An independent panel said Thursday it took 4 hours and 41 minutes for the Coast Guard to transfer a victim of a 2014 ferry sinking to a hospital after its rescuers spotted him, showing evidence of the authorities' botched efforts to respond to the disaster.The Special Commission on Social Disaster Investigation also said at a press conference that a visual record of the incident obtained by the commission shows that no helicopters were mobilized to carry injured passengers in the Coast Guard's o

Social AffairsOct. 31, 2019

While ordinary kindergartens and elementary schools are scaling down or even closing their doors as the country’s birthrate drops, English kindergartens have grown in number.Last year, 44 new English kindergartens opened in Seoul, bringing the total to 295 English-language kindergartens in the city, an anti-private education civic group said Thursday, based on their analysis of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education data on the city’s private academic institutes.  According the

Social AffairsOct. 31, 2019

North Korea fired two short-range projectiles from a western region toward the East Sea on Thursday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, amid a lack of progress in denuclearization talks with the United States and chilled inter-Korean ties.  The projectiles were fired at 4:35 p.m. and 4:38 p.m. from areas in the city of Sunchon, South Pyongan Province, toward the East Sea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff  said.  Both flew around 370 km across the peninsula, reaching a maximum

North KoreaOct. 31, 2019

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul held a meeting Thursday with chiefs of Hyundai Asan and the state-run Korea Tourism Organization, operators of now-suspended tours to North Korea’s Kumgangsan, to discuss ways to deal with Pyongyang’s demand to demolish their facilities from the tourism resort. Kim stressed close coordination with the operators to find a path forward in “this critical situation” in a meeting with Bae Kook-hwan, president of Hyundai Asan, and Ahn Young-ba

North KoreaOct. 31, 2019

The Ministry of Justice said Wednesday that it will ban reporters from the prosecution’s premises if they are found to have reported false stories on an ongoing investigation. Effective December after a trial run in November, the new regulation also prohibits prosecutors and their aides from speaking with reporters about ongoing investigations. Instead, a designated public relations officer will release press statements upon the media’s request. The latest announcement on pro

Social AffairsOct. 31, 2019

South Korea's National Assembly on Thursday passed revised bills that provide the grounds for free high school education.With the passage of the bill, the second and third grades of high school will be free starting in 2020 before being expanded to all grades in 2021. The plan is expected to cover 880,000 students next year and 1.26 million students by 2021.The education ministry in June said it will gradually introduce free education to ease family's financial burden and guarantee the basic rig

PoliticsOct. 31, 2019

The Philadelphia Orchestra is to go on the stage at the Seoul Arts Center on Nov. 10, under the baton of the music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin and featuring pianist Cho Seong-jin. The highly acclaimed orchestra, which had been led by Eugene Ormandy for some 40 years, is counted in artistic stature among the Big Five orchestras in the US, along with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra.The program for Nov. 10 features Rachmaninoff’s Piano Co

PerformanceOct. 31, 2019

Ballet Preljocaj, a dance company led by legendary French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, is in Korea with “La Fresque,” also known as “The Painting on the Wall.” The company will perform the 2016 modern ballet piece that takes its motif from an old Chinese tale at the LG Arts Center in southern Seoul from Friday to Sunday, followed by more performances in Busan and Daejeon.  The story revolves around a man who visits an old temple and falls in love with a long-hair

PerformanceOct. 31, 2019

South Korean air carriers will be subject to a government safety probe within the next month, a move by the Transport Ministry to improve safety checks in the wake of global concerns over component malfunctions of Boeing 737 Next Generation aircrafts.Following the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s announcement of the measures on Wednesday, a total of 150 B737 NG aircrafts operated in the country are to undergo an emergency safety inspection by the end of November. The i

IndustryOct. 31, 2019

A 52-year-old man surnamed Yun who claims he was wrongly imprisoned for the 1988 rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, is seeking a retrial. Yun’s lawyer Park Joon-young confirmed to The Korea Herald on Thursday that his client will file a petition for retrial in about two weeks’ time.Park said Yun will undergo forensic hypnosis and lie detector tests next Monday at Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, a procedure which he said Yun and his defense

Social AffairsOct. 31, 2019

President Moon Jae-in’s diplomacy plans appear to have been foiled by Chile’s decision to cancel the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit which was scheduled to be held in Santiago on Nov. 16-17. On Wednesday, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced the cancellation of the APEC meeting, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which were to be held in November and December, respectively. Announcing the decision, Pinera cited unrest caused by nation

Foreign AffairsOct. 31, 2019

Yang Hyun-suk, the scandal-ridden former CEO of YG Entertainment, and Seungri, a former member of the K-pop boy band BIGBANG, were found to have each spent several hundred million won on gambling abroad, police said Thursday, wrapping up monthslong investigations.The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said it will refer Yang and Seungri to the prosecution with a recommendation that they be indicted on charges of habitual gambling. But the police agency said it will not recommend indictment for the

Social AffairsOct. 31, 2019

South Korea is seeking to reduce travel time in heavily congested metropolitan areas by building deep underground roads and adding new high-speed train services by 2030, officials said Thursday.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced its vision for “metropolitan transportation 2030,” presenting three goals: to shorten travel time in major regional hubs to 30 minutes, cut down travel costs by up to 30 percent, and reduce by 30 percent the time people spend transfe

IndustryOct. 31, 2019

When “Aida” landed in Korea in 2005, musicals were not as popular as they are now, talent not as abundant and licensed local productions of hit Broadway shows not as big a business. Fourteen years, 732 performances and 730,000 audience members later, anticipation for the musical’s final run -- to kick off Nov. 13 at Blue Square Interpark Hall in central Seoul -- is running high. It runs through Feb. 23, 2020.“It’s pretty amazing to think that it was almost 15 years

CultureOct. 31, 2019

The funeral of President Moon Jae-in’s mother Kang Han-ok was held Thursday. Kang’s remains were interred at a Catholic facility in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. She died Tuesday evening at the age of 92. Kang was born in Hungnam, South Hamgyong Province, in what is now North Korea. Korean funerals are customarily held over a period of a few days, usually three or five days, with the burial taking place on the final day. The funeral mass at the Namcheon Catholic Cathedral

PoliticsOct. 31, 2019

GS Group said Thursday it will establish a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley in the first half of next year, as part of its plan to seek new growth engines.The decision was made during a two-day meeting of top executives held in Taipei, Taiwan, chaired by GS Group Chairman Huh Chang-soo. The list of executives who attended the meeting includes, GS Engineering and Construction Vice Chairman Huh Myung-soo, GS Home Shopping Vice Chairman Huh Tae-soo and GS Vice Chairman Jeong Taek-geun. 

MobilityOct. 31, 2019

Regarding the US Federal Reserve’s latest decision to cut interest rates, South Korea’s central bank on Thursday said the move will have a positive impact on the local economy, though other factors will be considered for its own rate cut decision.“On the principle that a US rate cut leads to a rise in stock prices and interest rate cuts, the latest decision is expected to contribute to growth in the global economy,” Yoon Myun-shik, senior deputy governor of the Bank of Ko

MarketOct. 31, 2019

Renault Samsung Motors, a South Korean subsidiary of French carmaker Renault, has forged a partnership with LG Chem to develop energy storage systems with used batteries, the companies said Thursday. The carmaker has provided 40 units of used batteries from its electric vehicle SM3 Z.E. to its counterpart to help the latter develop and start testing a new type of ESS by 2021.Renault Samsung plans to provide batteries that have reached retirement age from its ultramini EV Twizy and other EVs plan

MobilityOct. 31, 2019

Hyundai Motor unveiled an upgraded version of fuel cell electric bus powered by hydrogen for the Korean police on Thursday, in line with the law enforcement agency’s plan to turn its entire bus fleet green.The carmaker had previously introduced city bus-type hydrogen vehicles for the law enforcement agency, but it is the first model with large cargo space for police equipment and is suitable for long-haul travel. The latest model has two 95 kilowatt fuel cell stacks with hydrogen tanks pla

MobilityOct. 31, 2019