Kia Telluride named SUV of the year in US

Kia Motors said Tuesday its new sport utility vehicle targeted for North American market was named SUV of the year by an auto publication MotorTrend. The magazine also chose Peter Schreyer, president and head of design management of Hyundai Motor Group as the “person of the year.” Kia is a sister company of Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s largest carmaker.  Describing Telluride as a new flagship SUV that has raised Kia’s profile, the magazine said seven of its 11 judges

MobilityNov. 19, 2019

South Korea-US defense cost-sharing talks fall through

Differences between South Korea and the United States over how much Seoul should pay for the upkeep of the 28,500 US troops stationed here have come to the fore, with the two sides cutting short their meeting Tuesday. “There was a considerable difference between proposals of the US and the South in principle,” Jeong Eun-bo, South Korea’s top negotiator, said at a regular briefing. The US negotiation team, led by James DeHart of the State Department, left the negotiating table e

DefenseNov. 19, 2019

Posco, Kiswel demonstrate advanced welding solution at Fabtech 2019

South Korea’s largest steelmaker said Tuesday it had demonstrated a welding solution jointly developed with its client Kiswel at North America’s largest metal-forming event. At Fabtech 2019 in Chicago last week, Posco and Kiswel promoted their welding materials and welding technologies suitable for high-strength steel for automobiles and construction as well as cryogenic steel for liquefied natural gas storage tanks and marine structures.  Fabtech is North America’s larges

IndustryNov. 19, 2019

FTC sets up special team to probe Naver, Google

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog is set to investigate unfair business practices by dominant tech firms -- both local and foreign -- through a new special task force team, according to officials Tuesday.The nation’s largest search engine firm Naver is likely to become the first target, they noted. Led by Fair Trade Commission Secretary-General Chae Kyu-ha, the 15-member team will examine separate categories -- online platforms, mobile services and intellectual property rights. The on

IndustryNov. 19, 2019

SK Telecom launches 5G-based VR zone

SK Telecom Co. said Tuesday it has launched a virtual reality zone in partnership with major IT companies at home and abroad to provide various content available on its 5G network.South Korea's leading mobile carrier said users can create their own avatars in its VR space, Virtual Social World, to enjoy various activities in seven different themes. As VR content needs a compatible headset, SK Telecom said it collaborated with social networking giant Facebook to launch the head-mounted displ

IndustryNov. 19, 2019

[News Focus] Women increasingly outnumber men in Korea

SEJONG -- The number of women was found to have overtaken that of men in South Korea more than four years ago, a demographic database held by the government showed.According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the changeover took place on June 2015, when the number of men per 100 women fell to 99.9 -- or by 25.7153 million male Koreans to 25.7157 million female Koreans.It was the first time the gender ratio had dropped below 100 since the nation began compiling the relevant figures.The ratio

Social AffairsNov. 19, 2019

NK nuclear envoy: Dialogue with US 'impossible' unless Washington drops 'hostile policy'

North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator said Tuesday that dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington is "impossible" unless the United States makes a "bold decision to drop the hostile policy" against the communist nation.Kim Myong-gil made the remarks in an interview with the Korean Central News Agency, unveiling that the US recently offered through Sweden to hold a new round of talks in December after October's working-level negotiations in Stockholm."As we have already

North KoreaNov. 19, 2019

WTO to allow S. Korea to keep current tariff rate on imported rice

The World Trade Organization will allow South Korea to keep a 513 percent tariff on imported rice next year, the agriculture ministry said Tuesday, a move that could help protect the rice market of Asia's fourth-largest economy.The move came after South Korea reached deals with five rice exporters -- the United States, China, Australia, Thailand and Vietnam -- to end a process meant to verify whether South Korea's high tariff is appropriate. The five countries, which had taken issue with South K

IndustryNov. 19, 2019

S. Korea would get economic boost from RCEP: report

South Korea's economic growth would get a boost from the implementation of a mega trade deal involving Asia-Pacific countries, a report said Tuesday.  Association of Southeast Asian Nations members and its dialogue partners -- South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand -- effectively reached the agreement, known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership,, at a RCEP summit in Bangkok early this month.   But India, Asia's third-largest economy, did not join the de

EconomyNov. 19, 2019

Myth-based production connects tradition with modern fantasy

The National Gugak Center presented its much-anticipated production “Man in Red and Lady Youngsan” on Tuesday. The musical production is a gugak (traditional Korean music) fantasy drama based on a myth that originated in Hamgyong Province in North Korea.  The myth has been adapted into a modern tale. The story centers on Ji-hong, who is a biology teacher. While he is on a mountain field trip with his students, a wildfire breaks out. He loses consciousness trying to save wild ani

PerformanceNov. 19, 2019

2 dead, 1 injured in apparent suicide pact in Gapyeong

Five people were found inside a rented lodging in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday, with two dead and one seriously injured among them. When officers from the Gapyeong Police Station arrived at the two-story accommodations around 1:40 a.m., a woman in her 20s and a man in his 30s were found dead inside a room on the first floor. Notes of apology addressed to their families, believed to be written by the two deceased, were found in the room. The police believe the two died of gas intoxication

Social AffairsNov. 19, 2019

[Diplomatic circuit][Meet the diplomat] EU ambassador highlights message ‘together we are stronger’ in East Asia

The unification of the Korean Peninsula will be made possible when neighboring East Asian countries proceed with a mutual understanding of the impact of cooperation, says the EU’s top diplomat in Seoul.“I would like to pass on the message that it is important to work together ... that’s missing in Northeast Asia,” EU Ambassador Michael Reiterer said in an interview with The Korea Herald in central Seoul last month.“If Korea, Japan and China could work together in a

Diplomatic CircuitNov. 19, 2019

1 dead, 11 missing in ship fire in waters off Jeju Island

One person was confirmed dead and 11 others remained unaccounted for after a ship caught fire in waters west of South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju on Tuesday, the Coast Guard said.A fire broke out on the 29-ton fishing boat at around 7:09 a.m. in waters some 76 kilometers west of a small island that is located near Jeju Island, according to the maritime police.Rescue workers found one of the crew members at a location 7.4 km south of the accident site. The 60-year-old Korean surnamed K

Social AffairsNov. 19, 2019

Foreign currency deposits surge nearly $6b in Oct.

Foreign currency deposits held by banks in South Korea rose sharply from a month earlier in October, largely on local companies seeking to stash the US dollar at its weakest, central bank data showed Tuesday.The outstanding foreign currency savings held by banks here came to $78.54 billion as of end-October, up $5.9 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The reading marks the third consecutive month of increase, and also an acceleration from a $1.67 billion o

MarketNov. 19, 2019

Apartments account for 59 % of all homes in S. Korea

The number of apartments owned by households in South Korea came to 9.03 million in 2018, accounting for 59 percent of all homes across the country, government data showed Tuesday.  The figures represent a 3.9 percentage-point hike from 8.7 million apartments owned by households in South Korea in 2017, Statistics Korea said.  The latest data is a reminder that apartments have long been the most-favored housing choice for many South Koreans.  In this densely populated country,

EconomyNov. 19, 2019

Cabinet approves bill on regulation of P2P lending

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a bill on regulation of peer-to-peer loans in a bid to tackle deceptive P2P lending practices and protect consumers, officials said.Under the regulation, which will take effective from August next year, all P2P lenders must have paid-in capital of more than 500 million won ($427,825) each and registration from financial regulators, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement. In case of a non-registered P2P lender, the lender's operator will face a fine

IndustryNov. 19, 2019

World No. 1 Ko Jin-young goes for rare LPGA awards sweep in season finale

As the 2019 LPGA Tour season winds down, South Korean star Ko Jin-young will chase a rare sweep of major individual awards.Ko will tee off at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida, on Thursday (local time) as the No. 1 female player in the world.She has already clinched the LPGA Player of the Year award and also the Annika Major Award, given to the player with the best overall record at major tournaments each season. Ko won two of the five LPGA majors in 2019 and leads

GolfNov. 19, 2019

Bus union in Seoul satellite city goes on strike

Union workers of a bus company in Goyang, west of Seoul, went on strike Tuesday after wage talks with management broke down. Myungsung Transportation's more than 270 buses on 20 lines, including one linking Seoul and the satellite city in Gyeonggi Province, stopped operation. The union and management failed to narrow their differences in an arbitration session presided over by the local labor authorities Monday and an additional meeting between the two sides earlier Tuesday. The union declared t

Social AffairsNov. 19, 2019

In new pro-Israel shift, US no longer calls settlements illegal

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States no longer believes that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories are illegal, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday in the latest pro-Israel shift by Washington.The statement puts the United States at odds with virtually all countries as well as UN Security Council resolutions and was hailed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally of President Donald Trump who is days away from potentially losing office."After caref

World NewsNov. 19, 2019

[Newsmaker] China says only it can rule on Hong Kong constitution

BEIJING (AFP) -- China insisted Tuesday it held the sole authority to rule on constitutional matters in Hong Kong, as it condemned a decision by the city's high court to overturn a ban on face masks worn by pro-democracy protesters.The statement could further fan the flames in Hong Kong after months of violent protests over concerns that Beijing is chipping away at the autonomy of the financial hub.The ban on face-covering came into force in October, when the city's unelected pro-Beijing leader

World NewsNov. 19, 2019