BTS symbolizes cross-border pop culture in new media era: scholars

The sensational global ascent of K-pop band BTS has brought to the fore the emergence of a new breed of globally connected, dedicated fans as represented by ARMY, the group's fandom.Powered by the connectivity of the internet and social network services, ARMY engages in organized transnational operations to download BTS songs and vote for the septet en masse, spearheading the band's victories on Billboard and major American music awards.BTS fans also helped spawn a new YouTube "reaction vid

PerformanceDec. 11, 2019

Posco Energy tie-up with FCE faces hurdle

An envisioned joint venture between Posco Energy and US-based FuelCell Energy is making little progress due to mutual differences, an industry insider said Wednesday.The energy unit of steel giant Posco produces molten carbonate fuel cell -- dubbed a second-generation technology -- with technology transferred from the US company.  FuelCell Energy CEO Jason Few was in Seoul to discuss the JV proposal. The talks, however, ended without any agreement, sources noted. The two had signed a memora

IndustryDec. 11, 2019

Moon asks for confirmation hearing for justice minister nominee

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday sent to the National Assembly a request for a confirmation hearing for justice minister candidate Choo Mi-ae, the presidential office said. Moon approved the request earlier in the day, according to the office. In South Korea, nominees for ministerial positions are subject to nonbinding confirmation hearings by the Assembly. According to a related law, the Assembly is supposed to complete a confirmation hearing and send the president a report on it within

PoliticsDec. 11, 2019

Seoul to set 50 kph speed limit on roads with bus-only lanes

The speed limit on Seoul roads with bus-only lanes will be adjusted to 50 kilometers per hour starting late this month as part of efforts to reduce traffic accidents involving pedestrians, the city government said Wednesday.The new speed limit will apply to 14 roads in Seoul with median bus-only lanes, starting Dec. 20. Violators face up to 170,000 won ($142) in fines. Other major roads -- including Hannamdaero and Gyeonginro -- connected to roads with bus-only lanes will have the 50 kph speed l

Social AffairsDec. 11, 2019

MMCA exhibition highlights Korean video artists, Paik Nam-june and beyond

Paik Nam-june is inarguably the foremost video artist in South Korea. But who else can we talk about when it comes to video art, and what are the distinctive characteristics that other Korean video artists have developed? The exhibition “Korean Video Art from 1970s to 1990s: Time Image Apparatus” at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea’s Gwacheon venue in Gyeonggi Province chronicles video art in Korea between the 1970s and the 1990s, presenting some 130 wo

Arts & DesignDec. 11, 2019

Strategic approaches on system chip discussed at private-public forum

Taking a step further into the non-memory market, officials from South Korea’s industry-leading companies gathered on Wednesday to discuss their approaches to the government-led initiative to boost the system-on-chip industry.Hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the seminar was held to promote cooperation among semiconductor manufacturers, fabless firms and customers from different industries on development of new SoC products and solutions as a follow-up measure of the na

TechnologyDec. 11, 2019

Government launches foreign-language menu website

A website that provides foreign language translations of local menus was launched Wednesday.According to the state-run Korea Tourism Organization, Food Trip in Korea (foodtrip.or.kr) was launched Wednesday afternoon with translations of 8,500 Korean dishes in English, Japanese and Chinese as its main feature. The service had been previously provided via the agency’s Visit Korea (visitkorea.or.kr) site. The tourism organization plans to add a mobile page of the website, various menu designs

TravelDec. 11, 2019

[Herald Review] ‘Jumanji: Next Level,’ plays it safe in funny, unoriginal sequel

Years back when it was announced that a sequel to “Jumanji” would be made, there were skeptics. While the 1995 adventure film had received mixed reviews upon release, its legacy grew over time to claim a place among nostalgic family films.Despite some concerns the sequel would fail to recapture the imagination and spectacle of the original, “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” was a pleasant surprise with a creative premise, lighthearted fun and plenty of visual effects.Its u

FilmDec. 11, 2019

[Contribution] Korean food enchants Paris

 In August, a Korean food section opened in Paris’ finer-goods department store Bon Marche’s La Grande Epicerie de Paris food corner. Some 40 Korean food products were introduced in the new section, targeting the upper echelons and Michelin-starred chefs of Paris. It has been 20 years since the last time a country-specific groceries area was featured in Bon Marche. The launch of Korean food in a foreign country none other than France, famous for its epicurean cuisine culture, co

IndustryDec. 11, 2019

[Doyle McManus] President Trump gets little credit for foreign policy

Last week’s NATO summit in London should have been a nice little success story for President Donald Trump.For once he went to an international meeting without intending to blow it up. Instead, he planned to trumpet how he had convinced several European allies to boost defense spending, one of his foreign policy priorities.But that storyline got lost the moment Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was caught on camera making fun of the president, drawing laughter from British Prime Minist

ViewpointsDec. 11, 2019

[Andrew Bacevich] Why US can’t end ‘endless wars’

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has imported into the American military lexicon a new rationale for US military actions in the Middle East. It’s called “mowing the lawn,” but it has nothing to do with keeping the grass trimmed. “To mow the lawn,” Esper recently remarked to reporters, “means, every now and then” giving your adversary a good, swift kick in the shins. “You have to do these things,” he explained, “so that a threat doesn&rsq

ViewpointsDec. 11, 2019

Palladium price outpaces gold over growing demand

The price of palladium, a metal used to reduce harmful emissions in vehicle exhaust, has surged to a record high, making it a precious metal more expensive than gold.According to the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of palladium futures for December delivery closed Tuesday at $1,871.30 per ounce, 0.67 percent higher from the previous session. The figure rose nearly 49.2 percent from the price on Dec. 31 last year, which was $1,253.90 per ounce. Its growth rate far surpassed those of other

MarketDec. 11, 2019

[Monitor] No. of corporate executives falls

The number of executives leading operations of 30 major conglomerates in South Korea has been falling amid corporate restructuring carried out to offset deteriorating profits and reflect generation shifts in leadership.According to CEOScore, a local corporate tracker, a total of 9,742 executives from 262 affiliates of the 30 business groups in Korea, were registered as of end-September, slightly lower than 9,795 reported in the same month four years ago.Samsung Group slashed 15 percent of execut

IndustryDec. 11, 2019

S. Korea’s employment rate hits all-time high in Nov.

South Korea saw its major job indexes improve in November, with the employment rate hitting an all-time high and the number of newly created jobs remaining steady, government data showed Wednesday.The downtrend in employment continued, however, for those in their 40s, reflecting the sluggish market situation in the retail and manufacturing sectors.The number of newly added jobs last month stood at 27.5 million, up 331,000 from a year earlier, keeping the on-year increase above the 300,000 mark f

EconomyDec. 11, 2019

Renault Samsung workers overturn wage deal, set for another strike

Overturning a wage deal clinched in June, unionized workers at Renault Samsung have voted to hold a sit-in protest, according to members of the union Wednesday, although the automaker said it would continue with the labor-management negotiations which kicked off in September. Of more than 2,000 unionized workers at the South Korean unit of the French automaker Renault, 66.2 percent voted to go on strike. The labor union and management had reached a wage deal on June 24, bringing an end to a

MobilityDec. 11, 2019

Mercedes-Benz Korea holds future mobility startup hackathon

Mercedes-Benz Korea said Wednesday it has kicked off its Connected Car Startup Hackathon, a competition between startups to develop connected car services for innovative future mobility.The 48-hour nonstop event is taking place at the EQ Future Pavilion set up by the automaker in Sinsa-dong, Seoul. Nine startups that develop and produce connected car technologies such as mobility, UX, maintenance and charging have made it to the final, the company said.The event was organized in a joint partners

MobilityDec. 11, 2019

Kakao Pay starts payment service on Google Play, YouTube Premium

Kakao Pay, a South Korean mobile payment platform, said Wednesday that it has started its payment service on the Google Play Store and YouTube Premium.Through the service, users can purchase any paid content on both applications by choosing Kakao Pay as a payment method. Users can also purchase various services such as YouTube Movies, Channel Membership and Super Chat on YouTube. Once users choose Kakao Pay to make payments on the Google Play Store, they can automatically use it for tr

MarketDec. 11, 2019

Capital area choked by thick fine dust for second straight day

The Seoul metropolitan area was shrouded by heavy fine dust concentrations for the second straight day on Wednesday, forcing local governments to issue a fine dust advisory and take emergency emission reduction measures, such as a mandatory alternate no-driving system for public vehicles and road ban for old diesel cars.A constant influx of Chinese smog into the stagnant local air has led to a spike in ultrafine dust figures to bad levels in almost all parts of South Korea, excluding Jeju Island

Social AffairsDec. 11, 2019

Man suspected of killing 1, injuring 2 turns self in

A man thought to have stabbed three people at a restaurant in Daejeon on Tuesday surrendered himself to the local police five hours after the incident.A 46-year-old woman, who was the owner of the restaurant, was killed in the attack while her husband and son sustained severe injuries, Daejeon Dongbu Police Station said.  Investigations showed the killer entered the restaurant around 6:20 p.m. Tuesday and spoke with the victims for few minutes. The man then attacked them, and quickly fled t

Social AffairsDec. 11, 2019