Housemade pasta and more at It’el JAE

When the tajarin arrives tableside at the newly minted It’el JAE, it is a decadent, mouthwatering affair -- a sumptuous tangle of handmade pasta bathed in sage-infused butter, strewn with translucent slices of black truffle and showered with pungent Pecorino and Grana Padano cheeses. A barely poached yolk, golden and glossy, is nestled in the center. After politely waiting for diners to document the dish in photos, the servers use a fork and spoon to break the yolk and delicately blend eve

FoodJuly 5, 2019

[Travel Bits] Festivals, sights across Korea

Mega Wave Festival at Caribbean Bay The Caribbean Bay water park at Everland is celebrating summer with a 50-day Mega Wave Festival.The festival, which kicked off June 21 and runs through Aug. 18, offers flyboard performances and other fun events for visitors of all ages. The Mega Pool Party music festival, which takes place at the wave pool and features popular acts like Mamamoo and DinDin, is one of the highlights. Outdoor attractions such as the Aqualoop and Water Bobsleigh will be rolled out

TravelJuly 5, 2019

[Herald Interview] Living the Korean dream at the pool table

Sports stars often say they never expected to become such big players. This is easy to believe from Sruong Pheavy, the Cambodian-born Korean billiards star. She had absolutely no reason to believe she would become the women’s three-cushion champion in South Korea: She had never grabbed a cue before coming here.Pheavy, 29, came to Korea about 10 years ago to marry her husband, Kim Man-sik. Kim, twice her age, runs a small printing shop in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. Like so many c

PeopleJuly 5, 2019

[Weekender] The dessert craze

Beside a coin launderette and a convenience store inside a dowdy, two-story building in a not-so-fancy residential neighborhood in Gayang-dong, Seoul, nestles a small dessert shop specializing in French macarons. Selling the colorful confections for 1,800 ($1.55) to 2,300 won apiece, shop owner and baker Kim Hyun-seo also makes party favor boxes and occasionally hosts macaron-baking classes. “Being a dessert lover myself, I have been baking at home for years and recently decided to open a

FoodJuly 5, 2019

Samsung Electronics' Q2 earnings more than halve on weak memory chips

Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday its operating earnings more than halved in the second quarter from a year earlier amid the weak memory chip and handset market.  The operating profit was estimated at 6.5 trillion won ($5.6 billion) in the April-June period, a 56.3 percent drop from a year ago, according to its earnings guidance. The Korean tech giant expected its overall sales to have fallen 4.2 percent on-year to 56 trillion won in the three-month period. The figures were above mar

IndustryJuly 5, 2019

One dead, three injured in building collapse in southern Seoul

One person was killed and three were injured in a building collapse Thursday afternoon in Seoul’s southern district of Seocho. Of the four known casualties, three were rescued and one was pronounced dead by the emergency medical team on the scene. According to fire authorities, the five-story building with a single underground floor collapsed at around 2:20 p.m. Thursday. The building, located on a four-lane street, fell on to three cars, two of which had two passengers

Social AffairsJuly 4, 2019

Ministry asks police to investigate doctor suspected of giving rebates in exchange for sex

The Ministry of Health has asked the police to look into an online post by a doctor in which he claimed to have received sexual favors from a pharmaceutical company employee.The post was published on a website accessible only to certified public health doctors. Public health doctors are doctors working at state-run medical facilities as an alternative to military service.In the post, the writer admitted to having received sexual services from a pharmaceutical company saleswoman in exch

Social AffairsJuly 4, 2019

[Graphic News] Number of museums to rise to 1,310 by 2023

　The number of museums, including art galleries, in South Korea will increase by 16 percent over the next five years under a government proposal to make representative cultural infrastructure more accessible to the public, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said.　The ministry unveiled a medium and long-term museum expansion plan to raise the number of museums nationwide by 186 from the current 1,124 to 1,310 in 2023.　By the target year, the nation will have 1,013 museums, up from 873, a

CultureJuly 4, 2019

SoftBank chief highlights investment for Korea’s AI

Son Masayoshi, chairman of Japanese IT conglomerate SoftBank, highlighted the importance of investments in leading artificial intelligence businesses for Korea to become an advanced AI-powered country during a meeting with President Moon Jae-in on Thursday. In response to President Moon’s acknowledgement that Korea is a latecomer in the AI technology industry, Son said, “AI should (be) the top priority for Korea, and the country needs to focus on related education, policies, investme

TechnologyJuly 4, 2019

[News analysis] Experts skeptical of Moon’s claim of de facto end-of-war declaration between US, N. Korea

Debate has been sparked among experts over President Moon Jae-in’s recent remarks that the US and North Korea have effectively agreed to end the Korean War with the recent meeting of their leaders at Panmunjom. On Sunday, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un created fresh momentum for stalled denuclearization talks with symbolic gestures, such as shaking hands on the North’s side of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas and then crossing together t

North KoreaJuly 4, 2019

Korean sitcom on multicultural families in Jeju exported to Vietnam

Korean sitcom “Haiphong Families,” which deals with the realities of multicultural families here, will soon be shown in Vietnam.Aired from May to October last year, the 20-episode sitcom by broadcaster KCTV Jeju was sold to Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, a state-operated company that is the second-largest entity in the country.  This marks the first time a program by a regional cable broadcaster in Korea is being exported to Vietnam, according to KCTV Jeju. The one-

TelevisionJuly 4, 2019

[Newsmaker] Main opposition floor leader accuses Moon administration of abusing democracy

Main opposition Liberty Korea Party Floor Leader Na Kyung-won has accused the Moon administration of “abusing democracy to achieve absolute power,” continuing the conservative bloc’s attack of President Moon Jae-in.“I can’t erase the thought that the Moon administration is abusing democracy to achieve absolute power rather than standing for citizens’ freedom and basic rights. This coincides with what the Economist referred to as ‘new dictatorship,’

PoliticsJuly 4, 2019

Incheon National University joins drive to innovate university ranking system

Incheon National University has joined prominent universities around the world in efforts to create a new university ranking system that better measures universities’ efforts to drive innovation in Industry 4.0.At a joint press conference, Cho Dong-sung, president of Incheon National University, said the traditional university ranking systems work in favor of research-focused universities. “A new university ranking system that focuses on innovation in the ‘fourth industrial rev

Social AffairsJuly 4, 2019

[Charles A. Kupchan, Sinan Ulgen] US still needed in Syria

 While the world frets about a possible conflict between the United States and Iran, the bloodshed in Syria is escalating once again. Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime has intensified its onslaught against the remaining opposition stronghold in Idlib province, which is home to some 3 million people, including many who have been internally displaced. To avoid a new humanitarian nightmare and another mass exodus of refugees, the US must renew its peacemaking efforts.Since a US-back

ViewpointsJuly 4, 2019

[Lionel Laurent] Trump’s tariff barrage forces EU into a corner

Is there any method to Donald Trump’s madness on trade?Politicians and investors are all struggling to make sense of the US president’s tendency to stop, go and reverse course in his dealings with China and Europe. Financial traders went to sleep Monday basking in the glow of a trade truce with Beijing. They woke up Tuesday to news that the Americans had expanded a list of European products that may be whacked by tariffs (under the guise of the long-running state subsidy dispute betw

ViewpointsJuly 4, 2019

Prosecution confirms death of ex-head of Hanbo Group in Ecuador

The prosecution concluded Thursday that Chung Tae-soo, former head of the now-defunct Hanbo Group, died in December in Ecuador, where he was hiding after fleeing South Korea while standing trial on embezzlement charges.His death came to light as Chung Han-keun, a son of Chung, was extradited to South Korea in June after he was captured in Panama following 21 years of living overseas to escape a corruption charge.The prosecution said the Ecuadorean government had confirmed as authentic a document

Social AffairsJuly 4, 2019

[News Focus] Transition to farming loses luster for city dwellers

SEJONG -- Over the past decade, a growing number of urbanites in South Korea have moved to rural areas to tap the agriculture industry, helped on their way by various government-led benefits for new farming households.A large proportion of them were in their 40s, 30s and 20s, and quit salaried jobs in big cities to take up farming.But the situation has changed. Many of them have failed to accommodate themselves to the rural life and farm work.Among their troubles are difficulty getting along wit

Social AffairsJuly 4, 2019

[Herald Interview] Chef without restaurant but 1 million diners

Though she does not have a restaurant, there are still nearly 1 million diners who enjoy Gabriela Kook’s food around the globe. 　More widely known as Kook Gabie, or Gabie Kook, Kook, 30, is a content creator, who shares her life via YouTube. Her videos have diverse subjects from lifestyle to beauty, but she is most well-known for her recipe videos. “Everything led me to cooking and eating,” Kook said during an interview held at the Grand Hyatt Seoul on Wednesday as a part of th

PeopleJuly 4, 2019

[Herald Interview] Drag queen singer opens up new future for traditional Korean music

Korean singer Lee Hee-moon sometimes goes onstage in gender-bending attire. Wearing a curly wig and high heels, Lee commands the stage, backed by a rock band.The music, however, is inspired by traditional Korean music. 　Though gugak -- Korean traditional music -- singers are usually associated with an old-fashioned image, Lee sets himself apart with his music, manner and appearance. The Korea Herald met with the 44-year-old singer for an interview at the Grand Hyatt Seoul on Wednesday. He was a

PeopleJuly 4, 2019