[Newsmaker] Former spy chief gets 4 years in jail for election manipulation

The Seoul High Court on Wednesday gave a four-year jail term to a former spy agency chief for his role in a covert operation to manipulate public sentiment in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election. Won Sei-hoon, 66, who led the National Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2013 under the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration, was found guilty of election and NIS law violations. He was accused of directing his agents to conduct an illicit smear campaign online to sway voters in favor of th

Social AffairsAug. 30, 2017

[Newsmaker] Lotte shareholders greenlight holding company structure

Shareholders of four Lotte companies approved a plan to set up a holding company Tuesday, in a move that is expected to tighten the grip of Chairman Shin Dong-bin as the group faces increasing internal and external difficulties.Lotte Confectionery, Lotte Shopping, Lotte Chilsung Beverage and Lotte Food held respective shareholder meetings Tuesday morning to vote on merging the four companies’ investment entities into one holding company.All four companies agreed to the plan, with 86.5 percent, 8

IndustryAug. 29, 2017

[Newsmaker] What does jailing of Samsung heir mean for ex-president Park?

The conviction of Samsung Group’s heir apparent Lee Jae-yong bodes ill for former President Park Geun-hye, who is on trial for receiving bribes from Lee, observers said Monday. The trial of the impeached president and her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, who are at the center of the corruption scandal that removed Park from office in March and landed Lee in jail for a five-year term last week, is ongoing. The ruling is expected in October. In Friday’s ruling for Lee, the Seoul Central District

Social AffairsAug. 28, 2017

[Newsmaker] LPGA rookie rides ‘perfect’ round to 2nd title

LPGA rookie phenom Park Sung-hyun has said she rode a “perfect” round to her second career victory in Canada.　Park shot a bogey-free round of seven-under 64 to win the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open on Sunday in Ottawa. At 13-under overall, Park defeated fellow South Korean Lee Mi-rim by two strokes.　The victory came a little over a month after Park’s monumental victory at the US Women‘s Open, the oldest major championship in women’s golf. Thanks to those two victories, Park now leads the money l

GolfAug. 28, 2017

[Newsmaker] Ahn elected new People's Party leader

Ahn Cheol-soo, the former presidential candidate of the minor opposition People's Party, regained its leadership Sunday, capping a tumultuous two-week campaign marked by rivals' blistering attacks over his candidacy.In a leadership election, the entrepreneur-turned-politician won 51.09 percent of the vote, avoiding a run-off. He beat three other contenders, Reps. Chung Dong-young, Chun Jung-bae and Lee Un-ju, who scored 28.36 percent, 16.6 percent and 3.95 percent, respectively.Ahn will fill the

PoliticsAug. 27, 2017

[Newsmaker] THAAD deployment to be completed as early as next week

South Korea is poised to complete the installment of a US missile shield next week, officials said Friday, despite unabated controversy over the Moon Jae-in government’s flip-flopping on the timing of the deployment. The stationing of the remaining four launchers of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system comes as the Environment Ministry wraps up a small-scale environmental review. The equipment will join the already operational two launchers, radar and other assets to form a full-fledge

DefenseAug. 25, 2017

[Newsmaker] Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 8 plays it safe

Launching the much-awaited flagship smartphone Galaxy Note 8 in New York, Samsung Electronics played it safe instead of shaking things up with stunning new features. This is the first Note model after the exploding fiasco of the Note 7 last year that tarnished Samsung’s reputation. The debacle was reportedly caused by packing in too many new features like an iris scanner, increasing battery capacity and accelerating the release schedule on the rush to beat Apple. Samsung, this time, chose safety

TechnologyAug. 24, 2017

[Newsmaker] Former PM Han released after 2-year sentence

Former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook was released from prison Wednesday, after completing her two-year sentence over bribery. Han was convicted of receiving some 900 million won in illicit political funds from a local businessman in 2007, during her stint as prime minister. Han, the country’s first woman to become prime minister and the first former premier to serve a prison term, was long considered a heavyweight within the liberal camp.As she came out from prison in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Provin

PoliticsAug. 23, 2017

[Newsmaker] Moon’s choice of Supreme Court chief nominee rekindles ideological bickering

The Moon Jae-in government is embroiled in yet another ideological war of words, this time revolving around Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee Kim Meong-su.Kim, who was nominated to the position Monday, is currently the head of the Chuncheon District Court in Gangwon Province. His nomination was immediately attacked by conservative opposition parties, which accuse the new administration of attempting to exert leftist views on the judiciary. Citing Kim’s involvement in an association of judges w

PoliticsAug. 22, 2017

[Newsmaker] Samsung Bioepis jumps into new drug development with Japan’s Takeda

Samsung Bioepis said Monday that it would jointly fund and co-develop multiple novel biologic therapies with Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical, expanding its current business from making copies of existing biologic drugs to developing original drugs. 　　Under the partnership, the two companies will begin developing new drug candidates in unmet disease areas, starting with a new treatment for severe acute pancreatitis labeled TAK-671. The deal marks a milestone for the biopharma development unit of Sa

IndustryAug. 21, 2017

[Newsmaker] Trump dumps Bannon, who returns to conservative website

Steve Bannon, the blunt-spoken and divisive strategist who went from Donald Trump's victorious campaign to a top White House post, has been pushed out by the president, capping a turbulent seven months that witnessed the departure of much of Trump's original senior staff. A favorite on the farther-right flank of the Republican Party, Bannon had pressed Trump to follow through on contentious campaign promises, such as banning travel from some predominantly Muslim countries and pulling out of the

World NewsAug. 20, 2017

[Newsmaker] At least 13 dead in Barcelona attacks

BARCELONA, Spain - A van veered onto a promenade Thursday and barreled down the busy walkway in central Barcelona, swerving back and forth as it mowed pedestrians down and turned a picturesque tourist destination into a bloody killing zone. Thirteen people were killed and 100 were injured, 15 of them seriously, in what authorities called a terror attack.  An injured person is carried in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, after a white van jumped the sidewalk in the historic Las Rambl

World NewsAug. 18, 2017

[Newsmaker] S. Korea to host 2023 World Scout Jamboree

Tens of thousands of scouts and leaders from around the world will converge in South Korea, near the world’s largest seawall, in 2023 for the 25th World Scout Jamboree.  The South Korean delegation celebrates winning its bid to host the 25th World Scout Jamboree in 2023 in a vote held at the 41st World Scout Conference 2017 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday. YonhapSouth Korea on Wednesday won the bid to host the international quadrennial event in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province, at the 41st World

Social AffairsAug. 17, 2017

[Newsmaker] Ahn hints at running for Seoul Mayor in 2018

Following his crushing defeat for the People’s Party at presidential polls in May, Ahn Cheol-soo has been scrambling to find ways to bring back the popularity that had catapulted the former business tycoon to the political arena. But such efforts barley got off to a start, with some of Ahn’s aides being indicated for engaging in an illegal smear campaign during the presidential election and the party’s approval ratings plummeting to a record low since its establishment in 2016. Alarmed by the fe

PoliticsAug. 16, 2017

[Newsmaker] Korean retailers stop egg sales after fipronil found in some eggs

Major Korean retailers, convenience store chains and online retailers decided Tuesday to immediately halt sales of eggs at their branches nationwide after the government warned of pesticide-tainted eggs earlier in the day. It is unprecedented for all of the country’s major retailers to stop selling eggs simultaneously. The companies include the nation’s three largest retail firms, E-mart, Homeplus and Lotte Mart, as well as leading convenience store chains CU, GS25 and 7-Eleven.  (Yonhap)E-mart’

IndustryAug. 15, 2017

[Newsmaker] Living in a whole new world: a snippet of daily life in 2030 Seoul

Living in the fast-forward era, yesterday quickly seems blurry and outdated while tomorrow looks unreal and overwhelming.With the evolution of technologies at full tilt, the new world, according to today’s predictions, would change or deprive us of our labor values and cost us never-ending consumption, yet provide us with great efficiency and even groundbreaking revolution of human kind.The future could be a dystopia of man-eat-man world trounced by the artificial intelligence, or a utopia of a

TechnologyAug. 14, 2017

[Newsmaker] Kim and Trump: A tale of two leaders

In many ways the two leaders on either side of North Korea-United States missile stand-off could not be more different. In others they are startlingly similar.　North Korea’s Kim Jong-un has just overseen his second test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, bringing much of the US mainland within reach and presenting US President Donald Trump with a crisis.　But while Pyongyang has long issued bellicose threats of nuclear war, this time it is the leader of the United States of America who is

World NewsAug. 13, 2017

[Newsmaker] Korea on alert against market volatility over NK

South Korea’s government and central bank expressed concerns over increasing market volatility sparked by the unfolding conflict between the United States and North Korea, while stock market analysts attributed the latest decline to foreign investors’ profit-seeking. On Friday, the first-tier Kospi market closed at 2,319.71, after a 1.69 percent dip from Thursday, while the tech-heavy Kosdaq dived 1.83 percent. On the top market, foreign investors net sold 648.8 billion won ($566.1 m

MarketAug. 11, 2017

[Newsmaker] Release of Canadian NK detainee sheds light on other captives

North Korea’s recent decision to free a Canadian-Korean pastor who had been detained for 30 months has sparked further global interest in others imprisoned in the hermit state. Lim Hyeon-soo was released on “sick bail” Wednesday with the North Korean Central Court citing “humanitarian reasons,” according to the Korean Central News Agency. The 62-year-old South Korean-born Canadian was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2015 on charges of conspiring against the regime. Lim Hyeon-soo,

North KoreaAug. 10, 2017

[Newsmaker] Asian security forum urges NK to comply with UN resolutions

MANILA -- Top diplomats from Asia-Pacific countries expressed "grave concern" on Tuesday over North Korea's escalation of regional tensions and urged it to comply with UN Security Council resolutions.In the chairman's statement, the ASEAN Regional Forum also expressed support for the "complete, verifiable, and irreversible" denuclearization of the North in a peaceful manner.The statement was issued a day after the meeting of the 27 members of the major regional security forum in Manila."The mini

North KoreaAug. 9, 2017