8 years, 3 doping cases later, race walker becomes 1st S. Korean with world championships medal

It's been a long time coming, and race walker Kim Hyun-sub has finally become the first South Korean to win a world championships medal, set to receive a prize that he should have been awarded eight years ago on home soil.Kim finished the men's 20-kilometer race walk in sixth place at the 2011 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in Daegu, 300 km southeast of Seoul. But three athletes who finished ahead of him have since been stripped of their records bec

More SportsAug. 21, 2019

Facebook hiring journalists to curate its new News Tab

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -- Facebook on Tuesday confirmed plans for a News Tab that will be edited by seasoned journalists, in a departure from its longstanding practice of letting algorithms dictate a user's experience.A human team will select relevant, reliable breaking and top news stories. Other sections of the tab will rely on algorithms to figure out a user's interests based on "signals" such as pages followed, interactions with online news or subscriptions to publications."Our g

World NewsAug. 21, 2019

Top 3 memory chip makers' sales fall over 30% in H1

The world's big three memory chip makers saw their revenues decline over 30 percent in the first half of the year due to weak demand and steep price declines following a two-year boom, a report said Wednesday. The Big 3 memory suppliers -- Samsung Electronics and SK hynix of South Korea and Micron of the United States -- grappled with slumping sales in the first six months of the year compared with a year ago amid weak memory chip markets, according to the report from IC Insights. Samsung and SK

EconomyAug. 21, 2019

Biegun holds talks with S. Korean counterpart over resumption of nuke talks with NK

US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun held talks with his South Korean counterpart in Seoul on Wednesday to discuss joint efforts to resume and make progress in nuclear talks with North Korea.The US envoy met Lee Do-hoon at Seoul's foreign ministry, kicking off his official schedule for a series of meetings with senior Seoul officials, including Unification Minister Kim Yeong-chul. He arrived here from Japan on Tuesday for a three-day visit. His trip came as the conclusion of

North KoreaAug. 21, 2019

Marvel's involvement in 'Spider-Man' movies may be in doubt

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- With great success comes great re-negotiation. In the wake of the announcement that "Spider-Man: Far From Home'' is now the highest-grossing film ever in Sony Pictures' history, reports surfaced that Marvel Studios may be stepping away from the cross-studio partnership.  The Hollywood trade Deadline reported Tuesday that there was a disagreement over the profit-sharing structure. According to a person close to the deal who was unauthorized to speak publicly, negotia

FilmAug. 21, 2019

Thailand partnering with South Korea on electric bus development

BANGKOK -- An all-electric bus with the national flags of South Korea and Thailand printed side by side sits on a campus of one of the national research universities on the southern side of Bangkok. The electric bus is a joint project between Korea and Thailand, led mainly by Korean automaker Edison Motors, which currently provides public transport services with eco-friendly buses at Namsan in Seoul and on Jeju Island. The project involves 11 organizations from both sides, including Korea’

IndustryAug. 21, 2019

At age of 100, philosopher says ‘I love; therefore I am’

Widely known as the “100-year-old philosopher,” professor Kim Hyung-seok recently published a collection of essays that delves into the meaning of life. Kim, 100 this year by Korean age, was born in 1920 in Pyongyang, which is now the capital of North Korea. He studied philosophy at Sophia University in Tokyo. After Korea’s liberation from Japan in 1945, he taught at a local middle and high school in Seoul and eventually joined Yonsei University. He is now a professor emeritus

PeopleAug. 21, 2019

Top diplomats of S. Korea, China, Japan to hold talks in Beijing

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for meetings with her Chinese and Japanese counterparts over three-way cooperation and a possible summit among their leaders.Her trip drew keen attention as she plans to meet bilaterally with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono on Wednesday afternoon amid heightened tensions between the two countries over trade and history.Their meeting comes at a delicate time when Seoul is mulling whether to renew a bilateral military i

Foreign AffairsAug. 20, 2019

Rapper Kisum challenges herself with first dance hip-hop record, 'Yeah!sul'

Female rapper and songwriter Kisum on Tuesday dropped a new EP, "Yeah!sul," fronted by a funky dance number, transforming sharply from her previous dark hip-hop music.The EP's title, "Yeah!sul," translates in Korean as "Yeah! alcohol," or as "art" when read together, and the six-track album is led by "Let's Drink Up."Kisum sampled the widely loved refrain from male duo Vibe's hit song with the same Korean title in composing and writing the main t

PerformanceAug. 20, 2019

GM Korea union enters partial strike for higher wages

Unionized workers at GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., on Tuesday entered a two-day partial strike, demanding higher wages. GM Korea workers held a four-hour strike on Tuesday and plan to stage another four-hour walkout on Wednesday, GM union spokesman Dang Sung-geun said over the phone. "Union leaders will hold a meeting on Thursday to decide on whether to enter another round of strikes," he said. GM Korea and its union have held seven rounds of talks since Ju

MobilityAug. 20, 2019

Amorepacific spins off tea brand Osulloc

South Korean cosmetics giant Amorepacific Corp. said Tuesday that its premium green tea brand Osulloc will be launched as an independent entity this year to boost its value.Osulloc will begin independent business activity starting on Oct. 1, the company said in a regulatory filing. The move is part of efforts to reinforce Osulloc's brand image as a premium organic green tea brand, the company said. "Osulloc will solidify its brand as a leading premium tea brand through efficient and re

IndustryAug. 20, 2019

Antitrust watchdog approves plan to establish ‘Netflix of Asia’

Korea’s antitrust watchdog on Tuesday approved the integration of two popular video streaming businesses, giving the nod to the local companies’ ambition to establish a massive home-grown streaming platform to compete with Netflix. The Fair Trade Commission said it greenlighted the merger of SK Telecom and territorial broadcasters’ over-the-top video services. Combining SK Telecom’s Pooq and the broadcasters’ Oksusu, new OTT service Wavve will be launched next month

TechnologyAug. 20, 2019

[Graphic News] Korea's coal consumption up in 2018, bucks global trend

　South Korea’s coal consumption increased last year, bucking the global trend for reducing carbon emissions, a report showed. 　South Korea consumed 88.2 million tons of oil equivalent, a unit of energy, in 2018, up 2.4 percent from a year ago, according to the London-based energy company BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy 2019.　The latest figure makes South Korea the world’s fifth-largest coal consumer, following China, India, the United States and Japan, BP said. (Yonhap)

World BusinessAug. 20, 2019

Are ‘water drop’ breast implants a ticking time bomb in the chest?

South Koreans with Allergan’s textured breast implants are expressing fear and complaining about a lack of direction from authorities, a week into the latest developments surrounding the first Korean patient being diagnosed with breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma, or BIA-ALCL, a rare cancer of the immune system.The first BIA-ALCL diagnosis in Korea was publicly announced Wednesday last week by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. It was the fourth such case in

IndustryAug. 20, 2019

SsangYong Motor launches gasoline-powered Korando

Amid waning market demand for diesel-powered sport utility vehicles, SsangYong Motor unveiled the gasoline model of the Korando on Tuesday, to boost sales of its SUV brand. The carmaker has improved safety of the 1.5-liter turbo gasoline model by installing seven air bags and other safety features, including lane keeping assist, driver awareness assist and autonomous emergency braking systems. The launch came six months after the company unveiled the 2.0-liter diesel Korando here in February. Th

MobilityAug. 20, 2019

Samsung heir meets software trainees in Gwangju

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Tuesday headed to Gwangju to check on the tech giant’s software educational program that supports youth employment. “It is essential to raise software talent in expanding the fundamental base for the IT industry,” Lee said. “Despite the current difficulties, we need to plant seeds for the future.” Last year, Samsung established four software academy centers across the country, including in Gwangju, with the

TechnologyAug. 20, 2019

BTS nominated in 5 categories for 2019 MTV Video Music Awards

K-pop boy band BTS has been nominated for American TV channel MTV's 2019 Video Music Awards in the Best Group category, raising the number of its nominations to five, the TV channel's website showed Tuesday.In its previous announcement last month, MTV said BTS was nominated in four categories for the globally coveted awards. "Boy With Luv," BTS' latest single featuring Halsey, is competing in the Best Collaboration category for the fan-voted music awards, whose final awards ceremony is

PerformanceAug. 20, 2019

S. Korea to ban Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche cars in emissions scandal

South Korea will ban domestic sales of eight models of Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche diesel cars for violating emissions regulations, the Ministry of Environment said Tuesday.The ministry said it will also slap fines on Audi Volkswagen Korea and Porsche Korea and seek a prosecution investigation.The ministry's probe has found that the German automakers manipulated pollution control devices used in those vehicles. A total of 1,261 cars in the eight models were sold in South Korea from May 2015 to

MobilityAug. 20, 2019

[Kim Seong-kon] We should put ourselves in other people’s shoes

Koreans are known to be people of “jeong” or affection. However, many Koreans do not seem to be thoughtful or considerate. Perhaps jeong does not encompass thoughtfulness or caring about others. Nevertheless, it is necessary to put yourself in another person’s shoes. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee writes, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around

ViewpointsAug. 20, 2019