[Newsmaker] Opposition party leader denies involvement in alleged martial law plan

Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn on Tuesday denied allegations made by a civic group that he took part in planning to impose martial law to quell monthslong candlelight protests if the impeachment of then President Park Geun-hye failed. Hwang’s party filed a complaint to the prosecutors’ office against Lim Tae-hoon, the chief of the Military Human Rights Center for Korea, who raised the suspicions.  On Monday, Lim, testifying as a witness at the parliamentary audit of

PoliticsOct. 22, 2019

[Robert J. Fouser] After the Cho Kuk show

The Cho Kuk show took an unexpected turn after he resigned as Minister of Justice on Oct. 14. During Cho’s 35 days in office, mass demonstrations in favor and against him become common. Supporters gathered in front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul’s Seocho-dong and opponents gathered across the city in Gwanghwamun. Supporters demanded reforms in how the prosecution does business, whereas opponents demanded his resignation and called for the impeachment of President M

ViewpointsOct. 22, 2019

[Kim Seong-kon] Watching ‘Battleship’ in 2019

Recently, I watched the 2012 Hollywood science fiction action film “Battleship,” which was about an alien invasion and the US Navy’s desperate attempts to stop it. While watching the film, two things caught my attention: The movie was set in Honolulu and it depicted friendship between the US and Japan. Then, it occurred to me that perhaps “Battleship” could be a metaphoric reenactment of the Pearl Harbor surprise attack by Japan in 1941, which ignited the Pacific Wa

ViewpointsOct. 22, 2019

Naver, Kakao launch evaluation of online news

　South Korea’s two internet titans Naver and Kakao began their regular news quality assessment Tuesday for media outlets wishing to gain exposure via their online search platforms.　A news partnership evaluation committee of the two firms said that media groups wishing to use Naver and Kakao’s news platforms can send in their applications from Tuesday. The review process takes up to three months. The “qualified partners” will be announced next year.　Basic qualifications in

TechnologyOct. 22, 2019

Baseball legend shares 48 years on the diamond

A living legend of Korean baseball, Sun Dong-yeol released his autobiography Tuesday, sharing 48 years of life on the diamond. Sun, 56, is a former baseball player and manager, who made his professional debut in 1985 as a pitcher for the Korean Baseball Organization’s Kia Tigers in Gwangju. Later, he signed with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan on a four-year loan. He retired in Japan in 2000. He then returned to Korea and became the manager for the Kia Tigers and then the Samsung Lions. He l

PeopleOct. 22, 2019

‘The Faceless Boss’ to be a noir film about cruelty of gangster world

The early 2000s in Korean cinema was marked by an onslaught of gangster comedies, which ranged in quality but soon came under fire for glorifying criminals through their affectionate depiction of the mob. This was followed by a period of gritty realism, with ruthless, 19-rated stories.Director Song Chang-yong’s upcoming crime drama “The Faceless Boss” looks to maintain the realism but open it up to a wider audience. Starring Chun Jung-myung, Jin Yi-han and Lee Si-a, it follows

FilmOct. 22, 2019

SK Innovation conducts forensic inspection upon USITC order

SK Innovation, locked in a legal battle against domestic rival LG Chem recently, conducted a forensic inspection of its computer systems upon the order of the United States International Trade Commission earlier this month, industry sources said Tuesday. The USITC ordered the firm on Oct. 3 to recover as many as 980 documents that were alleged to have been deleted by the company, the sources said. The South Korean lithium-ion battery maker conducted the examination attended by LG Chem&rsquo

TechnologyOct. 22, 2019

Samsung planning roll-up displays, rotating cameras for new phones: reports

Samsung Electronics appears to be preparing to equip some of its upcoming Galaxy smartphones, including the Galaxy S11 series, with rollable displays and rotating cameras, according to news reports Tuesday. The South Korean tech giant filed a patent with the World Intellectual Property Office in April for its combination of a rollable display and a rotating camera module, showed a patent document uncovered by Lets Go Digital based in the Netherlands. The document showed an image of a device with

TechnologyOct. 22, 2019

Moon urges parliament to pass budget bill

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday called for the National Assembly’s cooperation on next year’s budget, stressing the need to inject funds to promote innovation and peace, and to create a fairer society. In his policy speech at the National Assembly, Moon also urged the parliament to pass bills concerning prosecutorial reform, saying they would help create a fairer and more transparent society. “Public finances must lead the way to resolve structural problems of our society such

PoliticsOct. 22, 2019

[News Focus] Korea faces symptoms of drop in men’s population

SEJONG -- Statistics Korea forecasts that the nation’s population will start declining in 2029 after peaking at 51.94 million in 2028.By sex, the timing of drop in men will likely come first, beginning from 2026 after reaching an all-time high of 25.97 million in 2025, while the number of women is projected to fall starting from 2031.But the symptom of an earlier-than-expected drop mode in the men’s population has already surfaced, according to monthly demographic figures held by the

Social AffairsOct. 22, 2019

Hyundai heir sees bright future in smart mobility, not just carmaking

While admitting that Hyundai Motor has made a relatively late entry into future mobility, the de facto leader of the world’s fifth-largest carmaker said Tuesday that he hopes to turn the company into a provider of related services that connect people’s physical distance.“It is clear that we are going to continue manufacturing cars. I believe that in the future, cars will take account for 50 percent share (by modes of transport), private air vehicle 30 percent and robotics 20 pe

MobilityOct. 22, 2019

S. Korea’s target date fund market grows with aging population

As South Korea’s rapidly aging population seeks simple solutions for retirement investments, the nation’s target-date fund market has been growing at a rapid pace in recent years, data compiled by The Korea Herald showed Tuesday. Target-date funds are usually long-term investments and classes of mutual funds that rebalance the ratio of different assets in the investor’s portfolio over time. High-risk assets such as stocks account for the larger portion of the investment when th

MarketOct. 22, 2019

Hyundai Card launches advertising team with Innocean

South Korea’s leading card issuer Hyundai Card said Tuesday it has teamed up with its global advertising affiliate Innocean Worldwide to launch a special project team that will handle all advertising specifically for the credit card affiliate of the group.The team dubbed Oneteam -- launched officially in May -- consists of 10 Innocean employees to handle advertising planning and production. The team is stationed at Hyundai Card for higher efficiency, the firm explained. By bringing th

MarketOct. 22, 2019

S. Korea pushes housing price cap on private sector

South Korea’s government on Tuesday adopted a disputed presale price cap system on privately built apartments, extending its efforts to stabilize the bubble-prone real estate market here.With the forthcoming price regulation expected to take effect as early as this month, local builders are hastening to sell their newly built apartments.The Cabinet, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, passed five legislative bills and 24 presidential decrees, including the en

EconomyOct. 22, 2019

Korea vows to build 250 more hydrogen stations by 2022

Up to 250 hydrogen charging stations will be built across Korean cities and highways by 2022 to provide drivers access to hydrogen charging within 30 minutes of wherever they are, the government said Tuesday. According to the government’s hydrogen infra establishment measure, jointly mapped out by the industry, transport and environment ministries, up to 190 hydrogen charging stations for vehicles and 60 charging stations for buses will be built over the next three years.  By 204

IndustryOct. 22, 2019

BTS' global music career up in air as Seoul reviews military exemptions

The fate of K-pop superband BTS' roaring global music career with the full seven-member lineup is up in the air as the South Korean government is in the final stage of revising the country's controversial military duty exemption system.Jin, BTS' eldest member whose legal name is Kim Seok-jin, is required by the military service law to enlist in the armed forces by 2020 when he turns the age of 28.All-able bodied South Korean young men are compelled to serve in the military for about two years fo

PerformanceOct. 22, 2019

FTC chief warns conglomerates of unfair intra-trading deals

South Korea’s top antitrust regulator warned Tuesday that unfair intra-trading deals would be closely monitored to see whether they benefit owner families of conglomerates, during a morning meeting attended by company executives, including from Samsung and Hyundai. “The Fair Trade Commission does not currently impose any specific sanctions or directly intervene in the operations of conglomerates for their high economic concentration or influence of owner families on the entire group

IndustryOct. 22, 2019

[Photo News] Mercedes-Benz's future mobility pavillion

Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Dimitris Psillakis speaks during the opening ceremony of EQ Future pavilion, which the German carmaker’s vision for future mobility, in Gangnam, southern Seoul, on Tuesday. Psillakis said the carmaker aims for sales of plug-in hybrids or all-electric vehicles to make up more than 50 percent share by 2030, starting with electrifying the whole portfolio by 2022.The EQ Future Pavilion, which will be open until mid-January next year, will display various mobility s

MobilityOct. 22, 2019

Young coders to compete at Nexon challenge

South Korea’s game company Nexon will host the fourth annual Nexon Youth Programming Challenge on Saturday. The event, designed to nurture the next generation of programmers in Korea, gives coding problems for students to solve using any programming languages among Python, Java, C#, C++ and C. Some 4,300 youths aged between 12 and 19 have taken part in the online preliminary contest, of whom the top 80 were selected to enter in the final round this week.  “We hope the young stud

IndustryOct. 22, 2019