2 Koreas to discuss Japan’s wartime forced labor, sexual slavery in Manila

South and North Korea as well as other countries will discuss issues related to forced labor and sexual slavery by Japan at an international forum in Manila, the Philippines, this week, the organizers said Tuesday.The Gyeonggi Provincial Government and Asia Pacific Interchange Association will host the International Convention for Asia Pacific Peace and Prosperity in the Southeast Asian country from Thursday to Saturday.A six-member North Korean delegation, including Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman

North KoreaJuly 23, 2019

S. Korea fires warning shots at intruding Russian warplane

A Russian military aircraft intruded into South Korea’s airspace above the East Sea twice on Tuesday, prompting Air Force fighter jets to fire warning shots in response, military officials said. Two other Russian warplanes and two Chinese bombers also entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone without prior notice.According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Russian warplane, identified as an A-50 -- an airborne early warning and control aircraft -- entered South Korea&rsqu

DefenseJuly 23, 2019

Seoul lodges complaint with Russia over airspace intrusion

South Korea sent a message of “strong complaint” to Russia over its military aircraft’s violation of Korean airspace, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday. Seoul has also filed formal complaints to China over its military aircrafts entering the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone. Earlier in the day, a number of Chinese and Russian military aircrafts engaged in a joint drill entered the KADIZ, with one Russian plane twice entering Korean airspace over the Dokdo Islets in the East Sea.

DefenseJuly 23, 2019

LG Display plans W3tr investment to push forward OLED TVs

LG Display announced Tuesday it has invested an additional 3 trillion won ($2.5 billion) in the 10.5-generation line for organic light-emitting diode panels at its P10 factory in a bid to expand the market presence of large-sized OLED screens. The world’s biggest OLED panel maker will execute the investment with an aim to increase the monthly production capacity of the newest line located in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, to 45,000, starting from 2023. The Gen 10.5 plant was built to manufacture

TechnologyJuly 23, 2019

[Graphic News] Eco-friendly car exports soar in part 7 years

 South Korea’s shipments of environment friendly vehicles jumped an average of 33 percent annually in the past seven years on growing overseas demand, an auto business lobby group said.Local carmakers exported 196,000 eco-friendly vehicles in 2018, up from 35,000 units in 2012. Eco-friendly cars accounted for 8 percent of the country’s overall vehicle exports last year, up from 1.1 percent six years earlier, according to data from the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.

MobilityJuly 23, 2019

[Newsmaker] Moon’s civil affairs secretary at center of yet another political feud

Cho Kuk, senior secretary to the president for civil affairs and justice, is once again in the spotlight, drawing fire from conservatives and fueling a feud between the ruling and opposition blocs. This time around, Cho -- a longtime target of the conservative opposition -- is drawing criticism for comments on social media related to Japan’s decision to impose trade restrictions in apparent retaliation over court rulings on Korean forced labor victims. While Cho has made over 40 posts

PoliticsJuly 23, 2019

AI tech used to battle spycam video crimes

The South Korean government has begun to use artificial intelligence technology in its fight against illegal sex videos.The state agencies said Monday that they have started applying the AI technology to search and delete illicit sex videos shared on the internet. The technology has been adopted by the Gender Equality Ministry’s center for supporting victims of cybersex crimes.The center expects the new AI solution to help shorten the time in finding and removing sex crime videos, also kno

TechnologyJuly 23, 2019

[Ashoka Mody] Let’s choose the best person to lead the IMF

Now that Christine Lagarde has announced her resignation as managing director of the International Monetary Fund, German chancellor Angela Merkel says Europeans “again” have a “claim” to fill what is arguably the world’s most important economic job. Merkel is invoking a decades-old political deal, which gives Europe the IMF leadership in return for allowing Americans to run the World Bank.If global leaders want the IMF to achieve its mission of ensuring internationa

ViewpointsJuly 23, 2019

[Kim Seong-kon] Ultra-nationalism in the era of globalism

We are now living in the era of globalism when the whole world has become a global village. The boundaries between nations are rapidly collapsing and people are experiencing crossovers everywhere. Take the EU, for example. Practically the whole continent of Europe has become a global village already and Europeans are freely crossing borders without an entry visa, using the same currency and their mobile phone with no extra charge. Why, then, are we witnessing such sudden unprecedented change in

ViewpointsJuly 23, 2019

[Herald Review] Hopes of cinematic universe may be too ambitious for ‘Divine Fury’

A cinematic universe is not something that has earnestly been tried in the Korean film industry, which makes Jason Kim’s attempt to start one via an occult film border on risky. Occult-themed flicks have rarely been major hits at the box office here.So how does “The Divine Fury” – the supposed “Iron Man” of the crudely named “Holy Universe” -- measure up? While it has some good elements and can be fun from time to time, the unoriginal plot and conc

FilmJuly 23, 2019

Trouble-ridden Jisan festival canceled 3 days before opening

The 2019 Jisan Rock Festival was officially canceled Tuesday, as the ambitious attempt to revive the festival came to a sudden and screeching halt, much to the anger and confusion of fans.D2 Global Company, the organizer for the festival, said on its homepage earlier in the day that it had called off the event.“2019 Jisan Rock Festival was to be held for three days at Jisan Forest Resort on July 26-28, but we decided to cancel the event as it was not possible to hold the concerts,” t

PerformanceJuly 23, 2019

[Trending] Kid YouTube star’s family buys $8m building in Gangnam

The family company of a 6-year-old South Korean YouTube celebrity has garnered enough money to purchase a building in one of the richest areas of Seoul.According to a report from Maeil Business Newspaper on Tuesday, Boram Family -- the company that operates two YouTube channels featuring 6-year-old girl Boram -- bought a five-story building worth 9.5 billion won ($8.06 million) in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam, in Seoul.Referring to the real estate brokerage industry, the daily newspaper said the buil

TelevisionJuly 23, 2019

Foreign investors on buying spree of Korean stocks amid trade row with Japan

Overseas investors have been on a buying spree of South Korean stocks this month, despite a dampening mood from the escalating Seoul-Tokyo trade row, data showed Tuesday. According to the Korea Exchange, foreign investors net purchased stocks on the benchmark Kospi worth nearly 1.8 trillion won ($1.5 billion) from July 1 to Tuesday. Separate data compiled by local brokerage Yuanta Securities showed that Korean stocks were the most popular among those categorized as emerging markets. Foreign inve

MarketJuly 23, 2019

Posco’s operating profit down 15% in Q2

South Korean steelmaker Posco posted an operating profit of 1 trillion won ($848 million) in the second quarter this year, buoyed by its lucrative infrastructure and trade operations despite the sluggish steel business, the firm said Tuesday. The company also posted 16.3 trillion won in sales, with a net profit of 681 billion won. Sales rose 1.5 percent, but operating profit and net income declined 14.7 percent and 14.7 percent on-year, respectively. The decline was mainly due to its sluggi

IndustryJuly 23, 2019

Sale process of Asiana Airlines to begin this week

Creditors and Kumho Industrial, the largest stakeholder of Asiana Airlines, will post a public notice to sell the nation’s second-largest air carrier on Thursday, which is likely to be the largest deal of the year.After completing a financial review of the air carrier, creditors said they would speed up the bidding process, if no additional insolvent factors or problems that would complicate the company’s operations are found. Officials at Asiana Airlines confirmed that there’s

IndustryJuly 23, 2019

Celltrion prepares for direct sales in Australia

Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion’s distribution arm Celltrion Healthcare said Tuesday that it has joined Australia’s Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association to prepare for direct sales of its biosimilars Truxima and Herzuma in the country.Celltrion Group’s three main biosimilars -- Remsima, Truxima and Herzuma -- are currently estimated to be worth 330 billion won ($280 million) in the Australian market. Autoimmune diseases treatment Remsima was launched as Infle

IndustryJuly 23, 2019

LG CNS teaches coding to young people

LG CNS will provide free coding training to elementary and middle school students from Tuesday at Sejong University as part of its corporate outreach, the company said Tuesday.The four-day, three-night “IT Dream Project” is LG CNS’ yearly summer project that began in 2017. LG CNS has so far provided the program to some 7,500 middle school students across 60 schools in Korea.“The advent of mandatory coding classes from elementary school has led to a market for costly priva

IndustryJuly 23, 2019

Market analysts forecast retail industry sales dip in Q2

South Korea’s major retailers and e-commerce companies such as E-mart, Lotte Mart and Coupang are likely to see their sales and performance having deteriorated in the second quarter, according to market analysts on Tuesday.Stock analysts said Tuesday that the industry’s top discount store chain operator E-mart is highly likely to run into the red in the second quarter, recording about 4.7 billion won ($3.9 million), or up to 10.5 billion won, in losses from operations.  “E

IndustryJuly 23, 2019

BOK chief hints at additional cut of growth outlook amid Japan factor

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Tuesday that the central bank could consider an additional cut of the country’s growth outlook for this year, should the ongoing trade tensions with neighboring Japan expand.“If (Japan’s export curbs) worsen and such consequences have not sufficiently been reflected in the (recently revised) economic outlook, they will certainly deliver a negative impact on our economy,” Lee said in a briefing session of the parliamentary strategy and f

EconomyJuly 23, 2019