[Newsmaker] Under pressure, Hyundai Motor heir pulls the plug, pursues plan B

Two months after proposing a grand reform plan on its corporate governance, Hyundai Motor Group, the nation’s second-largest chaebol, came with yet another unexpected choice Monday, ditching the plan it previously hailed as a pathway to modernize the 50-year-old conglomerate.And its crown prince, the chairman’s only son, vowed that he would come back with “an improved” version. What the company need now is “the speedy and drastic reform and change,” the automaker’s Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun st

MobilityMay 22, 2018

[Newsmaker] N. Korea-US summit will be held as scheduled despite tensions: Seoul official

WASHINGTON -- The upcoming summit between North Korea and the United States will go on as scheduled despite fresh tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Seoul's top security official said here Monday.Chung Eui-yong, chief of the presidential National Security Office, made the remarks aboard Air Force One bound for Washington, where President Moon Jae-in is to hold a summit with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday."We believe there is a 99.9 percent chance the North Korea-US summit (set for June 12 i

North KoreaMay 22, 2018

[Newsmaker] Reporters face hurdle as they head for NK nuclear test site

North Korea’s dismantling of its major nuclear test site will likely go ahead as planned this week, but it was unclear as of Monday evening whether South Korean reporters would be able to cover the event.North Korea declined to accept a list of South Korean journalists assigned to cover the dismantling of the Punggyeri nuclear site, which the North said will happen sometime from Wednesday to Friday, the Unification Ministry said in a regular briefing on Monday. The Unification Ministry attempted

North KoreaMay 21, 2018

[Newsmaker] Parliament OKs bills on extra budget, special counsel probe

South Korea's parliament on Monday passed a 3.83 trillion won ($3.54 billion) extra budget bill and a proposal to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate an online opinion rigging scandal involving a former ruling party lawmaker.The passage came after the rival parties reached a compromise to break the long-running parliamentary impasse last week. Under the deal, the ruling Democratic Party agreed to an independent counsel probe into the scandal while the main opposition Liberty Korea Party

PoliticsMay 21, 2018

[Newsmaker] Harry Harris: Top Navy commander with clear-eyed view on North Korea

With the nomination of Pacific Commander Adm. Harry Harris as the new US top envoy to South Korea last week, expectations are high about the role that he will play amid the fast-paced diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula. 　President Donald Trump on Friday nominated Harris as the new ambassador to South Korea, a post that has been vacant for 16 months since his predecessor Mark Lippert left the position in January last year. 　Harris had initially been nominated as US ambassador to Australia, but was

North KoreaMay 20, 2018

[Newsmaker] Seoul to ‘wait and see’ as NK threatens to freeze talks

Seoul’s presidential office said on Friday it will “wait and see” as North Korea threatened to not hold talks with South Korea unless it stops the ongoing joint military drills with the US.Citing the Max Thunder exercise between South Korean and US air forces as the reason, Pyongyang called off high-level talks with Seoul on Wednesday, and threatened to cancel the summit talks with Washington scheduled to be held next month in Singapore. On Thursday, Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the North’s Committe

North KoreaMay 18, 2018

[Newsmaker] Moon’s security adviser continues marching to a different beat

President Moon Jae-in’s special national security and foreign affairs adviser Moon Chung-in continues to voice views that fall short of being in tune with the government. Speaking at a forum Wednesday, special adviser Moon claimed that Seoul’s Defense Minister Song Young-moo had spoken with US Forces Korea commander Gen. Vincent Brooks to keep B-52 bombers out of the Max Thunder exercise.  Moon Chung-in speaks at a lecture in Washington DC on May 4. YonhapMax Thunder is the joint South Korea-US

North KoreaMay 17, 2018

[Newsmaker] Max Thunder exercise proceeds as planned: Defense Ministry

Despite North Korea’s decision to postpone high-level talks with South Korea in protest against a combined air drill with the US, the ongoing Max Thunder exercise will proceed as scheduled, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.　About 100 aircraft from the allies’ air forces, including eight F-22 stealth fighter jets, are participating in the exercise that kicked off Friday, according to military officials. The annual drill is scheduled to continue until May 26.　“The exercise will proceed as plann

North KoreaMay 16, 2018

[Newsmaker] Watchdog blasted over call for new Samsung control tower

“How can a control tower not have control?” An official at Samsung Electronics threw the question back to The Korea Herald when asked what Samsung executives and employees think of the latest comments by Kim Sang-jo, chairman of the Fair Trade Commission. Kim said in interviews with local media last week that Samsung needed a new control tower to coordinate all affiliates. He publicly urged Samsung heir apparent Lee Jae-yong to take action to overhaul the corporation’s governance structure acros

IndustryMay 15, 2018

[Newsmaker] 'North Korea's CVID impossible' says former NK diplomat

A complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea is impossible, unless the regime collapses or changes, a former senior North Korean diplomat said Monday. Given the North’s political system that idolizes its leader, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will never give up the country’s nuclear arsenal, and the only option for the rest of the world is to accept North Korea disguising itself as nuclear-free nation, said Thae Yong-ho, North Korea’s former deputy ambassador to the U

Foreign AffairsMay 14, 2018

[Newsmaker] Selective justice? Koreans file petition after female suspect gets arrested for leaking nude photo

More than 270,000 South Koreans have signed an online petition asking for the fair investigation of online and digital sexual violence cases, regardless of the perpetrators' gender, after a female suspect was arrested for secretly taking a photo of her male colleague while he was posing nude for university students, and then distributing it online without the victim’s consent. 　Those who signed the petition say that while the authorities’ treatment of the case has been just and ideal, the way th

Social AffairsMay 13, 2018

[Newsmaker] How will review of Samsung BioLogics’ alleged accounting fraud go?

South Korea’s top financial regulator will embark on initial steps to review accounting fraud allegations involving contract drug manufacturer Samsung BioLogics this week, the outcome of which will largely sway the company’s future prospects and legal standing.The Financial Services Commission is set to review the closely-watched case on Thursday via an in-house accounting oversight panel, marking the first formal meeting on the issue. It will then refer the case to the Securities and Futures Co

IndustryMay 13, 2018

[Newsmaker] Terror probe launched after deadly Paris knife attack

A knifeman shouting "Allahu akbar" was shot dead by police in central Paris late Saturday after he killed one person and injured four, prompting a terror probe.The attack took place near the city's main opera house in an area full of bars, restaurants and theatres which were brimming on a weekend night.French President Emmanuel Macron said: "France once again pays the price of blood."Saturday's assault is the latest to strike a nation rocked by a series of jihadist attacks in the last three year

World NewsMay 13, 2018

[Newsmaker] Singapore excited about Trump-Kim summit

SINGAPORE – News that Singapore will host the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un next month made top headlines here, drawing attention to where on the island the two leaders will meet.Local experts say the most likely venue would be the Shangri-La Hotel, which has hosted the annual high-level Shangri-La security dialogue among 28 Asia Pacific states since 2002. The historic meeting between China’s President Xi Jinping and Taiwan’s President Ma Y

North KoreaMay 11, 2018

[Newsmaker] Trump-Kim meeting expected to deliver initial results

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump's announcement Thursday of a date and location for his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un renewed cautious optimism for a deal to dismantle the North's nuclear weapons program.The key, however, will be whether the terms are implemented after the two leaders come out of their historic June 12 meeting in Singapore."Trump and Kim wouldn't meet unless certain things have already been agreed to," Frank Aum, senior expert on North Korea at the US Insti

North KoreaMay 11, 2018

[Newsmaker] Shutting down NK nuclear test site presents numerous challenges

With North Korea pledging to close down its nuclear test site as a part of its own denuclearization efforts, the focus is on how the shutdown process will unfold. During his summit with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in last month, The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he would invite experts and journalists from South Korea and the US to watch the dismantling of the Punggye-ri facility in North Hamgyong Province. But the condition of the site makes the shutdown a complicated task, analysts

North KoreaMay 10, 2018

[Newsmaker] CIA seen engaging in behind-the-scenes coordination for Trump-Kim summit

The US Central Intelligence Agency appeared to be making last-minute behind-the-scenes efforts to finalize details of the summit between the US and North Korean leaders, with its Korea center chief playing a key ancillary role, observers here said Thursday.On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a former CIA director, made another visit to Pyongyang to put the finishing touch on the preparations for the talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as well as

North KoreaMay 10, 2018

[Newsmaker] Korean Air staff to hold second rally against founding family

Hundreds of Korean Air Lines Co. employees plan to stage another rally this weekend against the founding family members accused of abuses and assaults on company staff, the organizing group announced Thursday.The rally will begin at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the square in front of Seoul Station, the group said on its mobile group chat used by some 1,000 former and current employees at the top South Korean airline.Other workers from its affiliated companies and citizens may also join the protest.It i

Social AffairsMay 10, 2018

[Newsmaker] Behind Kim Jong-un’s trip to China: NK seeks to involve China in peace push

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s visit to China for the second time in less than two months signals Pyongyang’s desire for Beijing’s involvement in the denuclearization process ahead of his summit with US President Donald Trump, experts say. 　The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday that Kim met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday and Tuesday in the northeastern Chinese city of Dailan, where he reiterated his commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. 　The summit might

Foreign AffairsMay 9, 2018

[Newsmaker] US-NK announcement delay raises concerns

With the United States and North Korea continuing to keep mum over the date and location of their summit, speculations are rampant over what may be causing the delay in the announcement.　South Korea’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday that it had expected the summit announcement to be made earlier this week. It came days after US President Donald Trump said he had determined the location and date of the summit and would broadcast the news “soon.” 　 However, the prolonged silence has

North KoreaMay 8, 2018