The Seoul Metro was listed as the No. 1 tourist attraction for Seoul on global travel review platform TripAdvisor.Using top-rated, user-submitted “Things to Do” in each country, the site curated an exhaustive travel itinerary featuring top tourist attractions of the world.Scoring 4.5 out of 5 points average from 9,327 reviewers, Seoul Metro ranked No. 1 on “Things to Do,” followed by the War Memorial of Korea and the palace Gyeongbokgung, which ranked second and third, respectively. (Yonhap)A ne

Social Affairs Aug. 2, 2017

Prosecutors have indicted a 31-year old male suspect on charges of murdering the owner of a waxing shop. According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, the man surnamed Bae is suspected of robbing, attempting to rape and murdering the woman. 　Bae, who had credit card debt worth 6 million won ($5,300), was looking for a target when he came across the waxing specialist in a YouTube video. He found out that she operated a waxing shop on her own in a quiet residential area, identifying

Social Affairs Aug. 1, 2017

Two Korean men who posed as immigration officers to rob foreign women have had their jail terms upheld on appeal. The court concluded that the two men purposefully targeted foreign nationals who were in the country illegally, believing they would be less likely to turn to the police for help.Upholding the lower court’s ruling, the Daegu High Court sentenced the two men to three years in prison on Sunday.Last February, the two men in their 20s barged into an apartment in Daegu posing as immigrati

Social Affairs July 31, 2017

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's largest auto parts company, said Friday its second-quarter net profit plunged 43 percent from a year earlier on lower demand in China. Net profit for the three months that ended on June 30 fell to 481.24 billion won ($431 million) from 848.83 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.  (Yonhap)In the second quarter, the parts manufacturer's main buyers -- Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. -- suffered sharp declines due to political

Industry July 28, 2017

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae reiterated Friday that the government will follow the decision that select citizens will make over the fate of two nuclear reactors after their public deliberation process.Its remarks came a day after a government panel tasked with overseeing the deliberation process said that the 350 citizens it will pick will not determine whether to resume the now-suspended construction of the reactors in Ulsan, 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)The panel's expla

Politics July 28, 2017

President Moon Jae-in's approval rating rose this week after the parliamentary passage of an extra budget bill he has pushed to help create jobs and spur growth, a survey showed Friday.In the weekly survey conducted from Tuesday to Thursday by local pollster Gallup Korea, Moon's support rating was tallied at 77 percent, up 3 percentage points from a week earlier.Those who disapproved of his job performance made up 13 percent, down 3 percentage points from the previous week, while 9 percent said

Politics July 28, 2017

Samsung Electronics Co. emerged as the world's No. 1 chipmaker in terms of sales and operating profits in the second quarter, beating behemoth Intel Corp. market data showed Friday.The rise of Samsung is significant as Intel has been standing as the leading computer chip producer for some 24 years.Industry watchers said the rise is the result of the South Korean tech giant's successful developed next-generation technologies for dynamic random-access memory chips and NAND flash memory and quickly

Industry July 28, 2017

South Korea's No. 2 mobile carrier KT Corp. said Friday its second-quarter operating profit rose nearly 5 percent from a year ago, helped by improved revenue in its media business. (Yonhap)Operating profit came to 447.3 billion won (US$400.6 million) for the April-June period, compared with a profit of 426.9 billion won for the same quarter last year, the company said in a regulatory filing. This represents a 4.8 percent on-year gain. Second-quarter net income inched up 1.1 percent on-year to 25

Industry July 28, 2017

South Korea outlined countermeasures to deal with drowsy-driving-related accidents following a series of crashes that took dozens of lives, the transport ministry said Friday.Under the steps to be taken this year, bus companies will be obliged to allow their drivers to rest for at least 10 straight hours between shifts, longer than the current eight hours, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation said in a statement. (Yonhap)Bus companies operating in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi P

Social Affairs July 28, 2017

The South Korean government said Friday that it will launch an additional environmental assessment of a US anti-missile system, virtually ruling out the possibility of its deployment being completed this year.  The deployment of all six launchers of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system is expected to be finalized next year after the environmental assessment aimed at securing procedural legitimacy, the Defense Ministry said.Besides the two THAAD launchers already deployed in Seongju, No

Diplomatic Circuit July 28, 2017

North Korea's state media said Friday that leader Kim Jong-un visited a cemetery to commemorate veterans killed during the 1950-53 Korean War on the armistice anniversary earlier this week.Kim paid homage to fallen fighters of its military Thursday to mark the 64th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the three-year war, according to the Korean Central News Agency. A combination of photos carried by North Korea`s main newspaper Rodong Sinmun on July 28, 2017, s

North Korea July 28, 2017

LG Electronics Inc. said Friday it won seven awards in a US consumer evaluation study on home appliances, highlighting its position as one of the most popular brands in the North American market. (Yonhap)According to the findings released by industry-tracker J.D. Power, LG Electronics won top titles for its front-load and top-load washers, clothes dryers, dishwashers, freestanding ranges, French door refrigerators and top-mount freezer refrigerators."LG has clearly delivered on all these measure

Industry July 28, 2017

South Korea's industrial output dropped slightly in June from a month earlier due to the dip in petroleum refinery and chip businesses, but consumption made a turnaround to offset the sluggish production, government data showed Friday. (Yonhap)Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries edged down 0.2 percent on-month in June, backtracking from a 0.2 percent on-month gain in the previous month, according to the data by Statistics Korea.From a year earlier, output also

Industry July 28, 2017

The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States agreed Thursday to continue close coordination on issues related to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, the State Department said.(Yonhap)Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke by phone earlier in the day to discuss North Korea and their countries' bilateral alliance, according to department spokeswoman Heather Nauert."The secretary told Foreign Minister Kang that the United States remains firmly a

National July 28, 2017

North Korea will attain a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile "pretty soon," a senior US administration official said Thursday, citing the communist nation's repeated provocations. (Yonhap)The official, who is well-versed in North Korea affairs, spoke as there is growing alarm about the North's saber-rattling. On July 4, Pyongyang successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching Alaska and Hawaii."We're now at a point where this is going to become a fait accompli pretty

Diplomatic Circuit July 28, 2017