Intercity express bus M5438, the first bust to connect Pyeongtaek city with capital Seoul’s Gangnam area, will kick off test operation from Friday. The bus will run 18 times a day for the pilot period of one month.Once the test period is over, starting July 1, a total of ten M5438 buses will run 36 times a day.  Intercity express bus M5428 will begin test operation from June 1 (Online community)Each day’s first bus departs from Jije Station in Pyeongtaek at 5 a.m., and the last bus from Gangnam

Social Affairs May 28, 2018

The Korea Tourism Organization’s “46th Korea Tourism Photo Contest” will award a cash prize of 600,000 won ($560) to a winning international entrant.The contest, open to all who are interested, accepts up to five submissions per person. The submitted photos have to be in JPG format with dimension of at least 2,200 by 3,200 RGB pixels. Only the photos taken after January 2015 that have not been published or released elsewhere are eligible.Photos that feature tourists at popular attraction sites w

Travel May 28, 2018

Monday will see a high of 29 degrees Celsius despite the clouds covering most of the nation’s sky. Ozone saturation level is forecast to be in the “bad” range, with stagnant air causing fine dust levels to shoot up in west-central regions in the morning.The day’s low will hover between 10 C and12 C, with highs between 19 C and 29 C, slightly hotter than Sunday.In Jeju, light precipitation of between 5 to 20 mm is forecast to continue through the afternoon. The weather agency warned of wide diffe

Social Affairs May 28, 2018

김정은 위원장으로 변장한 인물이 27일 싱가포르에 모습을 드러내 화제몰이를 했다.　　자신을 하워드 X로 소개하는 이 인물은 도널드 트럼프 변장을 하는 파트너 데니스 앨런과 함께 평창 올림픽을 비롯해 서울, 워싱턴, 홍콩 등 유명 도시에서 언론의 주목을 받은 바 있다.　　하워드 X는 싱가포르에 등장한 이 날, “이봐 트럼프, 난 벌써 싱가포르에 있다. 너를 기다리고 있어”라고 발언해 시선을 한몸에 모았다. 　　그가 트럼프 미국 대통령을 호명한 것인지, 아니면 파트너인 데니스 앨런을 부른 것인지는 불분명하다. 　　하워드 X는 싱가포르산 두리안 과일을 안고 포즈를 취하며 과일 특유의 악취에 코를 찡그리는 우스꽝스러운 모습을 연출하는 등 카메라 취재에 응했다.　 (사진=로이터-연합뉴스)　(khnews@heraldcorp.com)

한국어판 May 28, 2018

Who’s that checking out the sights of Singapore ahead of the possible North Korea-US summit in June?It’s not North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but Australian-Chinese impersonator Howard X, who was up to his old tricks Sunday as he took a stroll down Jubilee Bridge in Singapore, overlooking the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and the landmark Merlion.Howard has made other appearances at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic games, alongside his Donald Trump impersonator partner known as Dennis

World News May 28, 2018

Koreans and foreigners aged 28 and under can travel to the nation’s islands at a discount rate starting June, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Sunday.In an effort to boost youths’ sea trips the ministry is opening up 77 ocean routes encompassing 51 relevant firms’ 121 ships for 20 percent discount rate during weekends and 50 percent discount rate during weekdays between June and September. Under this scheme, for example, the original ferry from Gangneung to Ulleungdo Island on

Travel May 27, 2018

Temperatures on Sunday will soar to a maximum of 28 degrees Celsius, with ‘bad’ levels of ozone and ultraviolet ray saturation, according to the weather agency. At 5 a.m. the temperature read 17.9 C in the capital city of Seoul, 15.3 C in Incheon, 18.1 C in Daejeon, 16.4 C in Busan, 17.5 C in Gwangju and 14.3 C in Gangneung. The highest daytime temperatures will range between 19 C and 28 C with Seoul’s forecast to be 25 C. People are advised to keep out of the sun, as ozone and ultraviolet ray s

Social Affairs May 27, 2018

From parking towers to vehicle elevators, South Koreans have found ways to alleviate the chronic parking space shortage. In particular, parking is a nightmare in Seoul, as the city’s nearly 10 million-strong population inhabit just 605 square kilometers of land and many households own more than one car. But with the advent of technologies, the struggle of finding a parking space is becoming less excruciating.Living up to its reputation as the most-wired nation in the world, Korean companies have

Technology May 25, 2018

US President Donald Trump declined to hear the translation of his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in’s response to a reporter at the White House on Wednesday, which may have contained crucial information.Moon and Trump held a summit to discuss collaboration for the upcoming Pyongyang-Washington talks. In the last part of the dialogue with the reporters, Moon reiterated that his role in the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Trump was not that of a mediator but one that helps to

Politics May 24, 2018

On the national holiday of Buddha’s Birthday on Tuesday, the sky will be overcast throughout the day with light rainfall forecast in the evening.Precipitation of between 5 and 40 mm will begin from the west coast and spread nationwide overnight to continue to Wednesday morning.Clear skies were observed on Monday from Namsan Tower in Seoul. The following day on Tuesday, clouds returned with forecast of light rainfall in the evening. (Yonhap)Temperatures will not stray far from the previous year’s

Social Affairs May 22, 2018

BTS’ third regular EP “Love Yourself: Tear” was allegedly leaked before the promised release time of 6 p.m. Friday, due to an error by US retail website Amazon, according to a Korean media report. A screenshot of the teaser from 'Fake Love''s music videoHankook Ilbo reported Friday that foreign fans of BTS have started updating pictures of the new BTS album to their social media accounts since Thursday. It seems Amazon had already distributed the EP, but the official release date was not until n

Performance May 18, 2018

올해 일본을 방문한 외국인의 수가 사상 최단 기간에 1천만명을 돌파했다고 교도통신이 17일 보도했다. 일본 관광청에 따르면 1~4월 일본을 방문한 외국인은 1천51만9천300명으로 집계 됐다. 방일 외국인 수가 1천만명을 넘어선 것은 올해까지 6년 연속이다. 올해 1천만명 달성 시점은 5월 중순이던 작년을 포함해 역대 가장 빨랐다. 4월 방일 외국인의 수만 봐도 전년 같은 기간보다 12.5%나 급증한 290만700명으로 집계됐다.  일본 도쿄 센소지의 가미나리몬(雷門)을 찾은 외국인관광객들 (사진=연합뉴스)외국인 관광객 중 한국인이 차지하는 비중은 22.0%(63만8천500명)로, 중국(23.6 %·68만3천400명)에 이어 두번째로 높았다. 관광청은 외국인 방문자가 늘어난 것은 벚꽃의 만개를 보기 위해 일본을 찾는 관광객이 증가했기 때문이라며 4월 초 부활절을 맞아 장기 휴가를 얻어 일본에 온 외국인도 많았던 것으로 보인다고 설명했다. 일본을 방문하는 외국인의 수는 지난 수년간 급

한국어판 May 18, 2018

South Korea’s second-largest city Busan will support foreign entrepreneurs, seeking to grow into a global startup hub similar to Silicon Valley of the US.The Busan Metropolitan City Government and Busan Economic Promotion Agency on Wednesday announced plans to recruit participants to their startup support project for foreigners by the end of May.The project offers support to foreigners or immigrants who have registered businesses in Korea, or aspiring entrepreneurs that wish to start new busines

Expat Living May 17, 2018

Buddhist temples in Korea were seen adorned with countless colorful lanterns on Wednesday, in preparation for the countdown to the Buddha’s Birthday early next week.The Buddhist belief says lanterns are lights of wisdom that drive out darkness, anguish and ignorance.Vibrantly colored lotus-lanterns can offer an exquisite sight to both Koreans and foreigners. On this day, visitors to the Jogyesa Temple in Jongno-gu, Seoul, were busy taking photographs to capture the exotic scene. Jogyesa Temple i

Culture May 17, 2018

(Video shot and produced by Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald) Twenty-seven contestants from across the world took part in this year’s April-May edition of Miss SuperTalent, held in Seoul. Aspiring models and actresses competed in the semiannual super talent and modeling event. The final competition took place at the Premier Ballroom of Songdo Convensia in Incheon on Friday, with the top prize going to Spain’s Alexia Navarro. First and second runners-up were Cape Verde’s Simone Louisa He

People May 15, 2018