[Newsmaker] Lagarde: Trailblazer with a knack for straight talk

Five years ago Christine Lagarde smashed through the glass ceiling at one of the world’s leading institutions, becoming the first woman to head the International Monetary Fund.International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (Xinhua)Some had questioned her lack of credentials as an economist. But, as she plunged into the Greece crisis to prevent a meltdown of the eurozone, doubts were quickly swept aside.On Friday the French lawyer and former finance minister‘s achievements leadin

World NewsFeb. 21, 2016

[NEWSMAKER]'To Kill a Mockingbird' author Harper Lee dies at 89

   NEW YORK -- Harper Lee, one of America's most celebrated novelists whose masterpiece about racial injustice "To Kill a Mockingbird" was read by millions, has died, her publisher said Friday. She was 89.   A spokeswoman for Harper Collins in New York said Lee passed away peacefully late Thursday. The Pulitzer-winning author shunned the spotlight and spent her final years living in seclusion in Monroeville, Alabama, where she was born.   "To Kill a Mockingbird" is considered one of the great cl

North KoreaFeb. 20, 2016

[Newsmaker] Volkswagen office raided in emissions probe

Prosecutors on Friday raided the local unit of Volkswagen’s office over allegations that the global automaker had not properly executed the recall orders on its emissions-rigged cars. The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office said it confiscated computer hard drives and documents from Volkswagen Korea’s headquarters in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, as well as from the houses of high-ranking company officials in charge of product certification.Investigators procured data related to gas emissio

Social AffairsFeb. 19, 2016

[Newsmaker] FBI-Apple standoff puts encryption on front burner

WASHINGTON -- Apple‘s challenge of a court order to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers opens up a new front in the long-running battle between technology companies and the government over encryption.The standoff brings the sensitive issue, which has been at a stalemate in Congress, into the courts, and has abruptly shifted the policy debate on encryption. The Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York (AFP-Yonhap)A California magistrate Tuesday ordered Apple to provide “reas

World NewsFeb. 18, 2016

[Newsmaker] Heiress’ new role could reshape Shinsegae

Like other chaebol daughters in South Korea, Chung Yu-kyung has stayed under the shadow of her elder brother Chung Yong-jin, heir apparent of the Shinsegae Group. Leading trendy but smaller units like hotel and bakery businesses for years, the only daughter of group chairwoman Lee Myung-hee has been standing out in the succession race for a long time. A recent promotion that placed her on the top of Shinsegae’s department store business, however, has quickly turned around this traditional idea.

IndustryFeb. 17, 2016

[Newsmaker] Pope Francis asks indigenous Mexicans for forgiveness

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico (AFP) -- Pope Francis reached out to Mexico’s long-marginalized indigenous population on Monday, asking for forgiveness over their exclusion as he celebrated an open-air mass in native languages in impoverished Chiapas state. Pope Francis waves upon his arrival for a meeting with families at the Victor Manuel Reyna stadium in Tuxtla Gutierrez, southern Mexico on Monday. (AFP-Yonhap)While Chiapas is the country’s least Catholic state, tens of thousands of people

World NewsFeb. 16, 2016

[Newsmaker] Minister flip-flops over Gaeseong money

Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo came under fire Monday after reversing his claim that the government possesses documents to corroborate North Korea’s suspected rerouting of income from a joint industrial park for military uses. The diversion allegation served as the primary grounds for Seoul’s decision to pull out from the Gaeseong factory complex last Wednesday. Since the district’s establishment in 2004, South Korean cash totaling 616 billion won ($511.4 million) has been transferred mainly

North KoreaFeb. 15, 2016

[Newsmaker] Park to urge unity amid Gaeseong strife

President Park Geun-hye will deliver a special speech to the nation at the National Assembly on Tuesday, calling for unity amid heightening inter-Korean strife following military provocations by the North.Having come under fire from progressive critics for her hard-line policies, Park is expected to blame the parliament, urging the parties to expedite the passage of key bills.“President Park has requested to be given the floor at the National Assembly to deliver a speech to the nation, calling t

PoliticsFeb. 15, 2016

[Newsmaker] Conservative icon of American law

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- During the three decades he spent on the bench, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia embodied the values conservative America holds most dear, from defending the traditional family, to religion and patriotism.The longest-serving justice on the current court, and its first ever Italian-American, Scalia was eulogized after his passing Saturday, aged 79, as a towering figure of intellectual rigor -- with powerful personal convictions to match.President Barack Obama led the tribu

World NewsFeb. 14, 2016

[Newsmaker] Hyundai Group mired in N.K. tension

Escalating tensions between the two Koreas is adding more pressure on North Korea-related business operator Hyundai Group, which is already struggling to save its shipping unit from a deepening liquidity crisis. In response to a recent nuclear test and rocket launch by the North, South Korea on Thursday announced its withdrawal from the Gaeseong industrial park, the last remaining symbol of economic cooperation between the two nations. Workers walk pass a glass door at Hyundai Asan headquarters

IndustryFeb. 12, 2016

[Newsmaker] Gaeseong firms cry foul over closure

One hundred-twenty four South Korean companies that have been producing garments, shoes and watches in North Korea’s border city have become casualties of the unfinished Cold War on the Korean Peninsula, as renewed tensions between the two sides led to a sudden shutdown of a factory complex. North Korea on Thursday said that it was freezing all South Korean assets in Gaeseong Industrial Park and that its military was taking over control of the factory complex which it has been running jointly wi

Feb. 11, 2016

[NEWSMAKER] North Korea's rocket launch reaffirms evolving missile tech

North Korea’s long-range rocket launch on Sunday reaffirmed Pyongyang’s evolving missile technology, though it has yet to complete much tougher tasks such as acquiring miniaturization and atmospheric reentry technologies.　Seoul’s Defense Ministry said that the three-stage rocket that the North fired on Sunday appears to have a range of some 12,000 kilometers -- far enough to strike the U.S. mainland. 　It also noted that Pyongyang had put a satellite into orbit for the second consecutive time --

North KoreaFeb. 10, 2016

[Newsmaker] Pacific Rim nations sign giant trade deal amid protests

The US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, one of the biggest trade deals in history, was signed in New Zealand on Thursday as protestors demonstrated over fears for jobs and sovereignty.   The ambitious deal, promising the elimination of nearly all tariffs among the 12 member nations, aims to break down trade and investment barriers between countries accounting for about 40 percent of the global economy. Andrew Robb, Minister for Trade and Investment (L) is welcomed with a local Maori elder as the M

World NewsFeb. 4, 2016

[Newsmaker] White House race wide open as upstarts rattle Trump, Clinton

DES MOINES, Iowa - The US presidential race looked suddenly wide open Tuesday after frontrunners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton suffered chastening evenings in Iowa, the first step on the long road to the White House.It was a particularly humbling experience for Trump, who cut a forlorn figure after Republican arch-rival Ted Cruz streaked to victory in the Iowa caucuses, staking his claim as the new standard bearer for the conservative camp going on to New Hampshire. And if Clinton was in any

World NewsFeb. 3, 2016

[Newsmaker] Former Arirang TV chief under probe for corporate fund misuse

The Culture Ministry has accepted the resignation of Bang Suk-ho, president & CEO of Arirang TV, Korea’s state-run English satellite and cable broadcaster. Bang submitted his resignation to the ministry on Monday after local media reported allegations of misuse of the company funds during his overseas trips last year. The ministry will continue its probe into the allegations, which began late Monday night, his resignation notwithstanding. “Bang is currently under investigation. The ministry will

TelevisionFeb. 2, 2016

[Newsmaker] Unlikely candidates rush to run in April elections

With the incumbent National Assembly embroiled in unending bipartisan and factional feuds, while still failing to draw out an electorate map with just three months left to the elections, it seems less-than-political people, and even controversial figures, believe they can do a better job.Reflecting the public’s fatigue over such political vices, a considerable number of “unlikely” people have decided to join in the parliamentary race this year, vowing to realize the changes that conventional pol

PoliticsFeb. 1, 2016

[Newsmaker] Kim draws fire over migration, voting rules

Ruling Saenuri Party chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung once again talked his way into trouble last week, with his latest comment that South Korea’s low fertility should be tackled by bringing in more Chinese immigrants of Korean descent.It was not the first time an off-the-cuff remark by Kim to put him at the center of political controversy, as he faces the daunting task of overcoming an escalating factional standoff over the party’s nomination rules for the April elections.“Korea, which has an ethnic

PoliticsJan. 31, 2016

[Newsmaker] Patterson sentenced to 20 years in jail for Itaewon murder

A Seoul court on Friday sentenced a U.S. man to 20 years in jail for murdering a South Korean college student nearly two decades ago in the Itaewon murder case. The Seoul Central District Court found Arthur John Patterson, 37, guilty of stabbing Cho Joong-pil, 22, to death in 1997 at a Burger King outlet in Itaewon, a multicultural district frequented by expats. Arthur Patterson (Yonhap)The court recognized Edward Lee, 37, as an accomplice for the murder, but did not convict him according to Kor

Social AffairsJan. 29, 2016

[Newsmaker] Samsung warns of tough year on weaker smartphone sales

Samsung Electronics on Thursday warned of weaker earnings this year amid slowing demand for consumer electronics, especially its mainstay smartphones.In a regulatory filing, the Korean tech giant said its fourth-quarter net profit fell 40 percent to 3.2 trillion won ($2.7 billion) from a year ago despite a 16 percent gain in operating profit to 6.14 trillion won. A Samsung Electronics sign stands at the company’s Seoul headquarters. YonhapFor the whole year, the company posted 200.6 trillion won

TechnologyJan. 28, 2016