Conservative presidential nominee Hong Joon-pyo on Friday launched ideological attacks on liberal and progressive groups in an apparent bid to rally traditional supporters behind his campaign. The candidate of the Liberty Korea Party has been struggling to boost his anemic campaign in the race dominated by liberal candidates Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo.  Hong Joon-pyo, the presidential candidate of the conservative Liberty Korea Party, speaks during a meeting with local exporters in Seoul on A

Politics April 21, 2017

"Triple H," the new project group led by Hyuna, former member of the now-disbanded girl group 4minute, will debut with its first EP album "199X," the group's agency said Friday. (Yonhap)The group, which also consists of Hui and E'Dawn of boy group Pentagon, will release the album on May 1, said Cube Entertainment, which manages the artists.The album will have five tracks, including the title piece "365 Fresh" -- a punk-style number reminiscent of the 1990s.Hyuna and E'Dawn took part in the writi

April 21, 2017

"Queen of Mystery," KBS 2TV's comic detective series, maintained its lead in the mid-week drama race, becoming the only late night show with a double-digit rating amongst its competitors, data showed Friday. (Yonhap)Episode six of the Wednesday-Thursday series "Queen of Mystery" recorded a 10.9 percent nationwide viewership Thursday night, according to Nielsen Korea. The figure represents a 3.2 percentage-point increase from the previous day.SBS TV's "Saimdang, Memoir of Colors" stood at 8.3 per

April 21, 2017

South Korea, the United States and Japan will meet next week to discuss their coordinated approach toward North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the foreign ministry here said Friday.Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the South Korean foreign ministry, will meet with his US and Japanese counterparts -- Joseph Yun and Kenji Kanasugi -- in Tokyo on Tuesday, according to the ministry. Kim Hong-kyun (left), South Korea's chief envoy on North

Foreign Affairs April 21, 2017

WANDO -- More than 200,000 people have visited a seaweed exposition under way on the southwestern island of Wando since its opening last week, organizers said Friday. Wando Seaweeds Expo 2017, launched on April 13, is scheduled to run through May 7, they said, hoping to attract over 600,000 visitors. (Yonhap)The organizers said they have arranged special admission fees and discount rates to woo more clients.Those who have admission tickets to the expo will be allowed free admission to Wando Towe

Social Affairs April 21, 2017

South Korea has participated in a multilateral naval exercise involving US, Japanese and British forces to crack down on Somali pirates around the Gulf of Aden, the military here said Friday.South Korea sent the 4,400-ton destroyer Choe Yeong to the Thursday drills, which also involved the 17,000-ton US dock landing ship USS Carter Hall, Japan's 5,000-ton destroyer Teruzuki and the 4,200-ton British frigate Monmouth, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Vessels of South Korea, the US, Japan a

Defense April 21, 2017

South Korean retail conglomerate Lotte Group is likely to unveil a series of steps next week to simplify its complicated governance structure, which may include split-ups or mergers of key affiliates, industry sources said Friday.The group's two key affiliates -- Lotte Shopping Co. and Lotte Confectionery Co. -- are rumored to be rolling out the plan at their respective shareholders meeting next week to split themselves into an investment unit and a business arm, according to industry sources fa

Companies April 21, 2017

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won plans to visit Japan next week as the group's chip-making arm SK hynix Inc. has joined the race to take over the memory division of Japanese tech giant Toshiba Corp., industry sources said Friday.During his stay in Japan, Chey plans to meet executives of Toshiba to explain SK Group's vision on the chip industry, according to the sources.  SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won (Yonhap)Toshiba has put its entire stake in its memory operations up for sale as it struggles wit

Industry April 21, 2017

Presidential front-runner Moon Jae-in widened his lead in a new opinion poll released Friday as runner-up Ahn Cheol-soo's numbers plummeted.Moon, a former leader of the liberal Democratic Party, garnered an approval rating of 41 percent, up 1 percentage point from last week, while Ahn, co-founder of the center-left People's Party, declined 7 points to 30 percent, according to Gallup Korea.Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party came in a distant third at 9 percent, followed by Sim

Politics April 21, 2017

North Korea raised its daily food rations to an average 400 grams per person in the first quarter of the year, which is still below the internationally recommended amount of calorie intake, Voice of America reported Friday.In an email sent to VOA's Korean Service, the UN World Food Program said the hike appears to be related with an increased crop estimate for last year. North Koreans rest at the Central Zoo in Pyongyang on April 16, 2017. (EPA-Yonhap)It marked an about 10 percent increase from

North Korea April 21, 2017

The average South Korean salaryman reads 2.3 books and spends 29,000 won ($25) on books every month, a survey showed Friday.The survey of 935 people conducted by Hunet, an education service institute, on the occasion of UNESCO's World Book Day, which falls on April 23, said 45 percent of those polled read one book and 34.7 percent read 2 to 4 books. A file photo of a World Book Day event in Seoul on April 22, 2016. (Yonhap)About 8.5 percent said they read 5-7 books, and 2.2 percent said they rea

Social Affairs April 21, 2017

Samsung Electronics Co. started official sales of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus smartphones in South Korea, kicking off full-fledged efforts to strengthen its mobile business hurt by the discontinued Galaxy Note 7 phablets last year.The distribution of Galaxy S8 smartphones to preorder clients began earlier in the week ahead of the official release.  Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S8 smartphone is displayed at a Seoul-based retail shop in this photo taken on April 21, 2017. (Yonhap)Preo

Industry April 21, 2017

South Korea's defense ministry said Friday it has signed an agreement with Ethiopia to construct a community center in Addis Ababa for its nationals who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War.It's one of Seoul's friendship projects for the people of Ethiopia, the only African country that dispatched ground troops to help South Korea fight against invading North Korea during the conflict. Hwang Woo-ung (2nd from right), South Korea's deputy defense minister for welfare, poses for a photo with Abate Sit

Defense April 21, 2017

A higher number of South Korean men are having children after turning 35, with their number nearly doubling over 10 years, a study showed Friday.Sohn Kitae, a professor at Curtin University in Australia, examined trends in parental age in South Korea by tracking childbirths from 1997-2014, the census for the years 2000-2010 and other marriage data. The results showed that of babies born to fathers aged 20-54, 38.7 percent were born to fathers aged 35-54 in 2010, almost double the 20.2 percent in

Social Affairs April 21, 2017

South Korea's credit card companies are seeking to apply the iris scanner adopted by Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S8 smartphones on mobile transactions, industry sources said Friday, lauding the feature's security compared with fingerprints and passwords.According to the sources, Samsung Card Co. is seeking to apply the iris scanner on its mobile application, allowing users to make financial transactions through the feature. (Yonhap)Officially released in South Korea and in parts of North Am

Technology April 21, 2017