Lawmakers urge NBA to suspend China activities over boycott

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A bipartisan set of US lawmakers urged the NBA on Wednesday to suspend all activities in China until Chinese firms and broadcasters end their boycott of the league and the Houston Rockets.The open letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver came from eight US lawmakers as politically diverse as Ted Cruz of Texas and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York, both from states with multiple NBA teams."You have more power to take a stand than most of the Chinese government's targets

World NewsOct. 10, 2019

S. Korea gets US consent for new ambassador

The United States has formally agreed on South Korea's plan to send Rep. Lee Soo-hyuck of the ruling Democratic Party as its new ambassador, Cheong Wa Dae confirmed Thursday.Seoul recently received the diplomatic consent, known as "agrement," from Washington over the pick of the diplomat-turned-lawmaker, according to Cheong Wa Dae's deputy spokesperson Han Jung-woo.President Moon Jae-in will soon appoint Lee so that he can assume the post, he said.The consent came about two months afte

Foreign AffairsOct. 10, 2019

China slams NBA, Apple over Hong Kong

SHANGHAI (AFP) -- China on Wednesday slammed NBA commissioner Adam Silver's defence of free speech, cancelling a basketball fan event and lashing him in the state-run press, as Apple was warned it could be the next Western firm punished for supporting democracy protesters in Hong Kong. The NBA had been looking to cement its already huge popularity in the lucrative China market this week with a pair of annual pre-season exhibition games, but those plans were thrown into disarray by a tweet from H

World NewsOct. 10, 2019

Trump suggests he has phone calls with NK leader

US President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that he speaks to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by phone, in addition to their established form of communication -- letters.Trump mentioned Kim as he defended his controversial phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which has served as the basis for an impeachment inquiry against the US president.He said the phone call in July was "perfect" and went on to raise suspicions that a "spy" had leaked the contents of

North KoreaOct. 10, 2019

Turkey launches ground offensive against Kurdish forces in Syria

RAS AL-AIN (AFP) -- Turkey launched a broad assault on Kurdish-controlled areas in northeastern Syria on Wednesday, with intensive bombardment followed by a ground offensive made possible by the withdrawal of US troops.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of the attack on Twitter and soon after jets and artillery targeted Kurdish positions along the full width of the border, sending thousands of civilians fleeing their homes.That was followed late in the evening by the beginning of

World NewsOct. 10, 2019

[Graphic News] Foreign patient arrivals up 18% in 2018

　The number of foreigners visiting South Korea for medical treatment shot up 18 percent last year, government data showed.　In a report to the National Assembly, the Korea Health Industry Development Institute said over 378,900 foreign nationals arrived here for treatment last year, up from around 321,500 in 2017.　The institute said that of them, the number of Japanese who visted for medical purposes surged 56 percent to 42,500 in 2018 from just under 27,300 the previous year. (Yonhap)

TechnologyOct. 9, 2019

Conservatives dominate central Seoul, demand resignations of Moon, Cho

Conservative civic groups critical of the Moon Jae-in administration took to the streets in central Seoul on Wednesday demanding the resignation of the president and arrest of scandal-stricken Justice Minister Cho Kuk. Organized by conservative organizations -- particularly Protestant and veterans groups -- hundreds of thousands of people, mostly in their 50s to 70s, flocked to the 10-lane boulevards between the gates of Gwanghwamun and Sungnyemun in the afternoon.The participants denounced the

Social AffairsOct. 9, 2019

Trio Owon celebrates 10th anniversary with Russian elegy release

Chamber music ensemble Trio Owon is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the recent release of a new album of Russian elegies. Trio Owon, consisting of cellist Yang Sung-won, pianist Emmanuel Strosser and violinist Olivier Charlier, released its latest album on Oct. 1, including Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50, Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67 and Weinberg’s Piano Trio, Op. 24. Philip Bullock, a professor of Russian literature and music at the Uni

PerformanceOct. 9, 2019

[Kim Myong-sik] Unnecessary battle to save unworthy guardsman of power

On a tour of Mokpo and islands off the southwestern port last week, I paid a visit to the Kim Dae-jung Nobel Peace Prize Memorial located in Samhakdo islet. Most impressive there was a picture on the wall showing the former president standing side by side with four of his predecessors during a reception in the Blue House. Roh Tae-woo, Choi Kyu-hah, Kim Dae-jung, Chun Doo-hwan and Kim Young-sam were posing comfortably accompanied by their wives. The photograph was taken right after Kim Dae-jung&r

ViewpointsOct. 9, 2019

[Peter Singer] Climate activist Greta Thunberg’s moment

“This is all wrong!” These words begin the most powerful four-minute speech I have ever heard. They were spoken by Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenage climate activist, at the United Nations Climate Action Summit last month, and followed a week of climate strikes and marches attended by an estimated 6 million people.The marchers were predominantly the young people who will have to cope with more of the costs of climate change than the world leaders Thunberg was addressing. Her tone o

ViewpointsOct. 9, 2019

Korea rises two notches in global competitiveness on high macroeconomic stability, IT

South Korea ranked 13th in terms of global competitiveness this year, backed by its leadership in information technology and strength to counter external shocks, a report showed Wednesday.The country saw its competitiveness rising two notches from last year and by four from 2017, the Finance Ministry said, quoting the report from the World Economic Forum. Among 141 countries studied by the WEF, Korea ranked tops in macroeconomic stability and dissemination of information and communications techn

MarketOct. 9, 2019

Consumers overseas lust after Korean beauty products most: survey

Online consumers outside of South Korea are mostly interested in buying Korean brand beauty products like cosmetics and perfumes, a survey from the Korea International Trade Association showed Wednesday. The survey of 460 consumers in the US, China and Europe conducted by online shopping platform Kmall24 showed that 26 percent of them picked K-beauty as the most desired shopping category. Following that were K-pop-related products such as music albums and DVDs at 24 percent and food and beverage

EconomyOct. 9, 2019

2.78 pieces of sushi sold a second at E-mart: data

Riding on word-of-mouth through social media, E-mart is seeing a whopping increase in its sales of sushi products, the retail chain said Wednesday.With 65 million pieces of sushi having been sold within the January to September period this year, E-mart said it expects sales to reach 100 million by the year’s end. An official explained the sales amount translates to 2.78 pieces of sushi being sold each second over that period.E-mart has been targeting the sushi market by using fresh fish in

EconomyOct. 9, 2019

Medytox appoints former acting US attorney for case against Daewoong

Medytox said Wednesday that it has appointed US attorney Joon H. Kim to represent it in a lawsuit against Daewoong Pharmaceutical in the US.Kim is a partner at Cleary Gottlieb, which focuses on white-collar criminal defense, internal corporate investigations, crisis management, commercial litigation and arbitration.  Medytox emphasized Kim’s previous role as the acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York from March 2017 to January 2018, where he held one of the highest-l

IndustryOct. 9, 2019

Naver, Kakao seek to woo consumers with service upgrades

South Korean internet giants Naver and Kakao are seeking to attract more subscribers with service upgrades reflecting the rapid changes in online behavior. The country’s biggest search engine Naver said Tuesday it will overhaul the company’s platform to provide relevant information via social influencers. The “influence search service” is scheduled to be released by December with a trial service for beauty and travel searches. Kakao, operator of the country’s t

TechnologyOct. 9, 2019

[New Economic Non-Order: 4] APEC becomes battleground for US, China

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles to look into the weakening of the global economic framework in light of fading liberalism and the rise of trade protectionism and nationalism. This is the fourth installment. -- Ed.After last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the headlines announced a first in the forum’s 25-year history: Its 21 members had failed to reach a consensus on a joint communique, one repercussion from the ongoing US-China trade war. In rece

EconomyOct. 9, 2019

[Newsmaker] Railway workers’ 3-day strike to cause inconvenience starting Friday

Amid the continuing work-to-rule campaign, demanding improvement in working conditions and the wage system, which began Monday, the unionized railway laborers reaffirmed their plan to hold an all-out strike.The Korean Railway Workers’ Union will embark on a 72-hour strike starting 9 a.m. Friday, the organization said during a press conference Tuesday. The union has been staging protests requesting the normalization of salaries, shorter working hours, increase in number of employees an

Social AffairsOct. 9, 2019

Coupang appoints ex-Federal Reserve governor to board of directors

E-commerce company Coupang said Wednesday that it has appointed economist and former Federal Reserve Gov. Kevin Warsh to its board of directors.The former senior US government official currently teaches at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is also a Shepard Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. “Coupang is at the frontier of innovation. The company’s growth has been impressive, and its customer experience is unmatched. I am honored to

IndustryOct. 9, 2019

Super Typhoon Hagibis unlikely to impact S. Korea

The season’s 19th typhoon in the Pacific region, Hagibis will not impact South Korea but is likely to batter Japan over the weekend, the weather agency said Wednesday. As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, Hagibis was in waters some 840 kilometers northwest of Guam in the western Pacific Ocean, the Korea Meteorological Administration said. It was tracking north-northwestward at a speed of 13 kilometers per hour and is expected to reach waters 980 kilometers northeast of Okinawa at around 9 p.m. Thursday

Social AffairsOct. 9, 2019