South Korea’s Hyosung announced Tuesday it will invest 1 trillion won ($829 million) by 2028 to expand its carbon fiber production capacity, vowing to raise the country’s competitiveness to lessen dependence on other countries. To achieve this, it will put advanced materials, crucial for the “hydrogen economy,” at the forefront of its business portfolio.The textile giant plans to start 10 production lines for carbon fiber manufacturing at its plant in Jeonju City, capable

IndustryAug. 20, 2019

SEJONG -- President Moon Jae-in will pass the halfway point in November, finishing the first 30 months of his 60-month term.The Moon administration launched in May 2017, several months after a political scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil swept the nation and ignited public fury.The people pinned great hopes on Moon, who stressed justice and fairness in his inaugural speech.Moon’s approval ratings hovered around 70-80 percent during the first y

PoliticsAug. 20, 2019

Marking one year since Mirae Asset Group Chairman Park Hyeon-joo became global investment strategy officer of the firm’s brokerage unit Mirae Asset Daewoo, the brokerage’s overseas businesses reported robust earnings for the first half of the year. According to an earnings report recently released by the brokerage, the combined net profit of Mirae Asset Daewoo’s overseas branches reached 82.7 billion ($80 million) in the January-to-June period, up nearly 70 percent compared to

MarketAug. 20, 2019

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will meet her Japanese counterpart in China in another attempt to ease tensions with Tokyo after a diplomatic feud developed into a trade row and now threatens to weaken security cooperation. Kang, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gathered in Beijing on Tuesday for the ninth in an ongoing series of trilateral foreign ministers’ meetings involving the top diplomatic officials of the three countries. Th

Foreign AffairsAug. 20, 2019

Yang Hyun-suk, former CEO of YG Entertainment, and Seungri, a former member of the company-managed K-pop boy band BIGBANG, have been slapped with an exit ban over allegations that they engaged in habitual gambling abroad and violated the foreign exchange law to secure gambling money, police officials said Tuesday.The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has recently obtained an approval from the Ministry of Justice to ban Yang and Seungri from leaving the country after booking them on charges of hab

Social AffairsAug. 20, 2019

The combined volume of loans extended by Japanese lenders operating here fell 5.4 percent on-month as of late June, data showed Tuesday. Meanwhile, loans taken out by local conglomerates accounted for more than half of the total volume, a report by the Financial Supervisory Service showed.According to the report submitted to a main opposition lawmaker, the volume of loans stood at 23.4 trillion won ($20 billion) as of late June, down 5.4 percent from 24.7 trillion won the previous month.  A

MarketAug. 20, 2019

South Korea and the United States wrapped up their weekslong combined military exercises on Tuesday, raising hopes for a halt in a series of missile launches by North Korea and a possible resumption of nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang.The North has strongly bristled at the Combined Command Post Training and Crisis Management Staff Training, ratcheting up tensions with six rounds of missile or projectile launches and bellicose rhetoric over about three weeks."We've wrapped up t

DefenseAug. 20, 2019

South Korean and US diplomats held talks in Seoul on Tuesday over the allies' envisioned negotiations on the sharing of the cost for the upkeep of American troops here.Chang Won-sam from Seoul's foreign ministry and his US counterpart, Timothy Betts, had the closed-door meeting, as Seoul and Washington are bracing for a new round of talks on how much Seoul will pay for the stationing of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea (USFK). Chang and Betts were the chief negotiators of the previous negotiati

Foreign AffairsAug. 20, 2019

LG Electronics will set a separate booth for its premium home appliance lineup LG Signature in collaboration with Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas during the 2019 IFA show next month, the company said Tuesday. Under the company’s slogan for the premium brand, “Art inspires technology. Technology completes art,” Fuksas will design the exhibition booth for Signature products on the theme of “Infinity” -- a nod to the “infinite possibilities of the Signature

TechnologyAug. 20, 2019

Preorders for Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 10 series have surpassed 1.3 million units in Korea, the company confirmed Tuesday.  Samsung received preorders for the latest flagship models for 11 days from Aug. 9 through Monday. The total order volume is estimated to be over 1.3 million units, double that of the predecessor Note 9, according to the tech titan. The most popular model during the preorder period was the 256-gigabyte Galaxy Note 10+ model in aura glow, the company said.&

TechnologyAug. 20, 2019

Korean Air is expanding its Southeast Asian, Chinese and Oceania routes, in response to falling demand for air travel to Japan amid the ongoing trade row between South Korea and Japan.According to Korean Air, it is reorganizing and expanding some of its international routes to make up for lower demand for flights to Japanese cities. The full-service air carrier will add seven weekly Incheon-Clark flights from Oct. 27. It will also expand the current 14 weekly flights on the Incheon-Da

IndustryAug. 20, 2019

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Lee Duck-hee became the first deaf player to win an ATP main draw match on Monday, waiting out a rain delay to beat Henri Laaksonen in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The 21-year-old from South Korea was two points from victory when thunderstorms swept through the area.When he and Switzerland's Laaksonen returned some five hours later Lee quickly polished off a 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 victory."I never expected to get through this one," said Lee, who had won the final three po

More SportsAug. 20, 2019

Nearly six decades have passed since South Korea and Japan signed a treaty to normalize diplomatic ties in 1965, but their relationship has been fraught since then with continued bitterness over the history of Korea’s colonization. Now, as the relationship of the “frenemies” hits a new low with a budding trade war, Seoul has hinted at scrapping a military intel-sharing pact with Tokyo. But while South Koreans are unified in denouncing Japan’s increased controls on ex

DefenseAug. 20, 2019

Riding on the growing popularity of carbonated drinks, Coca-Cola Korea’s sparkling water brand Seagram’s has released new zero-calorie flavored sparkling water, Seagram’s The Tansan, the company said Tuesday.The company said Seagram’s The Tansan will have two flavors -- lemon and apple mint -- designed as palate refreshers. Tansan in Korean means carbonic acid, which gives carbonated drinks their signature bubbles and refreshing “bite.” “The crisp flavor

IndustryAug. 20, 2019

Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk is in a corner over mounting corruption allegations involving his family ahead of his confirmation hearing, which hasn’t even been scheduled yet.The main opposition Liberty Korea Party filed a complaint against the former senior presidential secretary and his family on Monday over what the party called questionable investments in a private equity fund.The latest of the allegations involves Cho’s 28-year-old daughter, who received scholarships to atten

PoliticsAug. 20, 2019

The third annual “Slow Life Slow Live” festival has added Irish band Kodaline to its lineup, with a total of nine artists confirmed so far. Consisting of Steve Garrigan, Mark Prendergast, Vincent May and Jason Boland, the band was nominated for the BBC Sound of 2013 upon its 2012 debut. It has released three studio albums, most recently “Politics of Living” in 2018. The quintet joins South Korean pop vocalists Lee Juck and John Park, along with Lukas Graham, Gallant,

PerformanceAug. 20, 2019

Let’s face it: “47 Meters Down: Uncaged,” an unlikely sequel to the 2017 low-budget summer sleeper “47 Meters Down,” was never going to be a top-notch production with quality acting and thought-provoking moments. Bluntly put, it’s a silly shark movie. But not every film has to shoot for masterpiece status. Through the corny dialogue, extremely over-the-top moments, laughable plot holes and cheesy set-up, this is one dumb and absurd film that does not try to be

FilmAug. 20, 2019

North Korea's official newspaper blasted South Korea on Tuesday for conducting a joint military exercise with the United States on the last day of the drill, warning that Seoul will pay dearly for such "stupid" acts.  South Korea and the US were to wrap up their weekslong joint exercise later in the day. Seoul has said that it is part of its preparations to regain wartime operational control of its troops from Washington, but Pyongyang has called it a rehearsal for invasion. 

North KoreaAug. 20, 2019

The competition for a potential joint Korean bid for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup has increased to nine countries.FIFA announced Tuesday that Belgium has joined South Korea and eight other previous candidates in the running to host the showpiece event in women's football.Also in the running are Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa.In April, South Korea submitted a sole bid for the tournament, with FIFA noting that South Korea expressed "int

SoccerAug. 20, 2019