Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean adoptee sisters meet for the first time in 39 years
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Signs point to N. Korean troops in Russia-Ukraine combat zone
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Yoon calls for measures to protect Koreans amid escalating Iran-Israel conflicts
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Rose's 'Apt.' redefines K-pop's global appeal
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Civil servant’s death linked to workplace bullying
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Two years on, thousands mourn Itaewon tragedy, calling for accountability
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[Weekender] Walk around Korea to really get to know the country
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N. Korea slams Seoul-Washington joint air exercise
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[Herald Interview] Love for K-drama, food defines 'Secret Ingredient'
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[Herald Interview] K-pop’s 'best years are ahead of us': Spotify’s general manager for Asia Pacific
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[Newsmaker] Seoul agrees to accept foreign vaccination records
South Korea is devising a system to accept foreigners’ overseas vaccination records, a government official confirmed to The Korea Herald on Tuesday. “We’re drafting a ‘vaccine status form’ for foreign nationals vaccinated abroad,” an official at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The plan will leave more people in the country eligible for booster shots, with more details to be announced Thursday, the official added. The comments came j
Social AffairsDec. 7, 2021
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[Newsmaker] [Election 2022] Yoon mends fences in team, officially kicks off election committee
Smoothing over a month of discord in the party, Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, has officially kicked off his election committee and pledged to reform the government and country, Monday. “The Korea I dream of is a country with strong fundamentals. It should not be the people for the country, but the country for the people,” Yoon said in the inauguration ceremony of his central election committee that will lead his electioneering
PoliticsDec. 6, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Vaccine Pass: What foreign residents vaccinated abroad have to go through in Korea
From Monday, restaurants, cafes, cinemas and other public places in Korea will ask for proof of vaccination or a negative test for entry, as South Korea brings back stricter social distancing rules in the face of growing daily cases and the new omicron variant. This means foreign nationals vaccinated overseas are highly likely to be denied access to such venues. Currently, the country’s vaccination verification system, the Health Ministry-run mobile app COOV, does not recogni
Social AffairsDec. 5, 2021
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[Newsmaker] S. Korea to increase number of highway EV chargers to over 1,000
South Korea will increase the number of electric vehicle chargers at highway service areas nationwide to over 1,000 by the end of 2022, the transport ministry said Sunday. Currently, there are 435 EV chargers at the country's highway rest stops. The government plans to increase the number to 730 by the end of this month and then add more than 300 chargers next year, it said in a press statement. The move is meant to help meet rising demand for EVs and the charging infrastructure, as the gover
MobilityDec. 5, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Lee Hyun-jung, a second Korean NBA player in making?
Days after Lee Hyun-jung of the Davidson Wildcats scorched the University of North Caroline at Charlotte 49ers with a career-high 32 points on Nov. 30, all the buzz around the Korean-born scorer focused on three letters: NBA. Now in his junior year, the 21-year-old native of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, has been making regular appearances in mock NBA drafts since he became the first Davidson Wildcat to record a 50-40-90 season -- at least 50 percent, 40 percent and 90 percent in field goal, thre
BaseballDec. 3, 2021
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[Newsmaker] People Power Party’s turmoil continues with chairman AWOL
Chaos is growing in the main opposition People Power Party with conflict between its chairman and the election campaign committee appearing to deepen. People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok reportedly left for Busan with his aides Tuesday and held meetings with officials there without any prior notice. He is believed to be avoiding the press for the time being and continuing his schedule without public notice. Lee's scheduled meeting with Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, the party’s secretary-g
PoliticsDec. 1, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Cardinal Yeom retires after 10 years of service
Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung on Tuesday retired as the Catholic archbishop of Seoul, after some 10 years of service in the post. Yeom, who also held the post of apostolic administrator of the diocese, Pyongyang of North Korea, will soon leave Myeongdong Cathedral and move to Bishop’s Hall at the Catholic University of Korea Songsin Campus in Seoul where many of the country’s priests are educated. “Even after I leave the diocese, I will be grateful for every moment and pra
PeopleNov. 30, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Presidential race riddled with accusations, denunciations
The race to the presidency has turned into a mudslinging contest, with the two leading candidates appearing to focus mainly on dragging each other down with accusations. The two-way race between Lee Jae-myung of the ruling party and his main opposition counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, has consisted largely of remarks questioning each other’s fitness for the chief post. The main opposition People Power Party on Monday called on Lee to accept a special counsel probe concerning a controversial l
PoliticsNov. 29, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Home prices in Banpo poised to top W100m per ‘pyeong’
SEJONG -- Banpo-dong, Seoul, is likely to see the average trading price of homes exceed 100 million won ($83,800) per “pyeong” in the coming months. Apgujeong-dong, Seoul is poised to follow suit. In the nation, a pyeong is a basic unit used for real estate prices, equal to 3.3 square meters. These two districts in the capital’s Gangnam-gu, located just south of Han River, are the priciest in South Korea. According to Naver.com and KB Kookmin Bank, Banpo-dong’s home pr
MarketNov. 26, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Dog meat consumption to be put to test
Two months after President Moon Jae-in said South Korea should consider banning dog meat consumption, the government is to officially launch a consultative body to discuss the matter. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum held a meeting Thursday and announced the decision to launch a consultative body to discuss dog meat consumption. The body, consisting of representatives of concerned groups, experts and government officials, will hold discussions from December to April. “The controv
Social AffairsNov. 25, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Over 1 million face comprehensive real estate tax
SEJONG -- The tally of those subject to the comprehensive real estate holding tax -- individuals or corporations -- exceeded 1 million this year for the first time since the nation introduced the tax in June 2005. According to the National Tax Service, almost 1.03 million individuals and corporations are supposed to pay comprehensive real estate taxes in 2021. The figure consists of 947,000 homeowners and 79,600 landowners. This shows that the number of comprehensive real estate holding tax ta
MarketNov. 24, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Korea extends COVID-19 home care to elderly patients as beds fall short
South Korea is extending COVID-19 home recovery to elderly patients amid critical shortages of hospital beds, after ordering hospitals to free up beds twice in the past month. In Seoul, which has long dealt with the largest surge of cases, patients aged 70 and older can now be prescribed home recovery if they are vaccinated and have other household members taking care of them. The city said as demand for hospital beds soar, more patients were being offered at-home care as an alternative. As
Social AffairsNov. 23, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Woori Financial Group fully privatized after 23 years: FSC
Woori Financial Group’s decadeslong journey toward privatization neared its final stage Monday, as financial authorities said the banking group is now “technically fully privatized,” greenlighting five investors in acquiring most of the remaining stake in the firm owned by the government. The Public Fund Oversight Committee under the Financial Services Commission sold a combined 9.3 percent stake in Woori Financial of the 15.13 percent owned by the state-run Korea Deposit Ins
MarketNov. 22, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Netflix’s ‘Hellbound’ may be the next big Korean hit
Netflix’s fantasy thriller “Hellbound” directed by Yeon Sang-ho is off to a good start in following in the footsteps of global sensation “Squid Game.” A day after being released Friday, Yeon’s Netflix series topped the Top TV show on Netlflix chart, according to streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol. “Squid Game” grabbed the No. 2 spot on the chart Saturday. The global hit TV series directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk had stayed atop FlixPatrol’s T
FilmNov. 21, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Hite Jinro to see sales boom under ‘living with COVID-19’: analyst
Hite Jinro, the country’s biggest beer and soju maker in terms of market share, is expected to become the “main beneficiary” of the liquor industry as the country shifts back to normal under its “living with COVID-19” scheme, an industry analyst said Friday. “With the resumption of entertainment facilities operating under the ‘living with COVID-19’ scheme, the recovery of related sectors in the metropolitan area is a sign of upward momentum
IndustryNov. 19, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Netflix hikes subscription fees by 17 percent in Korea
Streaming giant Netflix announced on Thursday a subscription fee increase of up to 17 percent, its first hike since launching the service in South Korea in 2016. The streaming platform’s standard plan will cost 13,500 won ($11.45) a month, up 12.5 percent from the previous 12,000 won, and the premium plan will go up 17.24 percent to 17,000 won from 14,500 won. The basic plan will remain unchanged at 9,500 won. Local users will be notified of the price changes 30 days before their renewa
TechnologyNov. 18, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Ex-lawmaker’s home, Hana Bank head office searched in Daejang-dong scandal
South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday searched ousted lawmaker Kwak Sang-do’s home and former office as well as Hana Bank’s head office as they pressed on with an investigation into alleged bribery and corruption in the Daejang-dong land development scandal. The raid on Kwak’s home and former office came around a week after Kwak was officially expelled from the National Assembly and lost his immunity from arrest on Nov. 11. In early October, Kwak, who was affiliated with the
Social AffairsNov. 17, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Kingmaker or safe choice, opposition hopes for ‘Kim Chong-in effect’
Kim Chong-in, a veteran election campaigner often referred to as "kingmaker," is once again at the center of attention in the political arena, with the conservatives betting on him to help them win next year’s presidential election. In recent weeks, the main opposition People Power Party has been openly reaching out to Kim to head Yoon Seok-youl's election campaign and wrest power from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea in the March presidential election. "We hope
PoliticsNov. 16, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Small business revenue bounces back amid ‘living with COVID-19’
Small business revenue has returned to pre-pandemic levels after the government kicked off the “living with COVID-19” scheme designed to gradually open up the economy, according to new data. According to Korea Credit Data’s database on Monday, revenue from small businesses during the first week of November saw a 10.4 percent jump on average compared to the same time one year ago. It was also up 2.6 percent compared to the previous week. Compared to the same week in 2019, befo
IndustryNov. 15, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Kim Jong-un’s prolonged absence from public stokes speculation
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been missing from public view for more than a month, fueling speculation over his whereabouts, as it marks his longest absence since 2014. The last time Kim appeared in a public setting was on Oct. 11 when he delivered a speech at a rare defense exhibition in Pyongyang that showcased the country’s new weaponry, according to state media. Since then there have been reports of him sending letters to foreign leaders and his people, but he ha
North KoreaNov. 14, 2021