Thriller ‘The Culprit’ a story about trust

A man’s life is shattered when his wife is murdered and his best friend is a key suspect. He now must work with that suspect’s wife to piece together the truth, despite the lack of trust between them.The complexity of the relationship between Yeong-hun and Da-yeon, played by Song Sae-byeok and Yoo Sun, is what director Go Jung-wook said he was trying to depict in his upcoming mystery thriller “The Culprit.”“(The movie) is a film that tries to tell a tale about havin

FilmJune 12, 2019

QM6 most popular midsized gasoline SUV in Korea

Renault Samsung’s QM6 GDe has hit record-high sales in the country’s midsized gasoline sport utility vehicle category, retaining its top position since its launch in 2017, data showed Wednesday. According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the carmaker sold a total of 41,191 units of QM6 GDe from September 2017 to April, which accounts for 61.2 percent of the total sales of midsized gasoline SUVs sold here in three years. The automaker said as another 2,050 units

MobilityJune 12, 2019

SK Innovation to support social ventures through crowdfunding

South Korean oil and chemical company SK Innovation plans to support local social ventures through crowdfunding, the firm said Wednesday.A social venture is a firm that focuses more on addressing social problems and less on profit. Selected social ventures will be supported by SK Innovation employees through crowdfunding. Each employee can voluntarily invest up to 1 million won ($846) in the social ventures. For every 1 million won raised, SK will match the investment. Profits will later be

IndustryJune 12, 2019

Timeline of Jeju ex-husband murder case

Police referred to prosecution on Wednesday the murder case involving Koh Yu-jeong, 36, on charges of murdering her ex-husband and dismembering and disposing of his corpse between May 25 and May 31. Following is the timeline of major events uncovered through police investigation. By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)

Social AffairsJune 12, 2019

For 12 years, IP5 leads efforts on unified patent ecosystem

For the past 12 years, the world’s top five intellectual property offices -- known collectively as the IP5 offices -- have led global efforts to build a unified, applicant-friendly patent system. They have also improved the quality of the patent examination process and the efficiency of relevant administrative work by integrating the concepts of work-sharing, data exchange and standardization, say the organizers of the 12th annual IP5 meeting in Incheon, South Korea’s western port ci

IndustryJune 12, 2019

N. Korea's official newspaper confirms outbreak of African swine fever

North Korea's official newspaper confirmed an outbreak of African swine fever in the country on Wednesday, its first acknowledgment of the disease since Pyongyang reported a case to an international organization last month, saying nationwide efforts are under way to prevent its spreading."Emergency preventive efforts are actively underway across the country to stem the spread of African swine fever, a highly contagious virus," the Rodong Sinmun said in an article, adding that relevant

North KoreaJune 12, 2019

Moon begins state visit to Norway, peace speech in focus

South Korean President Moon Jae-in flew into Oslo on Tuesday for a state visit to Norway aimed at boosting bilateral ties in new energy, maritime affairs and the Arctic.Moon is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at the University of Oslo on his nuclear-free Korea and peace vision on Wednesday, the highlight of his three-day trip here.Many South Koreans remember Oslo as the venue for late President Kim Dae-jung's Nobel lecture in 2000.The following day, Moon will have a summit with Prime Minis

Foreign AffairsJune 12, 2019

Trump says he received letter from NK leader

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has received a "beautiful" and "very warm" letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Trump told reporters at the White House that he received the letter on Monday, the first known correspondence of its kind since the two men's summit in Vietnam in February ended without a deal."I just received a beautiful letter from Kim Jong-un," Trump said. "It was a very personal, very warm, very nice letter. I appreciate it."

North KoreaJune 12, 2019

Warriors hang on to stay alive, win Game 5 of NBA finals

TORONTO (AP) -- Stephen Curry scored 31 points, Klay Thompson added 26 and they led a season-saving surge that gave the Golden State Warriors a 106-105 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night in Game 5 of the NBA finals.　 The Splash Brothers combined for three straight 3-pointers in the closing minutes after Toronto had taken a six-point lead with under 3 1/2 minutes remaining in front of a raucous, red-shirted crowd.　 The Warriors lost Kevin Durant barely a quarter after getting him ba

More SportsJune 12, 2019

Historic final berth 'an upgrade' for S. Korean football: coach

A small step for the South Korean men's youth team, but a giant leap for the country's entire football program.That's how Chung Jung-yong, South Korean head coach at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland, views his side's advance to the final at the biennial tournament. South Korea knocked off Ecuador 1-0 to reach the championship match against Ukraine on Saturday, with Choi Jun scoring the lone goal in the 39th minute. It is South Korea's first trip to any final at a men's FIFA tournament. The coun

SoccerJune 12, 2019

Sanctions needed to bring N. Korea back to dialogue: Mark Lippert

Maintaining sanctions against North Korea is necessary to get it back to the negotiation table, a former US ambassador to Seoul has said, stressing the need for working-level talks to learn exactly what Pyongyang is willing to trade for sanctions relief.Negotiations on North Korea's nuclear programs have been stalled since February, when the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi broke down due to their failure to narrow gaps over the scope o

North KoreaJune 12, 2019

N. Korean leader believes summit with Putin will bear 'rich fruit'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed strong confidence Wednesday that the agreements he reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin in April will bear "rich fruit," and further advance their strategic and traditional relations, Pyongyang's state media reported. In a message of greeting sent to Putin on the occasion of Russia's national day, Kim also said that it is the two countries' "common responsibility" to "put the precious centuries-old tradition of friendshi

North KoreaJune 12, 2019

Kaesong complex unlikely to reopen before NK denuclearization: US lawmaker

A ranking Democratic congressman on Tuesday expressed doubt that the inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea will reopen before the regime's denuclearization.Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia, met with a group of South Korean businessmen who used to operate factories at the Kaesong industrial park. The eight-member delegation was in the US to seek public and government support for the reopening of the complex that was shuttered in Februar

North KoreaJune 12, 2019

Jobless rate at 4% in May, job additions gather pace

South Korea's jobless rate remained flat at 4 percent in May from a year earlier, and job additions again exceeded the 200,000 mark, government data showed Wednesday.The number of employed people reached 27.32 million in May, an increase of 259,000 from the same month in 2018, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The statistics agency said the number of unemployed people stood at 1.145 million in May, the highest level for any May since 2000.The unemployment rate for young adults

EconomyJune 12, 2019

Cinderella at the show: S. Korea complete unlikely march into final

The march goes on.South Korea's Cinderella run at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland will extend all the way to the championship final, after their 1-0 victory over Ecuador in Tuesday's semifinals.Wing back Choi Jun played the unlikely hero, scoring his first goal of the tournament to send the young Taeguk Warriors to the ultimate stage.Before the tournament, when South Korean players talked confidently about making the final four, their bravado was mostly dismissed as a product of the players' y

SoccerJune 12, 2019

N. Korean fishing boat stranded in East Sea, returned home

A North Korean fishing boat was found adrift in South Korean waters off the East Coast on Tuesday and was sent back to its country on humanitarian grounds, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.The boat carrying six crewmen was spotted by a South Korean naval vessel in waters some 5 kilometers south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea, or some 161 km northeast of the country's eastern port city of Sokcho, at around 1:15 p.m. due to an engine problem, according to the JCS. As

North KoreaJune 11, 2019

LG considers selling stakes in IT arm

South Korea's major family-controlled conglomerate LG Group said Tuesday it is currently considering selling stakes in its information technology (IT) arm LG CNS."We plan to sell LG CNS to beef up competitiveness, although nothing in detail has been decided yet," an official from LG Group said. The sale apparently comes in response to the Fair Trade Commission's move to bolster regulations against intra-affiliate trades of family-controlled business groups, market watchers said.Co

TechnologyJune 11, 2019

Partisanship pauses for Lee Hee-ho’s funeral

Politicians on both sides of the aisle came together Tuesday to mourn the passing of Lee Hee-ho.Lee, a women’s rights and pro-democracy activist, first lady and aide to Kim Dae-jung, died at 11:37 p.m. Monday at Severance Hospital in western Seoul. She was 96. Starting Tuesday morning, visitors filled the funeral hall to offer their condolences. The corridor leading to the memorial parlor was lined with bouquets of white flowers and ribbons from National Assembly members, mayors, governors

Social AffairsJune 11, 2019

[Graphic News] Voice phishing is main reason for ID number change

　Voice phishing has turned out to be the biggest reason that people change their resident registration numbers, a government commission in charge of the matter said. 　According to the Interior Ministry’s Resident Registration Number Change Commission, 955 of the total 1,582 applicants have been allowed to change their national ID numbers since the government introduced the measure in May, 2017, to prevent possible harm accruing from ID number leakage. 　Of the reasons for ID number change a

Social AffairsJune 11, 2019

[News briefs] Jeju pension murder case intentional and preplanned: police

Jeju police said Tuesday they will refer a murder case involving a 36-year-old woman to the prosecution on charges of killing her ex-husband and dismembering and abandoning his corpse. Police believe Koh Yu-jeong intentionally killed the victim, whom police only identified as a 36-year-old man surnamed Kang, and had set up a plan for the murder in advance.  This contradicts Koh’s claim that she tried to defend herself from Kang’s sexual assault. Koh killed Kang with a knife at a

Social AffairsJune 11, 2019