Moon highlights importance of ASEAN ahead of summits

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday stressed the importance of strengthening ties with ASEAN member states, saying the region is key to his administration’s foreign policy. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting in Busan ahead of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit and the Mekong-Korea Summit scheduled to be held in the southern port city Nov. 25-27, Moon highlighted the importance of the region and developments in Korea-ASEAN relations and said his foreign policy differs from that of past administrati

Foreign AffairsNov. 12, 2019

HDC consortium picked as preferred bidder for Asiana

A consortium of HDC Hyundai Development Company and Mirae Asset Daewoo was picked as the preferred bidder to acquire the country’s second-largest air carrier, Asiana Airlines, Tuesday.The decision comes seven months after Asiana Airlines’ parent company, Kumho Industrial, put a controlling 31 percent stake in its air carrier unit up for sale. Three bidders -- Aekyung Group, Hyundai Development Company and Korea Corporate Governance Improvement -- had submitted applications.“We

IndustryNov. 12, 2019

[News Focus] HDC spreads its tentacles with bid for Asiana

Asiana’s would-be new owner, Hyundai Development Company is a real estate developer which has been seeking business expansion and diversification in recent years from leisure to retail.Founded as a builder for residential projects in 1976, HDC is part of the pan-Hyundai empire, sharing the family roots that thrived due to former Hyundai Group founder late Chung Ju-yung. The current Chairman Chung Mong-gyu is the son of late Honorary Chairman Chung Se-yung, younger brother to the group

MobilityNov. 12, 2019

[팟캐스트] (326) 베를린 장벽 붕괴 30주년 기념하는 독일 / 멤버들 군 제대 후 행보가 주목되는 빅뱅

진행자: 윤민식, Kevin Lee Selzer1. Berlin celebrates 30 years since fall of the Wall아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638[1] German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged the United States to be a “mutually respectful partner” and reject nationalism, in a clear salvo aimed at US leader Donald Trump as Germany on Saturday marked 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.* urge: ~를 촉구하다* mutual

PodcastNov. 12, 2019

Government inspects pig burial sites following river contamination

The government is conducting inspections in areas of northern Gyeonggi Province where pigs culled to contain the spread of African swine fever were buried, after blood from their carcasses leached into the river.A river cutting across the central part of the Korean Peninsula was polluted over the weekend by the blood of pigs killed during the containment efforts, according to Gyeonggi officials.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Tuesday that it has taken emergency measures

Social AffairsNov. 12, 2019

Hong Kong activist seeks solidarity for democracy

A leading democracy activist sought support for Hong Kongers as they strive for democracy and autonomy, speaking to a Seoul audience Monday.“The movement in Hong Kong is about securing democracy, not independence from China,” Lai Yan-ho, vice convener of the Civil Human Rights Front, a pandemocratic group, said during a meeting with students, activists and reporters at an art gallery in Jongno, central Seoul.On Saturday, a crowd marched on the streets of Seoul’s Hongdae in supp

Social AffairsNov. 12, 2019

10 people booked for alleged ‘Produce X 101’ vote rigging

Police said Tuesday that they booked 10 people, including producers of a K-pop audition TV show and officials of CJ ENM, in connection with allegations they had rigged the results of audience voting. Police are looking into whether high-ranking officials from music labels were involved, whether there was any vote rigging on former seasons of the Mnet audition shows and whether bribes were given in return for allegedly manipulating the votes.“I think an investigation into alleged vote riggi

Social AffairsNov. 12, 2019

S. Korea’s issuance of green bonds more than doubles on-year

Green bond issuance in South Korea has more than doubled so far this year, compared to the cumulative total floated last year, data provided by local companies showed Tuesday.Green bonds are fixed-income securities that fund eco-friendly projects. The size of the bond market and diversity of its issuers have been increasing in recent years as firms deem it helpful to improve their corporate image and make investors feel environmentally conscious. According to disclosures issued by the firms, the

MarketNov. 12, 2019

Netflix estimated to have 2m users in S. Korea

Netflix Inc. had an estimated 2 million paid viewers in South Korea as of the end of October, more than doubling from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday.South Korean subscribers to the US video streaming platform numbered 810,000 in October 2018, according to the data from industry tracker WiseApp.The latest figure was also up from an estimated 1.91 million users two months earlier. The number of Netflix users in South Korea has been on a steady rise since February last year, when it came to 40

IndustryNov. 12, 2019

Safety guarantees prerequisite for individual tours to Kumgangsan: Unification Ministry

South Korea can allow individual trips to Kumgangsan in North Korea only if Pyongyang guarantees the safety of the visitors, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said.Seoul is considering the possibility of allowing individual visits to the mountain resort, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the removal of South Korea-funded facilities from the resort late last month. “Like non-Koreans traveling to North Korea, individual tours do not violate international sanctions against Pyongy

North KoreaNov. 12, 2019

3 students awarded grand prize at 19th IYF English Speech Contest

Three students were awarded the grand prize at the 19th International Youth Fellowship English Speech Contest on Saturday.A total of 1,500 students competed nationwide in the regional preliminary competition and the best 78 made it to the finals of the annual speaking contest, held at Sejong Hall in the Seoul Human Resource Development Center.Each of the middle and high school students competing in the finals gave a three-minute speech on one of six topics, including dreams, school violence, pro

Social AffairsNov. 12, 2019

[Newsmaker] Teenager booked for sharing child pornography

Police booked a high school student in Incheon for sharing child pornography through a mobile messaging application.Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency said Tuesday a teenager -- whose name and age were withheld -- was booked Monday for violation of the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse. The male student is accused of sharing thousands of online links to pornography through the secure mobile messenger app Telegram. Police added that the boy was a different per

Social AffairsNov. 12, 2019

Yoon Jung-hee, beloved actress and icon of Korean cinema

The nationwide reaction to the recent news that Yoon Jung-hee has Alzheimer’s disease was a testament to her place in South Korean cinema today.　Yoon, perhaps not the best-known actress to the younger crowds as she appeared in only one film after 1994, commanded the spotlight in the 1960s and 1970s as one of a “troika” of actresses considered the best and most influential of their time. The other two were Moon Hee and Nam Jeong-im. Born in 1944 as Son Mi-ja, she debuted in 1967

FilmNov. 12, 2019

Wolmi Sea Train celebrates 1-month anniversary

Wolmi Sea Train, a monorail connecting the island of Wolmido to Incheon, celebrated one month of operations Friday.The monorail sold 37,365 tickets in the first month of its existence, according to Incheon Transit Corporation. It added that the number of people using nearby Incheon Station had jumped 25 percent.Enterprises at Wolmido have been launching promotional products related to the Wolmido Sea Train; for example, those who arrive by train can buy tickets for the Wolmido Cruise at 15,000 w

TravelNov. 12, 2019

M&A value in S. Korea reaches W7.3tr in H1

The value of mergers and acquisitions by listed firms in South Korea amounted to 7.3 trillion won ($6.2 billion) in the first six months of this year, data showed Tuesday. There were 139 mergers, spinoffs and business sales in the January-June period, compared with 294 cases worth 38.7 trillion won in 2018, according to the data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service. The half-year value marked the lowest in two years due to a lack of big name mergers, the FSS said. Inter-affiliate M&

EconomyNov. 12, 2019

[News Focus] Investment banks not upbeat about Korea’s 2020 economy

SEJONG -- South Korea’s economic growth is projected to fall behind that of the US this year, according to outlooks from global investment banks and international organizations.Most of them have predicted that Korea’s 2019 gross domestic product growth will stay at about 2 percent or under on-year, and some researchers at home and abroad are further expecting the gloomy situation to continue in 2020.Fitch Ratings, J.P. Morgan and Barclays have forecast 2.3 percent growth for South Ko

EconomyNov. 12, 2019

Park Jin-young returns as singer with vaudeville-style number

Park Jin-young, the founder and chief producer of JYP Entertainment, will return as a singer next month with a vaudeville-inspired fusion song, his agency said Tuesday.The singer-songwriter-cum-entrepreneur, also known as J.Y. Park, will officially release the song, "Fever," on Dec. 1, returning to the K-pop scene as an entertainer, according to the K-pop agency.  The self-produced song brings together the vaudeville music genre with hip-hop. Its choreography is also a reinterpret

PerformanceNov. 12, 2019

S. Korea recaptures No. 1 spot in shipbuilding orders in Oct.

South Korea recaptured the top spot in global shipbuilding orders last month, industry data showed Tuesday, on the back of its dominance in the liquefied natural gas carrier market. In October, local shipyards, led by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., won orders totaling 1.29 million compensated gross tons to build 17 ships, accounting for 86 percent of the orders placed around the globe, according to London-based Clarkson Research Services Ltd., the world's leading provider of data for the shipping

IndustryNov. 12, 2019

Democrats, GOP to vie for impeachment narrative: on TV

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Impeachable or not?Both Democrats and Republicans see the televised impeachment hearings starting this week as their first and best opportunity to shape public opinion about President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.Democrats believe the testimony will paint a vivid picture of presidential misconduct. Republicans say it will demonstrate just how lacking the evidence is for impeachment.They agree on one thing: The stakes are very high.Democrats plan a narrow foc

World NewsNov. 12, 2019

US JCS chairman addresses questions about troop presence in S. Korea, Japan

WASHINGTON -- US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley has said the American public poses questions about why the United States should station troops in South Korea and Japan and why the Asian allies can't pay for their own defense, according to a Pentagon account of his recent conversation with reporters.Milley made the remark Sunday as he departed for the Indo-Pacific region, his first overseas trip since taking office in September.He was emphasizing the importance of the US alliance

Foreign AffairsNov. 12, 2019