Most Popular
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AI textbook bubble could burst, expert warns
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Food tycoon Paik Jong-won's Theborn Korea pushes toward IPO
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Samsung tightens its belt amid crisis winds
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Ex-presidential official’s leaked phone call rattles conservative bloc
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North Korean trash balloons cross border day after Seoul military parade
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Pay debate plagues foreign nanny pilot
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Prosecution closes 'Dior bag' case amid opposition uproar
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Man escapes DUI charges by downing bottle of soju while pulled over
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K-pop star lip-syncing controversy flares up again
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35% of S. Koreans view unification 'unnecessary'
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Kim Whan-ki painting becomes most expensive Korean artwork
A Kim Whan-ki painting has become the most expensive Korean artwork to be sold at auction after reaching $4 million in Hong Kong, a South Korean auction house said Tuesday.The oil painting known only as "19-VII-71 #209" went for HK$31 million at a Hong Kong auction Monday, Seoul Auction said. A pointillism masterpiece, the artwork breaks the previous record set by Park Su-geun's "Washing Place," which sold for 4.52 billion won ($3.89 million) in 2007."We expect more foreigners to take interest i
CultureOct. 6, 2015
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Obama hails TPP for opening new markets for American products
U.S. President Barack Obama hailed a landmark deal to tear down barriers to trade among 12 Pacific Rim nations, saying the free trade agreement will open new markets for American products around the world.After marathon negotiations, trade ministers of the U.S. and 11 other nations reached the Trans Pacific Partnership deal earlier in the day to create the world's largest trading bloc, which accounts for about 40 percent of global gross domestic product.Along with the historic agreement on curbi
World BusinessOct. 6, 2015
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'Korea Week' of cultural events to held in New York next year
South Korea is considering organizing a "Korea Week" featuring various cultural events in New York next year to help promote Korean entertainment and cuisine, the country's consul general said Monday.The idea comes after the formation last month of "K-Culture Supporters," a group of New Yorkers interested in promoting Korean culture. South Korean President Park Geun-hye held a meeting with members of the group when she visited New York last month."It's still at a conceptual stage," Consul Genera
CultureOct. 6, 2015
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N. Korean rocket or nuclear test around Oct. 10 anniversary impossible: 38 North
Recent satellite imagery shows no signs of North Korea making rocket or nuclear test preparations, rendering it impossible for such a test to happen on or before a key national holiday this week, a U.S. research institute said Monday.Concerns have persisted that the North could conduct such tests around the 70th anniversary on Oct. 10 of the country's ruling Workers' Party in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions after Pyongyang strongly hinted at such possibilities.But commercial satel
North KoreaOct. 6, 2015
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KB, Mirae Asset compete to take over No. 2 brokerage
The country’s largest brokerage M&A deal of the year will kick off this week, with the two most competitive bidders being KB Financial Group and Mirae Asset Securities. On Thursday, the state-run Korea Development Bank will post a public notice on selling its 43 percent stake in KDB Daewoo Securities, the country’s second-largest brokerage by equity capital.KDB Daewoo’s equity capital amounts to about 4.3 trillion won ($3.7 billion). This is second only to NH Investment and Securities, with 4.5
BusinessOct. 6, 2015
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Ex-President Lee’s brother summoned over graft scandal
The elder brother of former President Lee Myung-bak was summoned for questioning Monday over influence-peddling and bribery allegations involving POSCO, the country’s largest steelmaker. Lee Sang-deuk, a former six-term lawmaker, appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office at around 10:20 a.m., two years after he completed a 14-month jail term on charges of receiving kickbacks from local savings banks. (Yonhap)This time, the former ruling Saenuri party member is accused of pres
Social AffairsOct. 5, 2015
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Pacific-Rim nations led by U.S. agree to historic trade accord
A dozen Pacific-rim nations agreed to an historic trade pact that would cut trade barriers on items ranging from cars to rice, setting up a potentially contentious ratification vote before a skeptical U.S. Congress.After a week of final talks in Atlanta, an agreement has been reached on completion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a pact more than five years in the making designed to boost commerce among nations that produce 40 percent of global economic output, said Akira Amari, a Japanese econ
World BusinessOct. 5, 2015
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BBC to 'relay truth' to North Korea
The BBC is pushing to open a Korean language service, possibly in the middle of next year, to help North Koreans “hear the truth and better engage with the world,” a BBC journalist told The Korea Herald.Daniel John Damon, who is working on the establishment of the shortwave radio service, said that the program would mainly target North Koreans who have been deprived of access to outside information.“(The BBC) has a reputation for being reliable, and we have many sources of information. We want N
NationalOct. 5, 2015
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Ruling Saenuri Party's factional feud intensifies
Ruling Saenuri Party Rep. Suh Chung-won, a key loyalist to the president, collided with embattled party chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung on Monday, highlighting the escalating factional tug-of-war over who will take control of the party’s nominations for next year’s general election. Taking aim at Kim’s remarks during a media interview, the seven-term lawmaker accused the party chair of seeking to sway public opinion to turn candidate nominations in his favor and of unilaterally attempting to determin
NationalOct. 5, 2015
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Two October beer fests in Seoul
Now into its third year, the Great Korean Beer Festival is holding two back-to-back events this month. “This is our fifth event,” Kang Da-mi, co-CEO of the festival’s organizer Media Paran, said of this month’s first event, slated to run from Oct. 8 to 11 in conjunction with the Gangnam Festival. The sixth beer fest will function as a “Craft Beer Zone” within the Itaewon Global Village Festival from Oct. 17 to 18, according to Media Paran. The Great Korean Beer Festival will hold two events thi
CultureOct. 5, 2015
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[Newsmaker] Portugal’s ruling party wins election
Portugal’s ruling center-right coalition won a general election Sunday seen as a referendum on its austerity policies, although it may not hold onto its absolute majority in parliament, near-complete results showed.Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho waves to supporters following the announcement of the results of Portugal`s general election in Lisbon on Sunday. (AP-Yonhap)Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho’s “Portugal Ahead” coalition took 39.16 percent of the vote, according to resul
Latest NewsOct. 5, 2015
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JCS nominee grilled over political views
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman nominee Lee Sun-jin drew fire during a parliamentary hearing Monday, as lawmakers questioned his controversial views on former presidents’ military coups. He was also grilled over a golf trip he took shortly after a North Korean land mine injured two South Korean troops in August.Controversy has been brewing after the 61-year-old Army general was found to have described former President Park Chung-hee’s 1961 coup as a “military revolution” in his master’s thesis in
DefenseOct. 5, 2015
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‘Education institutes frequently breached online’
Education-related institutes in South Korea have been hacked over 120,000 times in the past five years, a lawmaker said Monday.From 2011 to August of this year, a total of 121,185 cyberattacks occurred on education institutes, said Rep. Rhee Chong-hoon of the ruling Saenuri Party. Citing data from Korea Education and Research Information Service, he said that government institutes including the Education Ministry, Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation and Korean Educational Development I
Latest NewsOct. 5, 2015
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Protests erupt over college president ballots
Last Friday, some 400 students of state-run universities across South Korea held a joint protest supporting the direct voting system of college presidents by professors.While the students themselves were not direct beneficiaries of the system, they said that the Education Ministry’s plan to implement indirect voting infringes on the autonomy of higher education institutes.“The ministry is tearing down the very principles of democracy, which is that members of an organization have the right to pi
Social AffairsOct. 5, 2015
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Hanyang University to hold student forum
Hanyang University’s Institute of Chinese Studies is hosting an international student forum about the network between South Korea and China on Thursday, school officials said Monday.The topic of the forum will be “Humanities exchange between Korea and China, and the role of students from the two countries.” School officials said the event is a follow-up to the leaders of the two countries agreeing to expand student communications and cooperation at last year’s summit. “I expect students of Korea
Social AffairsOct. 5, 2015
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New grading system confirmed for college English exam
South Korea recently confirmed the final plans for the 2017 college entrance exam, known here as Suneung, the most notable of which was to change the current curved grading system to a score-based “absolute grading” system for English.Experts say changes applied to English, one of the major Suneung subjects, are likely to affect the admission process and private education market in the country. The annual exam is conducted in November and graded on a nine-level system.The new policy is likely to
Social AffairsOct. 5, 2015
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S. Korea to spend 610b won on nuclear decommissioning
South Korea on Monday said it plans to spend 610 billion won ($522 million) by 2030 to develop core technology for decommissioning nuclear power plants. The Atomic Energy Promotion Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Hwang Woo-yea, held a meeting and confirmed plans for the project on nuclear decommissioning, in light of the government’s decision to permanently shut down the country’s first nuclear power plant Gori No. 1 last June.“Korea has competence in terms of building and operating a nucle
Social AffairsOct. 5, 2015
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Evolution of Buddhist sculptures over two millennia
From India to Korea and Japan, Buddhist statues are one of the most common forms of ancient art in Asia. Sculpted of stone, wood or made in gilt bronze, sculptures of Buddha preaching, meditating or in deep thought have been important objects of worship for Buddhists for two millennia. A rare exhibition in Seoul traces the origins of Buddhist statues and follows transitions in Buddha images with the spread of Buddhism across Asia for 700 years. The exhibit, currently at the National Museum of Ko
CultureOct. 5, 2015
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More Korean women in 30s suffer sleep disorders
The number of South Korean women in their 30s who sought medical help for sleep disorders -- such as insomnia and restless legs syndrome -- increased significantly from 2012-2014, partly because of poor work and life balance, government data showed Monday. According to data, the number of female sleep disorder patients rose from 24,536 in 2012 to 28,930 in 2014, with the highest average annual increase rate among all gender and age groups at 10.4 percent. The number of all Korean sleep disorder
Social AffairsOct. 5, 2015