Most Popular
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AI textbook bubble could burst, expert warns
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Ex-presidential official’s leaked phone call rattles conservative bloc
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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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Pay debate plagues foreign nanny pilot
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North Korean trash balloons cross border day after Seoul military parade
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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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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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Korea opens probe into suspicious KF-X project
Cheong Wa Dae, South Korean presidential office, has opened its probe into the military's landmark indigenous fighter jet project amid growing suspicions over the multibillion-dollar defense acquisition program, according to a military official Friday. "Cheong Wa Dae's senior secretary for civil affairs' office demanded on Thursday the Defense Acquisition Program Administration submit documents related to the KF-X project," the military official said on condition of anonymity. An artist's r
DefenseSept. 25, 2015
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Stampede at Saudi hajj kills more than 700 pilgrims
Muslim pilgrims gather around bodies of people crushed in Mina, Saudi Arabia during the annual hajj pilgrimage on Thursday. (AP-Yonhap)Two giant waves of Muslim pilgrims collided at an intersection Thursday near a holy site in Saudi Arabia, and more than 700 people were crushed and trampled to death in the worst disaster at the hajj in a quarter-century."People were climbing over one another just to breathe," said Abdullah Lotfy of Egypt. "It was like a wave. You go forward and suddenly you go b
World NewsSept. 24, 2015
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SKT buys back Internet portal unit from affiliate
SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top mobile carrier, said Thursday it has decided to buy back an Internet portal unit currently owned by its mobile platform affiliate, after a deal to sell it off to a local entertainment firm fell through. SK Telecom's board approved a plan to acquire a 64.5 percent stake in SK Communications Co. for some 200 billion won ($168 million) from its wholly-owned affiliate SK Planet Co., the company said. SK Communications, which runs Internet portal Cyworld and online m
BusinessSept. 24, 2015
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Hyundai Motor heir apparent jacks up stake in auto giant
Hyundai Motor Co. Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun has purchased around 3.16 million shares in the auto giant for nearly 500 billion won ($419.3 million) on Thursday, industry and company sources said. Chung, the son of Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo, bought a total of 3,164,550 shares owned by shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. during after-hour trading, according to the sources. He bought the shares for 158,000 won apiece, without a discount off the automaker's closing price on T
BusinessSept. 24, 2015
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KB plans ‘financial department stores’
Following the introduction of bancassurance in 2003, the local first-tier banks have started rolling out “financial department stores,” which provide customers with both convenience and comprehensive services.KB Financial Group on Thursday launched a complex branch, which would cover four major segments ― banking, securities, life insurance and nonlife insurance ― for the first time in the local banking industry in Yeouido, Seoul. KB Financial Group chairman and KB Kookmin Bank CEO Yoon Jong-kyo
Sept. 24, 2015
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[Newsmaker] Volkswagen just latest scalp for independent campaigners
Volkswagen’s worldwide pollution cheating has been exposed in large part thanks to independent campaigners, a growing force in the scrutiny of multinationals whose activities can escape the gaze of official regulators.The revelations shaking Volkswagen, the world’s biggest automobile manufacturer by sales with a workforce of 590,000 people, can be traced to the work of the U.S.-based group International Council on Clean Transportation, which has a worldwide staff of 27.A red 2016 Volkswagen AG G
World BusinessSept. 24, 2015
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San Francisco has heart
In the good news department, San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to install a memorial in honor of the “comfort women,” who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II. The passage of the highly contested resolution was a remarkable feat, and living proof that San Francisco has heart. Lee Yong-soo (in hanbok) sits in the San Francisco Board of Supervisors chamber, where a memorial to the “comfort women” was approved unanimously Tuesday.Th
Social AffairsSept. 24, 2015
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U.S. to send nuclear-powered aircraft carrier amid N.K. threats
With unbridled speculation over North Korea’s missile launch next month, Seoul and Washington are stepping up efforts to avert its provocation by tightening monitoring, intensifying international cooperation and bringing U.S. strategic assets to the peninsula for a display of force. Though Pyongyang has hinted at carrying out nuclear and missile tests to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the inception of its ruling Workers’ Party on Oct. 10, no clear signs of any imminent liftoff have been d
North KoreaSept. 24, 2015
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Failed tech transfer may delay fighter jet project
Prospects are growing gloomy for Korea’s push to develop an indigenous fighter jet after the country’s arms buyer was found to have failed to secure the transfer of core technologies from the U.S. firm selected to deliver next-generation warplanes. Last September, the state-run Defense Acquisition Program Administration agreed with Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. to acquire 25 technologies as part of their 7.3 trillion won ($6.1 billion) deal to purchase 40 F-35 radar-evading fighters to be
DefenseSept. 24, 2015
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Debate brews over decriminalization of sex trade
Jang Se-hee was just 23-years-old when she started working as a sex worker. Her father had just passed away after being hospitalized for seven years. “The medical bills were just enormous,” the 40-year-old said. “My siblings were too young, and my father had divorced my mother. I was the de-facto breadwinner of the family.” Jang was one of some 1,000 South Korean sex workers who gathered in central Seoul on Wednesday asking for the abolishment of the controversial anti-prostitution law, which ha
Social AffairsSept. 24, 2015
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Infighting rekindled over NPAD reform
Infighting flared up again in the main opposition party Thursday as key members resisted a controversial demand by the party’s reform committee, calling it a political ploy to push them out. A reform committee of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy demanded Wednesday that party chairman Rep. Moon Jae-in and other heavyweights should take the initiative to run for elections in constituencies where the ruling Saenuri Party has a strong foothold. Most senior party members are resisting the call
Latest NewsSept. 24, 2015
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Yuhan-Kimberly leads flexible work culture
Yuhan-Kimberly, the country’s leading producers of tissue and personal care products, continues to evolve its flexible work culture in order to enhance productivity and competitiveness. Yuhan-Kimberly employees work in an open-plan office at the firm’s headquarters in Seoul. (Yuhan-Kimberly)The company has adopted what it calls a “Smart Work” approach since 2011, offering its employees the freedom to choose their working time and locations with the responsibility to meet business needs. “A growi
IndustrySept. 24, 2015
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[Herald Interview] 'Organic consumers have good diet habits’
Organic food is not necessarily healthier than its conventional counterpart in terms of positive ingredients, but its consumers have a healthier diet and are trained to eat better, according to the head of the world’s top organic food body. Gerold Rahmann, president of the International Society of Organic Agriculture Research“Organic is not about a product’s quality system but a process quality system,” said Gerold Rahmann, president of the International Society of Organic Agriculture Research,
IndustrySept. 24, 2015
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Why elderly women are more vulnerable to colorectal cancer
Women in or post-menopause are the most vulnerable to colorectal cancer among the Korean population, while the number of female patients who develop the disease is on rise nationwide, a hospital report showed. According to the report released by the Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, colorectal cancer was the most common cancer among Korean women aged 65 or older this year. For women in all age groups, it was the third most common cancer, following breast and thyroid cancer. According to
Social AffairsSept. 24, 2015
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‘Ministry fails to rein in kindergarten tuition hike’
The South Korean government has failed to take appropriate measures to suppress the billowing tuition for English kindergartens, despite its pledge to reduce the increasing costs for private education, an opposition lawmaker said Thursday.The Education Ministry rolled out sweeping measures to reduce the country’s private education spending in December, which included inducing private education institutions -- including kindergartens -- to cut their fees.“I’ve found that the ministry didn’t do so
Social AffairsSept. 24, 2015
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Kumho Asiana Group buys back Kumho Industrial
Kumho Asiana Group chairman Park Sam-koo signed a deal to buy back controlling stake in the de facto holding firm of the group from creditors for 722.8 billion won ($605.96 million), six years after he lost control. The group announced Thursday that it entered into a stock purchase agreement to acquire Kumho Industrial -- the key firm of the group’s governance structure -- after a months-long tussle over the sale price with creditors. The creditors initially proposed 1.2 trillion won for the tak
IndustrySept. 24, 2015
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Movies to watch over Chuseok weekend
Chuseok is always one of the biggest weekends of the year for box offices in Korea, and this year’s lineup of new films offers movies that can be enjoyed by anyone -- whether you’re heading to the theaters with family or friends. With family Korean movies playing this weekend feature stories of families that will be easy to empathize with as you spend the long holiday with your own relatives: Historical drama “The Throne” depicts the difficulties of paternal strife, while “The Accidental Detect
FilmSept. 24, 2015
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Foreign investors expected to visit Gaeseong complex next month
Foreign investors are highly likely to visit North Korea‘s industrial complex located in the border city of Gaeseong on Oct. 15 to look for investment opportunities, Invest Korea said Thursday. The nation’s investment promotion agency under the wing of KOTRA said it has pushed for the visit as a sideline event of its annual foreign investment promotion event, called Investment Week, which is to be held between Oct. 13 and 15 at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas. “The on-site visit o
IndustrySept. 24, 2015
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Inter-Korean tensions cast clouds over family reunions
Inter-Korean tensions are building amid the South’s moves to enact a North Korea human rights act and its civic groups’ campaign to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets, triggering concerns over the prospect of the reunions of families divided by the border.Pyongyang’s preparations for what it calls a satellite launch have also added to concerns that a series of setbacks could negatively affect the bilateral efforts to hold the reunions from Oct. 20-26 at Mount Geumgangsan.The communist regime has indic
North KoreaSept. 24, 2015