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

Seoul again presses Tokyo not to implement additional export curbs

South Korea on Wednesday repeated its call on Japan to scrap its planned measure to take Seoul off its list of trusted trading partners granted with preferential procedures for exports, warning it could undermine bilateral economic ties.Early this month, Japan implemented strict regulations for exports of three key materials to South Korea that are crucial for the production of chips and displays on the grounds that Seoul runs a lax system for the control of goods that can be diverted for milita

Foreign AffairsJuly 24, 2019

Nation braces for protracted heat waves

South Korea is bracing for sweltering heat waves in the coming weeks, with its southern provinces and many other regions suffering from an extended tropical night phenomenon, weather forecasters said Wednesday.As most parts of the country have been put under a heat wave warning or alert, the daily high temperature is expected to soar to 32 C in Seoul, 35 C in Daegu, 34 C in Gangneung and 33 C in Gwangju, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. A heat wave warning was issued for Dae

Social AffairsJuly 24, 2019

IMF downgrades world growth, warns of 'precarious' 2020

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Global trade tensions, continued uncertainty and rising prospects for a no-deal Brexit are sapping the strength of the world economy, which faces a "precarious" 2020, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday.Trade conflicts are undercutting investment and weakening manufacturing, and the IMF urged countries to avoid using tariffs to resolve their differences.In the quarterly update of its World Economic Outlook, the IMF trimmed the global forecast issued in

World BusinessJuly 24, 2019

BTS nominated in 4 categories of MTV 2019 Video Music Awards

K-pop boy band BTS has been nominated for American TV channel MTV's 2019 Video Music Awards in four award categories, the TV channel's website showed Wednesday."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 set for Aug. 26 at New Jersey's Prudential Center.  The main track of "Map of the Soul: Persona" is also competing in three other categories: Best K-pop

PerformanceJuly 24, 2019

Chinese nationals, company indicted in US over NK sanctions evasion

Four Chinese nationals and a Chinese company have been indicted on charges of helping North Korean entities involved in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the US Department of Justice said Tuesday.A federal grand jury in Newark, New Jersey, charged Chinese businesswoman Ma Xiaohong, her company, Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co. Ltd., and three of the company's top executives with violating sanctions and conspiring to defraud the US and launder money, the department sai

North KoreaJuly 24, 2019

US voices strong support for S. Korea, Japan after 'airspace incursions' by Russia, China

The Pentagon on Tuesday expressed the United States' strong support for South Korea and Japan in their response to "airspace incursions" by Russian and Chinese warplanes.Its mention of Japan in response to a question about Tuesday's incident over South Korea's East Sea, however, could raise questions about its position on the longrunning territorial dispute between its two Asian allies.Earlier Tuesday, a Russian A-50 early warning and control aircraft trespassed twice into Korea's terr

Foreign AffairsJuly 24, 2019

Boris Johnson wins race to become UK's next prime minister

Brexit hardliner Boris Johnson won the contest to lead Britain's governing Conservative Party on Tuesday and will become the country's next prime minister, tasked with fulfilling his promise to lead the U.K. out of the European Union.Johnson resoundingly defeated rival Jeremy Hunt, winning two thirds of the votes in a ballot of about 160,000 Conservative members. He will be installed as prime minister in a formal handover from Theresa May on Wednesday.  In a brief speech Tuesday meant to ra

World NewsJuly 23, 2019

BOK chief says another rate cut possible

Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Ju-yeol hinted at an additional rate cut Tuesday, less than a week after the central bank slashed the key rate to help spur growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy."(BOK) maintains its stance that it will take measures if necessary, depending on the (rate of) economic growth," Lee said while speaking in front of the parliamentary finance committee. Lee's remarks came five days after the central bank cut the key rate by 25 basis points to 1.50 percent despit

MarketJuly 23, 2019