Why Don’t We to hold Seoul concert in November

US boy band Why Don’t We will hold its first standalone concert in Korea in November, the show’s local promoters said Wednesday.According to Live Nation Korea, “Why Don’t We – 8 Letters Tour” will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 10 at Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul. It marks the second time the band is performing in Korea.Comprising members Zach Herron, Jack Avery, Daniel Seavey, Corbyn Besson and Jonah Marais, the band was launched in September 2016 and

PerformanceJuly 24, 2019

[Newsmaker] Union of delivery workers refuses to handle Uniqlo goods

With South Koreans increasingly taking part in a boycott of Japanese goods, the Parcel Delivery Workers’ Solidarity Union on Wednesday refused to handle Uniqlo products.“Parcel Delivery workers will participate in the boycott by refusing to deliver Uniqlo (products). We object to the Abe administration’s economic retaliation,” members of the union said in a press conference in front of the former Japanese Embassy building in central Seoul.“Uniqlo (dismissed) the boy

Social AffairsJuly 24, 2019

National Museum of Korean Literature to be more than repository of books

The National Museum of Korean Literature aims to function as a culture complex for the public, allowing readers to enjoy Korean literature in diverse forms. The museum has taken the first step toward its launch, as the founding committee was registered as a corporation earlier this year. The museum will be built in the Eunpyeong district of western Seoul. Construction of the museum will begin in October 2021, with the opening date slated for December 2023. “The need to build a proper museu

CultureJuly 24, 2019

School Forest Project promoting urban greenery turns 20

Boosting greenery in cities may seem like a difficult task. However, a project has been coming up with innovative solutions to the lack of green space for the past 20 years. School Forest Project -- launched in 1999 through a collaborative effort between nongovernmental organization Forest for Life and sanitary product manufacturer Yuhan-Kimberly -- targets public schools in South Korea lacking green space on their school grounds. By planting various types of greenery, such as trees and bushes,

IndustryJuly 24, 2019

Hyundai and Kia Motors awarded Platinum in 2018 LACP Vision Award

Hyundai and Kia Motors won the Platinum Award in the 2018 LACP Vision Awards for the quality of their sustainability reports, the companies said Wednesday. LACP, short for League of American Communications Professionals, annually screens some 1,000 business reports from roughly 20 nations for awards.In this round‘s review, Hyundai Motor’s 2018 sustainability report was recognized in the digital and online criteria, and Kia Motors for sustainable management criteria. Both companies re

IndustryJuly 24, 2019

‘Korea to promote forest to combat air pollution, increase well-being’

South Korea is suffering from worsening air pollution each year. Every spring, the concentrations of fine dust particles surge to record levels across the country, threatening human health and environmental sustainability.The state-run Korea Forest Service is seeking to deploy forests to combat air pollution, help people stay cooler during heat waves and increase well-being in nature. “The primary factor behind serious fine dust pollution is air pollutants from industrial complexes, therma

IndustryJuly 24, 2019

Nearly 34% of S. Korean adolescents have thought about suicide over academic pressure: poll

Nearly 34 percent of South Korean adolescents have thought about killing themselves because of academic pressure, a recent survey showed Wednesday. The grim finding came in the National Youth Policy Institute's survey of 9,060 elementary, middle and high school students conducted from June-August last year. According to the results, 33.8 percent of the students polled said they had considered committing suicide over the previous year.  The biggest reason was the pressure they felt over acad

Social AffairsJuly 24, 2019

7-year prison term finalized for theater director for sexual assaults

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a high court ruling that sentenced a famed theatrical director to seven years in prison and ordered him to take 80 hours of a sexual violence treatment course for multiple sexual assaults.The court finalized the guilty verdict for Lee Youn-taek, 67, in a case that sparked a Me Too movement in the art and entertainment sectors in South Korea.   He has been indicted on multiple charges of sexual crimes against female junior members of his famous dram

Social AffairsJuly 24, 2019

South Korea strongly urges Japan to withdraw export restrictions, approaches WTO

In addition to raising the issue at the World Trade Organization’s General Council on Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland, the South Korean government sent a strong opinion to the Japanese administration calling for the complete withdrawal of its export restrictions.In parallel, calls are also growing from global tech firms to urgently settle the trade dispute that may cause supply chain disruptions and impact the global economy. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press brie

IndustryJuly 24, 2019

[Newsmaker] National Assembly delegation leaves for US to discuss Japan trade curbs

A bipartisan delegation representing South Korea’s National Assembly left for Washington on Wednesday morning to meet with US and Japanese counterparts in hopes of finding a breakthrough in Japan’s latest trade restrictions. Following the five-day visit to Washington, a separate delegation is to visit Tokyo next week.“Japan argues that South Korea has violated international law, but does not provide details. I plan to address that during the Korea-US-Japan Trilateral Legislativ

PoliticsJuly 24, 2019

[팟캐스트] (310) 러시아 군용기 영공 침범/지산락페스티벌 갑작스런 취소

 진행자: 윤민식, Kevin Lee Selzer1. S. Korea fires warning shots at intruding Russian warplane기사요약: 러시아와 중국의 군용기가 23일 오전 동해 한국방공식별구역(KADIZ)에 무단진입했으며, 이 중 러시아 조기경보통제기 1대는 독도 인근 한국 영공을 두 차례 7분간 침범했다. 이에 군은 전투기를 출격 시켜 경고사격을 가했다. 러시아의 군용기가 영공침범을 한 것은 처음이다.아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638[1] A Russian military aircraft intruded into South Korea’s airspace above the East Sea twice on Tuesday, pro

PodcastJuly 24, 2019

Coupang faces service outage, all products ‘out of stock’ for hours

South Korea’s largest e-commerce retailer Coupang’s service froze for several hours on Wednesday morning showing all products “out of stock,” with customers unable to place orders or make payments.The outage on Coupang’s mobile application and website started at 7 a.m. Although customers could add items to their shopping cart they were unable to proceed with the order.Coupang attributed the problem to a technical glitch. While customers could start buying some

IndustryJuly 24, 2019

S. Korean investors favor Disney stocks among foreign stocks

South Korea’s individual investors chose Walt Disney stocks as their favorite foreign stock, a poll showed Wednesday.The survey, conducted by local brokerage Samsung Securities, involved 484 investors that participated in its foreign stocks seminar. About 20.9 percent of the respondents chose the media giant in a question asking which foreign stocks they would purchase before heading off to their summer holidays.Microsoft ranked No. 2 with 15.1 percent and Amazon No. 3 with 10.3 perce

MarketJuly 24, 2019

KADIZ intrusions test security ties among S. Korea, US, Japan: experts

The incursions by Chinese and Russian warplanes into South Korea's air defense zone this week appeared aimed at testing security ties between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo, analysts said Wednesday.On Tuesday, two Russian bombers and two Chinese bombers breached Korea's Air Defense Identification Zone, before a Russian early warning and control aircraft committed an unprecedented violation of the country's airspace.The KADIZ breaches came amid concerns that the spat between Seoul and Tokyo over Jap

DefenseJuly 24, 2019

Government-private committee launched to respond to WHO gaming disorder classification

The government on Tuesday launched a committee to address the adoption of the World Health Organization-classified gaming disorder into Korea’s own disease code.  The joint government-private sector committee is convened by the Prime Minister’s Office for Government Policy Coordination following a failed consensus between health and gaming circles, and its formation comes after nearly two-month-long consultations among relevant ministries and fields. The Culture Ministry fears t

Social AffairsJuly 24, 2019

Defense ministry dismisses Japan's claim over Dokdo, vows stern response

South Korea's defense ministry on Wednesday dismissed Japan's renewed territorial claim to Dokdo amid military tensions over a Russian warplane's violation of its airspace near the easternmost islets in the East Sea.On Tuesday, the Russian A-50 early-warning jet intruded into Korean airspace twice near Dokdo, prompting the South Korean Air Force to fire hundreds of warning shots in accordance with operation manuals, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Referring to the incident, Japan's Chief

DefenseJuly 24, 2019

Samsung Bioepis gains FDA approval for Humira biosimilar

Samsung Bioepis said Wednesday it has gained the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval for Hadlima, a biosimilar of AbbVie’s blockbuster autoimmune disease treatment Humira. This is the firm’s fourth biosimilar to get FDA approval, after Renflexis (Infliximab), Ontruzant (Trastuzumab) and Eticovo (Etanercept).Hadlima (adalimumab-bwwd) is developed by Samsung Bioepis and will be commercialized in the US by Merck from June 2023, according to a settlement with AbbVie.&nb

IndustryJuly 24, 2019

Cho Kuk could be replaced as early as Thursday

President Moon Jae-in was expected to replace his top aides, including senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk, as early as Thursday.Cho, the longest serving senior presidential secretary in Moon’s office, will be succeeded by Kim Jo-won, chief executive of Korea Aerospace Industries, sources said.“We are in the final stage of vetting candidates for the three senior presidential secretary posts for civil affairs, jobs and civic society,” a source was quoted as s

PoliticsJuly 24, 2019

Russia says airspace intrusion was not intended: Cheong

Russia has told South Korea that the latest airspace intrusion by one of its warplanes was not intentional and was probably caused by a technical glitch, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday. Expressing "deep regret" over the latest incident, Russia said that a technical problem probably caused the plane to intrude into areas it had not planned to go to."Russia said its defense ministry will immediately launch a probe and take necessary steps," Yoon Do-han, se

DefenseJuly 24, 2019

BTS' recent home concerts created economic effect worth nearly 500 b won: report

K-pop boy band BTS' fan meetings and concerts in South Korea last month created an economic effect worth nearly 500 billion won ($424.2 million), an academic report showed Wednesday.According to the report by a research team led by Pyun Ju-hyun, a business professor at Seoul's Korea University, BTS spawned a total of 481.3 billion won in direct and indirect economic effect with its "BTS 5th Muster [Magic Shop]" performances held in Busan on June 15-16 and in Seoul on June 22-23. The tw

PerformanceJuly 24, 2019