[News Focus] Centrist voters hold key to April election outcome

SEJONG -- In South Korea, swing voters have often determined winners in the past presidential, general and local elections, playing a pivotal role.The swing voters who usually are ideologically neutral are estimated to take up 30-40 percent of the total voters across the nation. They are also roughly called centrists.Once more, the ruling and opposition parties are paying close attention to the opinion of centrists, three months ahead of the April 15 general election.According to recent surveys

PoliticsJan. 14, 2020

Korean documentary ‘In the Absence’ nominated for Oscar

The 92nd Academy Awards on Monday named “In the Absence,” directed by Yi Seung-Jun and produced by Gary Byung-Seok Kam, as a nominee for best documentary (short subject).The category comprises released nonfiction motion pictures with a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits. Along with Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite,” which earned six nominations for the upcoming Academy Awards, “In the Absence” has become one of the first South Korean-

FilmJan. 14, 2020

Hyundai E&C secures W870b deals from Qatar, Singapore

Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co., a major South Korean builder, said Tuesday it has clinched orders worth a combined 870 billion won ($754 million) to build office buildings in Qatar and a sports center in Singapore.Hyundai E&C said it has received a letter of award from Qatar's Lusail Real Estate Development Co. for a project to build two of four Lusail Plaza Towers, for 609 billion won.The 65-story buildings, with an additional five underground floors, are part of the Lusail City F

IndustryJan. 14, 2020

Investors turn to overseas funds amid slow growth, low interest rate

An increasing number of South Korean investors are picking foreign investment funds, seeking alternative profits amid slow growth and low interest rates here, data showed Tuesday.The total amount invested in FIFs tallied 183.7 trillion won ($159.3 billion) as of last year, accounting for 28.3 percent of total fund deposits, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association.Of them, private equity funds accounted for 79.5 percent with 146 trillion won, while public funds stood at 20.5 perce

MarketJan. 14, 2020

NH-Amundi, SSIAM partner to develop products tracking Vietnam stock indexes

Seoul-based NH-Amundi Asset Management and Ho Chi Minh City-based SSI Asset Management have agreed to partner to develop products that track benchmark indexes in the Vietnamese stock market, according to NH-Amundi on Tuesday.On Monday, they signed a memorandum of understanding guaranteeing an exclusive partnership to launch new financial instruments that track indexes of blue-chip companies, including the VN50 listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange and VN30 that seeks listing on the Ho Chi Minh Stoc

MarketJan. 14, 2020

Bong gets historic Oscars nod

Director Bong Joon-ho’s satire-thriller “Parasite” made history, earning nominations in six categories, including best picture, best director and best international feature film, for the 2020 Academy Awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday morning in the US announced the full list of its nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards, which included the first-ever Korean movie to be nominated for any award, “Parasite.”  Bong was also nominate

FilmJan. 14, 2020

'Joker' leads Oscar nods with 11 as women, minorities miss out

LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- Dark comic book tale "Joker" topped the Oscar nominations Monday, picking up 11 nods including best picture and best director, as women and ethnic minorities were largely shut out once again.The pre-dawn Academy Award announcement capped months of ceaseless campaigning by A-listers and studios, revealing which stars and movies have a shot at Hollywood's ultimate prize next month.Todd Phillips's "Joker," a bleak, arthouse origin story about Batman's nemesi

FilmJan. 14, 2020

Moon expects prime minister to help restore 'normal politics'

President Moon Jae-in expressed hope Tuesday that South Korea's new prime minister, Chung Sye-kyun, will play a role in efforts to normalize the country's politics ridden with polarization and partisan strife.What's more urgent than any other thing is to "restore politics for dialogue, compromise and communication" in the country, Moon told Chung shortly after giving him a letter of appointment at a Cheong Wa Dae ceremony.In that sense, the president said, Chung is the right person to

PoliticsJan. 14, 2020

K-pop generates over 6 billion tweets in 2019

K-pop remained a dominant topic on Twitter in 2019, as the platform’s internal data shows 6.1 billion tweets about the Korean music industry.The number is up nearly 15 percent from the year prior, an indication that K-pop is more popular than ever on the platform.And according to Kim Yeon-jeong, Twitter’s head of global K-pop partnerships, the tweet service plans to keep the upward trend going. “To make the K-pop community more lively on Twitter, we plan to provide quality

K-popJan. 14, 2020

Expanding inter-Korean projects could help ease int'l sanctions, Moon says

President Moon Jae-in stressed the need Tuesday to expand inter-Korean cooperation, saying it could be conducive to drumming up international support for sanctions relief for the communist neighbor.Speaking at his New Year's press conference, he made it clear that South Korea will not sit idle waiting for Pyongyang-Washington dialogue to bear fruit."If (we) broaden cooperative ties between South and North to the maximum, it would not only facilitate North Korea-US dialogue but also help win

PoliticsJan. 14, 2020

S. Korean envoy to discuss NK with Biegun in US

South Korea’s top envoy on North Korean nukes will visit Washington this week for talks with his US counterpart, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, amid a protracted stalemate in denuclearization negotiations with Pyongyang.Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, will visit Washington from Wednesday through Saturday to meet with Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, who is also the chief US envoy in negotiations with the North, the

North KoreaJan. 14, 2020

'Parasite' director Bong Joon-ho says 'language barrier' broken after Oscar nod

SEOUL (Reuters) -- "Parasite" director Bong Joon-ho said he was surprised and overjoyed when the film won six Oscar nominations on Monday, a historic first for South Korea's film industry and a sign that language is no longer a barrier to global success."Parasite," a dark comedy about the vast gap between the rich and poor in South Korea, snagged a coveted best picture nomination, best director for Bong, and best screenplay in addition to its best international feature nomina

FilmJan. 14, 2020

SKT forges 5G alliance in Asia-Pacific region

SK Telecom said Monday it has initiated a group of multinational mobile carriers to cooperate on the development of a pan-national 5G network environment in the Asia-Pacific region. The six entities joining the group -- titled Bridge Alliance -- include South Korea’s SKT, Singapore Telecommunications, Hong Kong Telecom, PCCW, Globe Telecom Philippines and Taiwan Mobile. The South Korean mobile carrier’s recent initiative comes as part of its efforts to take the lead in multiaccess ed

TechnologyJan. 14, 2020

LG joins hands with US firm for in-vehicle infotainment system

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday it has signed a partnership with US-based automotive voice recognition solutions provider Cerence Inc. to develop an in-vehicle infotainment system. Under the deal, which was signed on the sidelines of Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, last week, LG and Cerence will collaborate in developing a webOS Auto-based IVI system equipped with voice recognition features. WebOs Auto is a Linux-based automotive infotainment platform specially designed to provi

IndustryJan. 14, 2020

S. Korea delivers $5.7m in humanitarian aid to NK this month: UN

South Korea has donated $5.73 million in humanitarian assistance for North Korea so far this year to help the impoverished country improve its public health situation and restore villages still reeling from the aftermath of typhoons, UN data showed Tuesday.According to the data released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, South Korea has delivered $4 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) and another $1.7 million to the North's Red Cross Society as of Friday. T

North KoreaJan. 14, 2020

Enoi makes bold return with ‘Cheeky’

After entering the K-pop scene shrouded in innocence last year, K-pop rookie group Enoi is making a bold return with the new single “Cheeky.” The seven-piece act, fronted by leader Laon alongside Dojin, Hamin, Avin, Jinwoo, J-Kid and Gun, held a media showcase for its first EP, “Red in the Apple,” in Seoul on Monday. The band debuted in April last year under the newly established Kithewhale Company label. It says the band’s name “Enoi” comes from the las

K-popJan. 14, 2020

Teen phenom becomes 1st S. Korean figure skater to win Winter Youth Olympics gold

Powered by a clean routine, teen sensation You Young has become the first South Korean figure skater to capture a gold medal at the Winter Youth Olympics.You earned 140.49 points in free skating in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Monday (local time), for a combined score of 214 to win the ladies' singles title. Her two closest competitors, Russia's Kseniia Sinitsyna and Anna Frolova, were both undone by miscues in their own free programs.The Winter Youth Olympics, an International Olympic Committee ev

More SportsJan. 14, 2020

Trump sends congratulatory message for Korean American Day

LOS ANGELES -- US President Donald Trump on Monday sent a congratulatory message for Korean American Day, noting the contributions Korean Americans have made to the country, the South Korean consulate in Los Angeles said.In 2005, the US Congress passed a resolution to commemorate Jan. 13 as the day the first wave of Korean immigrants arrived in Hawaii in 1903 to work on sugarcane plantations. "Our country is continuously enriched by the contributions of Korean Americans," Trump wrote i

Foreign AffairsJan. 14, 2020

US keeps S. Korea on list of countries to monitor for currency practices

WASHINGTON -- The United States said Monday it is keeping South Korea on a list of countries to monitor for currency practices.The US Treasury Department published the decision in a semiannual report to Congress, which also included nine other countries, including China, Japan and Germany, in the monitoring list. China had previously been listed as a currency manipulator. South Korea had hoped to be exempted after the Treasury indicated in its previous report in May that the fourth-largest Asian

Foreign AffairsJan. 14, 2020

US Treasury removes currency manipulator label on China

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The United States on Monday removed the currency manipulator label it imposed on China last summer, in a sign of easing tensions between the two economic powers after nearly two years of conflict.Just two days before President Donald Trump is set to sign a "phase one" trade agreement with China, the US Treasury said in its semi-annual report to Congress that the yuan has strengthened and Beijing is no longer considered a currency manipulator.Although Treasury refrai

World NewsJan. 14, 2020