S. Korea posts current account surplus in May

South Korea's current account balanced turned to black in May, one month after the country posted its first deficit in seven years amid sluggish exports, central bank data showed Thursday.The country's current account surplus came to $4.95 billion in the month, marking a turnaround from a $660 million deficit the month before, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The turnaround was largely attributed to a $1.16 billion surplus in the primary income account, which in April posted

EconomyJuly 4, 2019

Japan says curbs on exports to S. Korea due to broken pledge

TOKYO (AP) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says Japan cannot give South Korean exports preferential treatment because the country is not abiding by an agreement regarding wartime issues that Japan insists have been resolved. Abe was objecting Wednesday to criticism over escalating tensions between the two neighbors amid disputes over Koreans forced to work as laborers during World War II.He was defending a decision announced Monday to impose restrictions on Japan’s exports of semiconduct

IndustryJuly 3, 2019

Senior NK official meets Swedish envoy amid reports of missing Australian student

A senior North Korean official met with a special envoy from the Swedish government on Wednesday, the North’s state media said, amid speculation over possible discussions about an Australian student who has been missing in the North for the past week.Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea’s Central Committee, “met and had a talk with Kent Rolf Magnus Harstedt,” the Korean Central News Agency said, without giving further details.  On Tue

North KoreaJuly 3, 2019

[팟캐스트] (307) 文 “북미 적대관계 종식”, 성평등 이루려면 남성 육아휴직 필요

진행자: 임정요, Kevin Lee Selzer1. US, N. Korea have ended hostile relations: Moon기사요약: 문재인 대통령은 최근 비무장지대(DMZ)에서 성사된 북한 김정은 위원장과 미국 트럼프 대통령의 만남이 북미간 적대관계를 종식시키고 평화시대가 도래했다고 말했다. 아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638[1] President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that the US and North Korea have put an end to their hostile relations with the recent meeting of their leaders, who stepped back and forth over the Korean

PodcastJuly 3, 2019

Korea starts work on Japan WTO case

The South Korean government said Wednesday that it has started a legal review for filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization over Japan’s export restrictions -- widely seen as the neighboring country’s retaliation against the ruling by Korea’s top court on wartime forced labor.Trade officials here believe that Japan’s move to limit exports of key materials used to produce semiconductor and displays violates the WTO’s ban on states’ control of exports

TechnologyJuly 3, 2019

S. Korea lowers growth forecast for 2019 to 2.4-2.5%

South Korea’s government on Wednesday revised the growth rate forecast for this year to 2.4-2.5 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from its earlier estimation, amid sluggish exports and investments.It also added pressure upon the National Assembly to swiftly approve a long-pending supplementary bill of 6.7 trillion won ($5.7 billion) dedicated to economic revitalization. “The government has devoted all efforts to achieve an economic paradigm shift but uncertainties such as the global

EconomyJuly 3, 2019

Realty investments of Korean conglomerates near W40tr

The total real estate investments of South Korean conglomerates slid slightly to 39.6 trillion won ($33.80 billion) as of end-2018, corporate business performance reviewer CEO Score said Tuesday. The aggregated business and audit reports of 59 conglomerates showed that Lotte Group topped the list ahead of Samsung Group, it said.Lotte Group had 4.4 trillion won worth of real estate holdings for investment purposes as of last year, up 12.6 percent on-year. It spent 70.2 billion won in acquiring mo

IndustryJuly 3, 2019

[Graphic News] France’s Mirazur crowned world’s best restaurant

　France’s Mirazur restaurant - whose Argentine chef Mauro Colagreco draws inspiration from the sea, the mountains and his own garden - was crowned the world’s best by an influential trade list.　The accolade came just months after Colagreco was handed a third Michelin star, and was the first time a French establishment has triumphed in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.　In the second spot in the awards - which took place in Singapore, their first time in Asia - was Noma in Co

WorldJuly 3, 2019

Government admits failure over N.Korean boat incident, denies cover-up

The government on Wednesday admitted to security failure, but rejected the accusation that it attempted to downplay the incident in which a North Korean boat arrived at a South Korea seaport undetected. Announcing the result of a joint government investigation, the government said it reprimanded top military chiefs and dismissed an Army commander who was in charge of the surveillance operation in the coastal area where the incident occurred.A small wooden boat carrying four North Koreans was fou

DefenseJuly 3, 2019

Samsung Galaxy Fold internally ready for launch

Samsung Electronics has completed fixing the flaw in the outer film of the Galaxy Fold and has set a retail price for the Korean market, according to company insiders Monday. In order to prevent the protective film on the outer layer of the foldable display screen from being taken off by hand, the company has decided to adopt a slightly bigger film to cover the entire screen and conceal the edges of the film underneath the screen’s bezel, a Samsung official told The Korea Herald.  Sin

TechnologyJuly 3, 2019

Korean fabless firms turn to Samsung amid Japan risk

Amid rising tensions between South Korea and Japan over the latter’s restriction on exports of high-tech materials to Korean chip and display makers, the country’s fabless businesses turned their attention to Samsung Electronics at a forum held in Seoul on Wednesday. More than 500 officials from fabless and semiconductor equipment firms attended the 2019 Samsung Foundry Forum held at a hotel in southern Seoul to learn about Samsung’s foundry business plans for the year. The num

TechnologyJuly 3, 2019

CJ ENM launches project to promote its child celebrities

CJ ENM said Wednesday it was seeking to develop the next generation of celebrities through its cartoon and anime channel Tooniverse, dubbed “Toonistar” proejct.The cable channel announced the key projects for the second half of 2019, including the upcoming broadcast of its new children’s anime series, during a press conference in Seoul.According to Tooniverse producer Park Yong-jin, Tooniverse has selected seven children through auditions on the basis of their acting, dancing a

TelevisionJuly 3, 2019

[David Ignatius] Trump successfully played a hunch with Kim. Now what?

In dealing with North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un, President Trump should remember that he is a snake handler, not a snake charmer. (The same advice applies to Kim, but we’ll leave that to pundits in Pyongyang.)The baseline: Kim is a modernizing autocrat who believes his survival will be enhanced by the economic development he wants, in addition to the nuclear weapons he has. If he has decided to resume negotiations, it’s to remove sanctions, put his economy in overdrive and,

ViewpointsJuly 3, 2019

[Kim Myong-sik] Split society brews low public trust in mass media

Korea has many problems in politics, economy and national security. In addition, the media world of this country is in crisis under a new environment created by the emergence of the internet. It is a global phenomenon, but Korea perhaps suffers more greatly because it is better wired than other places. Besides, ideological divisions here into the left, right and cynical center have rapidly lowered public trust in the mass media, which have mostly chosen to pursue a specific direction amid the to

ViewpointsJuly 3, 2019

S. Korea lowers growth forecast for 2019 to 2.4-2.5%

South Korea’s government on Wednesday revised the growth rate forecast for this year to 2.4-2.5 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from its earlier estimation, amid sluggish exports and investments.It also added pressure upon the National Assembly to swiftly approve a long-pending supplementary bill of 6.7 trillion won ($5.7 billion) dedicated to economic revitalization. “The government has devoted all efforts to achieve an economic paradigm shift but uncertainties such as the g

EconomyJuly 3, 2019

Korea speeds up steps to take Japan’s ‘chip move’ to WTO

The South Korean government said Wednesday that it has started to conduct a legal review on its complaint to the World Trade Organization over Japan’s export restrictions -- widely seen as the neighboring country’s retaliation against the ruling by Korea’s top court on wartime forced labor.Trade officials here believe that Japan’s move to limit exports of key materials used to produce semiconductor and displays violates the WTO’s ban on states’ control of expo

TechnologyJuly 3, 2019

Hyundai Motor unveils new CVVD engine valve control technology, a world first

Hyundai Motor Group announced Wednesday that it had become the first company in the world to develop a technology called Continuously Variable Valve Duration, which will improve engine performance and fuel efficiency once the automaker begins mass-producing CVVD-equipped engines for use in Hyundai and Kia cars later this year. According to the company, CVVD technology enhances the function of the engine by optimizing the timing of the opening and closing of the valve at all four stages of its po

MobilityJuly 3, 2019

Oracle announces data center launch in S. Korea

US software giant Oracle officially announced on Wednesday that it has established its first data center in South Korea for cloud computing service, stepping up efforts to compete against global and local vendors in the country’s growing cloud market. During a press conference in Seoul, Oracle Korea chief Tom Song said the company’s Cloud Infrastructure Seoul Region became operational May 14. It is one of 19 new data centers that Oracle plans to build by year-end in Mumbai, Sydney an

TechnologyJuly 3, 2019

Corporate giving: Eagon to perform popular classics with guests from Berlin Philharmonic Camerata

The annual Eagon concert tour will feature special guests from the Berlin Philharmonic Camerata this year. The concert series, now in its 30th year, will kick off in Seoul on Friday at the Lotte Concert Hall before moving on to the Seoul Arts Center and then to Incheon, Gwangju and Busan. The tour will wrap up in Daegu on July 11. This year, the organizers invited eight members of the Berlin Philharmonic Camerata, along with four other individual performers. Together, they have billed thems

PerformanceJuly 3, 2019