon Jae-in, for abuse of power and violating the election law in relation to the Ulsan mayoral election in 2018. Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae involved herself in the affair

ViewpointsFeb. 12, 2020

S. Korea’s job indexes progress in Jan., likely to falter in Feb.

South Korea saw its jobless rate fall with job additions hitting the highest level in more than five years in January, on the back of the government’s continued fiscal efforts to expand the job market for the elderly, data showed Wednesday. But as the improved figures did not properly reflect the latest impact of the new coronavirus COVID-19, the government suggested a pessimistic outlook for this month. The nation’s unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage point on-year to 4.1 pe

EconomyFeb. 12, 2020

USFK recommends troops watch ‘Mr. Sunshine’

Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of the United States Forces Korea in South Korea, “strongly recommended” that American service members here watch “Mr. Sunshine,” a 2018 South Korean hit television series available on Netflix. The general was retweeting an earlier post by Major Gen. Patrick J. Donahoe, the second in command at the USFK 8th Army, who joked on Twitter that visitors to Korea were “legally required” to watch the series. “Fair warning. If you

DefenseFeb. 12, 2020

[Herald Interview] KARD returns with Moombahton, paying homage to their debut

Mixed-gender quartet KARD has returned to the local music scene after a five-month hiatus, the longest break they’ve had been since debuting in 2016, with fourth mini-album “Red Moon.” This five-track album might be the group’s last mini album for a while, as J.Seph has to enlist in the Korean Army by the end of the year to fulfill his military duty of about 18 months. Unlike the group’s latest single “Dumb Litty,” a song described as “very agg

K-popFeb. 12, 2020

Tracking down new mystery virus

The new coronavirus that originated in China has infected 28 people in South Korea, with at least 5,000 being monitored for symptoms. Every time a new case is discovered, epidemiological investigators at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rush to track the course of the infection and estimate its sphere of influence. Park Young-jun, the chief of the KCDC emergency response center’s epidemiology and case management team, spoke to reporters Wednesday about what it takes

Social AffairsFeb. 12, 2020

Oscar-winning Bong Joon-ho’s films to be adapted into English TV series

“Parasite” continues to soar after winning four Oscars this week, including best picture. Last month, it was revealed that US cable network HBO had secured the rights to adapt the genre-defying film into a television series, helmed by writer-director of the original film Bong Joon-ho and HBO’s “Succession” executive producer Adam McKay. While no other details have been confirmed, Bong and HBO are reportedly in talks. Based on Bong’s previous interviews, th

FilmFeb. 12, 2020

[From the Scene] Chinese restaurants, food industry suffer upon novel coronavirus fear

Health authorities insist the transmission of the novel coronavirus through food is unlikely, but fears concerning Chinese food and imported ingredients are spreading fast, and hitting the industry hard. Almost a month has passed since the first novel coronavirus patient was confirmed in Korea, and Chinese restaurant owners are struggling to make ends meet, as rumors backed by anxiety are quickly circulating that the epidemic could be spread via food. “I suggested having skewered meat

IndustryFeb. 12, 2020

Co-curated exhibition touches on feminist perspectives on art

Three young women curators were curious about how Chang Jia’s works would be interpreted in 2020 after they received the spotlight for dealing with discrimination against women in the early 2000s, when gender issues were still considered an uncomfortable topic. Stepping into the Doosan Gallery in Seoul, which is holding the exhibition “Don’t Care If You Give Me That Evil Eye,” one is overwhelmed by the wide range of media dealing with female bodies, cult films and fabr

Arts & DesignFeb. 12, 2020

Stock prices of firms behind ‘Parasite’ hit new high

Shares of both Barunson E&A, the production company of Oscar-winning “Parasite,” and the entertainment division of stationery and restaurant conglomerate Barunson hit a new 52-week high Wednesday. Barunson E&A shares touched 3,815 won ($3.24) -- up 880 won, or 29.98 percent, from the previous session. The firm had previously peaked by the daily limit of about 30 percent for two straight trading sessions. Baruson’s stock price also spiked 29.87 percent, to hit 4,435

MarketFeb. 12, 2020