Most Popular
-
1
Seoul should engage Kim Jong-un’s elites for change, ex-North Korean diplomat says
-
2
Thousands rally in Seoul to call for Yoon's resignation
-
3
Most teen sex offenders get away with slap on wrist
-
4
FM champions multilateralism, stresses S. Korea's vision as 'global pivotal state'
-
5
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is killed in Beirut strike, Israel's military says
-
6
Man sentenced to 1 year, 8 months for stealing from elementary school classrooms
-
7
Suicide attempts spike among youth in Korea
-
8
[Weekender] How Seongsu, once an industrial zone, has become ‘Seoul’s Brooklyn’
-
9
Panmunjom tours for select Korean nationals may resume in October
-
10
Delta Air Lines to launch new Incheon-Salt Lake City route in June next year
-
Hanwha Life celebrates W100tr achievement
Hanwha Life CEO Cha Nam-gyu embarked on the first of its 100 volunteer program series on Tuesday. The series is in line with the company’s total revenue surpassing the 100 trillion won ($86.6 billion) mark. Hanwha Life CEO Cha Nam-gyu (fourth from left), corporate executives and children make cakes as part of a volunteer program on Tuesday that commemorates the company’s 100 trillion won achievement. (Hanwha Life)CEO Cha and corporate executives made and sold 200 cakes with 40 children from Myu
BusinessApril 6, 2016
-
China's Anbang to buy Allianz Life Korea
China's Anbang Insurance Group agreed with Allianz Group on Wednesday to acquire the local unit of the German insurance giant, industry sources said, in what would be Anbang's second takeover of a life insurer here in about a year.The agreement calls for Anbang to purchase a 100 percent stake in Allianz Life Insurance Korea Co. from Allianz, according to the sources. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.Anbang is estimated to have offered up to 300 billion won ($260 million) for the in
April 6, 2016
-
Korea to strengthen punishment against SME technology theft
The government said Wednesday that it will take tough action against the stealing of technology owned by small and mid-sized enterprises, as related damage has continued to increase in recent years.Under a set of punitive measures, the government will force people or companies that maliciously leak or steal technology and know-how from SMEs to give compensation of upwards to three times the size of the damages incurred.Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn (Yonhap)Also, the government said it will increa
April 6, 2016
-
'Produce 101' winners release ‘Crush’
I.O.I, the final 11-member girl group from Mnet’s recently concluded music competition show “Produce 101,” dropped their first single, “Crush,” Tuesday. “Crush,” written by Ryan Jhun, was performed by 22 competitors of the audition show for the final match that aired April 1. This time, the song was recorded by the 11 winners who will debut as I.O.I, said CJ E&M. The song features a melody that is easy to sing along to and powerful choreography that matches the group’s concept. A screen capture
PerformanceApril 6, 2016
-
JYP ‘Still Alive'
Singer and producer Park Jin-young is out to prove his relevancy. He will be releasing a digital single “Still Alive” on April 10, JYP Entertainment announced Tuesday. “Still Alive,” which was written by Park, reflects the singer’s perpetual enthusiasm with its uplifting rhythm and melody, added the agency. The singer also released a teaser video on YouTube on Tuesday.A screen capture of singer and producer Park Jin-young‘s “Still Alive” teaser video (JYP Entertainment) In the video, the singer
PerformanceApril 6, 2016
-
Suede, Two Door Cinema Club to play at Pentaport Rock Fest
Rock bands Suede and Two Door Cinema Club will be performing at this year’s Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival, announced the festival’s organizer Yescomm Entertainment in a second lineup list released Wednesday. English alternative band Suede released its seventh album “Nothing Thoughts” earlier this year, while Irish indie rock band Two Door Cinema, whose second album “Beacon” in 2012 topped the Irish Albums Chart, has gained international popularity for its electro pop rock. British rock
PerformanceApril 6, 2016
-
Korean shipyards' order backlog hits 12-year low in March
The order backlog held by Korean shipbuilders has dropped to the lowest level in 12 years amid the slumping global economy, industry data showed Thursday.According to the data by global researcher Clarkson Research Services, Korean shipbuilders had an order backlog totaling 27.59 million compensated gross tons (CGTs) as of end-March, the lowest since March 2004, when the comparable figure was 27.52 million CGTs.Experts say that the order backlog held by shipyards here will keep them busy for jus
April 6, 2016
-
Korean economy unlikely to face further slowdown: think tank
The Korea economy still remains in a protracted slump, but some positive signs in the service sector are likely to reduce the possibility of a further slowdown, a state-run think tank said Wednesday."Korea's growth has slowed gradually, but the economy is less likely to witness further weakness," the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in its monthly evaluation of the country's economic conditions."Services production maintained its recent upward trend, and construction investment is in a fav
April 6, 2016
-
Samsung firms strive to reduce dependency on electronics arm
Samsung Group's affiliates saw their dependency on the group's mainstay electronics unit fall in terms of sales in 2015 from a year earlier, industry data showed Wednesday, as they struggled to stand on their own two feet.Samsung Electronics, the mainstay unit of Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group, accounted for 56 percent of the sales of Samsung Display last year, the data showed. It marked the first time for the figure to hover below 60 percent since 2012, when the display unit was spun of
IndustryApril 6, 2016
-
Stratford Festival launches new Shakespeare online toolkit
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Stratford Festival in Canada is commemorating the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death by making his plays accessible to a generation raised on the Internet. The festival has just unveiled an online teaching platform that will include each of Shakespeare’s scripts, a film clip of every scene and notes to understand each piece of dialogue. “King Lear” is the first play to be offered using these tools and more titles will be added as part of the festivals to captur
CultureApril 6, 2016
-
Technicolor stores Hollywood history in a bottle
LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- A Technicolor scientist surrounded by the latest virtual reality technology inspects a vial containing a few droplets of water -- and 1 million copies of an old movie encoded into DNA. The company has come a long way since the Hollywood golden age, when the world gazed in awe at the lush palette of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Gone with the Wind” provided by its three-strip cameras. Now celebrating its centenary year, Technicolor’s laboratories are at the cutting edge of the scie
FilmApril 6, 2016
-
[Herald review] One woman's jealousy in 'Love, Lies'
Like the faces of its heroines, “Love, Lies” is a meticulously made-up movie. The picturesque streets of 1940s Seoul are recreated down to minute detail, and pastel hanbok -- traditional Korean costumes -- daintily embroidered with lace and floral patterns often fill the screen. It is undoubtedly no coincidence that the movie’s local release date is set for early April, when cherry blossoms are in bloom around the country. Every scene and every line of dialogue seems scrupulously arranged for a
FilmApril 6, 2016
-
Spain in Our Hearts’ tells the American story of the Spanish civil war
“Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939” By Adam Hochschild Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (464 pages, $30) The Spanish civil war, which ran from 1936 to 1939, is most notable to historians for how it foreshadowed the horrors of World War II. Yet few distant conflicts are so burned into our culture and consciousness. Ernest Hemingway, who covered the war, made it the setting of “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “the best goddamn book” he ever wrote. George Orwell, who fought in i
BooksApril 6, 2016
-
What’s on the ‘manuscript wishlist’ of literary agents?
The other day, a friend sent me a link to something called “manuscript wishlist” -- a Twitter thread (#MSWL) from literary agents who are looking for that next best-selling blockbuster manuscript by an unknown writer. (Also online at mswishlist.com) It’s fascinating to troll the posts and see what they’re hoping to find. (And poets, I’m sorry, but you can all stop reading right now. They’re not looking for poetry.) One agent wrote: “I’d really love a hot contemporary romance about women (and men
BooksApril 6, 2016
-
American children’s author wins Astrid Lindgren prize
STOCKHOLM (AFP) -- American children’s author Meg Rosoff on Tuesday won the 2016 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for young people’s literature, the organization announced. “Meg Rosoff’s young adult novels speak to the emotions as well as the intellect. In sparkling prose, she writes about the search for meaning and identity in a peculiar and bizarre world,” the jury said in its statement. Rosoff was born in Boston in 1956, attended Harvard University and later published her first book “How I Liv
BooksApril 6, 2016
-
Tina Fey talks ‘Bossypants’ and other books, zings Talese
NEW YORK (AP) -- Even for someone as loved as Tina Fey, a reported $6 million advance seemed like a lot of money for a book of essays. But five years after its publication, “Bossypants” has sold 3.75 million copies, according to Little, Brown and Co. And it confirmed a market for smart, funny nonfiction such as Amy Poehler’s “Yes Please” and Mindy Kaling’s “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?” In an email interview Tuesday with the Associated Press, Fey discussed “Bossypants” and some books she
BooksApril 6, 2016
-
Intimate memoir of life in a southern coal town
“Dimestore: A Writer’s Life” By Lee Smith Algonquin Books (202 pages, $24.95) Lee Smith’s parents raised her to leave the Appalachian town of Grundy, Virginia, where they “were closed in entirely, cut off from the outside world by our ring of mountains.” They taught her proper grammar, sent her to school with delicate lunches instead of the cornbread and buttermilk she wanted, packed her off every summer to Birmingham, Alabama, for “lady lessons.” None of this really worked. Smith adored her ho
BooksApril 6, 2016
-
Dive into ordinary but well-crafted lives in ‘High Dive’
“High Dive” By Jonathan Lee Knopf (336 pages, $25.95) Jonathan Lee’s new novel “High Dive” reimagines the weeks leading up to the Grand Hotel bombing on Oct. 12, 1984. Splitting time between Brighton, England, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, Lee focuses the attention not on Margaret Thatcher, the intended target of the attack, nor other political figures at the Conservative Party Conference, but on the lives of three individuals. The narrative opens with Dan’s initiation into the Irish Republi
BooksApril 6, 2016
-
Boosting consumption more complicated task in aged society
Boosting consumption more complicated task in aged societyBy Kim Kyung-hoA recent string of figures showed the country’s households tightening their purse strings with their income increasing, though at a modest pace.The net savings rate -- the ratio of savings to disposable income -- of households and nonprofit organizations was up 1.4 percentage points from a year earlier to 7.7 percent last year, the highest in 15 years, according to data from the Bank of Korea. The corresponding figure stood
April 6, 2016
-
‘The Caped Crusade’ details the cultural history of Batman
“The Caped Crusade” by Glen Weldon Simon & Schuster (325 pages, $26) Batman has been a lot of things during the past 77 years: a gun-toting vigilante, an object of panic at the height of American homophobia, a campy ’60s television icon, a grumbly middle-aged antihero and a mass media star. But through all of these iterations, what has given Batman his longevity? The answer lies in the pages of “The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture” by Glen Weldon, a sharp, deeply knowledgeable
BooksApril 6, 2016