Zoo without animals: SKT promotes animal protection with VR, AR

Addressing the need to protect endangered animals, SK Telecom on Monday released its latest campaign to promote the concept of a zoo without animals using its advanced media technologies. Adopting “mixed reality” -- a combination of virtual reality and augmented reality -- the video campaign depicts a father of a family bringing a polar bear to life using 5G for his son. The images use realistic rendering to mimic the lifelike fluff of the animal and environmental rendering that refl

TechnologyDec. 23, 2019

Art brings attention to history of oppression, disconnected cultural inheritance

Kukje Gallery’s Busan venue is holding a solo exhibition of Daniel Boyd, featuring 11 convex-dot paintings based on historical photos that Boyd has come across in different sources, from family photo albums to the photo collection of the British Museum. Boyd is an Australian artist who transforms photos of the colonial and postcolonial periods into paintings that raise questions about the colonial history of Australia and the power dynamic in the historical narrative.Boyd began his artisti

Arts & DesignDec. 23, 2019

CES 2020 promises to showcase exciting future mobile tech

The Consumer Electronics Show -- the world’s largest annual tech event -- is usually a platform to showcase next-generation TVs, refrigerators and washing machines, but the latest edition will see brand new smartphones in the limelight, according to industry sources Monday. CES 2020 that will kick off in Las Vegas on Jan. 7 and is slated to offer a glimpse of future smartphones, which will make their first appearances at the show. 　Led by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, around 400

TechnologyDec. 23, 2019

[Herald Interview] Han Suk-kyu discusses finding the man within the great monarch

“Forbidden Dream” is a period piece about King Sejong of Joseon and his inventor Jang Yeong-sil that focuses on the personal relationship between the two that share a dream.Han Suk-kyu, playing King Sejong for the second time in his career, said he approached the role by looking at how he was brought up.“I thought a lot about how his mother would have been, because parents have immense influence over how someone turns out,” Han said during a joint interview in Seoul on Mo

FilmDec. 23, 2019

S. Korea brings in first US spy aircraft

South Korea has brought in a US-made advanced spy drone that will improve its surveillance of North Korean military activities, the military said Monday. The RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk arrived at the Air Force base in the city of Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, earlier on the day. It is the first of four units that South Korea is buying from the US as part of a 2011 deal, with the other three coming in a year later. The Air Force said the military will deploy the aircraft in acc

DefenseDec. 23, 2019

[Noah Smith] High-speed rail is going nowhere fast in US

Some leaders in the US are intent on reviving the old dream of high-speed rail. Sen. Bernie Sanders is proposing $607 billion for a new high-speed train network as part of his Green New Deal. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez included it in her own plan earlier this year. On Twitter, Sanders’s political allies sing the praises of high-speed rail systems such as China’s.High-speed rail puts an optimistic, futuristic face on an economic agenda that might otherwise seem mainly abo

ViewpointsDec. 23, 2019

[Leonid Bershidsky] Airbnb is a tech company, but Uber is a taxi firm

Plenty of companies have raised billions of dollars by selling themselves as tech unicorns rather than firms in traditional businesses -- for example, taxi services or office rentals. Regulators have been a harder sell for such stories than investors. But now, a unicorn, Airbnb, has managed to establish in Europe that it’s a tech company, not a real estate agent.The European Court of Justice has already had occasion to rule on the tech champion/disguised traditional business dilemma. In 20

ViewpointsDec. 23, 2019

Moon stresses China’s role in NK issues, says stalled dialogue harms all parties

President Moon Jae-in on Monday stressed the importance of Beijing’s role in North Korean issues, and called for closer Seoul-Beijing cooperation on the matter in a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Going into the meeting held in Beijing, Moon stressed the importance of Seoul-Beijing relations, saying that the two countries cannot move far apart despite temporary differences, going on to express hopes for stronger cooperation. “As China’s dreams present opportuniti

Foreign AffairsDec. 23, 2019

S. Korea to contribute W2b to help N. Korea restore typhoon-hit regions

South Korea will provide some 2 billion won ($1.72 million) to the Korean Red Cross to help North Korean villages still reeling from the aftermath of typhoons that lashed the impoverished nation last summer, the unification ministry said Monday.The Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council approved the expenditure plan to provide the money to help North Korea repair typhoon-hit facilities in Pyongan and Hamgyong provinces and conduct drills to beef up North Koreans' disaster prepar

North KoreaDec. 23, 2019

S-Oil awards marine police heroes

S-Oil has awarded a total of 70 million won ($60,261) to six maritime police officers at a ceremony in Songdo, Incheon, the company said Monday. At the awards ceremony, S-Oil gave a plaque and an award of 20 million won to Lt. Lee Sung-hee of Pohang Maritime Police Office, selected by the Korea Coast Guard and the Korea National Council on Social Welfare. Five other police officers received a plaque and 10 million won each. Lt. Lee Sung-hee, who was selected as the top hero of the maritime

IndustryDec. 23, 2019

FSC chief says shift of money flow from real estate to SMEs crucial

In order to carry forward financial innovation next year, it is crucial to induce market funds into innovative industries, instead of the oversupplied housing mortgage sector, according to the top financial regulator Monday.“The funds (in the domestic capital market) are excessively focused on household lending, which mostly comprise housing mortgage loans,” said Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo at a financial policy meeting held at the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp

EconomyDec. 23, 2019

1 in 10 Koreans invest in stocks, as investors are aging: data

One out of 10 South Koreans invest in stocks and nearly half of them are in their 50s or older, government data showed Monday. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Statistics Korea and the Korea Securities Depository, around 5.55 million people invested in 2,216 listed firms on the domestic stock market, as of end-December last year. The findings showed that one in five of the economically active population were investors and the number reached 10.7 percent of all resident regis

MarketDec. 23, 2019

Flows of tourists nose-dive between S. Korea, Japan amid trade row

As a trade row between South Korea and Japan has continued for months, their tourist exchanges have taken a steep dive, hammering one of the most lucrative tourist routes in Asia. The number of Korean travelers visiting Japan nose-dived to some 205,000 in November, registering a dramatic fall of 65.1 percent in comparison with the same month last year, according to data by the Japan National Tourism Organization, provided by the Korea Tourism Organization. The Korean inflow into Japan in Novembe

Foreign AffairsDec. 23, 2019

GS Group donates W4b to local charity

GS Group said Monday it donated 4 billion won ($3.44 million) to the Community Chest of Korea to support the livelihood and education of people in need. Separately, the group’s affiliates have been supporting disadvantaged families through diverse volunteer work in line with Chairman Huh Chang-soo’s vision of corporate social responsibility. GS Caltex has been running year-end relay volunteering programs for 15 years, comprising 21 projects, including making kimchi, upcycling of

IndustryDec. 23, 2019

[Monitor] Exports in Dec. inch down

South Korea’s exports inched down 2 percent in the first 20 days of December from a year ago, data from the Korea Customs Service showed Monday.The drop was mainly due to decreased shipments of semiconductors and ships -- 16.7 percent and 51.2 percent, respectively.Exports of passenger cars and wireless equipment, on the other hand, increased by 2.7 percent and 3 percent, respectively.(khnews@heraldcorp.com)

EconomyDec. 23, 2019

Forensic report falsified in Hwasong murder case: prosecution

The prosecution on Monday demanded a retrial for a man who may have been wrongly convicted of the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in 1988, in light of new evidence and a series of flaws in the original investigation.The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office has reopened the decades-old case after Lee Chun-jae, who is already serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law in 1994, confessed to the crime in October. 　A recent DNA breakthrough has pinpointed Lee as th

Social AffairsDec. 23, 2019

KTB backs acquisition of logistics facility in Ireland

Seoul-based KTB Investment & Securities and KTB Asset Management have backed a 160 million euros ($177.2 million) acquisition of Tesco’s Distribution Center in Dublin, Ireland, by DTZ Investors, its adviser Cushman & Wakefield said Monday.It was the largest single-asset logistics transaction in Ireland by volume. The 73,000 square meter-wide warehouse is a logistics facility for dry goods distribution to some 150 Tesco stores across Ireland within three hours.  KTB partnered w

MarketDec. 23, 2019

Actor Jung Woo-sung to produce new Netflix original series

Top actor Jung Woo-sung is set to produce a new Netflix series. Netflix on Monday announced Jung will be producing “The Sea of Tranquility,” Jung’s first production with the global media platform.Jung, a high-profile screen actor, has been showing keen interest in producing and directing. In 2016, he debuted as a film producer with “Remembering You,” in which he also starred as the male lead.Jung, who was recently awarded the grand prize in the film category at the

TelevisionDec. 23, 2019